I love working with metal. Can you tell? Creating my collection of Copper and Sterling Silver PURE METAL earrings requires lots of elbow grease. First I texture the raw metal. This is usually done by hammering but can be done with a rolling mill as well. The metal must be softened (heated) before starting the texturing. Since the metal becomes distorted from the … [Read more...]
The Truth about Natural and Lab-Grown Gems
Did you ever wonder whether the gems in your jewelry are 'real' or not? Well of course they are real, but did they come out of the ground?? or were they created in a lab? Basically there are 3 types of gems; Natural, Lab-grown and Imitation. Natural Gemstones are found deep within the earth's surface. They have been formed over many years and without the interference of … [Read more...]
Tiger’s Eye Gemstone: Legends and Facts
Tiger Eye (also called Tiger's Eye) is a semi-precious gemstone from the quartz family. It is easily spotted by it's luminescent band that resembles a cat's eye (or tiger in this case!!) Mostly you see these in brown tones, but they can also be seen in red tones or yellow tones... all with the tell-tale band. I love working with this gem. The brilliant 'band' seems to … [Read more...]
Tools of the Jewelry Trade: Disc Cutter
Do you have any idea how much fun it is to get a new tool? OK, I know this sounds like a 'guy' thing... but any metals jeweler will tell you that we get so much pleasure from being able to do something creative with our new 'toy' This new disc cutter cuts squares from metal. So what you say? Now I can create my own designs more quickly. Plus I now have endless ways to … [Read more...]
Do you love COPPER Jewelry?.
Well those of you who follow me KNOW that I adore copper. When I first started taking metals classes, the instructors always had us making the designs and templates with copper. Copper was considered a low cost alternative to silver and gold (Duh!) So we could make lots of mistakes on our journey to become designers... without the financial burden. That made lots of … [Read more...]