May 6, 2010

Jewelery Supplies: Go Ahead and Splurge

Filed under: Tips and Techniques — Tags: , — @ 9:03 am

Having good quality jewelry supplies is imperative to the craft. It really doesn’t matter if you’re a hobbyist or if you’re a professional, having the right tools can make or break your project as well as increase your enjoyment of the process.

When I started making jewelry, I thought mini tools would be cool because they wouldn’t take up too much space, I could take them anywhere and they were cheap. I quickly found that my purchase was not the right choice. Their cuts were jagged and my hands would cramp with every use making projects a hassle. My jewelry designs looked sloppy and thrown together due to the struggle with the mini tools. It was time for me to invest in some good jewelry supplies.

If you do a lot of wire working like I do, then Chain Nose, Flat Nose, and Round Nose Pliers and Flush Cutters are jewelry supplies you must have. Nina Designs sells a great all-in-one starter kit with all the essentials. It includes one pair each of Chain Nose, Flat Nose and Round Nose Pliers and a nice sharp Side Cutter.

My absolute favorite tool is the Tronex Flush Cutters. They truly are the creme de la creme of wire cutters. Although the Tronex cutters are fabulous for smaller gauge wire, they slice through our thickest 22 gauge wire items like butter! I recommend this item to everyone!

After my experience with the cheap mini tools, I understand the importance of having a quality set of jewelry supplies, used exclusively for my jewelry designs. My pieces look professionally made and my new tools are a dream to use!

What’s your “must have” jewelry tool?

Mini cutter already cramping my hand!

I love my Tonex Flush Cutters

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April 30, 2010

Tips for Wire Wrapping Silver Charms

Filed under: Learn Something New — Tags: , — @ 8:41 am

Garden-themed silver charms cluster together at the front of this necklace, creating an image of an idyllic moment in a secret garden. I often wire wrap several charms together to create a story. When using multiple charms, I prefer a dense arrangement without a lot of empty space. Often it takes three or four tries before I achieve balance, especially with asymmetrical designs.

As jewelers, many of you are probably familiar with the regrettable realization that a wire wrapped link must be adjusted to correct a necklace design. Wire wrapping provides wonderful security, but closed wire wraps cannot be changed or moved – they must be cut apart and completely re-done!

Several years ago, I started using a wire wrapping trick that has saved me lots of time: I make all of my link sections, but I keep the loops on both ends of each link open until I’m done designing the necklace. This allows me to rearrange the order of the links without requiring me to cut apart earlier work. I can add a link here or remove a link there by simply connecting the open loops. Once I’ve got an arrangement I’m pleased with, I go back and wire-wrap closed all of the loops. Do you have a favorite jewelry making trick?

It took me several tries to achieve balance in this assymetrical design.

Keeping my loops open allowed me to rearrange the links to find the best balance.

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January 18, 2010

Enamel Jewelry

Filed under: Learn Something New,Tips and Techniques — Tags: , , — @ 10:00 am

Enamel Jewelry offers endless color opportunities. Resin enamel has become a popular way to embellish sterling silver. A few months ago, I visited Rio Grande, where Patti Sowell walked me through the resin enamel process. It requires a good deal of practice and patience but the results are worth it. An overview is currently posted in our Classroom, along with a detailed PDF that you can use to order supplies and print out to keep beside you while you work. Have fun!

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December 18, 2009

Preventing and Removing Tarnish on Sterling Silver Jewelry Findings

Filed under: Jewelry Care — Tags: , — @ 4:40 pm

Over time, any sterling silver jewelry findings exposed to air will tarnish. Sterling silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals. It is the other metals, primarily copper, that makes sterling silver tarnish. The copper reacts to the moisture and sulfur in the air, causing sterling silver to tarnish. Silver tarnishes faster in areas with high humidity and air pollution. Chemicals (hairspray, perfume, deodorant, body lotion, bleach, etc) as well as acidic foods can speed up the tarnishing process.

Properly storing silver will helpl prevent it from tarnishing.

Properly storing silver will help prevent it from tarnishing.

  • The best way to prevent tarnishing is to store clean, dry sterling silver in a dry airtight container, like a ziplock bag.
  • An anti-tarnish strip with the silver jewelry in a ziplock bag will help fight against tarnish.
  • Don’t leave silver jewelry in the bathroom, and do not wear it the shower, swimming pool or hot tub. Humidity can speed up the oxidation process that produces tarnish.
  • Minimize sterling silver’s contact to chemicals (hairspray, perfume, body lotion, bleach, etc.).
  • After taking off silver jewelry, clean it with a dry soft cloth before putting it back into an airtight container.
  • Do not use rubber bands to bundle jewelry because when rubber bands age, they release sulfur that causes tarnishing.
  • A general rule of thumb for silver jewelry: it should be the last thing put on before leaving the house, and the first thing removed when returning home.

To read our recommendations for cleaning silver, click the link below.

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October 14, 2009

Try a Hammer Technique to customize your Jewelry Supplies

Filed under: Tips and Techniques — Tags: , , , — @ 9:56 am

Have you been looking for a way to customize your sterling silver jewelry supplies? Try hammer finishing pendants and charms. It’s an easy way to add more depth to your designs, and make them unique. You’ll need a steel block to hammer on (I bought mine from Rio Grande) and a small planishing or ball peen hammer (whichever you prefer). Adding a hammered texture to our sterling silver charms makes them look rustic and gives them a hand made appeal. I like how the rippled texture makes them less shiny and a bit “imperfect” looking.

Shiny vs. Hammer Finished Charms

Shiny vs. Hammer Finished Charms

Hammering Tips:
1) A hammer doesn’t have to be heavy to get the job done! You can actually really hurt yourself by using a hammer that is too heavy. Be careful! Using an extra heavy hammer contributes to carpels tunnel syndrome over time. Your hammer should be fairly light and comfortable to use.

2) Experiment with different types of hammers. My favorites are a planishing hammer, with two super smooth faces, one flat and one slightly convex. Both faces have smooth edges that can be used to create deeper and sharper impressions than the convex face. I also recommend trying a ball peen hammer. This hammer has one face that is round (like a ball), and will make softer smaller dips on the surface of your metal.

Take some time to experiment with this technique. With practice you’ll figure out how much force is too much and how much is just right. You’ll also begin to notice how other details of charms may change as you hammer them. For instance, notice on the karma word tag how the lines of the word “karma” became finer. You may also want to start oxidizing pieces after you hammer them for an even more rugged look! Hammer finishing is a really fun and easy way to produce unique jewelry.

Hammered Word Tag

Hammered Word Tag

Hammered and Oxidized Silver Charm

Hammered and Oxidized Silver Charm

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October 8, 2009

Letter Stamps on Gold Plate Charms: Does it Work?

Filed under: Tips and Techniques — Tags: , , — @ 8:54 am

We’ve been experimenting and playing with metal alphabet stamps on our silver and gold plate charms and pendants as a way to customize our jewelry designs. For detailed instructions on stamping and a list of tools, check out our classroom. Yesterday I wrote about stamping on our different sterling silver charms and pendants. Our popular gold plate vermeil style charms offer a warm, rich canvas for stamping. We also tried using markers to add contrast to the stamped letters. This is what we found:

Stamps on gold plate, without ink added.

Stamps on gold plate, without ink added.

1. One of our main questions on stamping gold plate was whether the sterling silver would show through on the stamped letters. Fortunately, we found that the letters maintained their gold tone. However, our examples have not been tested over time – it is possible that over time and with wear, the silver may peek out at the edges of the letters. Does anyone have experience with time-worn stamped gold plate charms? How is the durability of the gold on the stamped letters?

With black dry erase marker added to the stamped letters.

With black dry erase marker added to the stamped letters.

2. In an effort to make the letters pop, we tried adding black dry erase marker to them. On both our cast gold plate word and letter charms and our hand-stamped samples, the black dry erase was quite successful in adding contrast, making the letter or word pop against the gold plate. We did notice that the deeper the hand-stamped letters, the better they retained the dry erase ink. After adding the ink, we waited about a minute for it to dry before wiping off the excess. The dry erase maker also worked well on our sterling silver stamped charms.

The top cast charm has dry erase, the bottom is without.

The top charm has dry erase, the bottom is without.

3. The stamped charms with dry erase marker have not stood the test of time. If the charms are exposed to water, it’s possible the dry erase could fade. We also tried using a black sharpie marker, which would be more permanent, but found that when the excess was wiped away, the permanent ink darkened the overall color of the gold plate.

We’ve had such fun playing with metal letter stamps and are inspired by all the design possibilities stamping presents. Who else has caught the stamping bug? Do you have tips and recommendations for successful stamping?

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October 7, 2009

Customize your Jewelry with Alphabet Stamps

Filed under: Tips and Techniques — Tags: , , , — @ 10:03 am

We recently started playing with letter stamps, and let me tell you, it is addictive!  We carry a number of blank silver pendants and charms.  In the last few months, we’ve received quite a few questions about stamping: how is it done, which pieces do we recommend, does it work on our gold plate?  We decided to experiment and find out! We set up a workstation in our office with the basic tools (steel plate, heavy brass hammer, set of steel alphabet stamps) and went to work. See our classroom for more detailed step by step instructions and tool information on stamping. After playing for about an hour, this is what we discovered:

Thicker silver takes letter stamps very nicely.

Thicker silver takes letter stamps very nicely.

1. The cleanest results were achieved when stamping on thicker silver, such as our plain round disks, rectangle disks, etc.  The letters stamped fairly deeply into the silver without bending the overall pendants.  The back of the pendants have minor scuff marks opposite the letters, but both sides of the pendant are still flat.  See our “groovy” example below.

2. The new thinner spangles work with the stamping, but result in a more rough, handmade look.  The thinner silver spangles disks become warped after being stamped with the alphabet letters.  The letters also show through on the back of the disk.  Additionally, the silver became depressed around the letters, making them a bit more indistinct.  We found the letters difficult to read until we added black dry erase marker to them.  See our “love me tender” example.  If you like the DYI look, the spangles are very charming and offer a larger surface area for a longer message or poem.

(To keep reading and see more photos, click here)

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