Pomp and Circumstance

It's been graduation season around my neck of the woods!

First we had high school graduation for the k-12 school I work at and my older daughter, Laur, attends. (actually it is past tense, 'worked at' as I am now a full time jewelry designer! woo hoo!)

Laur found the greatest dress on line and asked me to design a headband for her to wear with it. It turned out really cute and as a result I now have my first hair accessory in my shop!




















Next we had my niece Sadie's high school graduation.


Sadie is now off to Europe to travel so we gave her cold hard cash. It was about $1,000,000,000 if I remember correctly. (She better send a thank you note.)

My nieces LOVE my jewelry so I always give them a piece for gift giving occasions. Okay, they actually have never said they LOVE it or LIKE it ,but they always smile politely and say thank you. (Look, some crazy aunts give underwear or collectible cat figurines, so they should just count their lucky stars!)

So I gave Sadie one of my "Your Fortune Teller" necklaces so she can now plan out her future by seeing what her future husband's occupation will be and how many children she will have.

The girls were having a good time playing with it. At one point my niece, Jo, yelled out "Who has the husband machine?"

Well, that certainly got the wheels in my head turning. My soldering iron is preheating as we speak...

Circus Mix Up Necklace

Pictured: Fortune Teller Necklace

A common reaction I get when people see my jewelry is :

"You made that? How did you do it?"

Most people are satisfied with : "I soldered it."

However, some really ask a lot of questions about the soldering process, how the pictures get inside, how long does one piece take, etc.

With this in mind I took photos of my latest project from beginning to end. Here is a little 'photo essay' of my latest project, the Circus Mix Up Necklace.

Once I have thought up a new design I make templates out of cardboard and graph paper. I use these patterns to cut out the pieces each time I will make this necklace. I usually make at least three templates before I have a design and size I am happy with. Sometimes I make the entire project three times before I work all the bugs out.

Next I build a frame. For the circus mix up this is a cube divided into four compartments. I need two of these cubes for each necklace.

Next I find the images I want to use. In this case they are images from vintage circus posters. I scan them into my computer, scale them to the size I want, print them out, and then cut them out using an exacto knife. Cutting them is a slow painstaking process!

Next I coat the images with a protective glaze and add foam squares on the back so the images will be raised in the box, not laying flat.

Once all the images are glued into their compartment it's time to cut the glass. For these cubes I need four tiny panes for each cube. Once the glass is cut I have to clean each piece thoroughly and then use tweezers to place them on the cube so I don't get fingerprints on them.

Now it's time for the copper tape. Anywhere I put this tape my silver solder will stick. If i run my soldering iron over the glass and copper tape it will only adhere to the tape, not the glass. For these cubes I have to cut pieces for the top, bottom, and every single edge. 14 pieces for each cube! I use a bone folder to burnish the tape. (That means to press it down and make it smooth so there are no wrinkles or air bubbles.) A bone folder is the off white tool in the upper right corner of the photo. It's great for folding and creasing paper and I love saying the name bone folder. I often yell out "Who took my bone folder?!" to my kids even when it's not missing just so I can say 'bone folder'. Bone folder. Okay, I'll stop now.

Finally time to solder. I brush flux paste onto the copper tape and then solder away. I usually solder a couple pieces during each soldering session because I have long wait periods. When I solder a side it heats the glass and I get condensation inside the cube. I have to wait for it to cool down and the moisture drops on the underside of the glass to dry up before I can do another side.

Next I make a twisted wire hanger or add whatever findings I am using. For this necklace that is a sterling silver headpin and two filigree bead caps.

Not done yet. The final step is to clean the piece. This is a lengthy process and I now know why rich people hire servants to polish their silver. I can literally sit and polish one piece for an hour and still think it needs more. My goal is to grow my business big enough that I can have my own butler to polish my pieces for me. I don't care if all my profit goes to pay his salary. It would be worth it. Of course he would wear a butler suit and have an english accent and name like Nevel.

Okay ready to see the finished product? Click here to see the completed necklace in my shop!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...oh my!

I have a collection of really old circus images and I am so excited about the great new projects they are inspiring.



I am going to be adding these new pieces to my shop over the next week or so.


The first one I've just completed are my Lion Tamer Earrings.









I only have one pair of earrings in my collection so far, (my trapeze artist earrings) so I thought it was time to add some more.



The most impressive thing about this entire project is that I took the photo of the earrings in my ear myself! My usual models, my daughter and her friends, are too busy with the last week of school festivities to help me out... Where are their priorities?!

My New Super Hero

I have always been a huge Wonder Woman fan.

When my sister and I were little we used to cut up sections of a paper towel roll and cover them with tin foil to make our own bullet repelling Wonder Woman bracelets. (Stop laughing! We were poor latchkey kids!)

Last night I went with my husband to see Iron Man and I now have a new super hero in my life. Okay, the movie wasn't that great... but he made his iron man suit using a soldering iron! It looked just like mine!

I kept nudging My husband and saying 'did you see that'?

He was trying to watch the movie and ignoring me till I finally leaned over and whispered, "I think I'll build one of those suits tonight." He started laughing and we both almost had tears coming out of our eyes as we tried to muffle our laughter in the theater.

What made it so funny is we both knew if he walked out one morning and saw me looking a wreck after staying up all night building my own homemade soldered iron man costume, he wouldn't bat an eyelash. He'd probably glance over while pouring his coffee and say, "Can you please make sure this mess is cleaned up before I get home tonight?"