Better pictures... finally...

Finally, I've been able to get the pictures I took last week edited. At least, half of them. But one of the things I'm happy about is finally getting pictures of my enameled ray-gun and rocket ship pendants. It's a series of copper pendants that have been enameled and then screen printed with images of either a ray-gun or a rocket ship. Some are double sided, so that you can flip them around to match what you're wearing. I have these in just about every color you can imagine.



Also, I now have some nice images of the sterling silver stacking rings I made awhile back. Each has a different texture, either from different hammers or smooth.


And this is a new piece. Sterling silver wire soldered into squiggly doodle shapes, with a handmade clasp. Everything is given a delicate hammered texture, making it look faceted. Plus, all connections are soldered, so you don't have to worry about anything coming undone. Look forward to seeing these in my Etsy shop soon.

Oh dear...

Check out the latest designer I've found on Etsy that makes me jealous. Right now I'm craving Cabin's burned cork message board with, complete with matching tacks. It's serene and almost regal, in it's own way. Christmas is coming, and I'm working on my list. However, I can't decide between the stag, or the chipmunk.
I'm going to need a house to put everything in, and soon.

Yay, I finally got a spot in the Etsy treasury list! Now everyone else can see the cool stuff I've found too.

The theme I was going for was forged items, either cold-forged, like in jewelry, or hot-forged, like blacksmithing. Sadly, there isn't a lot of blacksmithing on Etsy, so it was difficult to find some good examples. There was, however, plenty of jewelry.

I was also trying to pick people who didn't have tons and tons of sales already. There were a few that I couldn't help, just because they fit the theme so perfectly, or they had something really cool, but the majority of them aren't well known. At least, not as much as some people who've sold hundreds of things.

It'll only be up for the next two days, so you better check it out fast.

The Metals Club got some press!

It's nice to get some university publicity and attention about the organization we run:

Metalsmithing, Jewelry Club plans fall sale - ARTS

Although, it would be nicer if it was in a newspaper with a wider reader base.

Be our friend on myspace: UNT Metals Club

Latest Portfolio piece finished

So, I've just finished my first portfolio piece for this semester. I'm pretty satisfied with it, overall.
It's a locket, with a cloisonné enamel front and a silver wire filigree style back. It was inspired by a picture of an ancient Minoan urn that I found online, and the back is a sort of underwater shipwreck scene with Greek urns (amphora) and a trident resting on the sea floor.
It's probably my first piece that is entirely sterling silver, if you're not counting the copper base for the enameled octopus. The locket isn't really very functional, because of all the open spaces in the door, but it would work for something like a picture. I'm also particularly happy with the chain, even though it has a tendency to get tangled. Machine-made chains usually just don't seem to compliment my work very well, and I really like the aesthetic of the balled up ends of the silver wire.

These images are also the first I've taken with this camera. I think they turned out ok, but I'd like to take some more with it and see if I can do better next time.