Fine and sterling silver. Not sure what the pear stone is - I pulled it from a ring I bought at a market. The freeform rose cut is moss agate, and the kyanite earrings I shared a few days ago (before adding findings - I got sick so haven’t gifted them to my SIL yet)
Soon to be drop earrings for my sister in law, as soon as the craft store opens and I can get the prefab ear wires. I figure everyone else will be getting stuff for the baby, but moms deserve a little gift at the baby shower too.
Sterling, fine silver, and rose-cut kyanite stones.
My custom stamp turned out super neat tho. I’m really happy with it!
So anyway I’ll be harvesting the plate and maybe the granules for the remake. Live and learn!
I have a habit of starting several projects and working on whichever one strikes my fancy (or whichever one matches the materials I have in supply) at my dedicated "hobby hour." Organizing the projects, with the separate pieces, templates, and stones, is getting to be kind of a hassle.
How do you organize multiple ongoing projects at your bench? Containers? Bags? What do you find most convenient?
Moss agate, sterling, and fine silver.
I’m proud of the bezel on this one - I sanded it down a lot, and it covers much less of the stone than my first bezel projects. Also glad that the bail worked out. Before I put it on this wheat chain, I thought it might have been too big, but it feels reasonably proportional to me.
Someday I’ll set up proper, non-phone photos, but probably not for anything I keep 🤪
I picked this up at a flea market this weekend and am curious about how to identify it! My guess is Victorian mourning ring, but I am not remotely an expert, and would welcome other suggestions!
There is a worn “STERLING” mark on the inside band that does not photograph with my phone. The black center stone is bezel set, and I don’t see any obvious glue marks. There’s what might be a cast line or repair line along the underside of the ring.
I think the surrounding beads are steel-cut rivets(?). One side of the bottom of the ring has four clear pinpoints that match the location of the “stones,” and I see some indication of others underneath the others (mostly worn away and difficult to see on camera).
The stone I would usually think onyx, but the underside makes me question that - the center bulges slightly and there appear to be some kind of flow lines. It doesn’t feel especially cool to the touch, either. I know early semi-synthetic plastics were available in the 1840s, and based on the surface I think it’s softer than onyx, but I haven’t done any scratch testing.
What other info could I get y’all to help identify it? Thank you very much.
I used a bit of scrap to freehand the bail. Eventually I’m going to be down to teeny tiny scraps I can’t use. Hopefully by then I’ll learn to properly melt it down and recycle it!
I’m reaching the limits of my patience with my Dremel + flex attachment. No matter what I do, I can’t get my bits to spin centered, so there’s a lot of chatter and wandering along my sheet when I try to drill. The Dremel itself is too big for me to comfortably hold for this kind of work, so I’m looking at an upgrade.
I know Foredom is the main name for flex shafts, but are there other brands I should be looking at? What about micromotors? Bench space is a bit cramped, but I have room for either device.
I’m a semi-serious hobbyist (10h per week or so on the high end), not a full-time bench jeweler, so I’d also be fine with a lesser grade tool that works well but doesn’t necessarily meet the rigor requirements of fulltime work.
Thanks for any advice or recommendations on either!
Third time’s the charm with my first prong setting - I overdid the heat and melted through my first two attempts. I eyeballed everything and accidentally clipped a prong a bit too short, but it holds!
17g sterling silver and aquamarine.
Haven’t been able to sit down and do much silver stuff, and I’ve been down lately, and when I got the chance tonight I melted through my first prong setting. Again. So I dug out an orbicular jasper cab I bought in February and went back to bezels.
She’s rough, and the solder on the decorative wire went walkabout at some point, but I really like this cab and making this pendant made me happy. I’m going to wear it to work tomorrow.
Make bad art yall 🫡
PS shoutout to the chopstick that played the part of my bezel pusher and burnisher, because those went walkabout too.
I have a 2013 Sonata with about 150k. Some little things are starting to go bad - clips on the front bumper edges snapping off, etc. I’ve fixed a few myself, like replacing the hood struts, cabin air filter, and various lightbulb replacements, but I’m not really a car person.
The primary one that’s on my nerves is that the lock/unlock rocker button on the driver-side door only UNlocks. Nothing happens when I press the lock side.
Does anyone know what would cause it to be faulty? And a general estimate on repair cost/whether it’s DIY-able by a basic-level handy person?
Thanks for your time!
Mother’s Day is next weekend, and I made my mom a gift.
Once, I asked her as a young child to draw me something. She drew me a version of this “Snoopy” head. As she tells it, after she showed me the drawing, I looked up at her and said “can’t you do any better?” 😅😂
She still loves to tell that story (I’m in my 30s), and to her it was one of the first signs I’d be some kind of artist (I’m a photographer and videographer by profession, silversmith by recent hobby). I adapted her sketch to work as a closed pendant for durability. I think she’ll really like it!
The first wire version is a copper test version. The next two are silver, but I overheated them and blobbed out the wire where the eye meets the head. I used a different construction method for the third attempt, and it worked well.