Caoimhe Lily

Caoimhe Lily is on SoopSee!

2010-08-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

I've consolidated my jewelry pics and blog to make it easier to find everything in one place. That place is Soopsee, and you can check out my new website here at www.soopsee.com/profile/CLjewelry!

The Family Heart Garden & Copper Wave pendants

2010-06-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

I have created a new set of designs this week. These copper pendants are different, because they are rectangular instead of my usual circles.

The first is the Family Heart Garden. I hand stamped the pendant with a lovely garden of tiny hearts reaching for the sky. The hearts can symbolize your children or family members, and the flying angel heart can symbolize a loved one that has passed and is watching over their little ones from above, or the hearts can simply be enjoyed for their whimsical modern beauty.

Here are two examples of the Family Heart Gardens:

The next design I will share today is the Copper Wave Pendant. I hand crafted this beautiful pendant from a piece of copper sheet. After filing the edges and sanding it to create a smooth surface, I annealed it by applying heat from a torch and then bent it into a wave. I also tumbled it to harden the metal (so that it won't bend out of shape) and give it a polished look. The pictures do not do this piece justice, the copper is bright and shiny which makes it hard to photograph properly.

The wave pattern was stamped using a unique stamping tool that was hand carved by a metalsmith named John Peter. During his lifetime, John created many stamping tools for his own projects, in all different shapes and sizes, and I recently acquired a few of these one-of-a-kind stamps, as I mentioned in a previous post. I used one of these special stamps to create the pattern that you see here:

If you are interested in buying one of these family pendants or a limited edition wave pendant, please look for them on www.CaoimheLily.etsy.com or convo me on Etsy for details.

Don't Eat the Beans

2010-06-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

I've been away from my work bench the last few days, just spending time with family and taking a break from jewelry making (aside from sending out orders, of course). I have some new blog entries in mind for this week, and a new copper technique that I will be trying out soon, so stay tuned for that. For today though, I'm just taking it easy. I'm about to go cook some enchiladas and spanish rice, and then play with Caoimhe for a while before bedtime.

She still isn't old enough for preschool board games like Candyland (she's just under 2 years old), but I found a game today that I thought she might be old enough to play, it's called Don't Spill The Beans. It's just a little wobbly pot that you put plastic beans into, and when it gets too uneven it spills over. Easy enough for her to do, so I was excited to get it. But when we began playing, she kept asking if she could eat the beans and refused to put them in the pot. It made me nervous, so I switched the beans with goldfish crackers and tried again to get her to play, but she ate those up lol. So, we're going to have to play it after dinner when she's not hungry. :)

Enjoy your evening,
Nickie

One new stamp, and five on the way!

2010-06-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

It's been over a week since my last entry, and a while since I've updated with any new designs. I have a few new things in the works, as I received some new charms in the mail today, but they're not ready to share yet. I do have a bracelet that I will soon be talking about here, and if you're a Facebook fan you've already seen it (if you aren't a Facebook fan, see my previous entry for details). It's a wicked dragon wraparound cuff, but because it deserves its own blog entry I will save it for tomorrow.

Tonight's entry is all about design stamps. These little stamps are what makes hand stamped jewelry so much fun. Design stamps usually run about $10 plus shipping, and are available in all sorts of designs. I always have a hard time resisting the urge to buy new stamps, and I've given in to temptation this week and bought six new stamps for my growing collection.

The first stamp I bought is a spiral finial stamp, and it's a fancy little thing that I will be using to decorate some of my nicer pieces. I have an anniversary gift to make this week so I will be breaking it in very soon. I've been looking forward to buying this stamp for a while now, so it's great to finally have it in my arsenal. Here's a pic of the stamp:

Isn't it gorgeous? It's one of the nicest stamps I've seen, for sure.

So now, I am currently the proud owner of these stamps (all of which are available to be used for custom jewelry requests): a princess tiara, leaf, heart, tiny heart, heart with wings, tiny star, fleur de lis, two baby feet, scroll, wavy line with dots, gift bow, flame, tear/petal shape, bird #1, bird #2, apple, and the new finial stamp.

The other five stamps that I have bought this week are not as fancy as this one, but they are just as wonderful. This is because the stamps are hand crafted and one of a kind. They are squiggly wave-like designs of differing sizes that can't be bought elsewhere, and I just couldn't pass them up. They were made by a man named John who created his own stamps by hand grinding, sawing or filing the ends of old Allen wrenches, cold chisels, and screwdrivers. These tools are made of very hard metal, which is hard as heck to put a nick in, much less shape and design. I can only imagine the work that went into these five stamps, and the many others that John made. Here is a picture of them:

Isn't that amazing? I would love to have the chance to sit and look through that whole batch of designs. It would be like Christmas morning to this aspiring metalworker. :)

Anyway, when John recently passed away, he left his stamps and several books full of amazing designs to his good friend Nik, who is planning to publish the designs into a book and is slowly selling the stamps to others who will use them. As you can see, the stamps have a real history, so I am proud to be the new owner to a handful of them.

I can't wait to see what I will be able to create!

And The Winner Is...

2010-06-03T17:01:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Patricia who is the winner of the first official Caoimhe Lily giveaway!

Patricia was the 22nd person to become a fan of the Caoimhe Lily page on Facebook. Her name was chosen by a random number generator on Random.org. Her prize is a beautiful hand crafted copper bracelet, personalized with the name of her choice. Patricia, please message me by Saturday, June 5, to claim your prize!

If you didn't win this time, don't worry - there will be more contests and giveaways to come. Stay tuned to my Facebook page, and you can also follow my blog to stay informed of special deals and new items.

Also, remember that Facebook fans will receive 10% off of their orders throughout June with the coupon code FACEBOOK, so if you have your eye on a bracelet like the one Patricia has won, or a custom personalized necklace, now is a great time to make your purchase.

Thanks again, everyone!
~Nickie

*EDIT: Patricia has decided to forfeit her prize, and a runner-up has been chosen. Congrats to entrant #3, Casey S.!

Giveaway #1 - Personalized Hand Crafted Copper Bracelet

2010-06-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

Who wants free jewelry? I know you do!

I'm holding a giveaway on my new Facebook page - and you could be the lucky winner! Click on the Like button on my Facebook page, and then suggest my page to your friends. When I reach 50+ fans, I will choose one lucky person at random to win a free handmade copper bracelet, personalized with their name and any of my design stamps.

You can become a fan and be eligible for the giveaway by clicking on the Like button on my page here: Become a Fan of Caoimhe Lily on Facebook

Good luck, everyone!

Very busy week

2010-05-29T21:47:00.000-07:00

The past week or so has been pretty busy. I've had a lot of orders go out (a big thank you to everyone who has bought something from me recently) and I've also made five or six new items. I just finished listing them in my store yesterday, with the exception of one that I will post pics of here. I'll probably add pics of some of the new items here tomorrow, as there are a couple I'm excited about sharing, but I'm too sleepy to do much tonight.

The item I want to share with you tonight is a copper bracelet that I just made this afternoon. As with many other things I create, this bracelet ended up looking much different than originally planned. It was supposed to have a butterfly design but in the end I decided it would look much better like this, and I'm saving the butterfly I cut out for a later date. Instead, I decided to go with hand stamped flowers, and the phrase "Bloom where you are planted" is the centerpiece. I used my new bird stamps, of course - I absolutely love these two designs and I've been using them whenever possible. I glued a Swarovski crystal to the center of the main flower, and the dark blue bead really pops with color against the copper, pulling the whole piece together nicely. The edges are hammered and darkened for an antique look, and overall I think this bracelet turned out quite nicely, especially considering it's the first cuff bracelet I've ever made. The bracelet is 2" wide, 20g thick, and is currently sized to fit my small 5" wrist but is adjustable.

It was rather hard to get a good pic of this bracelet because of its larger size (and I hate how closeup photos always show tiny dings and scratches that are barely noticeable otherwise) but I managed to get a few that were fairly decent. So, without further ado, here is my limited edition "Bloom where you are planted" copper cuff bracelet:

On Etsy's front page...twice in one week!

2010-05-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right! I made it on Etsy's front page twice in six days. The first item, featured on Tuesday 05/11, was my set of two children's art magnets. They're perfect for displaying art or for showing off a perfect grade on the big test. Here's a pic of my own magnets, and another set which were made for a customer:

This afternoon, I was suddenly swamped with convos (short for Conversations, the messaging system on Etsy) and checked to see if I was featured again. My "Class of 2010" hand stamped pendant had been chosen as an alternate on a featured Treasury, and when the first item sold, mine took its place on the front page. The pendant instantly sold, and I got a few other sales as well. I've relisted the items, but if you're interested in the graduation pendant, I suggest buying it ASAP as I'm almost out of star charms.

I'm not sure how often a person gets the chance to be featured on Etsy's front page, but this seems almost too good to be true. I'm definitely honored that people like my items, and I'm so happy to finally get my store a little bit of publicity. Hopefully I can continue to make items that people are interested in, and make a decent living while I'm at it, lol!

Gone To The Birds

2010-05-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

I bought a few new stamps this week, and I've been having a lot of fun with them. One is a bird, another is a tear shape, and the third is a flame stamp. The flame stamp is being used for a wedding ring that I am making for my brother in law. I haven't had the chance to use it elsewhere yet. But I have been having a lot of fun with the bird and tear stamps. I've been using the tear stamp to make flower petals, and I've added some new nature pendants to my store. They are very modern looking, and very cute! I also have a new bird stamp being delivered at the end of the week, so I will be able to vary the scenes a bit more. Here are the pictures I promised:

You can find these pendants and more for sale in my store. I also have a new ring for sale. This is a ring that I have been wanting to make for a while, and I finally managed to get it finished. I made one for myself, and I listed a second one for sale in my store. I custom ordered the flower in a dark red color, and it has a lovely satin finish. The dark red looks great next to the shiny sterling silver, and I really like the simplicity and beauty of the finished ring. I made myself a matching necklace, but I forgot to take pictures of it. I needed something to wear with my new black dress, and this ring & necklace set are just perfect. I will try to take a picture of the necklace tomorrow and post it here in this entry.

That's all for now, but I will be adding new bird necklaces soon so keep an eye out for those. They are all one of a kind, so if you see something you like, be sure to grab it quick before it's gone!

New items coming soon!

2010-05-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

I have some exciting new items on the way...a new ring for sale, and a new pendant design that I'm excited about. Stay tuned, I will be updating my blog within the next day or two, as soon as I can upload the pics!

Hidden Message Jewelry

2010-05-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I had a conversation with a wonderful lady named Karin Castens who is one of my biggest inspirations. She writes a great blog under the name of Phantasteria, and her jewelry is just amazing. Like me, she has a love of creating hidden secrets in her jewelry. As I'm still new at the whole metalworking thing, I haven't made nearly as many wonderful creations as she has, but as we were talking about this very subject of jewelry secrets, I got the idea for my latest pendant.

Although I did not make the copper chain, I did make the clasp hook and the little double rings that are holding it onto the necklace. So that was fun, as I usually use store bought jump rings. I made the pendant out of two 1" copper discs. The pendant can be worn with either disc in front; it looks lovely both ways. The first disc is filled with what seems like a random stamping of letters, but by placing the second disc on top, a hidden message is revealed.

This is the type of pendant I really love making. It's unique, unusual, contains an element of mystery & surprise, and has an antique hammered finish that gives it a nice bit of personality. I'm a little surprised that it has received quite a bit of compliments, however, because while I like this sort of piece, I wasn't aware that it was something that others would like also. But, as it has been pretty well received, I will probably add a few versions of this in my store in the next week or so.

Here are the pics of my hidden message pendant (I still haven't thought of a good name yet...if you have a suggestion, please let me know):

New items for sale in my store today

2010-04-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to say that I've been working my butt off this past week, and have some new items in my store. Here are a few pics, and you can click on them for a link to their store listing:

I also made a double wrap leather bracelet for my sister that I have been needing to make for a long time. I have these for sale in my store also:

She Sells Sea Shells...

2010-04-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

I've begun to delve a little deeper into the world of metalworking, and just finished a project that I'm quite proud of. I love jewelry with moving parts and hidden secrets, and this piece has both! Using my hand tools and a sheet of copper, I created a pretty little seashell pendant that opens and closes. Hiding inside the shell is a little sterling silver "pearl."

This pendant was a little difficult to make, since it needed to open and close and I have never made anything with movement before. After drawing a clam shell template and cutting out the top piece of the shell, I used my center punch to etch lines in it to resemble the grooves in a real seashell. Next, I cut out a copper disc with my disc cutter, and used a doming block to shape it. At first, I wasn't sure how to connect the two pieces together, I just knew that it needed to open like an actual shell. So I decided to make a type of hinge by punching out a slot in the domed half, and wrapping the top piece over and through the back. This was the hardest part, getting it to wrap around loosely enough to open and close smoothly without the pieces falling apart.

Once the shell was complete, I added a copper chain and two sea-themed charms: a seahorse charm that I have been wanting to use (I love seahorses) and a little sand dollar that I made. For the pearl, I melted down a scrap piece of sterling silver into a ball. My plan was to solder the ball to the shell, but I accidentally left my torch on the ball too long and melted it. Eek! Then I noticed what a cool texture the melted silver created, so I added a bit more silver and melted it as well. Finally, I soldered another silver ball in place, and then threw the whole piece in the tumbler to polish it up. When I checked on it a while later, it was nicely polished but still had a bit of a rainbow color on the surface. I may still decide to polish it back to its original finish, but I thought the sheen made it look more realistic so I decided to leave it for now.

I had a lot of fun making this seashell pendant, especially it helped me to break out of my own shell and realize that I can make more than just flat stamped pendants if I put my mind to it. I plan on making one or two more to sell in my shop, so keep an eye out for it in the next couple of weeks.

Here are some pictures of the finished piece:

Customizing Your Guitar - cheap and easy ideas

2010-04-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

As you may know from a previous post, I am in love with all things Steampunk. My husband Dale is a musician, and he fell in love with the style when I showed him various guitars online that had been steampunked. He has several guitars in his collection, and has wanted to steam one of them for a long while now. So we've been keeping an eye out for parts, and began the first phase of customization a few days ago.

We haven't made any major changes to the body of the guitar yet, but the cosmetic changes we've made have made the guitar a bit more interesting already. The cool thing is, most of the things we've done here can be repeated on your own guitar to give it a one-of-a-kind appearance. All you need is a little creativity and imagination.

The main thing we used were copper washers and wire, available at any hardware store. While you're there, look around and see if anything else catches your eye. There are so many different items on the shelves that can be altered (or even used as-is) to create a cool custom look. Super glue works great, especially for metal-on-metal gluing, and I think the brand we used was Gorilla glue. (BTW, please don't hurt yourself while attempting this, beware of sharp metal edges, etc.; customize at your own risk, both to yourself and to your guitar.)

If you want to use sheet metal, your hardware store may carry copper flashing with the roofing materials, or you can check your local craft store (we found the gears used here in the scrap-booking section, believe it or not). You can also use a cheap method Dale has previously used (with varied success) to create a new pick guard: buy an aluminum For Sale or Beware of Dog sign, turn it over and draw your design on the back, and carefully cut it out. Use your existing pick guard as a guide for drilling the screw holes, and sand it with a fine grit sandpaper to prevent getting cut by sharp edges.

Another idea is to visit a thrift store and look for interesting metal button pins (such as those with band names on them, skulls, or other cool graphics) or magnets. You can remove the pin from the back and glue them to your guitar, or use them to line your guitar strap. Or, send me a convo on Etsy if you'd like to purchase a disc with a custom phrase or name on it. Girls, look through your jewelry box for costume jewelry that you no longer wear, and see if anything could be used to give your guitar a little bling. The possibilities are endless!

So, back to the current project. Here is a stock photo of the guitar Dale wanted to steam, it's a Peavey PXD Void III that he has owned for about a year. You can find the instrument details on the Peavey website.

The first thing we did was screw a copper bracket onto the pick guard and place various gears along the bracket and just underneath it, for a little visual interest. I'd like to add some moving gears to it at a later point, but for now these are fixed in place.

The next thing Dale did was remove the volume knobs and place copper washers underneath. I also wrapped copper wire around the tremolo.

Next, Dale removed the black washers under the tuning pegs and replaced them with copper ones. Since this was to be a custom guitar, I wanted to remove the shiny aluminum Void III logo on the head stock and replace it with one that was more fitting. I used the logo plate as a template and cut a new one out of 22g nickel silver, giving it a brushed finish with sandpaper to match the pick guard. I stamped the letter 'D' (Dale's initial) in the center, and Dale framed it with a copper gear. Here's a before and after of the head stock:

The last thing we did to the guitar was a surprise that I made for Dale. He loves the look of iron crosses, and has added them to several of his other guitars. So while he was out, I cut an iron cross out of a 22g copper sheet with my jewelry saw and a pair of tin snips. I hand stamped the lyrics to one of his favorite songs (Cemetery Gates by Pantera) into the cross, using various fonts for a more interesting look. I hammered the edges and aged it with liver of sulfur, sanding it down for an antiqued look.

Luckily, he loved the finished product, and it took its place on the guitar, filling out a previously empty spot.

Here is the (for now) completed guitar. We are throwing around ideas to customize the actual body and make it a true Steampunk guitar, and I'll update with pictures when we make those changes, but for now it has a pretty sweet custom look that was easy and inexpensive to do. Good luck with your customizations, and feel free to leave a comment or post a picture link of your own customized guitar.

Just an update

2010-04-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a few days since I've written an entry. I've been very tired this past week, as I've been trying to get over a cold and taking care of Caoimhe who has been sick too. Craft-wise, I have been semi-busy. I haven't gotten the chance to use my torch again yet, which I'm looking forward to doing because I have a new ring idea I want to try. I've just been stamping jewelry and wrapping beads at my workbench, for the most part. I've started making some Mother's Day pendants that I will list in my store next week. They will be pre-made and ready to ship. I also made a necklace for my grandmother, who is turning 75 tomorrow. I stamped her name on a sterling silver raised edge square pendant (available in my store) and added an acrylic flower, Swarovski crystal, and glass bead for a little embellishment. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take pictures before I wrapped her gift, but I will have a listing up soon that includes the flower beads. I think they are going to be a popular item.

Have a great weekend,
-Nickie

The First Ring For Sale, and My New Toy

2010-04-09T23:57:00.000-07:00

First, I am excited because I bought a new toy today. Instead of the $15 micro soldering torch I have been using (which blew out repeatedly at crucial moments during brazing) I am now the proud owner of an oxygen/propylene torch! Yayyyyy! I feel like an actual metalworker now, like I finally got my wings, so to speak. I used it today to finish a ring that I wasn't able to complete with the microtorch since I could never get it hot enough to work on copper. It is still a little intimidating but I can't wait to use it again - soldering is SO easy now, it's crazy. I forgot to take a picture of the copper ring I made (I gave it to Dale already) but I'll take pictures tomorrow and post them on here soon.

Speaking of rings, the very first ring ever for sale in my store is now listed! It's a more elegant version of my Sleeping Beauty ring, as it features fancy scroll stamps on either side of the garnet and I also stamped a tiny secret heart on the inside of the band. The ring is a delicate size 4.5 and fits so wonderfully on my pinky finger. It is already so hard to part with my creations, but this ring is special to me because it is exactly the ring I have always dreamed of but never could find anything similar. I almost hope nobody buys it so that I can give it to Caoimhe. I will have to make another one just for her sometime.

Well, thanks for reading, I'm off to bed - enjoy your weekend!

*** You can find the new Sleeping Beauty ring for sale in my store here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=44485665 ***

Sleeping Beauty

2010-04-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

I'm sleepy tonight (it's after midnight already) and I have a sore throat, so I'm not feeling so good right now. But I wanted to share a picture of a ring I made today, because I am very proud of how it has turned out. It is the first silver band ring I have made, and the second I have attempted with a bezel set gemstone. It's also the first ring I've made that was nice enough to sign (it has a CL stamp on the inside, for Caoimhe Lily) and I also roughly stamped it with .925 to show the silver content.

I chose a natural garnet as the centerpiece, for its lovely dark red color. It can look almost black in certain lighting, and in front of a bright light the red is a perfect shade of scarlet. I decided to go with a lightly brushed, lightly antiqued sterling silver band, for a simple yet elegant look. The garnet is in a raised bezel setting which makes the gem appear larger than it is, and it is delicately wrapped in a cushion of gallery wire that reminds me of delicate upside-down hearts. It looks very princess-y to me, like something Snow White would wear on her ring finger. Such a dainty little thing, yet the color is bold and it almost looks like a single drop of blood is framed here in silver - maybe it was the single drop that fell from Sleeping Beauty's finger as it was pricked by the spinning wheel? Hmm, Sleeping Beauty, what a lovely name for a ring! I'm not sure I'll be able to part with this one anytime soon, but I wanted to share it with you because you will probably see a similar one in my shop sometime soon.

I'm off to bed now. More tomorrow...

Ashton's Cross-Time InfluXuator

2010-03-31T22:03:00.000-07:00

There is a very special place in my heart for Steampunk artifacts. If you're not familiar with the term, Steampunk is a unique mixture of science fiction and creative anachronisms; it's a way of using various media to produce items which are fictional mechanical inventions or technology appearing at an earlier date. Imagine how a computer might have looked if it were invented in the Victorian era, or a steam-powered shotgun. Exciting, right?

There's a whole sub-culture of steam lovers out there, and although I'm not into role-playing or dressing up as an air pirate, I do love a good piece of jewelry. Some pieces I personally own (and I love to give credit where it is due) are this gorgeous brass ring from Catherinette Rings, made by the very talented Daniel Proulx, and this amazing handcrafted watch by Marrianne:

So of course, once I am more experienced in metalworking, I dream of making similarly beautiful items.

Tonight, my son Ashton helped me create a fun little pendant that I think turned out to be pretty cool. The pendant is a "Cross-Time InfluXuator" and is used for personal time travel. Unfortunately it is broken, so the wearer (sent from the year 1884) is permanently stuck in the present day. On the back is stamped: "If found please return to Doktor Chrono." Ash helped come up with the names, he is so inventive.

The pendant is made of copper, with a nickel silver disc inside. The nickel disc was originally supposed to spin around to display several different dates, but unfortunately it didn't work out that way. I riveted the discs together, but although I put a piece of cardboard in between the pieces to allow movement after riveting, they were still hammered too closely and the piece did not spin. As I was trying to loosen it a bit with a pair of pliers, the sharp edge of the metal sliced my thumb wide open. It didn't help that my fingers were filthy with metal shavings and god knows what else from my workbench. After cleaning my thumb with peroxide and neosporin, and covering it with a bandage, I sat back down and decided to just glue the parts together and be done with it.

Then Ash decided it didn't look enough like a time machine, so I twisted a bit of wire and added it to the circumference. I also pierced a hole in a metal gear I snatched from my hubby's miscellany drawer and added it to the pendant to give it more of a steampunk look. Altogether, I think it looks pretty cool. Now that I have a little experience in what to do (and especially what NOT to do) to make a pendant like this, I might try another one sometime. I'd like to add a few extra components and get the inside disc to spin next time around, too.

For now, enjoy these lovely sepia pics of the wonderful X-Time Influxuator that Ash and I made:

My first ring attempts

2010-03-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

This past week I have been trying to do several things at once. I have had a few orders to make, and I'm working on that Aquatic Challenge piece also. This morning, I stamped two sterling silver discs with Ashton and Caoimhe's names using my new typewriter font stamps, to photograph for a new listing on Etsy. (One of the perks of making jewelry, is that I can keep all the demos for myself and Caoimhe, yay!)

But the main thing I'm focusing on right now is learning to solder well with my torch, and making rings. I've been majorly inspired by a woman named Clarity who makes the most awesome rings for her Etsy store, and I won't be happy until I can make such beautiful things myself. So I have made a few attempts at ring making, although my ring mandrel hasn't arrived yet (it should be delivered this week).

They do have their flaws, but they aren't bad considering they are my first attempts and I'm just learning as I go, with no formal training. I've already learned a lot while making them (mostly from having to go back and fix the mistakes, lol). For example, I made this copper wire ring first (above). I actually used what I think may be a tire iron to help bend it into shape. I hammered the ends of the copper wire, and I like the way they look but I now know that I need to file and sand them smooth before shaping the ring because if I do that part last it is hard to file without the rest of the ring getting in the way. They didn't get completely smooth, so there are shadows in the pictures that look bad even though it is much less noticeable in person. I made the silver ball by melting a scrap piece of silver that I had lying around., and I really like the way it stands out, all shiny and round, so I will probably be making more with this feature. It took a few tries to shape the silver into a perfect ball, so that was a learning experience too.

I made this solid copper band for my husband Dale, to fit on his pointer finger and replace an old ring that he wore but didn't much care for. Not having a mandrel to size the ring, I had to use a measuring tape to measure his old ring, then I cut a strip of copper in the same size and filed it down. I found that one of the metal punches in my punch & die set was the same diameter of his ring, so I used it to shape the copper strip. After soldering it together, I realized that I didn't file the ends well enough, although I thought I had done so. I know now that the edges must be very straight and touch together completely before soldering, in order to join them perfectly. I think it still came out pretty well, there is an obvious seam but it is straight and the solder fills it throughout so it doesn't look messy. After the ring was finished, I used a file to lightly etch two rings near the edges of the band for a bit of added interest (you can barely see them in the picture). I think that it would be much easier to do this before soldering, while it is flat. I could probably make the lines a lot deeper that way.

The last ring (pictured below), a sterling silver and black star diopside ring, was the biggest pain EVER. First, I was planning to use a rose quartz on this ring, but I kept dropping and losing the stones on my kitchen floor. Very annoying. I started out with a slightly different design in mind, but it evolved as I was making it. I did end up wasting a bit of silver wire though, bleh. The hardest thing about this ring was trying to solder the pieces together. The wind was blowing my wire and solder around, and blew out my torch on several occasions (I can't wait to get a new torch, mine sucks). Because the ring has an irregular shape, it was hard to get the pieces in the right position to solder them. Dale had the solution though: he brought me some rocks from the driveway, and I used them to prop the metal wire into the positions I needed. So all was good, until I overheated the metal and a previously soldered piece melted. As it did, the wire slipped out of place, then the solder cooled and I now had a hideously disfigured ring. This is where Dale suggested I take a break, because I was getting very frustrated at this point. I had to remelt the solder to free the wires from each other again, and start all over. Ugh. Anyway, I finally got it right, and I think it ended up looking pretty cool. I did a pretty good job of soldering the joints this time around, they looked nice when I was done. I had to file a few places down (mostly where the solder had accidentally melted the first time around) and so I learned about filing away solder, which I had never done before. Once the ring was done, I felt that the black star diopside fit the ring much better than the pink quartz. I used liver of sulfur to antique the silver, which made it look pretty cool in my opinion. You can't tell in the pictures here, but black star diopside gets its name from the way the light reflects off of needle-like inclusions in the stone. It forms a very rare 4-pointed star that shines beautifully off the black surface of the stone.

In all, I am pretty proud of my first set of rings. I won't be selling them, as I see way too many flaws in my technique that I need to correct first. But I am happy enough with them to wear them myself (again, perks of the job! lol), and one day when I am an experienced metalsmith I will look back at them and remember the trials and errors that taught me along the way.

Six Pendants for G.

2010-03-28T14:25:00.001-07:00

First, I want to say that I am glad I started this blog. I just read over my last entry, and found that I had already forgotten about the name pendant I am designing for Caoimhe. If I hadn't written it down I probably would never have remembered it.

I have been pretty busy the last couple of days. I have been working on a craft challenge for an Arts and Crafts website forum that I post on. Each month we'll be making an item on a theme starting with a different letter of the alphabet. This month is the letter A, and the theme is aquatic. I am almost finished with my piece, and I will post pics of its creation as soon as I am done.

I also finished the six pendants that I made for the lovely couple I mentioned previously (I will call them G.). I wish I had remembered to take pics of each step, but these little pendants were a lot of work and tired me out. I did take a few though, so I will share them here.

G.'s pendants were made out of 20g sterling silver. I had to order a thicker sheet of metal than I usually use (22g) because they needed to be stamped on both sides of the metal. If I used the 22g, the stamp marks would show through on the opposite side. Even using 20g was iffy, but a thicker gauge sheet of sterling silver would be too costly and wasn't readily available from my supplier. I have to admit I was nervous about stamping on the 20g silver, because it was expensive and I didn't have the room for error that I normally have when stamping on a pre-cut disc of silver - if I screwed up, I'd have to pay for a whole new sheet, which I definitely did not want. Although the G.'s had originally commissioned two of the pendants out of 22g silver because they would only be stamped on the front, I decided to go ahead and make them out of 20g as well. This way, they would match the other pendants more closely and wouldn't look thinner or cheaper by comparison. A subtle difference, but for me this is one of the perks of buying handmade items rather than buying them from a big store - the craftsman (or craftswoman) really cares for their creations and also for the people who allow them to create them, and a lot of thought goes into the creation of each item.

So here is a picture of the sterling silver sheet I used to make the pendants, I've already partially cut it down to size. It arrived covered in scratches, which is always a pain. You can see where I measured and marked off squares for three pendants, using a Sharpie marker. I then used a saw to cut them into separate pieces. After sawing, I used my metal files to file the sharp edges down. This was hard work, let me tell you. My arms were dead by the end of the day from all of the sawing and filing.

After this step was done, I had to decide where to place the words (these were such cute phrases, and I enjoyed the chance to make something other than the normal boring name pendants). To stamp the words, I individually place each letter stamp in the correct spot on the metal, then strike it with a hammer. This imprints the letter into the metal. I randomized each word, trying to make them look as nice as possible, but because these pendants were a custom piece, I also wanted to give a distinct handmade look to them. If they looked a little too straight, I moved one of the letters up a little. I didn't want them to look machine-made because to me this takes away some of the value. I feel that having the letters a bit out of place adds charm and personality to a handmade item. This is something that always worries me, because I never know if the customer feels the same way about this as I do. I can only hope that they read my store policies on this and hope that they trust me to create a nice item for them.

(Funny story on this topic -While I was in the kitchen making G.'s pendants, my hubby was in the adjoining room playing his electric guitar. He was playing some scorching solos, and every now and then he'd hit a note that was very loud and made me jump. One of these times was in the middle of making one of G.'s "meh" pendants. I jumped on the letter M, and accidentally moved the letter just a hair too high. I fretted about it for a sec, then realized that I really liked it and it would keep each pendant from looking exactly the same. I did, however, ask him to please lower the volume!)

Because two of G.'s pendants required a font that I didn't have, I decided to accept the request anyway and use the excuse to buy a new set of letter stamps. I bought the lowercase set of typewriter stamps that I've been wanting. Stamps are pretty pricey, at $90 plus shipping, so it's not often I can add a new set to my collection. The stamps cost a little more than the price of the two pendants, but they helped to considerably lower my out-of-pocket expense so I am quite happy.

After stamping each pendant, I punched holes in the top of each one for the jump rings to go through, then began sanding. Each one had to be sanded in one direction then the other, until all of the scratches were gone from the unfinished metal and they had a nice brushed finish. By the time I was finished with all six, my poor fingers were sanded to the bone. (If you ever need to buy a gift for a metalworker, get them some nice hand lotions or gift certificate for a manicure - our hands really take a beating!)

Next I put each one into my metal tumbler. I fill it with a special blend of metal pieces, and they polish the metal as it tumbles around. I didn't want to leave the pendants in the tumbler for too long, as I didn't want to ruin the brushed finish. But tumbling metal also hardens it, and because sterling silver is a very soft metal I wanted to add a bit of durability to G.'s pendants so that they could be worn daily without too much wear and tear. After tumbling, I sanded each pendant again to touch up the brushed appearance, then added a jump ring and chain to each one. All that was left after that was to clean off all the blood, sweat, & tears, package them (nice gift bags wrapped in lots of bubble wrap), and then bring them to the post office for mailing.

Wow, this turned out to be quite a book...I have more to write about (I have a new ring to share, my first gem setting!) but I will put that into a different post. I'd like to thank the G.'s again for choosing me to make their lovely pendants. I had fun making them, and hope that they love the finished result.

Enjoying a day away from the workbench

2010-03-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

Not too much to post about right now. I have an order for six custom pendants that I will need to make later this week, but I am waiting for the materials to come in. I'm really looking forward to making these, because they are a fun design requested by a very nice couple. I'm also excited because two of their pendants require a special set of font stamps that I have been wanting an excuse to buy, so I went ahead and bought them. So be on the lookout for a cool typewriter font in my store, woo-hoo!

I'm also designing a pendant for my mom-in-law with the six names of her grand kids and their birthstones. I will post pics of that as soon as it is done.

Oh, and I have a new design idea that I will be developing over the next week (maybe after my new stamps come in). It's a name pendant that I think has a cool look to it. I have a rough draft that I made into a pendant for Caoimhe but I'm not ready to take pics just yet. It needs to be "prettied-up" a bit more. I may also need to buy a new stamp to get the look I want (another perfect excuse, right? lol).

I'll update more later, thanks for reading!
-Nickie

My Great Outdoor Crafting Day

2010-03-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

Today was a GREAT crafting day. Dale took care of the kids all afternoon, and I wheeled my work bench outside to the porch, where I was able to make things all day long without interruption. It's not very often I get to do this (hell, I never do) so I really enjoyed it.

My charcoal block, flux, and various types of solder arrived yesterday, so I got to try my hand at soldering and brazing by myself for the first time today. (This was the main reason I went outside with it all, to keep the fumes out of the house.) Well, I had about an hour of preparation first. My copper solder is in the typical wire form, but the sterling silver solder is sold in sheets, so I had to cut the sheets into tiny little squares with a pair of heavy duty kitchen scissors. I bought two different types, hard and medium, which melt at different temperatures. So they have to be kept separate. I have a ton of empty baby food jars that I have kept stored away for just this type of thing, so I used two of them for storing the solder.

I also made what is called a "pickle" out of vinegar and salt, and put it in a different baby food jar. Pickle is used to remove the yucky black charred stuff from metal that has been heated. They sell various pickle solutions online, but I am all about using homemade things whenever possible. Not only does it save quite a bit of money in the long run, but it is safer than using harsh chemicals and more environmentally friendly as well.

So once the preparation was done, I was ready to make something. (I ended up with four projects, so this blog entry is going to be pretty long!) Yesterday, I had cut a piece of nickel silver into a star shape, and also cut out a copper rectangle that I stamped with stars and hammered around the edge. My first soldering project was to solder the star onto the rectangle. I dipped both of the pieces into a jar of flux (it prepares the metal and allows the solder to flow better) then placed the copper piece onto the charcoal block. I set a square of hard solder in the center, and put the star on top. Safety goggles, on! Torch lit, check! It took a while for me to adjust the flame correctly but I managed to successfully solder the two pieces together. However, they looked like a charred mess as I dropped them into the pickle, and ten minutes later it still looked like a half-charred mess. I decided to keep going, though.

I didn't know what I wanted to make next, so I looked in my scrap drawer and pulled out two copper circles. I cut them into arches, bent them around, and tried to envision what they could become. Didn't have much luck, lol. Then I decided I would make a little bird. I placed the two arches together for the body and tail, then cut 1/4th off of a scrap sterling silver disc and soldered it on as a wing, and also used scraps to make a little beak. My bird needed an eye though. I remembered a video I watched recently that showed someone melting silver into a ball, so I tried it and after a few tries I learned how to make a perfectly round ball with a flat bottom. I made a few of these out of scraps, soldered one onto the bird as an eye, and put the others aside for later. All the while, fluxing, soldering, pickling. Each piece looked so bad, I was convinced I was doing something horribly wrong. The silver balls were black with char and ash, and the copper turned different shades from purple to yellow to black. Yuck. Not to mention, my bird design was pretty crappy. I will admit it. And since I'm still learning to solder, I accidentally let it run all over the beak and cover the copper (oops!). But it's cute in it's own little way, damn it! I guess I just have a soft spot in my heart from all my little creations, ugly or otherwise.

Next I decided to make a ring out of copper. Last week I had made my first ring ever, out of a copper washer, but I wanted to try making one out of a piece of wire today. Dale had some old air conditioning wire that I stripped to get a large piece of copper wiring (yay for recycling!). I don't have a ring mandrel yet (I realllly want one of these but they're like $30 and out of my budget for the moment) so I used a weird iron pole that was in Dale's tool box. No clue what it is for (a tire iron, maybe?), but it is round and just a little larger around than my pointer finger so it worked. First I hammered the tip of the wire flat to add interest and get rid of the sharp edge, then began shaping it around the tire iron. I kind of did a free-form shape, trying to find a style that I liked. I made it wrap around then curl back on itself. Once I figured out the basic shape I wanted, I had to uncurl the wire and cut it to the right size, then hammer that end also. The unbending and rebending was hard, because wire tends to bend at a sharp angle and I had to keep reworking it to keep it round on all sides. Next, I selected one of the ugly black silver balls and soldered it onto one of the hammered ends of the ring. It turned out to be a cool design, but like the other things I made today, it looked like a pile of black junk. I was getting a little discouraged by this point.

My last project was to take the solid copper ring I previously had made, and solder a silver ball onto it as a focal point. At about this time, it began to rain and the wind started blowing my stuff around like crazy. I couldn't keep my torch lit and the air was so cold that the metal kept cooling while I tried to solder the ball onto the ring. I managed to get the solder to hold the ball onto the ring on one single side, and at this point I decided it was useless, and time to clean up and go inside.

Because I didn't want to give up on my yucky looking creations, I went ahead and threw them in the tumbler to polish them and try to get some of the yucky charred stuff off. I'm glad I did, because an hour or so later I took them out and WOW! They were perfectly clean and shiny as new. I knew my tumbler was awesome but didn't know it would take off everything the pickle left behind. What a relief, to know I have this wonderful machine that works miracles. The copper wire ring that I made turned out to be very pretty, I love this piece. When I showed Dale, he said, "Wow, you made this? You could probably sell this one for a lot of money" which was so nice to hear, because it was the first time he's been impressed by anything I've made. (He doesn't see the beauty in my ugly little darlings.) He teased me and said, "It's almost like you can make real jewelry!" lol. But I don't think I want to sell this one. It is the first pretty ring I have ever made, and it fits my finger perfectly. I think I will be keeping it. The pictures I took do not show it justice; although it is hammered in places it does not look dark or shadowy like in the pictures. It's very shiny and the silver ball really pops out at you.

So here are some pictures of the finished results, except for the solid ring which needs to be re-soldered on one side because the weather was too finicky today.

My ugly little birdy which serves no actual purpose:

I decided this one would make an awesome key chain:

My pretty copper & sterling silver ring:

What I've been up to lately - a.k.a. what's in my Etsy store

2010-03-19T01:29:00.001-07:00

Just popping in to post a few pics. These are some items that I have made recently. They're a little better than the items I first began stamping. The lettering is straighter, and at least in my humble opinion the designs are beginning to get a little more interesting. Also, more as a reminder to myself, I have a few new items I plan on posting to Etsy tomorrow. I will do my best to remember to post pics of them here as well.

I'm especially excited that I was able to make a custom necklace for my mother's step-granddaughter Alexis. It was a pain to make (I broke the first rule of metalworking: Never put a mark on the metal that you don't want there). The sterling silver had a few scratches on the surface, so I used a piece of sandpaper, but accidentally used 220 grit sandpaper instead of 440. It left little scratches all over the metal! All I could do was to sand the whole piece equally, then tumble it in my polisher. I usually tumble the pieces for about two hours, but had to leave this pendant in for twice as long. At least it turned out nice and shiny in the end, thankfully!

Oh, and lest I forget to mention: My jeweler's saw has arrived! YAY! I have already used it to cut a few squares from a sheet of nickel silver. I used them to make my "He loves me, he loves me not" pendant necklace. It's a cute little item, and I'm posting a pic of it here along with a few others. Now all that is left to be delivered are my flux and solder, and the most important piece of all: a charcoal block. This will allow me to finally use my torch to fuse and braze the metal. (Brazing is just a fancy technical term for soldering fine metals such as sterling silver or gold). This, ladies and gentlemen, is the moment I have been waiting for. I'll let you know when it all arrives, of course!

These are all for sale in my Etsy store: www.CaoimheLily.etsy.com

A new day, a new blog

2010-03-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

I've tried blogging before, but always seem to run out of things to blog about. Hopefully that won't be the case here, as I am feeling pretty enthusiastic about this one. I made this blog to keep track of my progress in metalworking, a new venture that I've thrown myself into and have been thoroughly enjoying. I've created a store on Etsy to sell some of the things I have made, and have named it after my beautiful daughter Caoimhe. You can find my handmade jewelry at www.caoimhelily.etsy.com. I'm not sure how often I will update this blog, but I will hopefully keep up with it as I learn new and exciting things as an aspiring metalsmith.

So far, I've forayed into the world of hand stamped jewelry. I've cut, polished, stamped, tumbled, hammered, and punched holes in several types of metal, including copper, nickel, and sterling silver. Well, these things are fun to do, but there are limitations. I can cut circles, sure...but what if I want to cut out a square? a flower? a key? So, it won't be long before I start adding many more tools to my workbench. My saw blades are here, and are only awaiting to be united with the jewelry saw that has also been ordered. I am now armed with the requisite metal smith's torch. Only a few more components are needed, and I will be free to create anything...such a lovely thought! My next blog entry will be soon.

Create something beautiful,
Nickie