A box of goodies

Upon completion of my intro into silversmithing, I ordered some soldering supplies so I can start creating new things with the techniques I've learned. Our instructor asked everyone if we would be back for another session, but for me, right now financially I can't. I have to make more, build up inventory and sell more. I'm doing pretty good in one of the local galleries here, and hope to get into a couple other locations soon. Plus, I do have a show coming up in March. (more on that later)
So in our final class this week we learned about different hammers, annealing, and depletion plating. Depletion plating is the technique of firing and re-firing sterling silver in order to pull out the other metal (mainly copper) so that you have pure silver. Which does not need polishing. It stays bright and shiny.
I made this dog pin this week.


This was a fun project! He's all sterling silver, hammered, and cut with a jeweler's saw to make his toes and tail. I also used the depletion plating method to bring out the fine silver.
I'll have some new "flower" earrings to post soon. Actually, a small series of flower earrings; 2 pairs are complete, but I have to finish working on the last pair as they will require some soldering. Check back for more!