Experiments in jewelry design

May 05, 2012

Working on new designs this past week has been fun and frustrating. First, let me show you the frustrating. I was working on making metal beads which are hand stamped and riveted together. Not the easiest thing to do with 2 hands. I could have used a third hand.

I took this idea from the book, "Stamped Metal Jewelry" by Lisa Niven Kelly. I found the difficulty in holding the pieces together (lined up correctly) while hammering to set the rivet. So I messed this one up. I'm mad at myself because I used sterling silver caps, when I should have used a cheaper metal on my first attempt. Now I have to heat the bead up and try to salvage the silver. I hate waste! Oh well, this is how we learn. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And now, for my successful piece:

This is a copper cuff, to which I set a stone to the front and embellished with sterling twisted wire. This is the first time I've used this technique. I just learned this from Rosamond Bain, in Ontario, Canada. She teaches a technique, that she calls, "pie crusting". The stone is not soldered in place, but wrapped and shaped with the metal.

I decided to use this technique on a cuff. I used rivets to set the wrapping metal onto the cuff. The sterling twisted wire is also riveted, and I used a bit of embellishment and pulled the silver on top of the stone. I've decided to wear this one for a while to see how it fits and wears. I wore it out the other day. It is suprisingly comfortable, considering how big the front looks. I made sure all the edges are smooth. And it is not too bulky, or gets in your way.