I saw a tutorial on how to use these tweezers on the Etsy Metal Blog and knew instantly I had to have them.  Oh my gosh, they are so awesome.  No more trying to balance the shank on the setting before soldering and then bumping my block 1,000 times and have to start over with the tricky balancing.  Phew!  What a relief these guys are!

I have a few new things to set, finish and photograph.  I’m really excited about all of them.  The 14k gold tourmaline stacking rings are my favorite!  I can’t wait to finish them and share with you.  I have a few more things up my sleeve, but I’m planning to update my shop next week with some new and fun goodies for you!

A quick warning – this post is a bit technical – but if you are a jeweler, I hope you find it interesting…

I’ve been wanting to do a flush setting for quite a while.  I’ve heard to experiment with CZs since the are cheap and nearly indestructable.  Of course, I decided that today was the day to experiment and I never got around to getting CZs, so white sapphire and pink tourmaline were my gophers.  I tend to jump into things too quickly.  If you attempt this – just get CZs!

I’ve read several opinions about what kind of bur (or combination of burs) to use to cut your seat and I decided to go with a ball bur.  Cutting the seat was the easy part.  Drill a pilot hole first and then using a bur barely smaller than your stone, cut your seat.  Check to see if your stones fits – it should “pop” in.

Then, the setting.  Any jewelers out there that haven’t tried this yet, please make yourself or get a tiny burnisher.  I just had my normal one and it was WAY too big.  I set the white sapphire first and it was pretty messy.  I read how to make your own tiny burnisher in Creative Stone Setting and when I burnished my pink tourmaline with my little burnisher, the results were much, much better…but still in need of major practice : )

To make the burnisher, you just take an old worn out bur of some kind, trim off the end, then anneal the steel (just the top 1/4″) and let it cool.  Once it’s cool, stick it in your flexshaft chuck and start spinning.  Using a file, then your sanding sticks, file and sand your tip to 600 grit or so then polish with white diamond.  It literally just took a couple minutes.  The book suggests giving it a handle by drilling out a hole in a small dowel.  I haven’t gotten that far yet.  I’m still pretty proud of my first hand made tool though : ).  I also might round the tip a little more.  It’s almost too tiny.  I think I just have to play with it a little more to see.

You can see the BIG burnishing groove around the White Sapphire and  much smaller burnishing groove around the pink tourmaline.  And, of course, all the marks from me slipping…and then the marks from me trying to fix the marks…

Once I figure out how not to slip while burnishing, I’ll be ready to do a few styles for my shop.  Because trying to sand and polish around those tiny little stones and really get the marks out is impossible.

Anyway, still a work in progress.  But, I’m off to a great start and am so excited to do more.  Hope this helped!  If you have any tips I missed or should know about – please let me know!

And a nice row of drawers to stash more junk.  What a difference it makes!!  I can see things on my bench!  Yay for organizing!

And, I also got some new tools and equipment…ahhh.  Next to getting new gems, there’s nothing more exciting than some new things to play with in the studio.  It could become an illness if I’m not careful.  Here’s my new soldering pad.  The third hands on this thing will hold ANYTHING.  I was so happy to get this and say goodbye to my old, droopy, weak, third hand.  Love, love, love.

But, this little cutie might be my most favorite new addition.  It’s a knife edge Shofu Greenie and it’s a magical little polisher.  Perfect for those tight spots when you want a high shine.  Next, I might have to get the whole polishing kit.  I love it.

My good friend Dana showed my this while I was at her studio one day.  If any of you lovely readers are in the Seattle area and looking for jewelry classes, check out Danaca Design.  What an amazing studio and an amazing co-op of teachers.  It’s a wonderful community.

I really want to tell you about my super exciting weekend!  I wish I had taken a couple photos, but we were just too busy!  Anyway, last weekend I took a really great class at Danaca Design called Skill Advancement for Jewelers and it was taught by Nanz Aalund.  If you are a jeweler and reading this, you probably know who she is.  She’s an incredible artist, a fabulous teacher and you just couldn’t meet anyone nicer.  I learned so many tricks and tips over the weekend and not just from our instructor, but from all the amazing students in our class.  Good stuff!  I haven’t taken a class for so long and it was just what I needed to push me and get me excited.  I really believe that learning new skills that can add to your craft is the key to building your business.  For me personally, I need that challenge – if things get too stagnant I lose all motivation!

I’m about all caught up with my custom and made to order items and am going to have some time for a lot new goodies soon.  I did manage to get a couple little items done today that I thought I would share.

Lemon Quartz Studs

Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Ring with 14K gold and sterling – soooo pretty!

Until next time!

I had been without a camera for a few weeks and I finally am back in business with a brand new one.  It got quite a workout with the pile of new jewelry that had been growing while my broken camera was being diagnosed.  Enjoy a few of the new goodies!  By the way, the hoops in the top right…sooooper sexy.  Love them.  More to come!

I’ve also been working on my wholesale line quite a bit; trying to come up with designs that can be reproduced, but still affordable, yet still make money off the wholesale price.  Sounds pretty basic…pretty easy, pretty obvious.  It’s not.  At least not for me.  It’s something I’ve struggled with from the beginning.  Experimenting and refining is the only answer.  Which is precisely what I’ve been doing.  And boy has it sucked the hours in the day away!  Once I finalize my linesheet, my time will be devoted to my studio again…yay!  Which means more designs to share with YOU!

Whiskey Quartz and Oxidized Sterling Necklace…will list soon…

Labradorite and Sterling Necklace – simple design, but this stone is a real stunner, so simple is all it needs – check it out

White Chalcedony and Oxidized Sterling Oval Necklace – will list soon

This is the one I’m not sure about. I like this photo best, because you can really see the scallops. I normally don’t use the scalloped bezel wire unless I have a really simple or rustic stone to use – then I like the scallop to give it some cuteness juxtaposed with rustic. So, what do you think? Meh? Cool? Pretty?…

Aqua Chalcedony and Sterling Ring – this stone makes me swoon. Love, love, love the color…love.

So, the iPhoto trick. I’m a little slow on the uptake for the most part. But, today I finally discovered the “Blur the Edges” tool in iPhoto. Anyone know what that is? You can essentially airbrush your photos! I’ve always been too shy to take photos of my jewelry on me. I think it’s so helpful for customers to see the scale though! Such a dilemma…So, I started with rings – fine, no big deal…then I tried earrings and NO WAY! Far too close up. So, I tried necklaces and I was not happy…until I started editing and found the “Blur the Edges” options in iPhoto in the “Effects”. Ah, now I can just blur myself out and leave the pretty jewelry in the middle…what a relief. I guess I have to try earrings again. Ugh.