FSOJ week two

This idea has been floating in my head for a while now. I believe it was inspired by a bracelet I saw in a store but I'm not 100% sure. I bought the amazonite nuggets specifically to try this. The wire, lobster claw, and spacers (not visible) are all sterling. This piece will be going up on Etsy later today.

How cool is this?

FSOJ week one

Since this blog is going to mostly record my FSOJ entries for the next while I figured I had best bring it up to date ASAP. I learned to solder this weekend - now I know it all. Pft. There are lots of messy joins on this bracelet but I couldn't be much more pleased with it. Instructions from a recent issue of Art Jewelry magazine.

I also owe a photo of my entry from the contest. Now that it is over and my favorites all either won or got honourable mentions...

FSOJ

I signed up for the next session of Four Seasons of Jewelry. I'm not sure this is entirely wise - it may be a bit more than I can handle - but I want the incentive to work regularly and this should provide it.

Mostly photos

I got to melt glass on Saturday, and yesterday and today I made my first ring. The first photos I took were at the wrong ISO (duh) so I retook but now there is a hair caught under one of the rivets. Honest, it was shiny and clean when I first photographed it.

First, the ring. Two shots. Please ignore the binder clip support. I realize it could use more polishing, and there is a little metal sticking out from under one rivet, but I was just fooling around when I started it and I'm actually more pleased than I should admit.





Now for the glass. Mostly played with dots this time. Turns out transparent dots on a transparent bead are very confidence inspiring - probably just because the flaws don't stand out much.









In this last photo the dark bead is black with iris gold dots. I want to try this again as there is an interesting blue effect under the dots.

Crazy busy month

August has been extremely busy. Most of my free time has been spent obsessing over my entry for the Mixed Media contest at Connie Fox's website. I'll add a photo of it soon. The deadline is tomorrow but I'm hoping a photo taken in the morning might be better than the ones I took today.

Got to play today

I owed a friend a dog-tag necklace and today I got the chance to finish it.

Mostly lately I've been planning my entry in Connie Fox's latest contest - Mixed Media. I am hoping to finish it near the end of the month, because I can't before then.

I won't be able to do anything for the next few weeks. Instead I'll be playing with the kids. Summer is great.