Today's Finished Projects

Today's finished projects include some beauties! The students are very fond of etching, as it does give one instant gratification. One more class left to finish things off- stay tuned to next week!

These to-die-for earrings by Daphne were done in 2 parts- the upper part with the coin pearl, and the drops with red faceted glass gems. After bezel-setting each and soldering each to a backplate, Daphne trimmed up and added the ball-trim around the top stones. She then soldered wire attachments along the back, set the stones, and formed the earwires and attachments. Great job!

Kathy loved this etched pattern- after etching on brass, she soldered each to a copper backing and buffed the tops (leaving a cool coppery "window" effect), then created earwires and wore them home!

Nicky's far-out etching inspired her to add a brass square backing to her stone- beautiful!! Kudos to Nicky for creating bezel after bezel to "get it right" even though it's frustrating for things not to come out right the first time!

See you all next week!

Metals II Projects Completed

These projects are some of the first done using stone-setting skills learned by students at the Workhouse's metalsmithing class- taught by Dana Evans.

Maureen not only wanted to stone-set this lovely piece of quartz, she wanted to use a stepped bezel- not easy! Then, to make things harder for herself, she hand-formed the twist wire split-shank and soldered it (carefully!) to the back of the open-backed stone setting. BRAVO!

This piece, also done by Maureen, was etched using a copyright-free design from a Dover book. She then oxidized the piece to bring out the low-relief etch, and hand-hammered the edge for a decorative textured look.

These lovely labradorite earrings are also by Maureen. She constructed the stone settings and soldered on a wire to the back that she then formed into integral earwires.

Kathy's big ring was a big success! This piece of labradorite (hand-cut by yours truly) was set in a scalloped bezel, soldered onto a base plate, and decorative rope trim added. A ring shank was then measured, formed, and soldered onto the back using a third hand. Last came finishing and setting and finally, wearing!

This ring by Tosha came about when she wanted to use both stones- turquoise and a Peruvian opal bead. She formed, soldered and filed 2 bezels to fit the stones perfectly, then created a ring shank to fit her size. She then sawed off the top of the shank, turned everything upside down, and soldered the pieces together. After shining it up and setting the stones, it's a little treasure!

Another view of Tosha's ring.

Good job everyone!