Tuesday, June 8, 2010

How did you make that?

Ever since I first started selling my flower necklace at local craft shows in early spring, I have been asked the same question ... how did you make that?

Drum roll ... and my answer is ...

When I create jewelry using sterling silver sheet I usually will either sketch out a rough design or create a design in Illustrator.  For the flower I drew a rough outline of the shape and size wanted and placed a circle in the middle of the design where I thought the little round beads should go.

Then I place the flower line drawing on top of a sheet of sterling silver and, using my favorite saw, I cut out the flower.  After filing the edges, removing any scratches, and cleaning the silver I gave the flower a warm matte finish.

The next step was to create the little balls for the center of the flower.  Since I wirewrap all of my dichroic pendants in sterling silver I had a lot of leftover pieces of round silver wire.  Using my torch I heated the recycled pieces of silver wire until they formed little round balls.  Then I soldered the balls in the center of the flower.   

To give the pendant some depth, I concaved the flower a little before soldering on the hidden bail in the back.

Okay, now it's my turn to ask a question.  If you had asked the question, would this have answered it?







3 comments:

  1. Hi there! I am stopping by to show #link love! I am your newest follower! Hope you can swing by and visit us at www.justmarriedwithcoupons.com

    Have a great week!

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  2. Yes, you definitely answered the question. The only part you left out was your talent! Well done - London

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  3. Ok, maybe I'm not a typical reader but you left out some important details.
    First off, what is your favorite saw?
    Second, whatdid you solder with, solder type and iron or gun?
    Third, how did you give it a matte finish?
    Fourth, did you hand bend the silver or use some sort of tool?

    I have to say overall it's a good how to and all of these questions are really just me not wanting to figure it all out which probably wouldn't take too long, except for your preferences.

    Thanks for the good work!

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