My website is finally up and running!! Please feel free to visit www.SliversOfSilver.com when you get a chance. If you order something from the site, please let me know if you have any trouble with the order process. I think all the kinks are worked out :) Enjoy!
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Tool Magic Review
I tried it!! Tool Magic was... not so good. Here's what I did...
1. Rolled the Tool Magic container (2 oz. I believe) in my hands to mix it up without getting bubbles (learned to do this for nail polish!)
2. Dipped the tools slowly in the goo, close to but not touching the joint, then removed slowly.
3. Placed on a glass to "hang" them to dry overnight.
Here's what it looked like when I was done:
I was very excited to use my "new" tools! They did NOT mar the wire anymore, UNLESS my tool sliped. After one use, though, you WILL notice that the Tool Magic coating is starting to wear in spots – nicks and scratches. Now I've used it two days... and most of the coating wore off on the round nose pliers. The flat surfaces on my other pliers seem to hold the Tool Magic coating much better, but there are still nicks and scratches... Worth my time? Meh.
Tool Magic Review: 3.5 / 10.
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1. Rolled the Tool Magic container (2 oz. I believe) in my hands to mix it up without getting bubbles (learned to do this for nail polish!)
2. Dipped the tools slowly in the goo, close to but not touching the joint, then removed slowly.
3. Placed on a glass to "hang" them to dry overnight.
Here's what it looked like when I was done:
I was very excited to use my "new" tools! They did NOT mar the wire anymore, UNLESS my tool sliped. After one use, though, you WILL notice that the Tool Magic coating is starting to wear in spots – nicks and scratches. Now I've used it two days... and most of the coating wore off on the round nose pliers. The flat surfaces on my other pliers seem to hold the Tool Magic coating much better, but there are still nicks and scratches... Worth my time? Meh.
Tool Magic Review: 3.5 / 10.
The Art of Website Creation 2
And off we go!!! I started an account on Prostores.com then "purchased" my first month free of the basic business e-commerce package (up to 5,000 products). I started by picking my template... Not a huge variety or very fancy templates, but they get the job done. Then I struggled for quite a while to find where to EDIT that template! I wanted to add my own logo and such! THEN I discovered that it's really easy: Page Template Manager located in the "short list" of links! haha. This tool was very useful, however, quirky. Most things I asked it to do were fine, but a few actions made the screen go haywire. Here's what the tool looks like:
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Just double click in each region to edit the text, links or pictures. I discovered, then, the backup or "baseline" feature. It asks you, "do you want to create a baseline" before you start editing, and the answer is YES!
Now I am setting up the shipping options. For some reason, no matter what I change the shipping options to on the setup page, it's always $5 on the "real" website!? Oh technology. Maybe it just takes time? And yes, only time will tell.
So far... scale of 1-10, where 10 is me thrilled with Prostores' performance, I'm at about a... 6? This may change after I distance myself from this shipping issue! Ta-ta for now!
Website: www.SliversOfSilver.com
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.bmp)
Just double click in each region to edit the text, links or pictures. I discovered, then, the backup or "baseline" feature. It asks you, "do you want to create a baseline" before you start editing, and the answer is YES!
Now I am setting up the shipping options. For some reason, no matter what I change the shipping options to on the setup page, it's always $5 on the "real" website!? Oh technology. Maybe it just takes time? And yes, only time will tell.
So far... scale of 1-10, where 10 is me thrilled with Prostores' performance, I'm at about a... 6? This may change after I distance myself from this shipping issue! Ta-ta for now!
Website: www.SliversOfSilver.com
How do I harden sterling?
As I created ear wires and longer sterling designs like below, I found that the dead-soft sterling silver wire I was using was too darn soft to maintain its shape well over time. That bothered me terribly since quality is of utmost importance to me!
So what can I do to make it “harder”? Well… I researched a few options that I alluded to previously in my “How To Make Ear Wires” posting:
1. Hardening the Metal: If you are at all familiar with the world of manufacturing, you might have heard about “heat treating” metal to change its hardness. “Age Hardening” is what you can do to increase the hardness. This website has good information in the section, “How can I put age hardening to use in my shop?” BUT! Cook my metal for an hour and a half? Not possible for me! I suppose if I had a kiln that would be reasonable, but, as fate would have it, no such luck. Notice, too, the note about not being able to solder after the metal is hardened – this will return your sterling back to its original, soft state. Sounds… too complicated for me.
2. Bending the Metal: Yeah, yeah. Bending the sterling wire makes it harder too – called “work hardening.” In order to do this, though, you have to ruin your shape! I don’t like this idea very much… I’ll just keep it in the back of my mind as a “good-to-know” item…
3. Hammering the Metal: As you hammer metal with your designated jewelry hammer, you are actually stiffening the metal! Try hammering a piece of wire, then bending it. More difficult, eh? That’s what we want in this scenario. I, therefore, hammer my ear wires (when it matches the design) in order to maintain the original shape of the wire.
4. Buying Harder Metal: Okay – not ALL designs look good with a hammered ear wire or with hammered wire dangles. There are different levels of hardness for sterling silver; for the earrings shown above, I used “half-hard” wire. This works really well! I also use half-hard for any ear wires that should not be hammered. Why not use half-hard all the time then? Well, it’s just not as easy for my little fingers to maneuver! I’d say have BOTH types on hand for the best results.
Summary:
- Don’t bother hardening the metal with heat.
- Bend to harden if you want to… I don’t want to.
- Hammer dead-soft wire when possible to solidify the design.
- Buy half-hard wire for designs that should not be hammered.
If you disagree with anything in this posting, please feel free to comment! I love to learn. :)
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So what can I do to make it “harder”? Well… I researched a few options that I alluded to previously in my “How To Make Ear Wires” posting:
1. Hardening the Metal: If you are at all familiar with the world of manufacturing, you might have heard about “heat treating” metal to change its hardness. “Age Hardening” is what you can do to increase the hardness. This website has good information in the section, “How can I put age hardening to use in my shop?” BUT! Cook my metal for an hour and a half? Not possible for me! I suppose if I had a kiln that would be reasonable, but, as fate would have it, no such luck. Notice, too, the note about not being able to solder after the metal is hardened – this will return your sterling back to its original, soft state. Sounds… too complicated for me.
2. Bending the Metal: Yeah, yeah. Bending the sterling wire makes it harder too – called “work hardening.” In order to do this, though, you have to ruin your shape! I don’t like this idea very much… I’ll just keep it in the back of my mind as a “good-to-know” item…
3. Hammering the Metal: As you hammer metal with your designated jewelry hammer, you are actually stiffening the metal! Try hammering a piece of wire, then bending it. More difficult, eh? That’s what we want in this scenario. I, therefore, hammer my ear wires (when it matches the design) in order to maintain the original shape of the wire.
4. Buying Harder Metal: Okay – not ALL designs look good with a hammered ear wire or with hammered wire dangles. There are different levels of hardness for sterling silver; for the earrings shown above, I used “half-hard” wire. This works really well! I also use half-hard for any ear wires that should not be hammered. Why not use half-hard all the time then? Well, it’s just not as easy for my little fingers to maneuver! I’d say have BOTH types on hand for the best results.
Summary:
- Don’t bother hardening the metal with heat.
- Bend to harden if you want to… I don’t want to.
- Hammer dead-soft wire when possible to solidify the design.
- Buy half-hard wire for designs that should not be hammered.
If you disagree with anything in this posting, please feel free to comment! I love to learn. :)
B.B. Bellezza's Craft Show Tips
In my search for other Handcrafted Jewelry blogs, I found B.B. Bellezza. At the very bottom of the blog, on the right hand side, there is a link to her "Craft Show Tips" PDF file. This is an excellent read for first-time-craft-show-goers like myself! Want to know what you need to bring? What to say to your potential customers? What NOT to do!? She has great info about it all. So, get to it and enjoy!
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Jewelry Photography – Getting Started
I love the idea of photographing my jewelry in the GREAT OUTDOORS or somewhere COOL in my house, but disappointingly, I find that the lighting is really quite terrible. I learned online how to make my own mini-photography studio though! Here was the website that I followed loosely. And another site that looks helpful.
I, however, ended up attaching half of my husband’s old white t-shirt to only one side of the box and using a powerful lamp with two light settings. We also have a Canon Powershot SD-1000 camera (the heavy duty kind). This setup works great for me! I set the camera up on Manual mode to these settings:
- Macro (flower)
- Two second timer (I don’t have a tripod yet.)
- Low light
- No flash
Why use a two-second timer? Because your hand shakes when you press the button! It takes a while for the camera to take the picture when you don't have the flash on. During that time the camera picks up every... little... movement of your hand! So, press the button, hold your breath and CLICK! You should have a nice picture. It's BEST if you have a tripod or even a solid surface to rest the camera against for this reason too...
The most challenging part is finding great backgrounds that are NOT reflective. It’s even worse when the jewelry itself reflects your face, camera, camera “stand”, etc. I’ve been covering these items with a black cloth if possible, and that seems to help… somewhat.
If you try / tried making a light box or light tent yourself, let me know how yours turned out!
reade more...
I, however, ended up attaching half of my husband’s old white t-shirt to only one side of the box and using a powerful lamp with two light settings. We also have a Canon Powershot SD-1000 camera (the heavy duty kind). This setup works great for me! I set the camera up on Manual mode to these settings:
- Macro (flower)
- Two second timer (I don’t have a tripod yet.)
- Low light
- No flash
Why use a two-second timer? Because your hand shakes when you press the button! It takes a while for the camera to take the picture when you don't have the flash on. During that time the camera picks up every... little... movement of your hand! So, press the button, hold your breath and CLICK! You should have a nice picture. It's BEST if you have a tripod or even a solid surface to rest the camera against for this reason too...
The most challenging part is finding great backgrounds that are NOT reflective. It’s even worse when the jewelry itself reflects your face, camera, camera “stand”, etc. I’ve been covering these items with a black cloth if possible, and that seems to help… somewhat.
If you try / tried making a light box or light tent yourself, let me know how yours turned out!
How To Make Ear Wires
Tired of buying all your ear wires? Here is a relatively simple recipe for making your own!
Tools you will need or want:
- 20 gauge wire*
- Wire cutter
- Round nose pliers
- Mandrel (or a pen with a ridge on it)
- Metal file (relatively fine)
- Nylon jaw pliers (nice to have)
- Polishing cloth (or cotton t-shirt)
*Wire comes in different "stiffnesses." If you want to hammer your ear wires a bit to keep them in place, "dead soft" wire is fine it seems. If you don't want to do this, I'd suggest buying "half-hard" wire. This will help to maintain the shape of your ear wire over time.
Recipe:
1. Cut two pieces of wire. I like mine to be 1-3/4" long.
2. Gently file both ends of the wires to clean them up.
3. Use your round-nose pliers to wrap a loop at one end of each wire. I like to go AGAINST the natural curve of the wire for this part. If you're going to hang a soldered ring, etc. from the loop, it's a good idea to leave the loop a bit open, insert the ring when the ear wire is complete, and then close the loop with the nylon jaw pliers.
6. Bend the tip of the ear wire with your round nose pliers to finish off the shape.
7. Round off the tip of each ear wire with your file. Check to make sure there are no sharp edges.
8. Polish with your cloth or t-shirt and VOILA! YOU ARE DONE! :)
reade more...
Tools you will need or want:
- 20 gauge wire*
- Wire cutter
- Round nose pliers
- Mandrel (or a pen with a ridge on it)
- Metal file (relatively fine)
- Nylon jaw pliers (nice to have)
- Polishing cloth (or cotton t-shirt)
*Wire comes in different "stiffnesses." If you want to hammer your ear wires a bit to keep them in place, "dead soft" wire is fine it seems. If you don't want to do this, I'd suggest buying "half-hard" wire. This will help to maintain the shape of your ear wire over time.
Recipe:
1. Cut two pieces of wire. I like mine to be 1-3/4" long.
2. Gently file both ends of the wires to clean them up.
3. Use your round-nose pliers to wrap a loop at one end of each wire. I like to go AGAINST the natural curve of the wire for this part. If you're going to hang a soldered ring, etc. from the loop, it's a good idea to leave the loop a bit open, insert the ring when the ear wire is complete, and then close the loop with the nylon jaw pliers.
4. Use your mandrel (or pen) to create a nice curve in the center of one wire. I like to use the 1/4" or 6mm segment of the mandrel.
5. Bend the second wire about half way on the mandrel. Why not all the way? You want to make sure your ear wires are the same length! Match up the short side of your ear wires (sides with the loops) to see if they are the same.
If not, bend the longer of the two ear wires slightly to shorten up that side - check again. When both "short sides" are the same, then finish bending the second ear wire by wrapping only the side without the loop around the mandrel.
6. Bend the tip of the ear wire with your round nose pliers to finish off the shape.
7. Round off the tip of each ear wire with your file. Check to make sure there are no sharp edges.
8. Polish with your cloth or t-shirt and VOILA! YOU ARE DONE! :)