Stamping metal isn’t difficult, and with a little practice, this easy metalworking technique can be used to personalize your jewelry and other metal creations. You will need metal stamps – alphanumeric if you want to stamp things like words and dates, or shapes and symbols to decorate your piece. You’ll also need a piece of [...]

If you have metal scraps and are looking for a way to recycle them, you might want to try water casting. It is really easy to do and all you need is a torch, scraps of metal, something to hold the metal while you melt it, and a dish of water (I used a large [...]

For the last day of August, here’s another addictive Youtube channel to browse through: Art Jewelry Magazine. If you make jewelry, you might be familiar with the magazine, which publishes jewelry techniques and projects using a variety of media. Here’s a sample video to check out, on piercing (in non-metalsmith language, this means essentially drilling [...]

Here’s a great video from Bench Jeweler, on using a flex shaft to add a textured finish to metal. In the example, it is a ring, but you can use a similar technique to give a textured finish to any jewelry piece. I like to experiment with different sanding and grinding attachments on my dremel [...]

Lisa Niven Kelly makes very cool wire, metal, and beaded jewelry, and she teaches people how to make their own! Here’s a cool video demonstrating how to stamp on metal: If you liked that one, the Beaducation YouTube channel has lots more!

Modern Jewelry from Modular Parts: Easy Projects Using Readymade Components by Marthe Le Van is a book I was immediately drawn to when I saw it. The cover had some pictures of very modern looking metal jewelry, and the title claims you can make this jewelry with “readymade components”. This is partially true. You can [...]

Yesterday’s post was a photo of my newest earrings in progress. I started with argentium sterling silver wire, made some rings, attached wires to use as earhooks, added some texture, shaped the hooks, smoothed the wire ends….for a fairly simple style, there were actually quite a few steps involved. I don’t use solder in my [...]

(As promised yesterday, some photos of my new hoopy earrings in progress)

I think the best thing about designing jewelry is when I get an idea and it really works. This happened recently when I realized a fusing technique I use might make possible some earring designs that had been floating around in my head, and when I tried it, it worked beautifully. Whenever I can adapt [...]

In case you haven’t noticed, green is the new black. Not the color green, although it is definitely popular, but the environmentally friendly kind of green. Recycled, upcycled, reclaimed, organic, natural – these are words I see everywhere to describe jewelry, clothing, and art – it’s not just cans and bottles and paper anymore. It [...]