New post over on the new site! I forgot to tell you about it!

Don't forget to switch your feed if you are a subscriber to this blog! :)

http://erinjanedesigns.com/2010/05/gifts-for-grooms-grads-and-dads/

New Posts on the New Blog!

Hi there! Check out the 2 new posts on my new website! Don't forget to subscribe to the new RSS Feed! I'll keep updating this blog for a while, but would love to see you over at the new one! Just copy and paste this URL into your reader: http://www.erinjanedesigns.com/feed

Here are the links to the new posts:

http://erinjanedesigns.com/2010/05/new-purchase-from-bottlehood/

http://erinjanedesigns.com/2010/05/refining-refining/

My New Website is LIVE!

Oh, it's here! Yay! http://www.erinjanedesigns.com - go ahead and check it out and ubscribe to the RSS feed! I'll keep checking in with you here to gently remind you to go to the new site. I'm DYING to hear what you think....please stop by and let me know! Thanks to ALL of you!! Looking forward to more!

How do you label yourself?

It's We Scout Wednesday at Scoutie Girl and today's question is "What's your label?"

I have struggled with this questions for several years. And, not just because I don't know how to answer it, but I just don't like what's behind the question. When someone asks you "What do you do?" they mean for a living...but that's not always what defines us. When I was in the corporate world, it was even harder for me. I hated when people asked what I did. I was a marketer for a high tech company. Couldn't define me as a person any less - but that's the answer people are looking for. So, although I will still struggle with this question, at least the answer now is more "me"!

Am I an artist? A jewelry designer? Maybe I'm a metalsmith! I recently was "labeled" a metalsmith (something I've thought about, but never called myself) and I really didn't know what to think! I felt like I was tricking someone into thinking I had been schooled in the art of metalsmithing. So self deprecating! From today forward I will do my very best to start using labels that I aspire to...what's wrong with that?

What's your label? Do you struggle too?

Jewelry Making - Start to Finish

This post title may be a bit misleading...I really love reading tutorials and how to's by other artists - jewelry, of course, but especially from other crafts that I don't understand. It fascinates me to see others in their element creating their art. I've tried a few times showing some process photos. I often forget to take photos during several steps.. :( Kind of ruins it...but, I just get so in to what I'm doing my little brain can only handle so much. Anyway, I still want to show some process photos of the rings I worked on last week...

Once my bezels are made, it's time to solder the bezel on to a backplate...

Once the bezels are successfully soldered on and the pieces pickled, I saw away the excess metal and then file, sand and polish the setting until no seams show. Then it's time to solder the ring on to the setting (oops, forgot to photograph that part).

Once the piece is all together, pickled and cleaned...it's off to the tumbler.

Tumbling the rings cleans them so beautifully and also hardens the metal. I love tumbling.

Next, it's time to set the stones. I use a bezel pusher and a curved burnisher to set the stones. I position my ring in a vice that is lined with a chamoise to protect the metal and push and burnish away! I finished with a quick polish and...

Voila! Rings!

Show and Tell Time + Next Week's News

Well, finally! I can show you my new gift from myself to myself! She came the other day and I still haven't attached the handle, but soon... It's a bench shear! So excited! I can't tell you how long my money clips take me...saw a crooked line, then sand and sand and sand...and sand some more to make it perfect. But, now, this little shear will help me make perfectly straight lines and cut down on my sanding time by 80%, at least. Obviously not just saving time on money clips, but so many other things. I have a hand shear and the serrated edge it makes, also takes tons of time to sand down, so YAY!

I also got this Key Holder as a free gift.....wow. Thanks. I will literally never use this - ever. How random.

And, last, but not least, here's what I've been working on. Lots of these little guys are ready to list! So, I will be posting photos and links soon. I have some process photos that I will also share next week. Lots coming up! I am still waiting on my website completion, but I did update all my other branding (except on my blog...which will be moving anyway). So, check out my Facebook page and My Etsy Shop and let me know how they look!