How I make jewelry, Part III (cutting and wrapping)

Here I've cut out the backplates for 4 stones (2 necklaces).
I was quite amused when I began metalsmithing and
discovered how important Sharpies are to the process.

Once I've figured out what I'm making, the work begins.  This means busting out my sheet metal and wires so I can start creating the metal forms that make up my piece of jewelry.  The stabilizing piece of metal that holds everything together is called a backplate.  It's cut out of a piece of sheet metal.  I tend to use 26 gauge (lighter weight) sterling silver sheet metal if I'm making a big piece or earrings, and 22 gauge (heavier weight) for everything else.  I put the stone I'm using (or a stencil if I need a perfect shape) on the metal and trace out where I want to cut with a fine Sharpie.  Then I cut the shape out with metal shears.  If I wasn't a hack, I'd use a jewelry saw to cut out every shape (I tend to use the saw for detail work).  But I am a hack, and an impatient one, so I cut.  I usually need to hammer the metal flat on a bench block (a big slab of steel) afterward -- shears can make the metal curl up a little.

Trying to decide whether a 1/8" bezel or a 3/16" bezel
will work best with this variscite of varying heights.

Next is a bezel.  A bezel is the thin piece of metal that wraps around a stone and holds it onto the piece of jewelry.  The bezel needs to be very flexible so you can wrap it, plus push it slightly over the stone so it traps it place.  Therefore, bezel wire is made from fine silver, which is softer and more malleable than sterling.  We metalsmiths have many types of bezel wire.  I have it in several different widths, plus I have bezel wire with a jagged-tooth edge or a scalloped edge.  I tend to use the straight edge, however, because I like a simple look.  When creating a bezel, first I have to pick which height works best for my stone.  Cabochons (a stone with a flat bottom) are cut all different heights, depending on the characteristics of the stone.  A bezel has to cover the widest part of the stone, and then overlap that point slightly to hold it in place.  It can be tricky figuring out which bezel does this best -- especially if you have a stone of varying heights (not uncommon).  It can take a lot of eyeballing and measuring and bending and muttering.  But not swearing!  Noooo, we never swear at slathered.  Snicker.

Once I figure out what height bezel I need, I wrap it around the stone to determine how much of it I need.  Then I use my trusty Sharpie to mark where the bezel overlaps itself, and cut it.  Then I straighten the bezel (see how wavy it is in the picture?) with flat-nose pliers, fiddle with the wrap around corners until it's perfect, then file down and manipulate the ends until they touch perfectly -- no light showing through.  Then comes the best part:  BLOWTORCH.  Woo hoo!  I love melting stuff together.  So come back soon for Part IV.  You might get to see me accidentally burn my house down. 

How I make jewelry, Part II (sketching)

After I have the stones and metal I need for a project, my next step is sketching.  I don't try to force the stone into a preconceived notion.  I let the shape, color and size of the stone tell me what to do.  This usually means I have to sketch out ideas. 

Here's a sketch that's in my book right now.  I was trying to work out what to do with an ocean jasper that has a big, open druzy on the side.  I didn't like my first sketch and crossed it out, but the second sketch was a winner.  When I have to fight for a design like that, I then write down all my thoughts.  I don't necessarily make that particular piece right away, so I want to make sure I don't lose all the details.

I also like to sketch on graph paper, because it gives me a good idea of scale.  When I'm coming up with sketches out of the blue and to be used at a later time, it's good to make sure everything is accurately sized.  That way, I know I'm not inventing a little detail that's too small to actually do, or something that's impossible to do in relation to the characteristics of the stone.

But I don't always have to work from scratch.  Sometimes I know exactly what I want to do with a stone once I've seen the picture of it the seller has posted.  I usually don't sketch the idea down until the stone arrives.  There's nothing more disappointing then getting a rock and realizing you were wrong about its size or coloration and it therefore won't work with the idea you had.  But that doesn't happen to me as much anymore.  I have lapidaries I trust and I can be sure what I'm getting.  In those cases, I just sketch my idea down quickly.  It's solidly in my head, being built up while I waited for the stone to arrive in the mail, but for some reason I usually still have to quickly sketch it down.  You never know when you're gonna wonk your head and get amnesia, right?  No, I don't watch too much Lifetime Television for Women.  Here's a quick sketch sheet I made to lay out a number of pieces I was starting all at the same time.  Those of you who are familiar with my Etsy shop will recognize these pieces -- the Undulate green kyanite earrings, the Banded agate ring, and the Cartoon Cindy ring.

And, very occasionally, I don't make a sketch at all.  Sometimes I'm so clear on what it is I want to do -- and it's a piece that doesn't need any troublesome areas worked out -- that I just start creating with no blueprint.  I have two necklaces I just started that are like that.  One is a found objects necklace, and one is a double necklace.  It's so clear to me how these two necklaces need to come together that I just got to work on them as soon as all the components arrived.  That leads us nicely into Part III -- true work begins!  Stay tuned.

How I make jewelry, Part I

A conversation with a friend recently made me realize that most people really have no idea what it is I do.  We live in the world of Claire's, where mass-produced jewelry is popped together by machines and sold for cheap.  Creating jewelry from scratch is hard to conceive of.  So, through a series of posts on here over the next couple of months, I'm going to show you how I do it.

First, I can't create jewelry from SCRATCH scratch.  I don't know how to cut my own stones (lapidary), and I don't make my own metal sheet.  To do that, I would have to have the capability to melt down scrap silver and gold.  Lots of metalsmiths do that, but I don't have the room or inclination right now.

So that means I need to buy stones and metal.  First I'll tell you about metal -- 'cuz let's face it, stones are the fun part.  I'm making you wait for it!  But metal can be interesting, especially with today's market.  The prices for silver and gold are insane.  When I first started beading back in college 20 years ago, you could get sterling silver for $7 an ounce.  As of 10:47 a.m. today, silver was selling at $30 an ounce.  At one point last year, I had to pay $42 an ounce.  So buying metal can be a game.  Sometimes I have to buy it based on necessity, but I try hard to buy based on price.

I don't buy bezel forms or metal already cut into shapes.  I just buy sheets of metal and rolls of wire.  There are a number of places you can shop for these things, but I prefer a jewelry-supply company called Rio Grande.  They're one of the biggies in the industry for tools and materials.  You can decide what thickness of metal you want at certain quantities.  I get sheet metal and regular wire in sterling silver, which is 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals.  They also sell bezel wire, which is fine silver -- 99% silver, meaning it's easier to bend.  A bezel is the metal that's wrapped around a stone and slightly bent over the stone to keep it in place, so more malleable metal is a must.  Those are the metal components I use to make the settings for my pieces ... more on that in another post.

Now the fun part: shopping for stones.  You used to have to know a dealer in New York or go to a gem show to get good stones.  I still like to see stones in person at a stone show.  However, buying stones off the Internet is the easiest, quickest way to shop.  There are a ton of online lapidaries, but I like to buy a lot of my stones from fellow shop owners on Etsy.  Hand-cut stones are gorgeous -- you can tell the lapidary has put thought into how to cut the stone for maximum drama.  Here's a good example of that, from one of the Esty shops I like, Lapidarious:

That's an ocean jasper.  The crystal formations on the left side are called druzy.  Barney, the guy who runs Lapidarious, had to find that druzy in the rough jasper and then plot how to best cut it to leave the druzy intact and yet also play up the drama of it.  This stone blows my mind.  It's expensive, of course, so unfortunately it's not getting to come live with me.

You have to know your stones to buy online.  It's easy to be taken by dishonest sellers who dye stones or show you a picture of turquoise but then send you pressed chalk.  Luckily, I'm a lifelong rock hound, plus generally suspicious.  I've had good luck so far as a result.  You have to treat the online lapidaries like any online business -- do your research and make sure they're legit.

I've been buying stones long enough now that I have working relationships with a few lapidaries I really like.  Sometimes I go shopping for a specific stone I need or want, but usually I just troll my favorite shops to see if they have any stones that catch my eye.  After I get the stone, I then design the piece of jewelry, letting the stone dictate my ideas and sketches.  When I come up with a sketch I like, then I bust out my metal and tools and get to work making it a reality.

Here are some purchases I made yesterday.  I think the round green amazonite pair, top right, is stunning.  The stones are small -- 12 mm across -- so they'll be perfect for some lightweight earrings.  At middle right, the inclusions at the top of the saber tooth-shaped variscite has given me an idea for a design, but I need to see it in person to see if it'll work.  And that skull carved out of picture jasper -- woo!  I already know what I'm going to do with it, because I've bought some of these skulls from Saxdsign in the past.  You'll see them up in my store in the fall.

So that's the very beginning of what I do.  I'm finishing up a couple of pieces of jewelry right now.  But I should be starting on a new necklace soon.  When I do, I'll take pictures as I work, so you can see the process.  At the very least, it's kinda interesting.  But I'm hoping it'll show the intricacies of what we metalsmiths do, giving you an appreciation for what goes into handmade jewelry.  Some people do make jewelry out of pre-formed metal and bezel cups and perfectly shaped stones, and there's nothing wrong with that.  I own $10 earrings from Target.  But I also own a lot of handmade jewelry made by some very talented men and women, and those pieces are the ones that are loved and will get handed down to my daughter.  I hope my jewelry will be thought of that way, too.

Stats the way I like it

Opening an Etsy store and starting a blog has introduced me to the world of stats.  Stats on your sites can be a wonderful tool.  They can show you what your most popular products are, what you need to improve, and provide insight to who your audience is.  But sometimes stats are just a confusing pile of crap.

Actually, stats are more like having a scale when you're dieting.  Using a scale can lead you to weigh yourself every day, and therefore into insanity. Day One = X pounds.  Day Two = X pounds.  Day Three = X - 2 pounds.  Day Four = X - 1 pound.  It's frustrating.  Looking at my Etsy stats can feel the same way.

But I like looking at the stats every day because my store is new.  I'm trying to grow my business, and I need to see what works.  Plus I'm just curious.  I seem to average about 8-10 store and/or listing views a day.  If I look at a certain day's stats and that's what pops up, I'm content.  But if the total is zero, I start obsessing a tad over why.

I'm currently confused by a bump the other way.  Yesterday, I had 30 shop views and 41 listing views.  Ooh!  But WHY?  This is the trouble with being a former journalist: I have to know the who, what, when, where, why and how.  Stats can fill a lot of that in, but not the why.  Since I'm hard on myself, I figured someone just got locked into my page somehow and was tripping the page views.  I know it happens.  My 6-year-old is responsible for unnecessarily hiking the page views of one of my friends.  She's a big fan of my friend's shop and loves to look at all her jewelry -- sometimes several times.  I try to prevent this, but my daughter's figuring out how to use Google and can sometimes get to my friend's shop on her own.  So I know not every page view is a valuable page view.  I figured that's what happened to me yesterday.

But then I read my e-mail and discovered a lot of people did discover my store yesterday.  I had several e-mails telling me people had "liked" one of my pieces or my store, or had added me to their Etsy circle.  As to why, I still haven't figured that out.  I didn't list a new piece yesterday, or join a group, or link to the store from Facebook or here.  So what happened?  The universe just ain't gonna help me on that.  Now what I need to do is just sit back and be happy about it.  And not start obsessively checking today's stats.  They're trending a little high again, by the way.  Wait!  No!  I mean I haven't checked my stats today!  Not once!

No, not once.  More like three times.  Sigh.

A company of one

Working for myself is as incredible as I imagined.  There are no meetings.  I can do what I want when I want -- and how I want, and where I want.  I can solder in my jammies.  I can let my daughter play hair salon on me while I sketch.  I can blast the Yeah Yeah Yeahs while I sand (although dancing along = lumpiness) and I can watch "The Young Victoria" while I polish.  It's bliss.

Except for when it's not.  When things aren't going right, you are on your own.  There's no IT department or Human Resources to iron out your problems for you.  Which is too bad, because you're going to have problems.  Sometimes several at once.  For example, I've been having trouble with my Dremel's collet nut staying tight.  This is where you fit attachments into the Dremel.  I use my Dremel while metalsmithing a lot -- cut, drill holes, sand, start the polish cycle -- and I can't really afford to have it break.  Plus a loose drill bit flying across the room is not conducive to keeping body parts intact.

But it was Christmas break (slow period) and the company's handyman (me) could fix the collet nut if I unscrewed it and then rescrewed it about two or three times in a row.  Problem solved.  Until the PC got a Trojan virus on the eve of Christmas Eve -- and right before I was about to post two pieces of jewelry on Etsy.  Gah!  I can do a number of work-related things on my iPad, but uploading photos to Etsy is not one of them.  I consulted with my IT department, which consisted of me and my husband and my mother-in-law staring at the computer and saying things like, "Do you think there's a keystroke logger now?" and "Should I click on this?" and "I dunno."  My IT department sucks.

The virus is now gone, thanks to professional help.  Time to get back to work and make up the financial loss -- yet another downside to working for yourself.  But the good news is that I'm at the polishing stage and "The Company Men" is on the DVR.  That still beats a meeting any day.