• a variety of fine pickles •

braille pendants in .999 fine silver

love is blind, in my etsy shop.

blind faith, in my etsy shop. sold on 12-2-07.

i sorta wanna keep this one...

it's a handmade, solid .999 fine silver oak leaf in my etsy shop.

*sold on 12-7-07!

my new love

i made my first pure silver jewelry last night!

wheeeeeeeeeeee!

i made it with something called "PMC3". PMC (PMC, PMC+ and PMC3) is precious metal clay, and it's the most amazing thing i've ever seen... it's tiny pure silver particles combined with an organic binder and water in the form of clay. it looks just like a lump of gray, earthen clay, and it's as malleable as earthen clay. you can make anything you want with it. it takes detail extremely well from stamps, silicone molds, etc. the "m" signet above is from a sealing wax stamp i have. i just stamped it in the clay, cut off the excess and voila - pendant. sort of.

after it dries, you have to file it or sand it to get it as smooth as you'd like it to be. i had a few rough edges on mine, so i carefully sanded them down with a fine grit sandpaper (my diamond files haven't arrived yet) taking care not to break it; essentially, the dried clay is greenware, and is brittle sort of like a cookie.

after i'd gotten it as smooth as i wanted it to be, i fired the pieces. they can be fired in a traditional kiln, in something called a hot pot (another item that is on its way to me, but not here yet) or with - and i think i like this idea the best - a micro torch, like you'd use for creme brulee. i happen to have one of those, and it took no more than 2 minutes per piece. and here's where the magic happens:

when you fire a piece of PMC (PMC3 is what i used) the organic binders burn off and you're left with .999 fine silver. since up to 8% shrinkage occurs with PMC3, the detail becomes even finer and tighter as well. i think it's the whole idea of making something out of something else that appeals to me, sort of like when i make soap. it's like magic to me.

the piece is then quenched in water (because it is VERY VERY HOT, something like 1100 degrees f...) and it cools instantly. after that, i was ready to start polishing and finishing. there's a lot of finishing involved, but it was so much fun turning this white piece of silver into a mirror-shiny piece of jewelry.

the pieces were tumbled in a rock tumbler for about 45 minutes to work-harden them as well as to give them a high shine. i then gave them a bath in liver of sulphur - which smells like rotten eggs and farts - to bring out their detail on the low spots (for example the words "make art" are blackened because of liver of sulphur because they're recessed, or a "low spot"). the polishing process removes all of the liver of sulphur oxidization that you don't want, on the "high spots", and that takes about an hour or so with 7 different polishing cloths with various grits ranging from 400 to 8000 grit. some people use a rotary tool for this, but i don't have one, so it was all done by hand.

finally, i attached a jump ring to each piece in the hole i made while the clay was still wet, and voila - .999 fine silver jewelry. there is no other alloy or metal in fine silver; sterling silver contains copper, giving it a .925 scale rating; copper is the reason sterling silver tarnishes. .999 fine silver supposedly does not tarnish.

i'm wearing it right now.

... and i know what you're getting for christmas this year! 

forty whacks

i'm not ashamed to say that i've long been obsessed with lizzie borden...

i'm kind of in love with this piece in my etsy shop -

***UPDATE - this piece sold on 11-22-07! although i'm sort of sad to see it go... but i'm glad it's going to a good home :)

for this holiday season...

click the image above to read about the handmade pledge...

or to pledge it for yourself! :)

hey, you:

lookee-loo. glide on over and peruse my etsy store.

thanks bunches!