The newest creation, Sterling Buds, is up at my Etsy shop. I took the photos of them using my new lightbox, which I made myself from directions I found online. It's turning out to be very useful, because today is cloudy and rainy, without the lightbox I'd have been stuck as far as photography goes.
I've been learning how to set stones, so far I've done bezel setting, which involved carefully pushing around the rim of the metal cup the cabochon is nestled in, to rub over the metal and hold the stone in. It's definitely harder than it looks to do, and takes a surprising amount of force. That's how the lapis cabochons in Sterling Buds were set.
Yesterday a box of supplies from Rio Grande, a wonderful source of jewelry making things, arrived. I'm excited about it, but also have a certain amount of trepidation, because I'm going to branch out into a new method of stone setting, tube setting. It involved drilling out the end of a tiny piece of sterling tubing, just the right size for the gemstone to sit down into the hole, and then rubbing the rim down over the edge of the stone. I'm going to be working with 3mm faceted gemstones, which are pretty tiny, so please wish me luck, and steady hands! I'll keep you posted how things are going.
3 comments:
Wow, I need to build a lightbox. Your photos are beautiful, so it was well worth it.
Setting those stones sounds like a lot of trouble. I've never really thought about that before. Funny, how you don't notice the little things around you, sometimes.
Lovely post!
Those look stunning. What a great photo as well. Good luck on your new creation!
Love the photos! I can't wait to see your new creations! I drink so much darned coffee I can't even imagine trying to set stones so small!
~Michele
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