Making Sterling Silver Toe Rings

I am absolutely loving making sterling silver toe rings! There are so many variations on them you can do. I have always made them with an open back, to make them one size fits all and it seems to be working well. I wouldn't expect people to know their toe rings sizes, I surely dont know mine :)

I am still figuring out how wide is too wide and how heavy is too heavy for a toe ring. I have been giving away free sterling toe rings with many orders lately. I just really love giving back to my customers, I appreciate them so much.

Here are the Sterling Toe Rings I have so far.: Sterling Silver Toe Rings

I Finished My GIA AJP Courses!

GIA offers some distance education courses for those of us who arent near their actual locations. They have quite a few different classes you can take, I chose the Accredited Jewelry Professional credential. The AJP consists of three different courses, Colored Stone Essentials, Diamond Essentials and Jewelry Essentials.

For me it was a huge learning experience as I don't have any formal training in any of the three courses. The world of colored stones is vast and although one course doesn't make you a master, it sure opens your eyes to whats out there. The diamond essentials course was packed full of vital information on diamonds, cut, color, clarity, carat weight - all good to know. The jewelry essentials course talked about all the different types of jewelry and the history of it, fascinating if you are in love with jewelry like I am.

I highly recommend looking into those courses, in total there were about $450.00. Let me tell you, it was well worth it and now I can put AJP after my name! Love it!

The Value of YouTube and Learning To Silversmith

I know this wasnt possible to silversmiths and jewelers of years back, but we have YouTube now to help us learn this beautiful art. I cant tell you how many videos I have watched from masters who grace us with their videos. I consider myself lucky that a master silversmith or master jeweler would upload videos to instruct us with.

Doing even a simple search like "Making a Sterling Silver Ring" or "Creating a Bezel" yields many video results for us to choose from. I have seen many of them and there are still so many to go. Some of my favorite YouTube poster for jewelry making are: Vandyke Jewelers, 1soham1, Rio Grande, Vanessa Nicole Jewelers, The Desert Artist, Don Norris and so many more. I am extremely grateful that we have that wonderful resource to guide, teach and direct us.

I have learned most of what I know by watching masters on YouTube. Give it a try, do some searches and see what you can learn.

Silversmithing Torch

I found out right away that a jewelers or silversmiths torch is expensive. I am thinking I will go with the propane and oxygen set eventually. Acetylene and oxygen burns hotter but its super dirty, you have probably seen those paratroopers that it gives off before you add the oxygen.

Until I can invest hundreds of dollars for the torch, I am using a set up that costs about $12.00 :) I learned about this from a silversmith named Don Norris. You can find him on YouTube, he has some great instructional videos. Its basically a plumbers torch and I have to say, it works great! Its much hotter than the micro torches you use with butane and the tank lasts for months.

This is the torch, you can get the head and tank from Home Depot in a set for around $12.00. I highly recommend buying a $2.00 slim propane bottle as its much easier to handle while you smith.

Thats the one right there. I am right handed so I hold my torch in my left hand and do my find motor skill functions in my right hand. Enjoy!

Learning to Silversmith...

What an adventure it has been over the last year as I am learning to Silversmith. I have always been fascinated by Jewelers and the amazing work they do. Turning raw materials into one of a kind works of art that people wear. Completely transforming stone and metal into beautiful rings, necklaces, pendants, bracelets even flatware and household items.

What started me looking into silver was last year when it hit $50.00 an ounce on the stock exchange. Of course I didnt have an ounce of silver to my name and I lamented over that. I watched it everyday praying it would come down so I could swoop in and buy a bunch of it. It still hasn't come down to where the average was for the last 10 years, $6.00 an ounce, can you believe silver was ever only that much? Me either.

Last Christmas my wife talked to my sister and my sister got me a Silversmiths kit! I was so excited, it was basically a tackle box with tools in it. Jewelers tools I might add, tools I had no idea how to use or what they were. Shannon recognized them instantly as she had worked for a jeweler when she was in high school. That was all it took for me to go into full blown obsession with silversmithing and jewelry making, and it has been so much fun!

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