Header

To enter our monthly Jewelry Design Challenges Click here! To see the current calendar of events for SRAJD Click here!

To join our Facebook Discussion Group Click here! Check out our current SRAJD Gift Guide

Sunday, February 15, 2015

SRAJD Week 5 Topic PATINAS


Laura Bracken: I'll start things off by sharing a blog post I wrote a few years ago on the subject.

Barbara Swinton: Love your experiments. Looking forward to this month. I've only used LOS and some bottled patina for copper, brass, bronze. From me few results and after reading your blog piece, I have a new respect for pre-cleaning. To date I've just used dawn and a toothbrush. Sometimes that works...except when it doesn't!

Laura Bracken: LOS is my "go to" patina for 99.9% of everything. But it is fun to experiment with other things once in a while.

Barbara Swinton: Is swellegent considered a patina? I remember Carol Evans showed us some pieces with that and I thought the effect with copper was nice.

Laura Bracken: Barbara, you bring up a good point. I, personally, don't think of coating colors as patinas but it's a gray area. Perhaps there is no real line between coloring metal with something like paint or color pencils versus coloring metal by liver of sulfur or oxidation. [ETA: I have since learned that there are Swellegent coatings and and Swellegent patinas].

Laura Bracken: On another note, here's a fun Pinterest board.

Nohline L'Ecuyer: I just got a new patina. It is by Fischer, German, and is called Oxidbeize Gosiba. It apparently makes a really dark black on silver and does not patina gold. So I am going to try it on some keum boo this weekend.

Tammy Adams: From my research, the Swellegant patinas are chemical patinas similar to LOS, not a paint. They achieve the effect via a reaction that develops over time, and you can stop the reaction at any point in the process, same as with LOS. Also, they reportedly work differently on different metals. They also have dye oxides to enhance the patinas, or use on their own.

Tammy Adams: For this month's challenge designs, Laura Bracken, are we limited to chemical patinas? Are heat patina effects included? Faux patina using pigments?

Laura Bracken: I say any patinas.

Carol Evans: Swellegant makes a line of metal patinas and they do react with what ever metal you are using. These are not coatings or paint. I really like them. Easy to use and good results each time.

Tammy Adams: Just re-read your article, Laura. The caution about not adding water to acid reminded me of the mnemonic I learned in high school chemistry: do what you otter, add acid to water.

Carol Evans: I love to create patinas on my metals. I feel like a mad scientist . I rarely use measurements or "recipes".... Usually just wing it. One day you will hear a loud bang and see lots of smoke coming from my laboratory... I mean work table . May not have eyebrows but I will have created a hell of a patina on my piece.

Diana Brandt: Do you consider alcohol inks a paint or patina? I bought a bunch over the summer and played around with them. I wasn't really impressed with their effects and durability. Maybe I didn't do it right.

Laura Bracken: Diana, I've decided not to try to define patina (for myself and/or for the monthly challenge). BTW, here's something I made in welding class using alcohol inks and steel.


Diana Brandt: Nice Laura. Did you heat treat it? I've read that you are supposed to "set" it by heat treating it. But I really don't want to put this stuff in my oven.

Laura Bracken: I did not. I did spray it with fixative, but I probably didn't need to.

Tammy Adams: I've put alcohol inks in my oven on many occasions with no ill effects, Diana. I use it frequently with polymer clay. Never noticed an odor, etc. They're just pigment in an alcohol carrier. You can also heat set with a heat gun, if you want to speed up the drying process.

Laura Bracken: How many of you have tried any of the SculptNouveau patinas?

Laura Bracken: Who's done the salt and vinegar patina? If so, how many days did you wait? (JewelryMakingJournal photo... see link for article)

Donna Warriner: I did the fuming with salt and vinegar and I believe it was a total of 2 days. I spritzed every few hours with sea salt and water. I've tried so many -I have lost track. Lol I buried in corn cob, fumed, and with ammonia and vinegar

Laura Bracken: Sounds like fun, Donna! Do you have any photos you could post here to show us the results?

Marica Zammit: I've only used Swellegant so far. Love it. I now want to try torch patina and also salt & vinegar. I've also heard great things about Sculpt Nouveau. I could patina all day if I could lol

Tammy Adams: I love the look of the salt and vinegar potato chip patinas. But it seems like an awful waste of tasty potato chips.

Marica Zammit: Oh and I use Gilders Paste a lot but I don't think that's considered as a patina?

Laura Bracken: Marica, that's great to hear about Swellegant. I'd love to see you post some of your guilder's paste work in this thread. I have some but haven't used it well yet.

Ann Sanicola: I use many of the Sculpt Nouveau patinas. Love them!

Kim Forrer: Laura I did the salt and vinegar thing. Posted info yesterday in our FB page.

Kim Lyons: Does anyone know if extreme temps will affect the result or timing? We are headed for single digits, but I would love to try this weekend and will have to have it outside. Specifically the ammonia recipe

Laura Bracken: Kim, that's a good question. I couldn't find any info on it so you'll have to let us know how it turns out.

Carol Evans: These are a pair of brass earrings. I first heat treated, sanded off areas, coated with the swellegant darkening patina, then the swellegant gold verdigree patina. Let dry, then used a bit of patina gilders paste and finally sealed with ren wax. Love the finish.

Carol Evans: Here is another pair of earrings made using swellegant. All sealed with ren wax.

Laura Bracken: Lovely work guys! Carol, other than for earrings, do you advise your customers that ren wax will eventually wear off (necklace pendants, bracelets, and rings)?

Carol Evans: Yes. I state it will wear and should be reapplied every so often to keep patina and sheen. If not.... Metals will naturally patina with age.

Laura Bracken: Thanks Carol. I always wonder about that stuff. Rain, that's great to hear. Got any photos? I'd love to see the results. I think I even have some that I haven't tried yet.

Rain Hannah: I've tried the Sculpt Nouveau green patina, traditional verdigris. Liked the results very much on both copper and bronze. It blooms nicely!

Tammy Adams: I don't have any awesome photos to share of "real" patina because I haven't done much with the chemical stuff. Yet. But last year I used Iced Enamels with resin to grunge up a key and some washers for our "Road Warrior/Post Apocalyptic" challenge.

Laura Bracken: What a cool technique, Tammy!

Rain Hannah: MsFickleMedia on Etsy repackages Sculpt Nouveau patinas - trad, and dye oxide - and wrote up a pretty clear, easy to follow "how to" about using them. I have it and it's been pretty useful.

Mary Rembach: Sorry if this has been covered, I haven't read everything yet, I just finished a copper necklace. I used LOS on it. I use a pro polish pad to remove what I want from it, but how can I tumble it without removing all of the patina? And, what prevents the patina from getting on customer's skin, clothes, etc.? It seems awfully easy to wipe away. Am I doing something wrong? Skipping a step? I do submerse it in baking soda and water as a last step. Oh, and how can you get Ren wax on and then off all of the grooves in a wire necklace? I guess I have 3 questions here.

Laura Bracken: You would pull it out of the tumbler every so often until it's what you want. If patina is poorly applied it can indeed get on customers clothing. When you dunk in LOS, do you do a quick dunk, then rinse, then a little longer dunk, then rinse, then longer dunk, etc?

Mary Rembach: Aha - I have not done that, because it turns black so fast. Maybe I need to use cooler water and keep repeating. Do you use separate shot your copper?

Laura Bracken: Never let your piece turn black fast... that is a coating, not a patina. As for tumbling, I have separate shot and separate barrel for base metals and for silver.


Mary Rembach: Oh boy!! - does anyone have a link they recommend for reading the proper way to patina using LOS?

Laura Bracken: Mary, click here.

Barbara Swinton: If I'm tumbling to work harden or clean/shine, I do it before LOS....then when I get the right color from my LOS, I am currently sealing with renwax, but Mary, I've never used wax on a chain necklace. I do have a lacquer product (bottle) from Rio, that I dip chain into to preserve patina color...that would work better than ren wax.

Barbara Swinton: Laura, I have put base metals and silver in the same shot...forever...no patina....is that bad? If so, what's the scoop?

Laura Bracken: Barbara, I also used to use one tumbler for everything. I don't think it's a big deal at all. I just prefer to keep them separate when possible... in case.

Mary Rembach: Laura and Barbara - I wonder how I got this patina - I think I always use the same process - but this one is an even deeper brown than the picture shows - I just fly by the "seat of my pants" mostly. This was deepest brown I ever got. Just copper wire in LOS.

Laura Bracken: I just added LOS to one my chainmaille bracelets too this week!

Kim Forrer: Laura what pattern is that one? I want to attempt a chainmaille bracelet for myself. I like that pattern. Not sure my eyes can stand it though. Probably take me a year......

Laura Bracken: Byzantine... but those are tiny... I don't advise using small jumprings. Took me several bracelets before I got the hand of it.

Mary Rembach: If it's your first attempt at Byzantine - use 16 ga. 4.5mm rings. Laura's is probably 18 ga. 3.5mm. The larger rings make it easier.

Barbara Swinton: Mary, your sizes are ring ID, right? Byzantine is my favorite weave:)

Mary Rembach: Yes Barbara - ID. There's a chainmaille group on here I recently joined and they use imperial measurements instead of metric. I learned chainmaille using metric measurements and it drives me crazy trying to convert their measurements. I always have to refer to a chart.

Barbara Swinton: Do you make new LOS each time? I have a can of pieces which I think will last me the rest of my life but to keep creations from turning black quickly (that happens to me sometimes...not always) do you just add a spec of LOS. I never measure anything...just chip off a piece and add about 1/2 cup water and microwave for about 10 secs....maybe I Should measure to be more consistent in my results....what do you do??

Laura Bracken: I don't use the chunks anymore. I use the one shown in the topic photo. So yeah, I make it up fresh each time (I only use a couple drops of the stuff at each sitting). I don't measure. But I don't measure when I cook either, so that's probably just a personality thing.

Mary Rembach: I use the liquid LOS I also got from Cool Tools and use just a drop or two.

Tammy Adams: I love the colors of rusted, weathered, oxidized metals. And I hate polishing jewelry. So patinas are right up my alley. I have learned so much in the past year from this group, including the fact that patinas can wear off if not sealed. Definitely a "good to know" thing.

Nohline L'Ecuyer: I just found this on Pinterest, but the link doesn't give any recipes.

Marica Zammit: Sorry for not getting back to you sooner Laura. Crazy busy right now. Here are some pieces I'm working on where I used gilders paste. They were all raw brass before I started playing with them.

Laura Bracken: Cool, Marica! Thanks for posting!

Kim Forrer: Also didn't see anyone mention this but LOS in chunk form will go bad if exposed to too much heat orw freezing temps, which is why . switched to gel when it came out,

Laura Bracken: And never get it near moisture... ever!

Barbara Swinton: Laura, is there just one entry/person for the challenges? Any room for multiple pieces in one photo?

Laura Bracken: You may enter as many per month as you like so long as they fit the theme. Personally, I think more than 3-4 is overkill, but I'm not being a stickler. If you want to show more than one view of an item (or multiple items) by creating an image collage, that's up to you, but I resize all photos to 800 pixels on the longest edge so keep that in mind.

[Anything posted after the end of that week will remain in Facebook and won’t be transcribed here.]



Sunday, February 8, 2015

SRAJD Week 4 Topic INVENTORY and ACCOUNTING


Laura Bracken: This week we'll talk about how we do accounting and inventory (and stuff like that) for our business.

Tammy Adams: Accounting? Inventory? Why can't I just make jewelry? Oh, right. 'Cause I'm a "self-representing artist."

Laura Bracken: Excellent point, Tammy. There are a lot of artist who balk at having to do the “other” side of the business. I use an Access database file to keep track of what I make and as you can see from the sample photo, it's the same place where I record a sale.

Mandy Atkinson: I have a system that seems to work for me... I make a list as I work of what I am using to make each piece. This years pieces all start with the number 5 as it's my fifth year and I have a 'blank' list with this years numbers on my workbench that I complete as I finish each piece.

I then type this up onto a spreadsheet (just trying to convert it all to your system Laura). Then I have another excel spreadsheet for what you call 'inventory' and I call 'stock' but it's the jewellery I have for sale LOL. This has a worksheet for each year, a worksheet for 'sold items' and a worksheet for 'for sale items'. The 'sold' and 'for sale' are organised by B (for bracelets) then E (earrings), N (for necklaces) and R ((rings)

I update everything as and when I can, but always before and after a show... I take a printout of my 'for sale items' to every show

I also measure each piece of wire as I cut it (lol) and every gemstone bead has a price etc etc...

Nohline L'Ecuyer: I use Jewelry Designer Manager and I will show you. This is the page where each individual component is listed and I take a photo because I am a visual person.

So if my inventory is all hunky dory and up to date I can actually get a report that contains stuff like this screenshot. This helps at the end of the year to give you a total inventory value.

So then, when it comes to assembling a piece, I enter the item # and the quantity used and the computer spits out a price. I use a half sheet form that I use when creating that I list every item on, including an inch of wire, and it turns out like this.

Laura Bracken: Interesting. I notice no labor charge. Is that because you make enough profit with your mark up as is?

Nohline L'Ecuyer: Pretty much yes.

Laura Bracken: What if you made a piece that was very lost cost on materials but took a lot of time to make... do you change the formula then?

Nohline L'Ecuyer: Yes! I play it by ear. The program automatically calculates. So on the bottom right with the direct/whole price etc, I would just play around with that until I feel i have a fair price.

Tammy Adams: I have project sheets to track materials for each piece, an Excel file to calculate costs per item, and then I download the CSV file from my Etsy shop to get my sales data. I only sell via that shop; I don't do shows.

Barbara Swinton: I also use Jewelry Designer Manager for my pricing and inventory And like it a lot though I don't use nearly all the things it can do. It gives my accountant all the things he needs at year end. Tracking income and purchases is done with excel spreadsheets and it's just very straightforward. Although it all takes time, I can't think of any way to streamline it more.

Mary Rembach: I use Bead Manager Pro. Just started using it last year. Before that I used excel to keep track of everything. I really like the software. I am still keeping duplicate records (excel and Bead Manager) because I haven't added all my parts in yet. I had to add every part: bead, wire, etc. The great thing about Bead Manager Pro is it does the inventory for you. When you add a new piece it subtracts from your inventory and of course it has all the reports you need too.

Jen Smith Fletcher: The cost of materials I use is written on each bag/item when purchased. I jot down my expenses as I make an item in a pretty notebook and do my formula thing with a calculator to get to my price. Each item is listed on an Excell spreadsheet with a number to keep track of what the item is and if I have it in a gallery or shop. I use Peachtree [now called Sage50] and plug in all my receipts/sales for year end. I'm just used to that from my bookkeeping gigs.

Barbara Swinton: I started with JDM at the beginning of 2011. And yes, it took me four days to enter all my components into it! But that was a one time thing. Now, every time I buy components I enter them in - no exceptions. A supply purchase never takes me more than 15 minutes to log in, using the units I do...1 troy oz of 18 gHH SS wire at $25.00 and 145" (because after creating a piece I enter in how many inches of wire I used) and that's it. Inventory is more than the cost of finished pieces, especially for me because I'm always buying - it's the addiction thing. Inventory really affects the bottom line.

I think that the requirements are different if you are registered as a business with your state...or if you treat your craft as a hobby.

Mary Rembach: Yes Barbara Sadler Swinton- I'm not finished entering my parts inventory and I've been at it on and off (the older parts) for months. I too add each item as it's ordered and it's amazing the $ amount of inventory you have when you do this.

Tammy Adams: Now that Laura clarified "inventory" is finished pieces, I will clarify my answer. That excel spreadsheet I use to calculate prices is also my inventory tracker, of sorts. Each piece has an item number assigned using a very clever alphanumeric system based on what it is and when it was made. (E270115 would be earrings made today). When a piece sells, I highlight the row in a color.

Mandy Atkinson: LOL... I count all my gemstone beads on the strand as they arrive from the suppliers... such a pain especially when they are tiny and the strand has in excess of 150 beads! And when some of them turn out to be cracked, or the drill hole is 'skew whiff' so they have to be discarded from stock!

Nohline L'Ecuyer: Finished piece inventory - hmm - I dont't - it's made, the cost is set, it is out there.

Pavlina Stoyanova: I am accountant and typically use QuckBooks for everything else but my jewelry business. I like to keep everything in Excel spreadsheets. You can add as much formulas as you want for everything. If I buy a strand of stones, I have a column for the price per piece. For the wire - the price per inch, etc. Then dividing shipping per items and adding a portion to each piece/inch. And I use different colors to mark inventory which are about to finish or have to order.

Mandy Atkinson: Oh Pavlina! That's why I love excel! I divide shipping between the items on the order too!

Marybeth Rich: I use what used to be Outright but is now owned by Go Daddy for the money part of the accounting, it inputs everything from Etsy and paypal for me I just have to verify the way it is categorized. For the inventory of what I have created, I have an Excel spread sheet that keeps tabs of every finished item I have. Finally, for pricing, I use Laura's spreadsheet. Does anyone use Craftybase?

Laura Bracken: Marybeth, thank you for the reminder that I'm overhauling the pricing calculator (and all customers get the new version). I've never heard of Craftybase... what is it?

Marybeth Rich: Looking forward to it Laura! Craftybase is a way to keep inventory that is supposedly aimed at handmade artists. From what I understand, it keeps track of items for inventory, helps with pricing, maintains customer lists, component lists etc.

Laura Bracken: Gotcha. My system is that each component is labeled with its price so when I create something, I just enter the price for that item and the pricing calculator does the rest. But no, I don't have a system that automatically tells me when I'm running low on something. When I see for myself that I'm running low on something, I put that info on my white board. When it's time to order, I just turn around and look at my whiteboard and all the info's there.

And thus ended our discussion on inventory and accounting. Lots of different systems out there for the different ways we like to stay organized.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

January 2015 WIRE WORK Theme for SRAJD Jewelry Design Challenge

Our theme for January 2015 was “WIRE WORK” so without further ado, have a lot at the scrumptious offerings of the SRAJD members…


Click on any photo to see a closer view of the design.

Kim Forrer of Kim Forrer Designs
Haven't made fibulas in years but love wearing them on my scarf (I have many!!!). Love to start twisting the wire and see where I end up.

Jo Pound of Jewelry by Jolane
This an old pic (2010) of a necklace when I was doing wirework. The copper neck band is braided and there are Swarovski crystals and swirls on the ends.

Kim Forrer of Kim Forrer Designs
I love making hearts so since it's almost Valentine's Day thought I would make this brooch. Copper and Carnelian - my favorite combo.

Betony Maiden of A Fair Maiden Jewelry
I'm super proud of this piece. Its my first full piece that I made it all myself except for the artisan lampwork and crystals. I love wire and just jumped right into it. I used 16g copper wire. I made loads of links. The piece is called HOPE BLOSSOMS. I had so much fun that I am still creating. Its such an amazing feeling to have made this all by hand. I'm also proud of the first clasp I have ever made in this piece.

Jamie Thompson of Sumerthyme
This is one of my first wire weave pieces. I have had this heart shaped natural amber for years with no idea what to do with it. After getting a book on wire weave I found what to do! I love the amber with all of its bugs and pollen. The copper wire weave compliments the shape so well.

Lynne Simpson of Desert Shine Jewelry
This is a beautiful piece of picture Jasper that a lapidary friend asked me to wrap for him. I wanted to keep as much of the stone free of wire as possible so I used weaving and prongs along the side instead of a traditional wrap, the piece is done with 20g and 28g copper wire that has been darkened with LOS and tumble polished.

Jane Rothmund of Stoneworks Jewellery
This piece is called "Frozen Heart because I started with an amazing heart of white agate that looked like it belonged in the movie "Frozen". The white agate heart was wrapped in a bezel and bail of rose gold, which is very pale and appropriate for the frozen theme. I then finished off the front of the heart with a frozen heartbeat and crystals of ice.

Tasha Harris of Tasha’s Touch Healing Jewelry
I was feeling sexy and wanted to create something to reflect that. I Ventured out and tried some new things and I am so happy I did. it makes me feel sexy and effervescent when I wear it. I talk a lot in my business, so I wanted something to keep my throat chakra calm. Angelite, works wonders for me. I bought a tut from Julie Hulick, in order to step outside my normal routine, so happy I did. I am into healing and copper is a great metal for that. I love making most things in square, to make my jewelry have not only texture but I find it easier to work with. Copper energy with the Angelite, keeps me feeling energized and light on my feet.

Donna Jo Wallace of Naturally Nickel Free
Dark red garnet earrings with niobium wirework and handmade earwires. 1.5 inches long, petite and pretty. Handmade and nickel-free by Naturally Nickel Free.

Maxine Booth of Perfectly Practical
My first try at wire weaving/braiding, this with 5 strands. It was fun and a little challenging for me. I loved incorporating beads into the braid for sparkle and color.

Michael Thornton of Simply Elegant Wire Jewelry
This a prong setting for a clear heart shaped CZ. The stone is wrapped in Silver Filled wire. The setting is very minimal, it allows the greatest about of light to flow through the stone to give it the "shine". The pendant consists of 7 wires, 6-21 gauge square wires and 1-21 gauge half-round wire. The pendant is entirely made by hand and has no glue or solder to hold it together.

Tina Faxas of Jewelry by Maree
I used copper wire, copper sheeting and a large Mother of Pearl bead. I've always loved items from the sea. Mother of pearl is so shimmery, reminds me of the sun reflecting on the ocean. The bangle part of the bracelet is 18 gauge wire wrapped together using a basket weave. I soldered a setting for the Mother of pearl bead and used 18 gauge wire as a decorative design that also acts as a hook. These two colors together a really complimentary.

Linda Blatchford of LinorStore Jewelry
I was inspired by the bird's nest necklaces that I saw online, but I wanted to alter the design so it was my own, so I wrapped the wire through and around the beads in an "orbit" fashion. One repeat client bought 3 at a time with different gemstones for healing characteristics; 1 was a gift and the recipient loves it.

Mary Rembach of Omi Silver
This soft lilac lepidolite makes me think Spring and looking out my window today (with more SNOW and cold) that's a nice thought. I love pear or teardrop shaped beads and like the way they look when wrapped in wire. These lepidolite beads came from South Africa and the silver beads are Turkish sterling silver. The wire is 20 gauge and the clasp is 18 gauge silver filled wire. I always try to finish my jewelry with jump rings in order to easily adjust the size.

Bonnie Jacobsen of BDJ Designs
Copper wire woven bracelet with a twist Round copper wire has been hammered, sanded, polished and twisted to create this simple design. A light patina has been given for an antique feel.

Tammy Adams of Paisley Lizard
These rustic triangle earrings are made with oxidized copper wire. Green glass beads are woven into the center of the frame with natural copper wire. On natural copper ear wires.

Nohline L'Ecuyer of Nohline L'Ecuyer
18 gauge copper wire woven in a 2x2 pattern. It is then sewn onto a piece of hessian together with a twig which I picked up at The Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Nohline L'Ecuyer of Nohline L'Ecuyer
18 gauge copper and silver wire woven in a 1x1 pattern, hollow formed and soldered into a bead. Teacher Jeanie Pratt.

Nohline L'Ecuyer of Nohline L'Ecuyer
Wire weaving in process. 22 gauge silver wire and 18 gauge gold filled wire. I will eventually hollow form these into rectangles and create earrings from them. Teacher Jeanie Pratt.

Nohline L'Ecuyer of Nohline L'Ecuyer
This is a random double wire weave in 20 gauge silver as a scarf pin. It has been tumbled to work harden an patinaed.

Barbara Swinton of Touch of Silver
The chevron shape is a popular one, yet this is only the second chevron necklace I've made. Love the bright colors of this wire (bought 2 years ago and never used) because when it's snowy and gray outside, colorful jewelry makes the day brighter!!! I coiled the artistic wire - it took a few tries to get it the right tension so that it would slide off the mandrel. Making the chevrons was the next step but connecting them caused problems. Round one, the chevron wrapped loop wouldn't accommodate two rings of the size I planned. Made new rings, but they weren't big enough to allow the chevrons to hang nicely...they bunched up. The third manufacture of a set of rings did the trick. This was a good learning exercise! The chevron is attached to an elongated rolo sterling chain with handmade S clasp.

Debi Riley of Labyrinth Spirit
My first attempt at wire wrapping a large rhodonite gemstone bead with a handmade chain...i did this without a tutorial....i am well pleased with the results.

Tammy Adams of Paisley Lizard
The copper wire oval hoop frames for these earrings were formed using a mandrel. I used thinner copper wire to wrap purple Czech glass beads around the outer edges and to finish the top loops. The hoops are joined to copper earwires with a beaded link connector.

Kelly Hosford Patterson of Pyxee Styx
"Strumming My Heartstrings" Copper Heart Harp earrings with Ruby Jade and musical note dangles, and tattered sari silk bow ties. They hang 4 3/4 inches long on handmade copper ear wires. Just in time for Valentine's Day!

Laura Bracken of Bracken Designs Studio Art Jewelry
A necklace and bracelet set created using the ancient technique of wire weaving called Viking knit (which indeed does date back that far).

We hope you’ve enjoyed looking at these wonderful creations. Make sure to check out the other monthly challenges.

If you’d like to get in on the action, join the SRAJD organization. If you’re already an active member, submit your jewelry challenge piece here.