Random jewelry making pictures

It's a little hodge podge of everything going on in the studio right now. I snapped some random pictures yesterday.

These bottle caps have had their magnets glued and are drying.  The magnets do look tiny, but these rare earth magnets can hold three pounds of weight.

(Future) resin scrabble tile pendants are drying.  I've applied the images and the glue sealant.  These are for a wholesale order.

Same wholesale customer, but these are finished pendants. 

These resin and pewter earrings and pendants are halfway through sanding.  They have three more grits of sandpaper to go.

These are some of the new pendants and earrings made from recycled gift cards.  I need to make earwires and jump rings for them.

I'm anxious to see how these do next weekend at the Downtown Festival and Art show.  That will be their first time available to the public.  (Hope to see you there!)

Recycling gift cards into jewelry

If you've been following me for a bit, you know earlier this year I asked you to save me your used up gift cards.


I finally had the opportunity to get the collection of gift cards out and being making them into jewelry.  I've been saving every and all plastic gift cards that I can find.

My hydraulic press will come in handy for me to make these.

















I'm using my disc cutter to get perfect circles out of the cards.

Some cards are better than others when it comes to patterns.  The sets will never be "matchy-matchy" (in case you're looking for an exactly perfect match), but they will be complimentary.






This is one of the sets I got from a card.  (Ear wires and pendant jump ring have yet to be added.)

Another set, but this one is a bit more colorful.  I try not to include anything that identifies the company as to try to avoid copyright and trademark issues.

These will be available for purchase at the Downtown Festival and Art show, November 12 and 13!  If you would like a reminder about the show, be sure to sign up for my email list (sign up box on the right side of this page).

So what do I read?

Jewelry books of course! I do read other books as well, mostly mystery/thriller type books, but I LOVE jewelry books. Any and all of them, whatever the topic. I love reading about different artists' techniques and inspirations. My latest book I am pouring through is 500 plastic jewelry designs. I would dare say it's a "coffee table" book. The picture on the cover says it all; it's creations from artists well known in their fields, no instructions, just gallery shots. I love looking at other people's work, not to copy, but to find inspiration. I love looking at color schemes, and wonder "how did they do that?" I've been through this book about a dozen times now and haven't gotten bored yet. And the glass of wine? That didn't come with the book, but certainly a prerequisite on my end. I love a good red wine!