Kelsi's Closet Jewelbox Design Journal

Tool Time Tuesday - Disc Cutters

2010-03-04T03:25:00Z

Sorry about missing last weeks edition of Tool Time Tuesday. And even this one is late, but I really do have good reasons for it. Many of you know that my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer last summer and underwent surgery to remove the cancer. The surgery was quite successful, so much so that she didn't require Chemo or Radiation. We have certainly counted our blessings for that. Mid February my mother underwent some extensive surgery during the reconstruction process and I have traveled to Utah to help her as she continues to recover from this surgery. She came home from the hospital last Tuesday and I have been busy in helping out around the house among other things. So with that all said, here we are for another edition of Tool Time Tuesday.

When I decided to get serious about jewelry just 3 1/2 short years ago I quickly found that having the right tools made my job much easier and much more efficient. I wanted to work with some discs and circles, domed or flat, but I quickly found that I had a very difficult time getting a perfect circle with my jewelers saw and files. Not only that, but they took much more time than should be reasonable to be practical and profitable. Below, you will see the four disc cutters I will be talking about in this edition of Tool Time Tuesday. The back two are economy disc cutters, we will talk about those first. The one on the right is my Pepe disc cutter and the one on the left is a Swanstrom disc cutter on loan to me by my friend Jeanette from Fundametals.net.

Before buying a cutter I began to do a bit of research on disc cutters. I found that there were some very affordable disc cutters on the market that worked, but it didn't mean they were a good buy. I will show you what I mean. I have a couple of suppliers that have "economy" disc cutters. They run the range of $35 - $50 -US. They are made of hardened steel, which is desirable. However, their downfall is in their construction.

You can see the construction looks nice and there is a slot where you can insert your metal. It allows for a nice thick piece of metal which is great. But you cannot adjust that gap when you are working with thinner pieces of metal and that is where we really run into problems.

You can see that the metal is not held into place well. This makes it so that the metal can move while you are trying to punch your hole out of the sheet. The best cutters will open and close on the metal so you have a nice solid fit between the top and bottom dies so the metal doesn't move when striking the punch with a hammer.

You can see the marks left by the punch as I tried to cut the disc out. This happened because the metal shifts between hammer blows. This metal is approximately 22 gauge and it took a couple of strikes before I got the punch to penetrate entirely through the sheet.

So what if this is the only option you can afford at this time? There are ways to make this work. They just take a little more work. I find that you can use some of the blue painters tape to help hold the metal in place so that it doesn't move as much when striking the punch. You will get a bit of a cleaner cut that way.

I had read about these disc cutters and decided that this was going to be one of those tools that you invest your money right the first time and I didn't buy them... at least not at first. As you can see, I now have 2 of this type and to tell you honestly, they don't get used much. I bought them more to show my students the difference between a good set and not so good set.

When I bought my disc cutter 3 years ago the best one that I could find was made by Pepe. I absolutely ADORE my disc cutter. It was not cheap and they are somewhat difficult to get a hold of as they seem to always be on back order. But the wait and cost is totally worth it. This is a tool that I cannot live without.

If you look back to the picture at the top you will see that this disc cutter comes in a wooden stand that holds each of the separate punches and the two pieces of the die. That is an important feature, there are two separate pieces to the die. This means that you can put in any thickness of metal between them and it will hold your metal nice and snugly giving you a good clean cut.

There are a couple of other points that are worth pointing out between a high quality disc cutter and an economy one. The dies or holes are milled with exact precision so that the punches fit perfectly in the holes. You MUST take care to insert your punches straight in and not at an angle. This will keep your cutting edges nice and crisp ensuring a good clean cut every time. You will also notice on this Pepe tool that the openings are beveled in a little to help guide the punches in correctly.

Another really good disc cutter came out just in the last couple of years. It was introduced after I had already purchased my Pepe cutter. This newer disc cutter is made by Swanstrom.

This cutter comes with a rubber storage mat for the cutter and punches. Similar to the Pepe, the die is constructed of two separate pieces of steel. The Swanstrom cutter doesn't come apart like the Pepe cutter does, but you use the handle to crank it open and close on your metal, again forming a nice snug fit on your metal to keep it in place. You just move the handle out of the way before striking your punch with a hammer.

Here I am cranking the handle to tighten the die on my metal.

I have inserted the punch and moved the handle out of the way.

Using a brass mallet I will strike the punch to create my disc. Is the type of hammer important? YES! You want to use a brass mallet so that you don't ruin your steel punches. Using a steel hammer can shorten the life of your punches. The brass mallet still has a little bit of give to it, but still provides the strength necessary to force the punch through the metal. Here I am using a 2 lb mallet, but that is only because my 1 lb hammer arrived after I took these pictures.

You want to have a nice solid surface to hammer on as you will be striking the metal with some pretty heavy blows. I actually have a concrete floor in my studio and will set my disc cutter on that and hammer there. You also want to take care that you only strike hard enough to cut out your disc. You don't want to hit your punch into the concrete or steel block if it can be avoided. There is a reason that I say this, particularly on the better disc cutters. The punches are not flat on the bottom. They are actually cut at an angle. This helps to create a better and more precise cut on the metal. It also makes it cut through the metal faster than if the pressure is evenly distributed.

Look at the difference between the punches from the Swanstrom and economy cutters. The Pepe punches are cut just like the Swanstrom pieces, I just didn't take a picture of them.

This is a picture of the economy cutter. See how it is just a straight cut along the bottom?

These are the punches from the Swanstrom cutter. The angled edge is what helps get that super clean cut. This is also the reason you don't want to hit the punches onto a hard surface. You can easily damage that edge if you aren't careful. These tools aren't cheap and you really want to take care of them.

Creating Washers with perfectly centered holes

Washers are a big thing in jewelry right now. You can purchase washers already made, but what if they don't have the size you want? Well, if you have a swanstrom cutter, you have a great option available to you. My good friend Jeanette worked with the engineers at Swanstrom to come up with Center Positioning plugs and these things totally ROCK! You make your smaller hole in the metal making certain to leave enough of a margin for the outer disc. After cutting out the inner disc, move the metal to the hole that will be used for the outer edge.

Find the plug that fits in the die for the outer disc. The plug has been tapered perfectly to move the inner hole to the center of the outer hole. Remove the plug after you have centered your metal, insert the disc cutting punch and strike with the hammer and you have a perfectly centered washer EVERY TIME! The best part is the plugs are fairly inexpensive and what a time saver.

Keep it clean, lubed and rust free

I currently live in Ohio and our weather is somewhat humid. Nothing like it was when I lived in the DC area, but I still have a problem with rust on my tools if I am not careful. It is very important that you take good care of these tools as they are an investment and they will last forever if you take just a few minutes to care for them.

One thing I do in my studio, particularly during the more humid months is run a dehumidifier at least a couple of hours a day. I am amazed at the amount of moisture I get out of the air in the studio. The other thing I do is put a lube and moisture barrier on my tools. The one that I prefer is a little more expensive, but again, totally worth it to me.

I use this Boeshield T-9. It was developed by Boeing to be used on their airplanes. The thing I really like about this is that it can be used in a couple of ways. You can spray it on and just leave it as a protectant. The lube will turn into a powdery substance that can be wiped off when you are ready to use the tool again. Or what I do most often is spay it on and then use it to lubricate and clean the tools.

You can see that I have put a nice coating of this on the die. From here I will take a paper towel and rub it evenly over the surface and into the each of the die holes. I also pay attention to the pegs so that when I assemble the die it will move smoothly.

Here you can see that I am working the lubricant into the holes of the die. This cleans and protects the tool.

It is also important that you take the time to clean and lubricate the punches themselves. This will keep them rust free and moving smoothly as they work through the die.

So how do they all compare?

I already pointed out the differences between a good disc cutter and some of the economy brands out there. But how do the two nice disc cutters compare? there are features that I really like about both of them.

I like the variety of sizes of holes I can get from both the Pepe and Swanstrom cutters. Both of them are made with exact measurements and with the best materials.

I like that my Pepe cutter has a flat surface when it is assembled and I don't have to worry bout damaging anything if my strike is a little bit off. The Swansrom has the crank that can get it the way if you don't do things just right. However, I am positive that once you have worked out your confidence on your striking, it won't be a problem at all.

I really like the cranking mechanism of the Swanstrom I know that if I put a piece of metal in the cutter, crank it down, the metal won't be moving at all. I never have to worry about unclean cuts, even if I don't get the punch through the first time.

Another thing that I really like about the Swanstrom is the size of the cutters. My Pepe cutter only goes up to 1" for the largest disc that I can make. The Swanstrom cutter sizes go from 1/8" to 1 1/4" in 1/8" incriments. So there are two larger sizes than my Pepe. That right there is so very tempting for me to want to buy it.

The Swanstrom is a bit more expensive than the Pepe but you won't find yourself waiting for months while the other is on back order. That right there is sometimes worh the cost in and of itself.

Both the Swanstrom and Pepe have storage units which make moving the tool around much nicer than the economy tools. The punches stay in place better in the Swanstrom unit as the rubber mold has a nice snug fit for both the cutter and the punches. The Pepe base is made of wood and offers a more rigid surface which makes it somewhat easier to move as it isn't flexible.

The economy tools don't have bases and they are a pain in the bum to move, but it wouldn't be difficult to come up with some sort of base for it if it is that bothersome.

If you would like more information on the Pepe Cutter you can check out their website at www.pepetools.com

To find out more information on the Swanstrom Disc Cutter, check out the Fundametals.net Website.
Click here To find out more information on the Swanstrom Centering Plugs

I am not affiliated with any of these tools, providers or anything. These are just my own insights into these tools as I have used them in my work. If you have had some experiences with these or any other disc cutters, please feel free to share your experiences.

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Tool Time Tuesday - Ounce to Ounce - How does it compare?

2010-02-17T14:28:00Z

This Tool Time Tuesday topic is one that you might find helpful and will hopefully learn some new things that will make ordering your metal a little easier.

Here in the United States we have a few different ways to measure volume and weight. Today we will be talking about measuring the weight of our metal.

When I order my metal from a given supplier, I typically order it based on the weight which is measured in Troy Ounces. When I weigh my kids or food or letters or whatever else, it is typically measured in Avoirdupois Ounces or pounds. There is a difference. Most people don't realize that there is a system called Troy Weights. A troy ounce is more than the typical ounce (Avoirdupois) found in the grocery store. Both are made up of a smaller unit called grams. Luckily for us, a gram is a gram.

1 Avoirdupois ounce (oz) = 28.35 grams (437.5 grains)
1 Troy ounce (Toz)= 31.1 grams
1 Troy ounce - 20 pennyweights
1 Pennyweight (dwt) - 24 grains
1 grain = .06479891 grams

A Troy pound is lighter than an avoirdupois pound because it contains fewer ounces.

1 Troy pound (373.25 grams) contains 12 Troy ounces.
1 Avoirdupois pound contains 16 avoirdupois ounces.
1 avoirdupois pound is 453.6 grams (16 oz), which is the equivalent of 14.583 Troy Ounces.
1 Troy Pound is just over 13 Avoirdupois ounces.

Even through the troy ounces are heavier, the difference is not enough to make a troy pound heavier.

Gold and Silver and other precious metals are weighed with this Troy Weight system. When you buy a 1 oz coin, it is a Troy oz. If you were to put that coin on a grocery scale, you will find that it weighs about 10% more than the food (Avoirdupois) ounce that you are used to.

How much metal do you get for a given weight? Well, that entirely depends on the gauge of wire you order. As you know, thicker wires or sheets are going to weigh more than thinner ones. I really like to use a chart that lays it out nicely at Monsterslayer.com.
Wire Specifications

Conversion formula. If you only have a scale that weighs in Avoirdupois ounces you can easily convert that into Troy ounces with the following formula:
Multiply # regular ounces X .912 to get approximate # troy ounces

This came in quite handy when I was doing my inventory recently where I had to weigh my silver and then convert it into Troy Ounces to determine its value.

So where did the Troy weight system come from? It is believed to be named after Troyes, France. This is a system they developed back in the medieval times at the celebrated fair at Troyes in North Eastern France.

Paisleys & Wire

2010-02-14T23:01:00Z

I was teaching my wire wrapped heart class earlier this week. I figured I had enough hearts and really wanted to make another paisley, so I worked on both a heart and a paisley at the same time. It is great because I was able to show the techniques but come up with two very different pieces at the same time. Here are the two pieces that I worked on while I was teaching the class.

Earlier in the week I also made another paisley pendant. Both of the paisley pendants use a beautifully faceted Brazilian Amethyst Briolette. The one above has already been sold. I also taught a wire wrapped pendant where I made this little blue pendant. The stone is a dichroic cabochon.

I will be working pretty hard in the studio tonight and tomorrow to finish up some custom orders. So I should have some pretty good things to show this week before I leave for Utah.

Tool Time Tuesday - Annealing fine gauges of wire

2010-02-09T05:40:00Z

Have you ever worked with your fine gauges of wire until they were so stiff that you didn't know what to do with them? Generally mine end up in my scrap pile. Even when there is still some good workable length. Or have you ever opened your wire to find that it was so stiff that it was a nightmare to work with? That happened to me just recently. Even though I had ordered "Dead soft" wire, it is anything but dead soft. Springy wire can be dealt with in a number of ways. Today's Tool Time Tuesday will introduce a way for you to anneal your really fine gauges of sterling wire without melting it into a big blob. The same concept can be used for other metals as well.

Annealing, when it comes to metal, is the process of heating your metal to relax the crystalline structure to allow the material to become malleable. You can think of hard wire vs. dead soft wire in terms of spaghetti. Hard wire is similar to the uncooked pasta, while half hard is at that cooked stage where the noodles are getting soft, but still crunchy. Dead soft wire would be similar to cooked noodles. Okay, not exactly, but it gets you a little closer to the idea. Hard wire is great for some applications, but if you are wire weaving, it isn't desirable at all.

I learned this great trick from one of my instructors, Sofia Calderwood. She told me that to anneal wires that are fine gauge, such as 24, 26, 28, & 30, etc. that you can take a small tin can like those that the little mints come in and place the metal inside, heat it up until it glows read and then your wire should be annealed. The concept sounded simple enough and I thought I would try it out.

This tutorial shows my very first attempt at this method. I will show you some of the things I learned you should not do, as well as those you should do.

Here is my sweet little can of York Mints. I never buy these things, but I really wanted to try this, so I actually bought it just so I could have the little tin. An Altoids type of can would also work well.

These are some of the pieces I found in my scrap pile. They aren't super long, but I could still work with them if they weren't so brittle and springy. These wires are 26 and 28 gauge. If I tried to anneal them with the torch, I run a huge risk of just melting them.

I have wound them up and tucked them in the can, which wasn't easy. They kept springing back open. *Notice there aren't any holes in the bottom of this lid.

I had placed the lid on the tin and had actually started to heat the can up when I thought about the fact that you really should have some ventilation holes. Without them the can would explode open from the gases and expanding air as you heat it up. I quickly stopped, quenched the tin and promptly opened it up and drilled some holes in the bottom with my flexshaft.

I have a couple of these great annealing pans with pumice. This is my large one. It is 12" and has 2 or 3 pounds of pumice. The pumice helps to hold and reflect the heat. This annealing pan also rotates which is fabulous. The torch I am using is an Acetylene/air torch. I am using my largest tip, which is a #6. I use this one for annealing my ingots and larger pieces. I don't know that I would have had much luck with this process with my smaller tips. Perhaps I would, but even with this tip, I was torching for a good 2 minutes or more.

This is another great time to bring up ventilation. As the decals and coating on this tin burned off it gave off a horrible fume and dark smoke. Good ventilation is a MUST! It probably wouldn't hurt to be wearing a fume mask at the same time. My studio smelled like torched electrical lines for a couple of days.

You can see the tin starting to get good and red. Playing with torches is so much FUN!
Now, here is where I made another mistake. My tin is sitting right on the pumice. I am not able to get to the bottom of the tin with my heat. There is a lot of heat transferring from the top, sides and even the pumice. But when I pulled the wire out of the tin after quenching, it was still pretty stiff. Actually, it had gone from that uncooked spaghetti phase to the sort-of-cooked spaghetti phase.

This problem is easily solved by raising the can up a little. Here I have used some 6 gauge copper wire that has been bent to hold my can up at a slight angle.

Heating one more time. This time I am able to direct my flame under the tin. Again, I must get the entire tin glowing red.

Make sure you don't touch the tin with your fingers. Hot metal and bare skin is never a good thing! I have lifted the tin with my insulated cross locking tweezers and dunked into my quench bowl of water. Here you can see I am holding it down into the water. I had to do this because it wanted to float at the top. Silly tin!

After heating it up, the texture of the tin changed. I could not get the can to open, no matter how hard I tried. So finally I grabbed a little watch case opening knife and was able to pry the tin open.

Now doesn't that look lovely? The wire is now dirty with sooty, burnt film from the tin and it has oxidized from the heating process.

Here is a little better shot of the oxidized wire. Oxidation is the reaction of the copper within the silver. As you heat it up it gets really dark and yucky. To remove this black layer on my newly softened wire I will put it into the pickle.

Because it is such a royal pain in the pa-tooty to pick up really think wire off the bottom of a pickle bot, I put it in this little baby food container. I have taken a very hot soldering pick and pierced a few holes into the bottom. The pickle won't harm the container and it makes it easy to fish small things out of the pickle. This is a lifesaver when it comes to picking up flat discs that like to fall over on the bottom.

After pickling there may be a little bit of film left on the metal that can just be brushed away with a soft toothbrush and some water.

There you have it. I now have annealed and clean wire ready for my next wire wrapping or weaving project.

I have been told that you can also anneal your wire nicely in a kiln. I don't have a kiln and could not answer any questions on that. But if you have any other questions, I would be happy to answer them. Thank you to all that have been leaving comments on my blog. I appreciate them and it helps to know that people are actually reading.

Thanks goes out to my good friend Valerie Heck for taking the pictures of this process. I couldn't have done it without you, well, at least not as quickly.

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More hearts - can't get a way from them

2010-02-06T16:00:00Z

I am on my way out the door just now to go and teach a class in Rocky River. I figured I would give myself 2 hours since we got so much snow last night. We ended up with 9 inches here at my house. That is nothing compared to some of my friends. But it is still a lot. It sure makes me glad that we bought that big old snow blower. My husband is the greatest too, he probably did 4 or 5 houses of our neighbors and the side walks from our house down to the entrance of the neighborhood (about 10 houses.) What a good guy! I love that man!

Anyway, I made another one of the forged hearts last night to show as an example for the class.

Then I decided this morning that I simply must have a pair of heart earrings to wear as I am all decked out in hearts. So I came up with these really quickly. Now, I had made the structure of these prior to this morning, but I stamped and patinaed these this morning.

This last piece is a very special piece and will remain in my personal collection until I die, and then I might just ask that they bury me with it. It is one of a set of two. I have a very special friend that was literally with Garth and I all through the pregnancy, birth and death of our second daughter Kelsi. Through that experience our family has gained such a special eternal friend. Lou was such a strength to me before and after Kelsi died. Kelsi held Lou's hand before I even got to see her. He said it was that touch of hers that bonded our families together forever.

I don't have his piece finished yet. I still need to get the pin back for his. He asked me back in July if I would come up with something for the both of us. I wanted it to be a really unique piece of jewelry. If people don't know the story behind the piece, it will just be a pretty abstract piece. But when they know the meaning, it takes on a whole new level of understanding. I didn't want people to misunderstand our relationship, because, while it is one of the deepest relationships, there is nothing romantic or anything like that.

So here is what I have come up with.

The diamond shape represents our relationship.
The line down the middle divides the piece into two, one side for him, the other for me
The angel wings represent Kelsi
The little line that stretches out from the middle one is like us holding our hands out to one another
The hearts represent the love that we have for each other
The opal has a couple of different things. First the shape: It is tear dropped, which represents the grief we had, but also reminds me of a maternal form.
I tried so many different stones in this piece, and none of them fit until I tried the opal. Even then I tried different shapes, but it was the tear drop that was chosen. But the color in this opal has a white background which is quite celestial and heavenly to me. The sparkles make me think of happiness. I know that we are all happy that we had Kelsi to bring so much understanding and love into our lives.

I can't wait until I get his done and can send it off to him.

Okay, so that is all for now. Pray for good roads as I head to Rocky River for my class now! Hope everyone stays safe, dry and warm today.

Wedding Pendant

2010-02-06T03:36:00Z

A couple of weeks ago I got a request from one of the cutest girls in the world. She lived pretty close to me when I lived in Virginia. She also used to babysit my little girl. My daughter adored her. When Riley would draw pictures of our family (there were only three of us at the time) she would draw four people. Me, my husband, Riley and Kiley. Riley also liked the fact that Kiley's name was spelled close to hers. She had no problems spelling it.

Well, as time goes on, Riley is no longer 3 years old and Kiley is getting married. I cannot believe that much time has already passed. But I believe Kiley is already older than I was when I got married. I was quite honored when she requested that I make her wedding jewelry. She asked me to keep it really simple and not flashy. She also wanted something that was based on her wedding ring. So this is what I cam up with. I am still working on the earrings.

It is sterling silver. It began life as 16 gauge wire which I forged and soldered together. I have tube set 3 CZ's (5mm & 3mm). The bail on the back is just a 1/2 ring. The pendant is just shy of 1 3/4" long.

I also worked on another wire ring tonight. I wanted to see what the Heart ring would look like in Sterling silver. This has been made in the same fashion as the one in copper, woven shank, formed heart and forged. I have oxidized this to bring out the details and gave it a matte finish with some Pumice powder.

We are supposed to get some good snow here, though I doubt we will have anywhere near what they predict. We always seem to fall short of that here in Norton. But I am sure glad we aren't living in Virginia this weekend. They are supposed to get upwards of 30". Stay warm and dry my friends.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Tool Time Tuesday - Essential Soldering Setup

2010-02-02T04:40:00Z

I am often asked what tools are needed when one wants to get into soldering. There are so many tools that you can buy. Not all of them are necessary, and there are some that I just cannot live without. This post is about those that I just cannot live without. Now, keep in mind that I am still fairly new to jewelry, yes, it is true. I only learned how to bezel set a stone 3 years ago. I began playing with wire only just a couple years before that. With that said, this is all based on my opinion and personal experience while teaching myself and others.

When I took my first soldering class the instructor gave us a sheet of recommended tools. That is where I began. I searched for the best prices and bought in bulk where possible to save a few dollars. With that said, I spent over $500 on my first set up. I have since found better suppliers, some wholesale, and am just wiser as to what is really needed. I offer a kit to my students at a rate MUCH less than I paid.

Here are the 15 items I consider ESSENTIAL to be successful in soldering. This is a basic set up and meant for small scale jewelry items.
1- Butane Torch
2 - Butane for your torch
3 - Soldering Pad/surface
4 - Soldering Pick
5 - Insulated Cross Locking Tweezers
6 - Needle File Set
7 - Flux
8 - Flux brush
9 - Saw Frame
10 - Saw blades for your saw frame
11 - Bench pin and Anvil Combo
12 - Straight Shop Shears
13 - Copper Tongs
14 - Pickle
15 - Pickle Pot

If you are going to get into bezel setting, I would suggest that you also add:
1 - Prong/Bezel Pusher
2 - Bezel Rocker
3 - Burnisher
4 - Ring Clamp

Here is what my soldering station looks like.
The first thing I would like to point out about my set up is the two black hoods over the table. This is my ventilation system. This is something I came up with my father-in-law as we built the studio. I knew I needed to have some way of pulling away the dangerous fumes that would be created during my classes and as I worked. It is actually a modified woodworking system.

My table will comfortably sit 3 people at a time. My Acetylene/Air torch is easily seen on the right hand side of the table. That torch is only a year old. It is my "big girl" torch.

Let's look a little closer at some of the items on my soldering table.

This is a typical set up that I use every time I solder something together.
A - These two bottles contain flux. The yellow fluid is a self pickling liquid flux. The short fat container is a paste flux. Flux is used to absorb oxygen and keep oxidation at bay long enough for your piece to get to temperature so that the solder can flow. The way I apply my flux is with a simple paint brush.

B - This is my soldering surface. In this case it is a 6" x 6" Solderite Pad. It gets pretty dirty from the flux and torching, but can easily be resurfaced. I will show some other pictures later int his post.

C - These are two styles of Soldering Picks. My favorite is the shorter one as it is smaller and has a finer tip. These act as your fingers when you are soldering. You do not want to be touching red hot metal with your fingers when soldering, so you would use these to keep things in place, or move them, help direct your solder, hold things together, etc. I hold this in my dominant hand while my torch works in my non-dominant hand. This takes a bit of getting used to, but it works for me.

D - Two types of Tweezers. The one that is ESSENTIAL is the insulated cross locking tweezers. You want them insulated because the metal will get hot as you are soldering and transfer that heat right up to your fingers otherwise. The other pair is a fine tipped pair of tweezers. I especially like these for placing my solder or laying down detail items into place.

E - A good pair of 3rd hands is always a good investment. I didn't list this in my Essential list, because there are other ways to accomplish what you can do with them. But it is still a handy tool to have.

F - No metalsmith should be without a black sharpie. There are just so many uses for them, including being able to tell if you are at the right temperature for annealing your metal.

A Quench bowl is VERY IMPORTANT. After heating your piece you should quench it to cool it off. It makes the BEST sound when you dunk a hot piece of metal into the cool water. Just be sure that you dunk the ENTIRE piece into the water or your piece will remain hot. I even dunk my tweezers and soldering pick to cool them off. Here I have used a ceramic coated steel bowl. It had been chipped and was no longer safe for using with food, so naturally I pulled it into the studio. I also have small glass and stainless bowls that I use for quenching. It just depends on the size of piece I am working on.

Other soldering surfaces I like to use are a ceramic soldering board and a hard compressed charcoal block. I also have a couple of annealing pans with pumice, one is 12" round and the other is 7" round. You can also use fire bricks. They are all great for reflecting heat back onto your piece as you work with your torch.

I mentioned above that sometimes these soldering pads get really dirty. Here you can see on the left one of my soldering pads that has been quite well used. There are pits, dark spots, spots with hardened flux, etc. These things can make it difficult to see what you are doing, as well as a really gummy mess when soldering. Every now and then I will take my pad out to my driveway and resurface it by laying it flat on the ground and running it in a figure 8 motion to sand away the surface. The pad on the right was resurfaced not too long ago and is beginning to get used again.

This is my little army of torches. I absolutely ADORE my Blazer torches. For a long time this is all I used. I knew it was time to get a bigger torch when I was holding three at a time (yes, you read that right) to get my solder to flow on larger pieces. I will totally vouch for the durability and consistency of the Blazer torch. They are more expensive, but worth EVERY PENNY! The Jumbo Torch on the right is a newer torch for me. I began using this one back in the fall. I LOVE it. Now in my kits, I offer my students the option of which torch they would like. Most will buy the one that doesn't come in the kit.

The Jumbo torch isn't quite as hot as the Blazer, but the flame is larger so you are able to get and keep a larger piece at temperature. The Blazer works best on smaller pieces, say 1 1/4" x 1 1/4".

The two torches above are both butane torches. They are perfect for small scale projects and you don't have to worry about having gas and oxygen tanks. When I first got into this I worked at my kitchen table and then progressed to the formal dining room where I set up a small student computer desk as my bench. You still need to have good ventilation, but like I said, at least you don't have the big tanks hanging around. I really like to use Triple Refined Butane, but have found that even regular lighter refill butane will work.

After soldering a piece, it is typically pretty oxidized and not very pretty. I remember taking my first soldering class and looking at this awful black charcoal-looking chain and being so disappointed with how it looked. You can use a solution called Pickle to remove this oxidation. Your piece won't be bright and shiny yet, but at least you get back to your original color.

There are a number of solutions that can be used for pickle, and perhaps that might be worthy of its own Tool Time Tuesday. But for now, I am using a couple of differing things. I started out by using Sparex #2, but it was so dirty I couldn't stand the stuff. Then I found Rio's pickle and really liked that. But I wanted something I could get locally and I tried Ph- or Ph Down. It is a swimming pool chemical.

Pickle works fastest when it is warm so I put mine in this little 1 1/2 quart crock pot. Things to remember with Pickle; depending on what you are using, you do not want it on you or the fumes up your nose. Always open the lid away from you to keep the fumes out of your face. NEVER put steel tools in your pickle. Use copper tongs instead.

When I have small bits and pieces I will place them in a small plastic container with holes in the bottom. This saves me time trying to fish them out of the pickle.

Always take your pieces from the pickle and dunk them in a container of baking soda and water (black bowl above) to neutralize the acid of the pickle.

One item your shop shouldn't be without is a good fire extinguisher. Make certain to get it tested or buy a new one every year to make certain you are covered in case of a fire. Here is a question I ask all my students. Where should you place your extinguisher? The answer is on your way out the door or at least away from your bench. You don't want to have to reach into or through the fire to grab it.

Other tools I cannot live without

I love my bench pin and Anvil combination. For a long time I didn't own a steel bench block. I just used the steel surface of this device for that purpose. The bench pin is great for supporting your piece while sawing or piercing. And I don't feel bad about cutting or drilling into it as replacement pins are very inexpensive. This particular bench pin is my original. Believe it or not, it does actually get quite a bit of use. But I don't drill into mine. I have another surface that is used for that.

I cannot live without my saws. I have about 6 of them. I have a couple that are much larger than these even. Saw blades are also easy to break and are sold by the dozen.

As you can see, I have quite the assortment of shop shears. I really like the straight tips, but they also come with a curved tip. I just haven't used it much and haven't found the need for it. But others swear by them. I guess it is just a matter of personal preference.

These are great for cutting solder, sheet metal and thicker gauges of wire. My favorite pair in this shot is the middle pair. They are french style shears with a spring.

One Item that I don't have a picture of is a needle file set. A good set is going to have a variety of shapes so that you can get into various areas of your work.

As always, if you have any questions or comments I would love to hear them. Hopefully this answers a few questions you might have about soldering set ups. Please let me know if you would like further information on any of this. I am happy to share what I know.

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February 2010 Class Schedule

2010-02-01T02:42:00Z

February is such a short month that will be made even shorter with some traveling I will be doing. With that said, I am keeping my schedule fairly light this month. But if you have a project you would like to work on give me a call and let's see what we can work out. Just because something isn't listed on my schedule doesn't mean it can't be added.

I am teaching a lot of Valentine themed classes this month. Go figure. But what better thing for me to teach than Hearts and Swirls. I just love them!

Pictures and class descriptions can be found on my website: www.melissamuir.com/classes.htm

February 2010 Schedule
Location	Date	Time	Class	Cost
Beadtini	2/4	6:00 - 7:00pm	Forged Heart Pendant	**
Beadtini	2/4	7:30 - 8:30 pm	Wire Heart Ring	**
Embellish	2/6	1:00 - 2:00 pm	Forged Heart Pendant	$18*
Embellish	2/6	2:30 - 3:30 pm	Forged Heart Pendant	$18*
Embellish	2/6	4:00 - 5:00 pm	Forged Heart Pendant	$18*
Norton	2/9	9:30 am - 4:00 pm	Bezel Set & Pierced Pendant	$115
Beadtini	2/10	10:00 - 11:00 am	Forged Heart Pendant	**
Beadtini	2/10	11:30 - 12:30 pm	Wire Heart Ring	**
Beadtini	2/10	1:00 - 2:00 pm	Heart Earrings	**
Beadtini	2/11	10:30 - 1:30 pm	Wire Wraped Heart	**
Ohio JMAG	2/13	10:30 - 1:30 pm	North East Ohio JMAGMeeting	Free
Norton	2/16	10:00 - 1:00	Open Studio	$65*
Ohio JMAG	2/17	10:30 - 1:30 pm	Columbus Ohio JMAGMeeting	Free
Norton	2/18	6:00 - 9:00 pm	Wire Wrapped Cabochon	$55*

* Some materials not included. Please see the class description or shop for details.
** Please contact the store for class Price

Payment must be received in full to guarantee your space. All materials and use of tools are included in the class fee, unless otherwise noted.

Custom classes available by request. Contact me at: jewelry@melissamuir.com

***Please note, I will not be holding classes in March. Classes will resume in April. Please make your date and class preference requests now.***

Wire Wrapped Hearts

2010-01-30T16:43:00Z

Last night 3 wonderful ladies came over to my studio in Norton for the Wire Wrapped Heart Class. We had so much fun. I took a picture of our completed projects, But I forgot to get a picture of the last piece. So Joy, if you are reading this, be sure to send me a picture of yours.

It is always so much fun to see everyone start out with the same materials and yet how different our results all are. The pendant on the left was made by Megan. The one in the middle was made by Robin and the one on the right was made by me.

I will be teaching this class a couple of times this next month. My February schedule should be out by Monday. I won't be teaching any classes in March, but will resume classes in April.

Valentine Earrings

2010-01-28T20:49:00Z

Since I will only be around for the first couple of weeks in February, what better time to do Valentine jewelry. So I came up with a couple more quick projects to teach. I have already shown you the ring and pendant, now enjoy two pairs of earrings. The first is a set of post back earrings. Right now the are made in copper as they are my prototypes, but I will certainly make these in sterling as well.

This next pair is based on the same design only they are hanging from french ear wires. Again, just in copper for now, but I will make some in Sterling.

Valentine Ring

2010-01-28T03:43:00Z

First of all, I do apologize for all the extra little test emails. For whatever reason my blog is misbehaving and has us all scratching our heads. It has decided to stop emailing updates. Actually, that isn't true. I did finally get some of them.... about 24 hours later. There may be a few more test posts coming through as we continue to troubleshoot this issue, but hope to have it resolved soon. I was on the phone with my host last night for nearly an hour and we had to pass it on to the advanced troubleshooting team. Just be patient and be sure to check in for any updates until we get it all resolved.

I am getting way behind in my jewelry making. Tonight I have been working on a few different projects. One of which I am presenting to a shop where I teach locally, to see if they would like to offer this along with my heart pendant. It is another project that will take only an hour and be minimal in terms of cost. I have showed two finishes. One is a bright copper and the other is after it has had a little bath in the Liver of Sulfur. This would have been great to show as an example of LOS with small wires.

I tried to get a picture of this on my finger as it is really cool looking, but the picture didn't turn out very well, so you will just have to imagine it on my short stubby little hands. Any comments, questions or suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated.

Art Jewelry's Top 10 in December 2009

2010-01-27T00:34:00Z

Today I received the Art Jewelry Magazine Newsletter. I was pleasantly surprised to see a picture of my Winter Lily. They are promoting the Art Jewelry Desktop Wallpapers. It is so much fun to see my pieces when they go out in others publications.

Down at the bottom it lists the top 10 downloaded projects for the month of December. I was surprised to see a picture of my fused silver chain as well. What a cool thing to have that be in the top ten. I just had to share my excitement.

Did you see Today's Tool Time Tuesday? If not be sure to check it out .

Tool Time Tuesday - Rolling Mill Textures

2010-01-26T21:56:00Z

Today's Tool Time Tuesday features one of my favorite machines in my studio... the Rolling Mill.

Rolling mills are generally used for reducing metal to make it thinner but it can also be used to transfer textures onto your metal. The rollers on the mill are made of steel and can be flat or grooved. The grooved portions can be used for wire. You will see on my mill there is an additional side roller that can be used to make 1/2 round wire. Today we will be working with the flat part of the rollers to create textures on copper.

This is not a tool that you will find in every shop, though most metalsmiths work hard to get some sort of mill into their shop at one point and time. This is not an inexpensive tool, but if you care for it right it will last more than a lifetime.

The mill should be placed and secured to a steady work surface. My mill is bolted to my table. Never get the rollers wet, they WILL rust. Never use steel, titanium, sand paper or other tough material with out first sandwiching them between brass or copper sheets. This will prevent your rollers from being damaged by the harder materials.

What materials can you use to add patterns?
Almost ANYTHING. This is where it really gets fun. You will see in the following photographs that I have used a number of materials. For the sake of time in working through this, I have patterned both sides of one sheet of metal, each side with a different material.

Always start with clean, dry and annealed metal. Annealed metal is soft and malleable and will accept a rolled texture more easily. Also, if your metal is not annealed you run the risk of cracking the metal as it will be more brittle.

The following has been done in copper, but would easily work with silver and brass in the same way. Platinum, white gold, nickle and bronze are all too tough to take a good impression. Titanium and steel should never be used.

This first picture shows some of the materials that I will be working with for this demonstration. Starting from the upper left corner and going clockwise I have some copper mesh, aluminum sheet with holes, sand paper, a penny, the bag from my clementine oranges, and though you can barely see it, some steel binding wire. You also see the small copper pieces that I will be working with.

The first example uses the aluminum and clementine packaging. I have cut each down to fit my metal a little better. I will create a sandwich with the two outer pieces of copper. This sandwich will protect the rollers of my mill.

I feed the sandwich into the mill and adjust the height of the roller so that the metal will be compressed enough, but not too much. You want to be able to turn the handle but if it is too easy it means there is not enough pressure to give a good impression.

As the metal rolls through it is being thinned and that will change the shape of the metal. It also gets very hard as it goes through the mill.

The outer plates are also textured. I am using a relatively thin piece of metal, I think about 24 gauge, and you can see that the texture from the aluminum passed through to the front side where I had the Clementine packaging. My outer plates probably started around 18 gauge.

This picture shows the side that was up against the aluminum.

I can generally use my outer sandwich plates for about 2 or three rolls before I need to anneal them. You saw how they got a curved shape from the rollers, well, if I can't flatten them relatively easy with my hands it is time to anneal them. I am using a large tip on my Acetylene/air torch.

How do you know if your metal is annealed?
One trick I like to use is to draw on my metal with a sharpie. When the sharpie disappears, the metal is at the proper temperature. Let it cool for about 30 seconds to 1 minute and then quench in water. From here I pickle, and clean it back up so that it is prepped to go against the rollers again.

We will talk more about annealing your metal in another Tool Time Tuesday.

Next up, my good friend Abe.

I didn't use too much pressure on the mill this time around, but still got a fairly decent impression. Notice that the penny has been reshaped just a bit. I don't think it will work in any bubble gum machines from here on out.

I decided to try using a rubber band. I figured I would try it without the outer plates this time as the rubber band is very soft. BIG MISTAKE!

First of all, I moved my rollers together too tightly. D'OH! I succeeded in cracking my metal by trying to roll it too thin, too quickly. The rubber band completely mushed apart and I had a bit of clean up work to do on my mill before I could go on. Next time, I will use a sandwich of metals.

Oh, here is a little tip I learned today. Never use rubber bands on your silver. It will eat away at it, not right away, but it will eventually.

All is not lost, I took the previous rubber band fiasco and used it to texture two other pieces of metal. These are going to be a great background for something.

This is one of my favorites. I used some 100 grit sandpaper and thin copper mesh. Again, just sandwiching them in between two larger pieces of copper.

The mesh leaves a lovely crisp impression.

I am afraid I didn't get a very good picture of the sand paper texture, but it looks like it had little bubbles in it. It was so cool. And, because my metal was fairly thin, you can also see a ghosting of the mesh. I can't wait to use this in one of my pieces, double sided of course.

This is the last of them. I had some thick craft paper that I just used a paper punch to create some cutouts. And of course, because it is me, I HAD to use swirls. I used the cut outs and laid them in the center to create a different relief. On the other side of the metal I am using thin steel binding wire. I think it is probably around 24 or 26 gauge, so it really is thin. I have just twisted it up in to this shape, actually, my friend Valerie did that for me.

Once more, I created a sandwich and the results were so cool. You can see the impression of the wire in both pieces of metal. But I wasn't expecting the wire to be so smashed into the textured piece. It does come out easily, but I think perhaps I will try that with silver sometime. It might be a fabulous way to do some Inlay. The swirl pieces that I put in the center of the paper are all still there. They are just so flat now you cannot see them other than a ghosting. But they too, lift right off.

This last picture shows the side of the metal that was up against the paper. You can see some of the swirls. The lighting didn't work out so well for this picture, but there is a soft and subtle texture to the entire piece. You can see the swirls that were laid in the center, but the ones that were cut out have the best impression. It is also really cool the way that the wire pushed its way through to the front side of this metal. In addition, I had re-used the outer plate and the combination of the mesh and steel wire impression is just beautiful and it will no longer be used for an outer plate. I will cut this up and use it in one my pieces.

How many times can a piece be used to texture the metal? Typically you will only have one or two rolls until the piece is stretched or it loses its texture.

The possibilities are endless. This isn't even a drop in the bucket. I am sure we will touch on other techniques with the rolling mill throughout the year on Tool Time Tuesday.

Many Thanks to my friend Valerie Heck for doing the photography for this project. I am so glad to have you as a friend.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them for you.

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Simple Heart Pendant

2010-01-21T03:34:00Z

This is a piece that I have come up with for a simple 1 hour workshop that will be offered at Embellish in Rocky River on Saturday, February 6th. It is made with 12 gauge copper and 20 gauge sterling silver. The crystals and drops are additional to the class fee, but there will be plenty of stones and crystals to choose from. I will be making more of these to show different variations. We will talk about forming larger gauges of wire and forging the wire to give it a different feel and strength.

Art Jewelry Magazine Wallpapers

2010-01-20T21:33:00Z

I just got an email from one of my favorite people at Art Jewelry Magazine. Addie Kid is one of the editors and the one that I worked with on both of my projects. She was truly a delight to work with and I look forward to working with her again.... just as soon as I figure out what other projects to do .

Anyway, she wrote to inform me that I am the first artist to be featured twice with their wallpaper photos. The first one was with my Fine Silver Chain. This time they have featured the Winter Lily. It is a really cool shot, although I have to say it is kind of hard to see it blown up so large. You can see so many things in the photo that you don't see when you are holding the piece in your hands. HAHAHA Ah, the magic of enlarging items.

Check out the wallpapers. They have some great artists featured here and it is so hard to pick just one picture. I switched my background to this lily and my daughter asked when I would switch it back to a picture of her, so I suspect that it might be short lived, or perhaps I will pull out my Photoshop and incorporate her in to the picture.

You can find the wallpaper images on the Art Jewelry Website at: www.artjewelrymag.com/wallpapers

Do you have a particular project of mine or a technique that you would like to see me write a tutorial for? If so, I would love to hear your suggestions.

Tool Time Tuesday - Sanding and preparing your metal

2010-01-19T23:00:00Z

Getting a nice smooth finish is one of the hardest things to do on metal. There is a lot of elbow grease that goes into getting a nice finished polish. While I don't have a "finished" piece of jewelry to look at for the end of this project, you will see just what I go through when I am making a piece.

First off, is sanding your piece necessary? Sometimes, No. But most of the time, YES! As I construct some of my pieces I will find a new little scratch or nick here and there. It is important to remove those if I want to have a nicely finished piece. Sometimes that is just plain easier said than done. And sometimes, my piece gets a nice new texture that wasn't in the original plans.

There are a couple of types of sand paper that I will be using for this tutorial. First is just plain sandpaper that I bought at my local hardware store. I use a range of grits from 100 - 600. You can buy sand paper in grits up to 2000 from an auto body shop as well. More often than not, you will not need to start at 100 grits. I find that unless I have a LOT of really DEEP scratches, I can usually start with a 400 and work my way up from there. Occasionally I need to back it down to 320 or even 220, but it is very rare.

The second type of sand paper that I really like is called Microfinishing film from 3M. It is a plastic paper and it lasts FOREVER. I can usually rinse it off, let it dry and use it again and it is almost as good as new. It is also great because you can use it under water and not worry about it falling apart. It is a bit more expensive, but TOTALLY worth the cost. I believe I bought an assorted pack from Rio Grande about 3 years ago and I haven't even used a 1/3 of the sheet. I just cut off a 2 1/2" square and use that until it isn't any good any more. The micro finishing films are not measured in grits, but rather microns. They start at 80 microns and progress to 9 microns. When you feel the 9 micron sheet you will truly be amazed that it is a sand paper. It feels like a very soft velvet, as will your piece once you finish with them.

*Tip: One thing you can do to protect your sheet metal is to glue some paper on each side of the metal before storing it. This lends lots of great uses in addition to saving you time sanding your piece. You can draw on the paper for designs or even for measuring purposes. Paste a thin layer of rubber cement onto your metal and let it dry. At the same time, paste a thin layer onto a piece of paper and let it dry. When both pieces are dry lay the paper (cement side down) onto the metal. It will adhere and it comes off easily when you need it to.

Here is what I started with. I dug through some of my copper scrap and found a couple of long pieces of copper that had been annealed, but never cleaned up.

Pretty isn't it? This piece was actually pretty clean of scratches. But I sanded the entire piece down with 100 grit to clean it up and get the tutorial started.

This shows the piece done with 100 grit. I did a sort of crosshatch pattern so it would be easier to see. Typically I will use the lower grits, like 80, 100, 120, etc. for decorative finishes on my pieces.

I have now progressed to 150 grits. Notice that I have also changed the direction in which I am sanding. This is done on purpose. You want to change the direction so you can see which scratches are being removed from the previous round of sanding. I rotate between up and down and side to side. You want to keep sanding with the newest grit of sandpaper until all scratches from the previous round have been removed. This will take some elbow grease in some cases. It is just another great way to burn a few calories.

Moving on to round 3. I have now moved to 220 grits. Notice that I have changed the direction of sanding. Also, notice texture. It is getting finer and finer as we move along.

Once again, I have changed directions of sanding as I now move to 320 grits.

I love getting into working with the 400 grit. Once I am done with this round of sanding, the metal is so soft and smooth. There is a notable difference between the feel from the previous grits and 400.

Change directions once again and continue in the previous fashion. The lines left by the 600 grit are very fine and close together.

Here is another shot of 320, 400 and 600 grits. Look at the difference between 600 & 320.

Depending on the finish I am after, I may take it from 600 to my buffing machine. here I have used a polishing compound called Fabulustre. It is still going to leave scratches, but they are going to be minor and so smooth.

I wanted to add another shot of the final polish. Notice, you can see me peeking in as I take the picture. The final polish does leave it more smooth and reflective.

For this next section, I am not going to walk through each of the steps, but I have gone through the exact same process with the 3M Micro finishing films.

Again, I started with another piece of beautifully annealed metal. This really did have a great patina.

Shiny metal is one of the hardest things to take a picture of. So I tried to get it with a couple of different angles so you can see the difference between each of the sections. The results are similar between the products, though the micro finishing films are a bit more refined and a bit more smooth. I am able to get a higher finish with these as the particles are more along the lines of a 2000 grit sandpaper.

Another thing people ask about all the time is how to get a good matte finish. I have worked so hard to come up with a good way to do that. At first I was so frustrated because all I could ever get was a scratched surface. But that wasn't what I wanted at all. The first thing I ever started with was a green scotchbrite pad. I was able to get a scratchy surface, but nothing that was really what I would consider "matte." One instructor mentioned that I could work the pad in small circles giving it more of a Florentine finish. That was okay, but not what I wanted.

As I worked with more patina's I noticed that I got a pretty nice matte finish with the #0000 steel wool that I was using to remove the patinas from the high spots on my pieces. I worked with this for a long time and was fairly happy until a colleague mentioned that he thought it just looked scratched.

Then I recall cleaning some metal with a pumice powder. It had left a beautifully matte finish on my piece. Because the pumice powder is so fine you can really get a nice smooth finish on the piece. It can be worked dry or sometimes I will add just a small amount of water to create a paste. I will work the powder around with an old soft toothbrush, or just my fingers.

I bought my pumice powder from Rio Grande. I bought a 3lb box and it lasts forever. I take a small amount out and keep it in a little baby food container at my sink in the studio. I use it on almost every piece I work on at some point and time, whether just to clean a spot of dirt, remove oxidation or to apply a texture. You do want to be careful about using this as it is a very fine powder and can be inhaled and cause issues if not used properly. A friend told me that she likes to use a product called "Bar Keeps Friend." Or something like that. It is similar to ajax, but without a cleaning agent I believe.

This shows the three finishes I talked about above.

I know the picture isn't the best, but at least it gives you an idea of what to look for and how to use this.

Please let me know if you have any further questions and I will be sureto address them here on the blog. Also If you have a specific tool youwould like to know about, let me know. I am making a list and can'twait to share some of my other insights with you.

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January 2010 Class Schedule

2010-01-16T16:59:00Z

Well, as you can see, the month is already 1/2 over and I am just now getting around to posting my schedule for January. Things were thrown off when I found out that Kate needed to have surgery earlier last week. This week has been awful as far as getting any sleep. It is always so hard to watch your kids go through any of that. You just want to take the pain away and make them Sleep.

I am currently working on my February schedule and should have that posted here in the next week. Due to some family medical issues, there will not be any classes from me in the month of March. Well, there will be, just not here in Ohio. I will be in Utah. So if any of you are out in that area and would like to get together please let me know and we will see what we can figure out.

In the meantime here is the schedule for January 2010.

January 2010 Schedule
Location	Date	Time	Class	Cost
Beadtini	1/20	10:30 - 1:30pm	Wire wrapped Cabochon	$50*
Norton	1/21	10:00 - 1:00 pm	Open Studio	$65*
Embellish	1/21	6:00 - 9:00 pm	Wire Wrapped Heart	$50
OhioJMAG	1/23	10:00 - 12:00 pm	NEO JMAG Meeting	Free
Norton	1/23	2:00 - 8:30 pm	Soldered Chain Making	$105
Norton	1/26	9:30 am - 4:00 pm	Bezel Set & Pierced Pendant	$115
Beadtini	1/27	6:00 - 9:00 pm	Wire Wrapped Cabochon	$50*
Beadtini	1/28	10:30 - 1:30	Victorian Earrings	$50*
Embellish	1/28	6:00 - 9:00 pm	Working With Resin	$50*
Beadtini	1/29	10:30 - 1:30	Braided Bracelet	$50*
Norton	1/29	6:00 - 9:00 pm	Wire Heart or Paisley	$60
Norton	1/30	10:00 - 4:00	Bezel Set Rings	$115

You can find pictures and class descriptions as well as contact information for each of the shops on my web page at: http://www.melissamuir.com/classes.htm