BAW 4

  This weeks brooch was inspired by these new earrings:

As soon as I had them cut out I knew I wanted to see them in brooch form.

Can't wait to wear this on a scarf! 

Thanks for reading!

BAW Favorites: Part 2

More incredible work from the Brooch A Week Challenge:

Betsy Bensen

Revonav

Katejonespictures

NRjewellerydesign

Check out more fantastic work in the BAW Flickr Group!

Thanks for reading!

BAW 3: Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom MUST be getting tired of receiving my work for every single holiday, or at the very least, running out of space to store it all! Still, I couldn't resist making this weeks brooch for my mom's birthday.

Only one progress shot this time and no sketch. I started out by cutting some circles from silver sheet and selecting a round white quartz. I formed the silver circles and made bezels for all three and soldered them down. Then I stamped, cut out, and soldered the pieces onto the back of the brooch (mom's birthday and my makers mark). 

Still experimenting with the pins. This one has a place to string a chain in case mom wants to wear it as a pendant.
    

 

Finally I set the stones, giving one of the bezels a hammered texture. I finished this one with a brushed Liver of Sulfur patina and wax.

Hope she likes it!

Thanks for reading!

BAW Favorites: Part 1

I am in awe of the incredible work that is being created for the Brooch A Week Challenge. All the creativity is energizing! Here are a few of my favorites. I'm sure there will be many more to come.

L. Sue Szabo

 

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NODEFORM

 

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 Joanna Crompton

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Danielle Miller

Alright, before I go crazy posting every brooch here, because they really are THAT good, how about you just click on over to the BAW Flickr Group and check them out for yourselves!

If you would like to follow my progress I'll be posting all of my brooches on my Facebook Page.

Thanks for reading! 

BAW 2

Week two down!

 

 I started with a quick sketch again this week, but the design changed a bit along the way:

First, I grabbed some copper and silver sheet metal and a bit of silver tubing (All of it was in the scrap bin! Gotta love that!). I cut circles from the silver sheet and dapped them to get the domes. Then I cut out some circles in the copper sheet where I wanted to solder the domes down.

After I had everything soldered together I cut out the overall shape settling on a trapezoid instead of echoing the circles. (Sorry, I thought I took more in progress shots, but I guess not. You'll just have to imagine a couple of steps). After that I fiddled around with ideas for the pin and decided to echo the top circle on the back:

  

Everything was going just fine until I started work hardening the pin and bent it too far a few too many times... notice the crack in the pin where the overlap happens in the circle. I may have overheated it a bit when I was attaching it as well. At any rate, I am pretty happy with the aesthetic, but the pin wont last long. 

Finally, I set the White Topaz... a benchmate is now on the very top of my tool wish list! 

Here it is all patinaed and waxed:    

If you are enjoying is project check out the Flickr group to see what everyone else is up to. I'll also be blogging about my favorites so far sometime later this week. These people have some serious talent!

Thanks for reading!

BAW (Brooch A Week) 1!

It's the first week of BAW (Brooch A Week)! BAW is a jewelry challenge on Flickr that is open to everyone and all mediums. It's an exercise in creativity. A motivational tool. A place to meet awesome artists. A place to see awesome artwork. It's whatever you want to make of it. Some really enthusiastic people are taking on BAD (Brooch A Day). While I'm tempted... I still haven't completely recovered from RAD (Ring A Day).

There are already a bunch of super fun brooches in the flickr group, so I hope you will check them out and follow along. I'll probably be blogging about my favorites as they pop up, and hope to blog about my weekly brooch with in-process shots every week, but don't hold me to that!

BAW 1:

For my first BAW I wanted to incorporate a gorgeous stone that I believe I acquired through my hubby's family at some point. I'm not even sure what it is, but it's always on my bench within reach so I can take a moment and gather my thoughts while I ponder its magnificence.

The first step was to start sketching. I wanted to do something simple but interesting. And I didn't want to get too crazy, so I was all about the cold connections.

 

After I was happy with the sketch I cut out a couple of models. Whenever I use large tabs I like to make sure everything lines up nicely before I start cutting... took a couple of tries! 

 

Now for the fun part! Saw Saw Saw! Here's what the brass looked like before I started bending the tabs. The hubby said it looks like a duck wearing a jet pack... hmmm... maybe...

 

I'm embarassed, and annoyed, to say that I bent the tabs that hold the pin the wrong way at first. And my signature is now under the stone instead of on the back. But, hey... it's the first brooch... I'm sure the other 51 will be a breeze! Speaking of the back:

 

What do you think? Pretty close to the sketch?

 

And look! It stands up nicely! 

 

 

Thanks for reading and come back next week for BAW 2.