Cutting Bezels on the Silhouette

Recently I had the opportunity to take a metal clay class on how to cut bezels on a Silhouette.  This might require some explanation for those of you who are not familiar with one or both of those words.

A Silhouette is a machine that is sort of like a printer, except it cuts instead of prints.  It is designed for scrapbookers to cut shapes out of paper for their scrapbook pages.  Another brand that you may be familiar with is a Cricket, but unlike that one the Silhouette doesn't require cartridges.  It has software that allows you to create designs.  I have been using it to create stencils for etching glass for some time.  At right is a picture of my Silhouette.

In jewelry, a bezel is a strip of metal that holds a stone in place, as you will see later in this blog post.

Wanaree Tanner is a talented metal clay artist who apparently has been doing some experimentation with the Silhouette.  Holly Gage, another talented metal clay artist, was hosting Wanaree for a 2 day class in how to use the Silhouette to cut bezels.  I had to drive to Pennsylvania, but it was worth it!

The first thing we had to do was design the back plate and bail for our pendants.  We designed a texture for them using scratch foam and a ball point pen.  I love using scratch foam!  Here is a picture of mine at left.  I used a template for the bail, and I thought the shape kind of looked like leaves.  So I drew some leaves and made more leaves on the back of the pendant.  Since I'm kind of artistically challenged, I just had them poking in from the sides.  Then I decided to make a little bug flying through the middle.

We picked the design we wanted for the bezel, and Wanaree showed us how to cut them out on the Silhouette.  Then we attached the bezel to the back plate, attached the bail and fired.  After firing, we did not do finishing work before setting the stone.  We set the stone first, because the bezel is very thin and delicate.  The silver was still all white looking, as you can see in this picture.  (The chain is just one I happened to be wearing.)  The bezel is the zig zag strip that is holding the stone on.

I bought this stone off a hippie outside of Taos, NM at the Rio Grande Gorge bridge back before they rebuilt the bridge.  (It was really scary to walk across!)  Since this pendant was a class project that I would keep I wanted to use a stone that meant something to me.  He told me it was Spectralite, but someone at the class told me it was Labradorite.  It doesn't matter to me, it looks cool either way.

Below is a picture from the first night when several of us went out to dinner.  From left is Silvie Waals, Wanaree Tanner and Holly Gage.

Silvie entertained us with lots of interesting stories!

Here is my finished pendant, front and back:

To learn more about using the Silhouette with metal clay, check out Wanaree's YouTube video.

Jewelry Inspired by Nature

Octopus Necklace

A few days ago I did an Artfire collection of nature inspired jewelry by the JCUIN guild.  There were so many interesting pieces, I thought I'd share a few more here.  You can click on the pictures for more into.

Above is a piece that I thought was really unique.  You don't usually see octopus jewelry.  This one is part of a set by Plethora of Jewelry.

Angel Fish Naval Ring

At right is another unusual piece.  An angelfish dangle belly button ring.  I thought it was so cute I had to include it here.  This is by one of our newer guild members, William or as he's better known, Dream Catcher Man.

Copper Blues Tree of Life

Of course, if we're going to talk about jewelry inspired by nature, there's going to be at least one tree!  This handmade tree of life pendant is blue and copper, including a blue moon.  You can find it at Wagoner Wire Works.

Spiral Wire-Wrapped Pendant

This intricate wire-wrapped pendant, right, was inspired by the spiral of an ammonite according to Margaret of Boho Wire Wrapped.  Spirals are certainly a favorite of jewelry designers everywhere.  The bead in the center is an alexandrite, which changes color depending on the type of light.

Fused Frog Pendant

A green frog jumping through the grass is definitely nature inspired.  This pendant is made from fused glass by Roxanne (me) of Shanghai Tai.

Crocheted Snowflake Ornament

Last, but certainly not least, when I saw this I knew I had to include it here.  Winter is almost here, and those of us who live up north will be seeing these soon, if we haven 't already.  This crocheted snowflake ornament isn't really jewelry, but sometimes we jewelry makers like to diversify a little.  It is made by Wyvern Designs.

If you'd like to see the Artfire collection, you can find it here:  Inspired by Nature

Hello October Rocktober and a Gift From My Studio.

Today is the first day of October, which makes me think Rocktober!  Probably every radio station calls it Rocktober.  At least ours used to.  (I haven't turned on the radio yet today.)  Anyway, I have tickets to see the Moody Blues today!

Since I probably shouldn't post a pic of the Moody Blues due
to copyright issues, here is a Moody Blue Pendant!

So in celebration of my good mood, I am offering a free gift with a purchase from my shop.  Today only, you will receive a $5 gift certificate free with every purchase, not including gift certificates or handmade components.  So that's almost everything!  Use the code "BGD1" at checkout.

If you know me, you know I don't do this often.  Here is the link if you'd like to shop:  www.shanghaitai.com

Enjoy Rocktober!  I know I will.

Take Flight (Featuring the JCUIN Guild)

Copper Bracelet With Ceramic Beads by Pink Sunset Jewelry Designs

Dragonfly and Fern Light Switch Plate by Wyvern Designs

Flying Geese Pendant by Shanghai Tai

Recently I did a collection on Artfire called "Take Flight!", featuring jewelry from JCUIN guild members that had wings or things that fly.  There were so many choices that I couldn't include them all in my collection, so I have decided to include a few more here.

First is a bracelet by Pink Sunset Jewelry Designs.  I just really like the look of this one.  The colors in the beads look good enough to eat.  And they go great with the copper.  I would have guessed, because of the swirls, that these beads are polymer clay, but they are actually ceramic.  Of course, the reason I included it here was because of the copper-tone swallow charm

Winter Birds Pendant by M2BC

Now this light switch cover is made out of polymer clay.  I love the deep dark green with the ferns.  You can imagine the dragonflies in a shaft of light breaking through the deep green forest.  This was made by Wyvern Designs.  You can see why I had to include this one!

Turquoise & Copper Earrings by Iron Mountain Jewelry

Larimar & Sterling Pendant by Lunaar Skies

Next are a couple of pendants that are very appropriate for the season.  The geese are flying south for the winter; I heard them just yesterday.  So this pendant is very timely.  This is an etched dichroic pendant, with the geese etched into the dichroic layer.  Three geese flying against a dark blue and purple sky.  This one is by me, Roxanne, of Shanghai Tai.












This fused pendant, by Meant 2B Cherished, is more a reflection of things to come.  Called "Winter Birds", it features white birds silhouetted against shades of blues and greys.  This technique is the opposite of the previous pendant.  Instead of being taken away, these birds and trees are added by fusing on an enamel design.  Enamel is another form of glass, so the design becomes part of the glass.

So far all these pieces have had realistic flyers.  But they can also be abstract.  These earrings feature an abstract wing design.  I love the combination of the turquoise with the copper, and also the texture around the wings.  These were made by Iron Mountain Jewelry.

Last, but certainly not least, is an abstract bird design.  The winged design is obvious to the viewer, but I think it must take a lot of creativity to create a design like this.  This larimar and sterling silver pendant is made by Quentin of Lunar Skies.








I hope you enjoyed this virtual flight.  Thanks to the talented artists of the Jewelry Creators Unite In Numbers guild on Artfire for the inspiration!

ShyMousee's Fall Blog Hop

Shy Mousee is hosting a fall blog hop of handmade items, so I just had to enter a few.

Copper wrapped fused glass pendant

When I think of fall, I think of Thanksgiving and Indian corn.  When I was a kid I was always fascinated by Indian corn, and how people would hang up dried ears of Indian corn as a decoration.  My mother was always too practical for any kind of decorating like that.  I don't really know if it's good for anything else or not.

The glass in this pendant at the right reminds me of corn kernels, and of course, Indian corn.  I wire wrapped it in copper because it is the perfect compliment to the autumn burnt orange color.  Every time I see this pendant, I think of Thanksgiving!






I have been meaning to list these earrings for awhile now, so the blog hop was exactly what I needed to give me a little push.  I got them photographed and listed just this afternoon.

I make the copper charms by hand from copper metal clay.  (They are 100% copper.)  I have attached them to niobium earwires.  These are annodized to give them a nice copper color so they go great with the little diamond shaped leaf charms.  Also niobium is extremely hypoallergenic, so just about anyone can wear them with no sensitivity problems.  Just in time for fall!

Falling Leaves fused glass necklace

Now, this one is an oldie but a goody!  The photos weren't too good, so a took a couple of new ones before I entered it in the blog hop.

It's hard to see here, but I fused the three leaves between a sparkly green background and a clear layer of glass.  Can you see the tiny sparkles?  I also left a space to run a cord or ribbon through it to make a necklace.  The organza ribbon makes a nice addition, because it looks good under the glass.  I call this the "falling leaves" pendant.  I wanted it to reflect all the different colors that the leaves turn in autumn, and I wanted it to look like they were falling from the tree.  Did I succeed?

If you would like to enter Shymousee's blog hop, you can enter it here:

Fall Earrings for the Earring Challenge Blog Hop

Candy Corn Earrings

I stumbled across another blog hop, this one is called Earring Challenge.  It has some great fall earrings.  So I hope it was ok that I decided to join the blog hop and add some of my own.

First I added the most recent pair of earrings that I listed in my artfire shop.

These candy corn earrings I make myself from fused glass.  It was a little work trying to make the kernels, but I think I have it down now.  You will notice they are not identical.  Just like snowflakes, no two candy corn kernels are the same!  The argentium sterling ear wires are hand forged (by me, of course.)

Dichroic glass clip on earrings

For my next pair, I thought, clip on earrings would be really different.  Hardly anyone makes clip-ons.  I don't have too many pairs at the moment, but these seem to have a lot of fall colors in them.  I made these from fused dichroic glass.  In addition to the gorgeous colors, they also have a very nice texture to them.  The lines you see going across are actually raised ridges.

Copper heart earring with niobium ear wire

Lastly, here is what I will be making today.  I make these copper heart charms from copper metal clay.  This particular pair features a heart with a swirl on a diamond shaped charm.  I add niobium ear wires that have been annodized to make them look like aged copper.  These earrings are perfect for fall!  As a matter of fact, the reason I need to make these today is because I think I have sold out of every single style of copper metal clay earring that I have listed in my store.  So I guess I better get busy!

I hope you enjoyed these, and I hope it was ok to enter the blog hop because I crashed the party!  If you would llike to crash the party too, you will find the link below.

12 Types of Handmade Jewelry

Black Onyx and White Jade Necklace, Shadow Dog Designs

There are many different types of handmade jewelry, so I thought I'd share a few of them with you here.  Maybe you'll discover something new!  These are in no particular order.

1.  STRINGING:  First of all, we have stringing.  This is basically just stringing the beads on beading wire or cord.  Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs does a great job of this.  Here is one of my favorites.  It's not so obvious here, but when you look at the whole necklace, it reminds me of our California Banded King Snake named Ringo!  Stringing is usually the first thing a jewelry designer learns to do.  Although, some people are more talented at it than others, and Catherine is certainly one of them.

Wire-wrapped Nautilus Pendant in Copper, Wagoner Wire Works

2. WIRE-WRAPPING:  Wire wrapping involves making things out of wire.  It could be as simple as connecting two beads together, putting a little accent on something, or making a bail to attach a pendant.  Then there's the advanced version, and this copper wire wrapped pendant by Wagoner Wire Works is definitely a prime example.  I can't imagine the skill and the time involved to make something like this nautilus pendant.  I also love the back lighting in this photo!

Teal and Orange Flower Earrings, Blue Morning Expressions

3.  POLYMER CLAY: This is special clay that when you bake it in the oven it turns into something like plastic.  Crafty people have all kinds of fun with this, including making miniature food, etc. Also it doesn't require a lot of equipment to be able to do it.  A talented polymer clay artist can make very intricate and beautiful designs,  Floral designs are popular, such as these teal and orange floral earrings by Blue Morning Expressions.

Picture Jasper Cuff Bracelet, Lunar Skies

Dragonfly Necklace, Rio Rheba Boutiques

 4. METALSMITHING - This is the traditional sawing, forging, soldering that most of us jewelry makers aspire to do.   Quentin of Lunar Skies certainly has it down pat.  In this bracelet we see all of those skills put to work and more.  He even cuts his own stones!  I am a big fan!  Since the jasper looks like a mountain landscape, he continued the mountain design onto the cuff itself.  The sky on the cuff has been textured and a patina added to make the mountains stand out.








5. RESIN:  Resin jewelry has become very popular lately.  It's easy to make and doesn't require a lot of equipment or special skill.  People who make this type of jewelry frequently purchase a bezel to use, although some make their own.  You can cut out a photograph, text or patterned image for a background then pour the resin on top.  This necklace by Rio Rheba Boutiques looks like she has two images, the dragonfly on top of a newspaper clipping.  If your bezel is thick enough you can add rhinestones, small flowers or other 3D objects under the resin.  It can also add color to jewelry when depressions in the metal are filled with colored resin.

Lampwork Glass Bead Earrings, Crystal Bazaar

6. LAMPWORK:  Making lampwork glass beads does not require a lot of equipment, but it does require skill.  You have to be able to put that hot glass in just the right spot to get the desired result.  At left is a pair of lampwork bead earrings by Sally of Crystal Bazaar.  The blue dots in these beads were drops of molten glass, as were the white dots underneath those.  To get them all about the same size and place them exactly where they need to be, and then to get them round and smooth, takes some talent in my opinion.

Multi Color Swirl Woven Cuff, Irish Expressions

7. WEAVING:  Weaving involves making something on a loom.  This involves two different sets of threads going perpendicular to each other, warp and weft.  When thinking of weaving, if you're like me, you think of people weaving big rugs on big wooden looms with a shuttle that goes back and forth.  That's not always the case.  When I was a child, I was taught to do seed beading.  My loom was a cardboard box with little slits in each end to hold the thread!  Most woven jewelry is made with seed beads, and you can make the most awesome, intricate designs.  Here is a colorful woven cuff by Irish Expressions.

Antique Yemeni Chain Mail Bracelet, Crafts of the Past

Reflection of Tree in Pond Pendant, Meant 2B Cherished

Enameled Leaf Pendant by Iron Mountain Jewelry

8. CHAIN MAIL - Chain mail (sometimes called chain maille) jewelry is made by attaching lots of jump rings together tightly in a pattern.  This can be fairly simple, as in a pair of earrings, or very complicated, for example if you are trying to make a ring in a certain size.  I came across this antique chain mail bracelet at Crafts of the Past.  This pattern is so tight, I'm guessing the person who made it may have pulled it through a draw plate to make it smaller and tighter.

Turquoise and Beaded Earrings by Bijoir Designs

9. FUSED GLASS: The difference between fused and lampwork is you need a kiln to make fused glass.  Compatible glass, usually in sheet form, is stacked on the shelf and then melted.  This is why it usually has a flat bottom.  Metallic looking dichroic glass is very popular with fusers, as are enamel or gold fuse on decals, like the tree on this beautiful wire wrapped pendant by Maureen of Meant 2B Cherished.











10. ENAMELING:  Enamel is actually powdered glass that is fused? onto a base layer of metal.  This is usually done with a kiln, but can also be done with a torch!  There are many different enameling techniques, most of them with French names.  My favorites are cloisonne and plique-a-jour.  I'm not sure what enamel technique this is, other than maybe what is called "painted enamel".  The round green bead is actually a lampwork bead, but the green on the leaf is the enamel.  This copper and brass pendant is made by Iron Mountain Jewelry.












11.  BEADING:  Native Americans are known for this type of jewelry.  I think often the beads are stitched onto a supporting piece of fabric or leather, but they don't have to be.  I have seen some unbelievable beaded creations at the Bead and Button show.  Here is a pair of beaded turquoise earrings by one of our newer members, Bijour Designs.

Textured Reverse of Desert Rain Pendant, Shanghai Tai

12. METAL CLAY:  A a relatively new medium on the jewelry scene, this clay is made from microscopic bits of metal mixed with an organic binder.  You can shape it like clay, then fire it in the kiln and all the organic material burns away.  Only the metal is left.  It is wonderful for putting textures in metal.  This is actually the back of a pendant by Roxanne of Shanghai Tai.  This one is fine silver, but it also comes in gold, copper, bronze and even steel!








So, I'm not saying these are the only methods, or the best methods, they are just twelve that popped into my head.  (So don't send me angry emails!)   Thank you to all the artists of the Jewelry Creators Unite in Numbers (JCUIN) guild for providing the jewelry photos!

Custom Anniversary Necklace

This was a secret, but it's not a secret anymore, so I guess I can share it.

One day I got an email from a man who was looking for copper jewelry for his wife.  Their 7th anniversary was coming up, and it is the copper anniversary.  He wanted to buy her something special and said he was impressed with some of my pieces that he saw online.  He is a westerner who lives in China, and his wife is Chinese.

So I asked him a few questions about his wife regarding her tastes in jewelry and also how sensitive her skin is, because some people are allergic to copper.  We discussed a bracelet that he liked, but then I asked him if his wife wore bracelets, and he said actually she doesn't.  She does wear a lot of earrings, so he sent me a picture of her earring rack.  Here is the picture he sent me:

Notice anything about her taste in jewelry?  Here's what I noticed:  She doesn't like things that are too big, but she doesn't like them super dainty either.  She likes things that are feminine, round and dramatic.  She also likes dangle and movement.

He decided on a necklace and earrings.  We wanted the piece to have meaning.  We decided it also needed to have some dangles and roundness to it.  We decided the focal piece would be a circle with the names of their two children on it, and two dangling crystals in the colors of their (western) birthstones.  Here is the focal piece:

I have added a blue-green patina because I thought it needed some color.

It is reversible, so if she doesn't want her children's names showing, she can turn it around the other way.

We added three dangles, for a total of seven, to represent the seven years.  There is a Chinese character on each side, fortune on her right and happiness on her left, with a floral/heart design on either side of those.

Here are the dangly earrings.  They both say "love" on them, and also have the birthstone color crystals.

The ear wires look like copper, but they are actually niobium.  It is much more hypoallergenic than copper.

In the background you can see the handmade spiral clasp.  Again, this is a repetition of the round theme carried throughout the design.

Here is the whole necklace shown with the earings.  We discussed doing copper chain, but he thought she would prefer beads, and then we also don't have to worry about an allergic reaction.

Here is what the necklace looks like if she decides to wear it in reverse.

My customer let me know that his wife liked the jewelry, and I think he was very happy with the fact that he could be involved in the design process every step of the way!

If you are interested in a custom design, you can view some of my work currently listed for at my Artfire studio, or contact me by email at shanghai_tai@yahoo.com.

A Day at the Beach!

Recently I was out on the east coast and had to drive up to New Jersey to pick up my new-to-me      

display cases.  Although this is not about my cases, I am so excited about them, I have to show you a picture anyway!  After being stranded with car problems for two days I wasn't quite ready to use them, but I had to bring a small one to my show yesterday, so here it is on the left, totally last minute and unprepared.

At my next show I will probably have all of them, and the display will be looking better than just throwing some stuff in there!  Jewelry display is sure a lot of work!

Anyway, when I picked up the cases we were only about three miles from the ocean, so we thought we really ought to see it while we were there.

I have seen the ocean in Florida, California and Hawaii, and even some more exotic locations like the Philippines, Thailand and China.  But I had never seen the ocean in the northeastern United States.  I have never seen the TV show Jersey Shore, and really have no desire to.  So I really didn't know what to expect, although I can say I didn't have high expectations.  I

boy playing on the beach

guess I pictured a beach with a bunch of trash floating around.

So I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.  The Jersey Shore actually had a very beautiful beach, although it had entirely too many people for my taste.  We ate at a nice place called Charlies Ocean Grill in Longbranch out on a deck with a view of the ocean.  We went down to the beach there, then drove up to the next town to the north where there were a bunch of homes with private beaches.  I think that's where they film the show, but my husband was actually interested in seeing damage from hurricane Sandy.

So anyway, that was the inspiration for my new Day At The Beach collection, featuring handmade jewelry from the JCUIN guild.  Here are just a few of the pieces, click on the picture for more information:

Ocean Jasper  Pendant by Diane's Dangles

This gorgeous stone is Ocean Jasper and it comes from Madagascar.  I'm guessing it gets it's name from it's looks, because it looks like ocean and sand.  You can imagine an ariel view of little tide pools on a sand beach.  Diane has added a sterling bezel and chain, which, as she says, is all it needed.

Larimar and Sterling Silver Ring by Lunar Skies

I don't think I have ever actually seen Larimar in person, but I just love the color of it!  It looks like the turquoise water off a Caribbean beach.  This stone is only found in the Dominican Republic, so now I want to go there and find some of this gorgeous stone.  This larimar and sterlling silver ring is handmade by Quentin of Lunar Skies.  I was so happy when he joined the JCUIN guild, because it meant I got to put his awesome jewelry in my collections!  His studio is full of more like this one!

Funky Fish Earrings by Shanghai Tai

Now time for a little shameless self-promotion.  These are my funky fish earrings.  What day at the beach would be complete without a fish in some kind of condition?  I'm not sure what condition these fish are in, but they are unusual.  I made them by hand from sterling silver using metal clay and then gave them some unique hand forged sterling ear wires.

Beach Pelican Fused Glass Pendant by M2BC

Here is a beautiful miniature work of art by M2BC, which stands for Meant To Be Cherished.  And someone will certainly cherish this pendant that features a pelican on a post in front of a pebble-y beach, white waves, blue sky and pink clouds!  Fused glass is always a little bit of a gamble, but this one turned out beautifully!

Stacked Stone Cairn Pendant by Jan E O Jewelry

I like this pendant because it is so unusual.  It is stacked beach stones.  I did not know what a "cairn" was, so I looked it up.  Turns out it's Gaelic for a "stack of stones".  Who knew?  Well, maybe you did.  These stones come from the Pacific northwest where the artist picks them up on the beach.  Sounds like a good idea, since I never find any sea glass!  She has put copper discs in between that are made from recycled copper.

Mother of Pearl Necklace by Shadow Dog Design

Last, but not least, what visit to the beach would be complete without some shells?  Here is a very pretty mother of pearl necklace by Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs.  I especially like the photography and how she staged the necklace in a heart shape.  With this necklace, even if you're not at the beach, you can take a little of the beach with you!








Well, I hope you enjoyed this little virtual jewelry trip.  When was the last time you went to the beach?