Thursday, June 17, 2010

I’ve been working on the pendant for the past couple weeks. It should have taken me much less time, but I’ve had some problems.

1.  It took me forever to get the bail into a graceful shape that approximates the vines in the rest of the design. Every time I would get the front part right, the back of the bail didn't sit in the right position. But worse still, once I finally got the bail on, the chain wouldn’t balance properly, making the cab look tilted. So I had to “unsolder” the bail and make a new one.

Twice.

(After ruining 5 bails, I’ll know better in the future.)

2.  I also learned that an adjustable chain should not be directly attached to a necklace if you want it to hang straight. (It hangs straight at 18 inches, but is off-center when the chain adjusted to any other length.) So I had to add a jump ring to the bail and string the chain thought it, so that the pendant can move freely.
And then I didn’t have any beads for accents that were the right color. So I made a special trip to a bead shop and bought 2 beads. Just 2 beads. (I spent more on gas to get to the shop than I spent on the beads.)

3.  Thank goodness there’s one mistake I didn’t make. I remembered to oxidize the silver before the turquoise cab is in the setting. (And, oh yes, I learned this the hard way. Most stones aren't stained by the oxidizing solution. Most. Not turquoise.)

It's late now.  I know enough not to work on a piece when I'm tired. Otherwise I'd do a little more fininshing of the sterling,  set the cab, and finally be done!

And now for something that went right – despite me!

This was a custom ring. The buyer purchased this mookaite cab and I worked with her to design the ring. The buyer really wanted the little hemispheres I used in another piece, my Dark Side of the Moon ring, and wanted to incorporate them in her ring.

To be honest, this was not at all the way I envisioned setting the ring. Never in a million years would I have thought of adding those little spheres on either side. But it works!

And right now, it's on the way to the buyer. (I hope she likes it.)



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3 Comments:

  1. hopestudios said...
    great tip about the adjustable chain.

    what are the 2 beads? (and don't worry about buying only 2, you'll make up for it soon i'm sure!)

    love that ring & those spheres. i think i'm drawn to the bolder stones.
    Contrariwise said...
    The 2 beads are accent beads. When I post the final piece you'll be able to see.

    And I LOVE that cab. I was so excited to see that it went to a good home. (I just got another mookaite cab, too. It's available for a custom ring: http://www.etsy.com/listing/49536079/five-different-cabochons-choose-one-and )
    ScrapMetal said...
    I just adore your work!!! And those cabs! Where do you get them? I decided to more work in cabs so I need to build a little (LOL) collection.

    Addie (ScrapMetal)

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