So pretty

I just finished these wedding bands for Mike and Jane. They made these 14k white gold bands almost a year ago and finally got around to having the stones set. Mike has a solitaire Peridot and Jane has diamonds and pink sapphires. I think these coloured stones make the rings look fresh and exciting. I can't wait for them to see the rings.

Fire Away Laara!

Meet Laara,

Laara is one of my most enthusiastic students, she has taken Silversmith for Beginners, is in the process of taking Lost Wax Casting, and has already signed up for Silversmith Level 2. She makes her own jewellery in her home studio and sells her works online. Laara has recently been accepted to go to a trade show in BC. Check out her new site Bijouxbylaara.com!

Laara shows up to almost every class with a written list of questions for me, loads her question gun, points and shoots. It is painless and it is all over in a matter of 5 minutes.

Since Laara's questions are helpful to everyone in the group I have invited her to post her questions on my blog so that I can answer them for everyones to benefit.

So fire away Laara!

(just hit the comments link on the bottom right of this post and go through the steps)

OH!

You will never guess who came into the store last week... Sandra Oh! She wandered into my shop because she got off at a streetcar stop too soon (how eco-friendly of her) and was petting my brother's lazy Springer Spaniel who was laying on the sidewalk in front of the shop. Sandra purchased a pair of Double Hoop Earrings in Brass with Aquamarine. The pair she purchased are the large ones on the left.

They looked so good with her outfit that she wore them out of the store. I didn't have the heart to ask if I could take a picture of her in them, someone told me that it was "very Canadian" of me not to ask (I'm not sure if that is a compliment).

If anyone sees Sandra wearing these earrings in the press please, please send me a photo or source.

All that glitters is not gold

I have been trying to cast with Bronze Manganese and hate it. It doesn’t flow like gold and silver when poured and the melt down takes forever. The Bronze castings always come out porous. I have found the perfect solution! 14k gold casting alloy. Casting alloy doesn't have any actual gold in it but is used to cut the karat of gold when making alloys therefore it is smooth, melts quickly and shares many of the same qualities of gold. I made a burnout acorn in the casting alloy and I love it. I can now offer this as an option to my casting students so that they can use it to get the look of gold without spending a fortune on gold.