2020-09-01 Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist

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Craft Emergency Funds • Fuse Gold Æ
®
AN INTERWEAVE PUBLICATION
Layer
It On!
texture, patina,
botanicals, gem
SOCIAL
DISTANCE
MARKETING PLU S :
Stamping tools and tips
Professional gold plating
Glow-in-the dark necklace
Resin-
Captured
Aquaman Artisan’s Pine
Rockin’ Seahorse Cone SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
INTERWEAVE.COM
Katie Hacker
3PZ[LU[V6\Y)YHUK5L^
1L^LSY`
po d c a s t !
Jewelry Artist is a series of conversations about the art and
business of making jewelry. Host Katie Hacker talks with top
jewelry experts, whose insights will inspire you at the bench
and beyond. Listen in for tips, trends, tool reviews, and more.
LEARN MORE AT Interweave.com/Jewelry-Artist-Podcast

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Contents
September/October 2020 • Volume 74, Number 5
4 MY TURN
From the Editor
A Good Time to Be Clever
6 YOUR TURN
Design Challenge & Letters
8 THEIR TURN
A Gallery of This Issue’s Contributors
10 SOCIAL DISTANCE MARKETING

Net Profits: Changes to your
jewelry business as you re-open
post-quarantine
by Cathleen McCarthy
14 STAMP IT OUT!
Cool Tools & Hip Tips: Fun
stamping stuff to use and
a quick technique review
by Helen I. Driggs
46 14
20 CERF IS THERE FOR YOU
The Craft Emergency Relief Fund
provides help in more ways than one
business feature by Sharon
Elaine Thompson
26 MEDIEVAL MEETS GAME OF THRONES

A richly detailed pendant design
for a glowing blue cabochon
pendant project by Amy Buettner
and Tucker Glasow as told to Jim
Landon
Exotic Escape
34 CALL OF THE TROPICS
Smokin’ Stones: Chrysocolla mixes
with jasper in parrot wing
by Sharon Elaine Thompson
36 NESTLED AMONG LEAVES

Leafy silver accents a parrot wing
cabochon or beads
pendant + earring project
20 66
by Peggy Haupt
ADVERTISING SECTIONS
93 Focus on Education
95 Classifieds
95 Gem & Jewelry Shops
95 Advertisers’ Index
ABOUT OUR COVER:

Amy Buettner and Tucker Glasow’s “Medieval Meets
Game of Thrones” pendant, page 26. Insets: Charles
Lewton-Brain’s doublée brooch from “Doublée:
Gold on Silver,” page 72; Roger Halas’s “Seahorse
Summons” ring, page 62; Kieu Pham Gray’s “Have a
Slice of Pine Cone” pendant, page 46.
PHOTOS: JIM LAWSON 34
2 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

Fall’s In The Air
42 STRENGTH AND PERSONALITY
Trends: Fashion fall colors
by Deborah Yonick
46 HAVE A SLICE OF PINE CONE

Fabulous patterns in resin cabochons
pendant project by Kieu
Pham Gray
52 AUTUMN SETTING
Fallen leaves secure a cabochon
hung from a twig bail
pendant project by Lexi Erickson
Fantastic!
56 DASH OF CREEPY FUN
The often strange and wonderful
86 creations of jewelry artist Roger Halas
design feature by Terri Haag
62 SEAHORSE SUMMONS
The power of Atlantis
stamped in silver
ring project by Roger Halas
66 YOOPER MAGIC
Create jewelry that glows in
the dark with a fluorescent
rock newly discovered in
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
necklace project by Betsy
Lehndorff
Thin Metal
72 DOUBLÉE: GOLD ON SILVER
Low tech, inexpensive fusing offers
a 24K look with sterling’s strength
technique demo by Charles
Lewton-Brain
52 62
80 GOLD PLATED
A detailed look at industry gold plating
technique feature by Sharon
Elaine Thompson
86 BEAUTIFUL BLENDS
Lisa Krikawa’s fascination with
mokumé gané led to a specialty
in marriage jewelry
design pictorial by Terri Haag
56 90 FACETS
News & Product Innovations
96 DOER’S PROFILE
Amy Buettner and Tucker Glasow
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 3
®
My Turn
From the Editor
EDITORIAL
DIRECTOR OF CONTENT Tamara Honaman
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Merle White
A Good Time to MANAGING EDITOR Karla A. Rosenbusch
Be Clever MARKETING & ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING MANAGER
Marilyn Koponen, ph. 970-613-4613
WE TEND TO BE HYPERVIGILANT right after an CLASSIFIED ADS
accident, but . . . Exactly. We shouldn’t wait for Stephanie Griess, ph. 970-613-4630
a scary or injurious event to goad us into being AD TRAFFICKER Cari Ullom
careful all the time. Unfortunately, it’s easy to grow SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER
complacent when we haven’t felt threatened for Jessi Rodriguez
a while. Fortunately, we human beings are also pretty clever, capable of CREATIVE SERVICES
thinking ahead and foreseeing consequences. SENIOR DESIGNER Connie Poole
If you’re reading this magazine, you probably work with potentially PHOTOGRAPHY James Lawson
dangerous tools and materials on a regular basis. Whenever you’re at
your workspace is the time to be your clever, farsighted self. But safety’s
been on everyone’s mind a lot lately, not just those who are drawn to
sharp surfaces and open flames. The current pandemic also qualifies as BUSINESS
one of those in-your-face threats, whether you’re considering a trip to a EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CONTENT Tiffany Warble
gallery, a protest march, or the supermarket. The details may differ, but GROUP ART DIRECTOR Emily Simpson
the principles of staying safe anywhere are the same. MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR Julie Macdonald
In the March/April issue, Christine Dhein, known widely for her

commitment to green or eco-friendly jewelry making, offered advice
on how to improve your environmental impact. In her recent Jewelry
Artist podcast (www.interweave.com/category/jewelry-artist-podcast)
appearance, she explained how she came to be so interested in the
topic. She’d loved jewelry making from an early age and in high school GOLDEN PEAK MEDIA
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Gregory J. Osberg
grew concerned about environmental degradation, yet it took her years
SVP, CONSUMER MARKETING Paula Backer
to see how the two interests collide but also relate. Proper handling, use,
VP, FINANCE Jordan Bohrer
storage, and disposal of your tools and supplies helps protect yourself
VP, DIGITAL Melanie Darienzo
and others in your shop and outside it.
VP, PRODUCT AND STRATEGY Josiah Klebaner
Your bench, your shop, your home, your gallery are all just small
NEWSSTAND SALES Scott T. Hill
sections of the same planet where we all live. Minimizing health and
Scott.Hill@pubworx.com
safety hazards on a small or large scale is still minimizing these hazards.
Likewise, minimizing health risks from a material or a disease is still
Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist (ISSN 1936-5942) is published
minimizing the hazards.
6 times a year in Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/Jun, Jul/Aug, Sep/Oct,
In late spring, as jewelry and other establishments re-open and the Nov/Dec by Peak Media Properties, LLC., 4868 Innovation Drive,
U.S. widely loosens restrictions, our challenge is to balance expand- Fort Collins, CO 80525. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Collins,
CO 80525, and additional mailing offices. All contents of this issue
ing our horizons, staying afloat, and keeping the pandemic at bay.
of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist are copyrighted by Peak Media
Commonly worn in jewelry, lapidary, and other craft shops to protect Properties, LLC, 2020. All rights reserved. Projects and information
craftspeople from hazardous dust, the mask has also become one of the are for inspiration and personal use only. Reproduction in whole
few tools we have so far in limiting the novel coronavirus’s spread. or in part is prohibited, except by permission of the publisher.
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Ironically, this symbol of safety has also become a symbol of divi- year in Canada, and $54.95/one year in international countries
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another really good time not to be complacent and to be at our most jewelryartist@emailcustomerservice.com; 1-800-676-4336 (toll-
free US & Canada) or 386-246-0105 (outside North America).
clever. As long as the virus remains at large in the world, it’s the right
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VISIT US ON THE WEB:

www.interweave.com

Your Turn
reader comments & sketches
Design Challenges
Your Design Riffs Designs based on projects and
jewelry shown in previous issues of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist.
Maria Lowry
Cincinnati, Ohio
Based on Nina Raizel Hartman’s
“Ripples” earrings and an
Ellensburg agate cabochon.
Ellensburg agate cabochon

Nina Raizel Hartman’s “Ripples” earrings, from “Ellensburg Blue,”
May/June 2020 May/June 2020
Momoko Okada’s “Essence of Japan”

pendant, May/June 2020
Shevvy Baker
Louisville, Kentucky
Based on Momoko
Okada’s “Essence of
Japan” pendant
Shevvy Baker
Louisville, Kentucky
Based on Lexi Erickson’s
“Go Fly a Kite” pendant
Lexi Erickson’s “Go Fly a Kite”

pendant, May/June 2020

Next Time
Amy Buettner &
Tucker Glasow’s
Your
our Settings Pendant in “Medieval
Meets Game of
Thrones”
Pyrite-in-agate
cabochon, from
Smokin’ Stones, Roger Halas’s
May/June 2020
Ring in
“Seahorse
Summons”
Betsy Lehndorff’s
Michelle Clingan
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Pendant in
For a pyrite-in-agate cabochon “Yooper Magic”
Riff on the design of any of these or

other pieces within this issue, using a
Shevvy Baker design feature such as color, texture,
Louisville, Kentucky form, value, line, space, repetition,
For a pyrite-in-agate
balance, contrast, unity, or variety for
cabochon
your sketch. Please indicate which piece
your entry is based on.
Sketch a setting
for a parrot wing
cabochon from
Smokin’ Stones,
page 34.
DEADLINES: OCTOBER 31, 2020

Email digital scans at 300 DPI or send
photocopies of no more than three
sketches per challenge, indicating the
design factor that is your starting point.
Sketches will not be returned.
WRITE TO US ANYTIME:
What do you think about what you’ve
seen and read in Lapidary Journal
Merle Summers Jewelry Artist? SEND SKETCHES
Missoula Montana & LETTERS for possible print or
For a pyrite-in-agate cabochon online publication to: krosenbusch@
and an agate cabochon goldenpeakmedia.com. Please include
your name, city, and state, and indicate
“Your Turn” on the subject line.
Their Turn
a gallery of this issue’s contributors
Betsy Lehndorff’s
Pendant
Star diopside, sterling silver, pearl
Î
“YOOPER MAGIC,” p.66
PHOTO: JIM LAWSON
Lisa Krikawa’s
Bridal Ring Set
Mokumé gané, diamond, lab-created sapphire
Î
“BEAUTIFUL BLENDS,” p.86
PHOTO: COURTESY LISA KRIKAWA
Charles Lewton-Brain’s
Ring
Fusion welded stainless steel, electroformed copper, 24K gold
electroforming, river pebble from the Rocky Mountains
Î
“DOUBLÉE: GOLD ON SILVER,” p.72
PHOTO: COURTESY CHARLES LEWTON-BRAIN
Lexi Erickson’s
Blue Cloud Pendant
Blue lace drusy agate, sterling silver
Î
“AUTUMN SETTING,” p.52
PHOTO: JIM LAWSON

Amy Buettner &
Tucker Glasow’s
Earrings
Brazilian agate, sterling silver, 14K gold
Î
“MEDIEVAL MEETS GAME OF
THRONES,” p.26
Î
DOER’S PROFILE, p.96
Kieu Pham Gray’s Roger Halas’s

Sparkling Cluster Pendant Necklace
Sterling silver, assorted faceted stones Made for Awkwafina for Jumanji: The Next Level
Î
“HAVE A SLICE OF PINE CONE,” p.46 Brass
PHOTO: JIM LAWSON Î
“DASH OF CREEPY FUN,” p.56
Î
“SEAHORSE SUMMONS,” p.62
PHOTO: COURTESY ROGER HALAS
Become an LJJA Contributor!
Contributors’ guidelines for print or
online publication can be found at
www.interweave.com/jewelry
Net Profits
By Cathleen McCarthy
Social
Distance
Marketing
Opening up . . .
to a point
THIS YEAR HAS BEEN ONE CRAZY months during the Covid-19 shutdown. Here are a few things Jennifer did to
PHOTO: FERNANDO ABELLA DIAZ/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
roller coaster ride. Even if your own They had to pedal even faster than stay afloat.
studio time was unaffected, chances most of us to keep upright — and the
are, craft shows you registered for journey left them with some new skills. PLEXIGLAS BARRIERS
were cancelled and shops you sold One such artist is Jennifer Park, who She erected Plexiglas barriers around
through were shuttered. had to close the Wear Ever Gallery the workbenches in her studio. This
The shutdown has been a time she opened in Old Town Alexandria, might seem extreme, but if you teach
when having an established online Virginia, in 2018 to sell her own hand- or do one-on-one custom work,
presence paid off. Virtual connection made jewelry along with the jewelry this is a permanent installation you
was the best we could do for much of two dozen other artists. She took might consider to make students and
of the year. an even bigger hit when she had to customers feel safe in the new uncer-
In the last issue, I mentioned a close the jewelry-making workshops tainty of social distancing.
couple jewelry artists who opened in the back of her shop. She was Jennifer did it as a way to get her
brick-and-mortar galleries in the last getting 30 students every weekend workshops open sooner rather than
few years, then had to close for three when Covid-19 struck. later. It wasn’t cheap to have them

She erected Plexiglas barriers
around the workbenches in her
installed, but they allow people to see studio . . . a permanent installation
and hear her (and each other) while you might consider to make students
minimizing viral contact. She also
keeps the room ventilated as much and customers feel safe in the new
as possible, has hand sanitizer handy,
and wipes down tools and surfaces.
uncertainty of social distancing.
Because she had to move fast to get
her business approved for in Phase 1 cover the mortgage for her building Now her assistant is using iMovie to
of her state’s reopening, Jennifer had and other retrofits besides those edit the videos and post them on the
the barriers erected before she had transparent barriers. Wear Ever Jewelry YouTube channel,
official approval. When we spoke, she Many self-employed jewelry artists pulling stills and clips for marketing
had a Zoom meeting scheduled with managed to get a Paycheck Protec- purposes. “It’s been a great source of
the local health department officials tion Program (PPP) loan through the material,” Jennifer says.
who were working with the business Small Business Administration. It was
community in Alexandria. essentially a loan that was forgiven UPGRADE FOR WRITE-OFFS
“I’ll find out tomorrow if these as long as you used it for payroll It’s natural to want to rein in expenses
Plexiglas barriers will fly,” she said in — meaning yourself as well as any right now, but keep in mind your busi-
late May. “They might say no, wait assistant(s) you were paying, both in nesses expenses may have dropped
until Phase 2 to reopen your classes. studio and virtual. You could also use along with your income. If you had a
But I’ve already committed. It’s pretty it for mortgage and utilities, if your lot of shows cancelled, for example,
makeshift. Our studio is small and studio was set up that way. you probably spent a fraction of what
students are sharing equipment and But it was also a lesson in the impor- you usually do on business travel.
tools. I don’t know if this is enough.” tance of having a good backup team, I know I did.
It was enough, it turned out, to get even if you don’t have employees on This is a good year to do some
up and running. Her store opened in payroll. I was personally grateful to bookkeeping before year-end. It
early June and classes resumed. For my accountant who took the time to might be a good time to upgrade
now, the packed studio of her former walk me through the various options some equipment to make up for
weekend workshops has given way of the stimulus package, while he deductions you didn’t get elsewhere.
to one-on-one private lessons (three looked at my numbers from last year. Jennifer had to replace the
hours for $180), intimate small-group I had enough on my plate without computer her assistant was using
classes, and Zoom streaming. But having to figure that out. because video-editing required more
she’s back in business and hopes to speed, software, and storage than
ramp up slowly. MAXIMIZE ZOOM HOURS her seven-year-old computer could
As for satisfying local health guide- Like most of us, you’ve probably handle. “I still have one employee
lines, everyone is making this up as spent more time on Zoom confer- working from home,” she says. “If I try
they go along. Towns vary from one ences than you ever imagined and to do everything myself, I won’t get
to the next, just as states do. brushed up on your video skills anything done.
“I mean, they’re saying you can’t whether you wanted to or not. If you “Things are changing so fast,” Jen-
have a clothing store open because find yourself doing live video these nifer says. “I’m trying to stay on top
you can’t let people use your dressing days, consider saving those clips and of it.”
rooms,” Jennifer said. “Why? They’re trying to repurpose them.
not going to be in there with anyone Jennifer has been saving video
else. Just wipe down the surfaces of the mini-workshops she began
between customers.” streaming when the shutdown began
and plans to make use of them.
find more online
LOOK LOCAL FOR GRANTS These included a Zoom workshop “Lessons Learned by Jewelry Artists
Jennifer didn’t end up paying for she did with one participant, with the During #Covid2020”
those Plexiglas barriers. They were student’s permission, and live sessions www.interweave.com/jewelry/articles
covered by a grant from the city of for social media.
Alexandria. Many towns with commer- Every Friday, she holds live-
cial districts gave away grants to local streamed sessions from her studio on
businesses that met certain require- Instagram and Facebook, demonstrat-
CATHLEEN MCCARTHY has covered
ments, as long as you could prove you ing things like sweat soldering, sawing jewelry and business for Town & Country,
used the money toward keeping the and filing techniques, and “hardware JCK, The Washington Post, and her own
business afloat. Jennifer used hers to store hacks” for bracelet making. site, TheJewelryLoupe.com.
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Cool Tools & Hip Tips
Stamp It Out!
A quick stamping review and interesting new
tools to try out By Helen Driggs, Photos by Jim Lawson
METAL STAMPING IS ONE OF THOSE HIGHLY FOCUSED, low-cost techniques

that help you achieve big bang for your jewelry-making buck. With minimal tools
— like four — you can happily pass many hours in quiet contemplation while
creating complex surface textures on a sheet of metal. Given the abundance of
social isolation time I’ve recently had on my hands, I decided to revisit metal
stamping as a foundation technique. It soothed my frazzled spirit and calmed
my worried mind, and once I got started, I couldn’t stop. This was just the rabbit
hole I needed to go down to get me through those days and weeks, and it did.
Basic What and How 2. Draw centering guidelines on the All-Over Patterns
Metal stamps are struck with metal with a fine line marker and tape 1. Using a fine-point permanent marker,
a hammer or brass mallet and the metal to the block with painter’s trace a design or draw a freeform outline
their engraved pattern or design tape. on the metal. Decide which portions of
impresses the metal directly — oth- 3. Count the number of characters in the design will be textured and which will
erwise known as creating direct your word (or words). Spaces count be left plain.
texture. Metal stamps are technically as one letter. 2. Position the metal on the steel block
called single blow punches because, 4. Choose the center letter, then peek and tape it down.
ideally, you strike one sure blow to to make sure the stamp is vertical, 3. Using the chosen stamp, create a
make your mark. There are both oriented correctly, and positioned dense, stamped texture in all of the sec-
decorative and non-decorative metal correctly before you strike once with tions to be textured, working from one
punches, and hallmark or quality the hammer like you mean it. corner of the metal to the opposite cor-
mark punches fall into the latter cat- 5. Continue stamping all of the letters ner of the metal to avoid distortion.
egory. It’s critical to stamp with the to the right side of the centerline, and
jewelry metal positioned on a steel then stamp all of the letters on the
block or anvil to prevent warping as left side, always working out from the
you stamp, and good old painter’s er.
center.
tape is invaluable when it comes to
holding that metal still as you strike.
So, four items — hammer, stamp,
steel block, and jewelry metal — plus
some free time are all you need for a
world of fun.
Stamping Words
With some planning and forethought,
stamping straight and clearly using
alphabet stamps is easy. When I am
centering any lettering, my fallback
method is what I learned in my art
school typography class:
1. Plan the text layout on paper.
Cool Tools & Hip Tips
Item One: Hammer!
My Fretz Design insert hammers are an enduring
go-to tool — when it comes to the utility side of
doing things in my shop. Bill’s newish stamp-
ing hammers are perfecto when it comes to
firmly striking punches, stamps, and other steel
tools with non-mushrooming but very accurate
impact. All three versions — heavy, medium, and
light — feature brass heads to prevent marring,
and you have the option of using the steel head
to strike something like you mean it. There’s a
steel rod running through the wood handle of
e
each of these hammers to allow the head to
b
be tightened as needed using an included hex
wrench. These hammers are suitable for an
entire range of applications, but for stamping
get yourself a light duty (STH-1), which you will
find to be the perfect weight for long-term use
and lettering or decorative stamp work.
More at www.fretzdesign.com
Item Two: Stamps

There are several really great stamp manufac-
turers out there, and one of my favorite two is
ImpressArt. Every ImpressArt stamp is durable,
hardened steel rated for soft and hard metals
with crisp edges for deep impressions. I dearly
love those storage cases, too. As described
last issue, their newest font is the very readable
Stargazer, with complete letters and numbers
and several punctuation stamps. Perfect for
bling gals, the crystal setter kit with birthstone
crystals (SCS160008) lets you “set” flat-backed
rhinestones into specially sized divots you cre-
ate with the included punches. Simply position
a setter, strike with medium force to create a
round indentation, and then chemically bond the
flat back inside the impression using G-S Hypo
Cement or other jewelry adhesive.
More at www.impressart.com
My other favorite stamp manufacturer is
Beaducation. They recently surprised me with
an awesome mix of beautiful new decorative
stamps, and an updated version of their own flat
back rhinestone setting kit (KIT32). It includes
a 2.6mm (SS9) setting punch with a shorter
textured stamp tip to help the glue hold better,
and a pack of 240 assorted Swarovski birthstone
crystals. And if you love nature, check out the
half opened lily, 10mm (DS913). And big news:
it’s rated for stainless steel! I also love the thistle
flower, 8.2mm (DS933), exotic chrysanthemum,
11mm (DS914), and two mountain 12mm (DS713)
stamps.
More at www.beaducation.com

next time
Wonderful Wire Tools
Item Three: Me
M
Metal
tal
Beaducation also o stocks a comprehensive line of metal
blanks to stamp on in every shape, gauge, type of metal,
and style you could possibly desire. I love this set of half
heart cutouts, 50mm (CO397), with matching right and
left copper rectangles. For you doggo lovers, get the
copper dog tag with heart cutout. 47mm (C0396), and Item Four:
stamp your furbaby’s name and number right there. For Steel Bench Block
those of you with me on the aluminum bandwagon, I love Last, but not least, to stamp well, you must have a
these 32mm aluminum circles (KA007), and the alumi- case-hardened steel block to support your work. Pretty
num square with heart paw cutout, 25mm (KA196), for much every jewelry supply house carries a range of steel
the kitter cats. All available in sets of five, all in glorious blocks, but the most popular is a 2½ x 2½ x 7⁄8 -inch block
tumbled metal and ready for your stamping pleasure. that’s ground flat with beveled horizontal edges. I love
More at www.beaducation.com the Contenti Tools version (100-086) because it’s eco-
Halstead Bead is a fabulous general-purpose tool and nomical and comes in several sizes.
supply dealer with a great website, and I love to shop More at contenti.com
them for all of my basic teaching needs — blanks, tools,
sheet, and wire. I love their full range of student-friendly
sterling shapes, including these 22ga. sterling silver no
hole round blanks in a complete range of sizes, includ- Watch Stamped Ring
ing 12.7mm (S42212), 15.9mm (S42215), 19.1mm (S42218), Helen Stamp
20.6mm (S42220), 25.4mm (S42220), and 25.4mm
(S42225). Another awesome staple I return to again and
again are these 18ga. copper 6-inch cuff bracelet blanks
in ½-inch (CB5264) and ¼-inch (CB5266) widths. They
Textures
are such timesavers! & Patinas
(video)
HELEN I. DRIGGS is a book author and an experienced teaching artist.

She has appeared in 6 instructional jewelry technique videos and her newest
book, Metal Jewelry Workshop, was released in fall 2018. Follow her blog:
materialsmithing.wordpress.com and Instagram: hdriggs_fabricationista for www.interweave.com/ SEAHORSE SUMMONS
news, updates and her upcoming workshop schedule.
jewelry PAGE 62
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CERF Is
There for You
The Craft Emergency Relief Fund has been helping craft
artists for 35 years by Sharon Elaine Thompson
OPENING PHOTO: WARREN FAIDLEY/THE IMAGE BANK/GETTY IMAGES
D
isaster happens to other people. Until it happens to you.
When it hits, disaster leaves you in shock and disbelief. What do you do first?
Where do you get help? Who do you call? If you make your living as a craft artist,
you call CERF+, the Craft Emergency Relief Fund. CERF is always prepared. CERF
knows that disaster, for someone, somewhere, is inevitable.
CERF was founded in 1985 by a group of farsighted craft artists to provide career artists
with the safety net they might not otherwise have. Now when disaster happens — illness,
accident, theft, fire, tornado, hurricane, or earthquake — artists have a place to turn to for
help. The organization has been a lifeline for hundreds of artists in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
These four jewelry artists, faced with disasters, were able to get their businesses and lives
back on track with help from CERF.

business
Rebecca Rose
Monitoring Two-Finger Ring
Sterling silver
PHOTO: COURTESY REBECCA ROSE
Natural Disaster
In September 2008, studio jeweler
Diane Falkenhagen, who lives on
Galveston Island, Texas, went to bed
while Hurricane Ike was hovering out
in the Gulf, where it was expected
to stay. When the storm changed
direction, she had less than 36 hours Diane Falkenhagen
Native Species Series:
to prepare her house, her studio, and Crotalus Atrox Brooch
her mother’s house and evacuate. Oxidized sterling silver,
graphite drawings on powder-
She moved what she could as high coated fine silver panels
as she could — onto tables or onto PHOTO: DIANE FALKENHAGEN
the second story — but the heavy
equipment had to be left on the
lower-level studio.
Ike flooded most of Galveston
Island and left five feet of water in
Falkenhagen’s studio. “I lost some
big pieces of equipment,” including
her casting equipment and kiln, she
says. Her rolling mill was damaged
but later repaired.
Unable to get back into her house
for two weeks, she struggled to find
and book contractors. “Everything
had to be ripped out and redone”—
wiring, plumbing, sheetrocking, yard
cleanup — not only at her home but
her mom’s. “If you weren’t on the
ball right at the beginning, contrac-
tors already had jobs and you were
stuck doing things like cleanup and
sheetrock work yourself.” Every day,
she was exhausted.
Valerie Hector
She knew of CERF from their pres- Lattice Bracelet
ence at conferences of the Society Oxidized sterling silver,
hematite, wood beads
of North American Goldsmiths PHOTO: COURTESY VALERIE HECTOR
(SNAG), but she hadn’t contacted
CERF Is There for You
silicon molds for her limited edition
work all liquefied. “All my early work,
from 2009 to 2017, was in those
silicon molds,” she says.
They slept on the floors with
everything salvageable in stor-
age. Squirrels invaded the attic and
wasps swarmed in through the holes
in the walls. “Who would think you
have to deal with wasps inside the
house?”
“We had endured other storms,
but for us this was unprecedented.
We didn’t know what steps to take.
There were many times when I
didn’t know who to turn to or how
Diane Falkenhagen to get help,” she says. But she knew
Native Species Series: enough about CERF to apply for
Danaus Plexippus Brooch
Stainless steel framework,
disaster relief. “The CERF grant was
graphite drawings on powder- a godsend, because it was immedi-
coated stainless elements ate relief,” says Rose. “They were a
PHOTO: DIANE FALKENHAGEN
life-saver.”
them. So she was surprised when concerned when Irma was upgraded Theft
they emailed her. “They said they’d and “it was predicted that the eye Natural disasters are devastating,
heard about my situation and were would actually come through our but theft is a personal assault, not
there to help, that I should apply for city. We had never experienced a only on the artist, but on her career.
a grant. I thought that was nice,” she direct hit.” Megan Clark was only one day
says, “but I was too tired to even “We hunkered inside one of our into the 2017 Art in the Pearl Show
think about it.” closets during the storm itself. My in Portland, Oregon, when she was
Then she got a phone call. She husband could sleep, but the sound hit. At the end of the day, she and
wouldn’t even have to apply for the of bending metal, of the side of the jewelry artist Janine DeCresenzo,
grant. “I’ll fill it out for you and you house tearing off, and tree limbs who were sharing a rental car,
can review and sign it,” the caller falling . . . everything was pretty har- stopped at a store for a few min-
said. That stunned Falkenhagen: rowing. It’s a night I probably won’t utes, leaving their cases locked in
“That was amazing. It still makes me forget.” the trunk. When they arrived at a
emotional.” The grant and an inter- The morning wasn’t much better. friend’s house 30 minutes later, the
est-free loan enabled her to start Debris was strewn everywhere. Parts trunk was empty, with no sign of
restoring her studio and get back to of the roof on the garage had blown a break-in. “It’s not something you
work as soon as possible. away, the house roof was damaged, forget to put in the car,” says Clark
Nine years later, in September, and water had poured into the attic of her cases. “It was surreal. I kept
2017, Rebecca Rose of Sculpturings, and was running down the walls. looking for a trap door in the trunk,
Davenport, Florida, was preparing “There was an eight-day period thinking ‘Where did it go?’”
with her husband to ride out Hur- where we didn’t have electricity, had They returned to the store asking
ricane Irma: getting in provisions to boil water, and take care of sur- to see surveillance video, but they’d
and supplies, boarding up the house, vival stuff.” Naturally, there was no been parked just outside the range
securing everything inside. They air-conditioning, and the heat within of the store’s cameras. Footage
secured the casting setup and other the house was intense. showed a van pull up behind their
large equipment in the garage stu- The equipment in the garage stu- car but not what happened.
dio as best they could. “That equip- dio was damaged. Her bench in the “Someone had to know what was
ment is bulky and involves electricity house had been ruined. “That was in there, and where the car was, and
and components that are harder to when we realized this was going to had the resources to get in without
safeguard,” she says. put us out of commission for a year. us knowing. It’s one of those things
Although reasonably confident And it did.” that you don’t think about. You don’t
they could ride out anything less The final blow came when, due to even think you would be a target.”
than a Category 4, they became the intense heat and humidity, the Still reeling the next day, Clark

was surprised when they got a call had been ordered, or where to ship More Than Money
from CERF. Someone had called it. If I’d lost the checks, I’d have lost The artists we spoke with all said
the organization on their behalf. all that money as well.” that the financial help was a wel-
“That was the most amazing thing Hector was already under stress. come lifeline that allowed them to
about them,” says Clark, “that they Her father was extremely ill, and she make studio repairs or get supplies
would seek you out when you are in wasn’t sure he would live. She didn’t to help them get their businesses
trouble. We were both sleep de- feel she could tell her family about back up and running. But every one
prived and anxious, and they made her loss. “I didn’t want to upset of them also said that the financial
the process incredibly easy.” CERF them. I was distraught. Quietly, on support was the least of it. It was
also contacted Rio Grande and ar- the inside.” But a friend had spread the outreach, the efforts that CERF
ranged a $500 credit at Rio Grande the news on Facebook. made to make sure the artists knew
for each artist. “One of the first people to call they weren’t alone.
In 2014, Valerie Hector of Valerie me was Cornelia Carey from CERF,” “The outreach was worth a lot,”
Hector Designs, Wilmette, Illinois, says Hector. “She asked, ‘Do you says Falkenhagen. “It made me feel
says she had just had the “best want some financial help? You’re very valued in the craft community,
show ever” at the Palm Beach Fine known and you can have it. You only that my friends and colleagues were
Craft Show. “I couldn’t believe it have to fill out the application.’ The thinking about me.”
was going so well.” She celebrated grant was $4,000. Even before I got “Everyone appreciates the
the close of the show by going around to doing the application, the monetary relief, of course,” says
to dinner with bead artist Maggie check came in the mail,” she says. Rose. “But what struck me was the
Meister. “I stupidly took my inven- CERF also contacted metal sup- personal contact, and the continued
tory. I dragged it from the conven- pliers who agreed to give Hector contact I would get from the organi-
tion center . . . and put it in the trunk discounts on supplies. “I couldn’t zation. I get kind of emotional when
of my [cheap] rental car. If you can believe it. Other suppliers who heard I remember how supportive of me
break into the front of the car, you about it offered me discounts, too. they were. The help and the out-
get access to the trunk.” Everyone reached out to me get reach went beyond the grant itself.
Two and a half hours later, at her back on my feet.” That got me through.”
hotel, she opened the trunk. “I found
a bizarre situation,” she says. Her
cases were gone, and her paperwork
was strewn all over the trunk. “It sent
me into a kind of shock, a tran-
scendent-like state. I thought, ‘This
can’t be right.’” Hector’s voice is still
unsteady when she talks about the
loss.
She called Meister who came to sit
with her. Police couldn’t find finger-
prints or other evidence. “These are
professionals,” they told her. “They
knew what they were doing. They
watched you leave, and they knew
that you were parked beyond the
reach of the security cameras.” Hec-
tor, whose work is composed largely
of beads worked together in com-
plicated patterns, was particularly
sickened by the loss of new work,
including “some incredible one-
of-a-kind pieces that I hadn’t even
photographed.”
Fortunately, the thieves had not
taken her work orders, her invoices, Megan Clark
Deco Link Bracelet
her credit card receipts, or the 18K gold, sterling silver, rose cut
checks. “If they had taken that, I tourmalinated quartz, diamonds
would have had no record of what PHOTO: COLE RODGER
CERF Is There for You
When people are “going through my friends and I will bead for you Protector, which “helped you figure
a traumatic situation,” says Clark, for free. Just tell us what you want.’” out how to prepare for any disaster,”
“it’s easy to get sucked into a hole Other jewelers urged her to borrow though she admits that a pandemic
and not be able to do much about pieces from clients to fill the show was not one disaster they foresaw.
anything. The thing I struggled with, space. “I didn’t make a great show- “When [a disaster] happens, what
in terms of getting over it, was the ing,” says Hector. “But I didn’t quit, do you do, who do you call, where
anger. I was angry about the time and I was there. There was so much do you find resources.” It has over
that was taken from me.” But there outpouring of love and support that time moved to the CERF+ website
was the call from CERF. I didn’t want to quit. All that kind- where there are now videos about
In addition, the friend she was ness. It offset the evil that was done flood recovery and mitigation, how
staying with set up a GoFundMe to me by the thieves. I wasn’t start- to stop mold and a wealth of mate-
page. “The outreach from our coming at zero, knowing a lot of people rial to help artists plan for disaster.
munity was unreal. I was crying cared.” “Our readiness education is relevant
about how wonderful people were.” CERF also echoes the idea that to any studio-based artist, whether
Despite the setback, Clark had the a lot of people care, that the help they work at home or rent a build-
courage to do her last show of the CERF offers isn’t just the work of ing,” says Carey.
year, six weeks after Portland. She the organization. It’s from the whole But readiness goes beyond disas-
pulled together a selection of pieces crafts community, of which they are ter. There are any number of re-
from old work she had. “I made my- a part. sources on the website that help art-
self do it. It ripped the Band-Aid off ists with financial and legal planning,
the fear of doing the shows.” More Than Relief marketing, and business practices.
CERF is literally responsible for Disaster relief is what CERF is best Readiness is about keeping yourself
Hector continuing as an artist. Be- known for. But after Hurricane healthy, so CERF+ also offers ways
fore the call from Carey, Hector says, Katrina, says Executive Director for artist to care for their physical
she was thinking of quitting, “getting Cornelia Carey, “we saw such major and mental health as well. Lastly,
a ‘real job.’” But that one act on the losses. We recognized that while they have information about legacy
part of CERF made the difference. many were unavoidable, many could planning — preparing for when you
“They believed in me, that I could have been mitigated. It became clear are no longer around to direct your
get going again.” that we had to invest in prepared- career and what happens to your
Hector, scheduled to do the ness and help artists to be ready and work.
Smithsonian Craft Show the month resilient.” To encourage readiness, CERF+
after the theft, was going to cancel. Thus CERF became CERF+. Their began offering a $500 Get Ready
Meister told her, “‘Don’t cancel. All first new resource was The Studio grant that artists can use to safe-
guard their studios, protect their ca-
reers, and prepare for emergencies.
The idea, says Carey, is that “if we
do the readiness well, we won’t need
the emergency work.” Or at least, as
much of it.
Until recently, the organization
offered substantial emergency
grants, interest-free loans, and the
Get Ready grant. Two things have
conspired to slow them down.
First, 2017 was a horrific year with
catastrophic wildfires in the west,
and three back-to-back monster
hurricanes in the southeast: Harvey,
Irma, and Maria. “In particular, after
Maria,” says Carey, “we were work-
ing with so many artists we hadn’t
Rebecca Rose and her husband used

funds from a CERF grant to repair her
home studio following Hurricane Irma.
PHOTO: COURTESY REBECCA ROSE

Megan Clark
Deco Fan Ring
18K gold, sterling, rose cut green
tourmaline, diamond
PHOTO: COLE RODGER
How to Help or
Find Help
Whether you’re looking for help or
looking to help, you can learn more
about CERF+, its programs, outreach,
and how to donate on their website.
The author, who has spent a lifetime
worked with before in Puerto Rico. getting hit by hundreds of people among jewelry craftspeople, is so
That led to us translating much of needing help.” moved by these artists’ stories and the
our material. We got run over by CERF+ made the decision to good this organization has done, she
adds a special appeal to anyone who
that experience because there were put their loan program and Get
now can to help CERF help others. Visit
so many artists who had such major Ready grants on hold. Their emer-
www.cerfplus.org.
damage. We literally drained our gency grants have been reduced to
emergency relief funds and had to $3,000. “We made a decision during
raise more money.” this time to make our first priority
Carey, who has been with CERF health-related emergencies.”
since 1996, adds, “I’ve been thinking They’ve also begun to look longer CERF’S New
that nothing would ever be like 2017,
and that I could retire before any-
term. Climate change is contributing
to more cataclysmic wildfires, hur-
Covid Program
thing like that happened again. But ricanes, tornadoes, and the floods As of this writing in early June,
this pandemic is like nothing I could they spawn. This will certainly not CERF was preparing to launch a new
have imagined.” be the last pandemic. So they’re program designed specifically as a
While few artists have reported working to create a “pool of funds response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
being ill from Covid-19, the eco- that will always be there,” and figur- Learn more about CERF's response on
nomic shock has been tremendous. ing out a way to “turn on the faucet the Jewelry Artist podcast with host
Artists across the country lost their when we need to rebuild those Katie Hacker. Subscribe to the podcast
livelihoods literally between one day funds.” or listen to this episode, coming soon,
and the next. Thousands have ap- It’s worth the time for any artist to at www.interweave.com/category/
plied for relief from a variety of relief check out the resources CERF offers jewelry-artist-podcast.
agencies. and put emergency and legacy plan-
“We’ve had the practice, like other ning on the front burner rather than
emergency organizations, of having the back one. Because, as Diane
a reserve so we can hit the ground Falkenhagen says, “Just because
running [in the event of a disaster]. something hasn’t happened, doesn’t Find the
It’s a system that has worked well
for a long time, but now it’s a pile-
mean that it can’t.”
Artists
up of major disasters. Before 2017, dianefulkenhagen.com
SHARON ELAINE THOMPSON is a freelance sculpturings.com (Rebecca Rose)
our grants were up to $6,000. We writer based in Oregon. She has written for
recognize that with the volume of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist since 1987 and
meganclarkjewelry.com
requests, we can’t sustain that. We blogs frequently at www.interweave.com/jewelry. valeriehector.com
Learn more at jewelryartdiva.com.
don’t have the funding when we’re
Amy Buettner and Tucker Glasow’s richly detailed
pendant design for a glowing blue cabochon
By Jim Landon with Tucker Glasow
Medieval Meets
Game of Thrones
E
ACH PIECE THAT jewelry
artists Amy Buettner and
Tucker Glasow make starts
with an exceptional cabochon. Their
designs exhibit a balance among
stone, silver, and gold in which each
element enhances and plays off the
others. In form, shape, texture, and
patina, their choices lead to a style
that I think of as Medieval meets
Game of Thrones. Their attention to
detail and perfection in both design
and fabrication makes their work
1 2
sought after, and the Portland-based
pair are beginning to make quite a
name for themselves in the Pacific
Northwest.
While researching a blue agate
from the Anatolian region of Turkey
for “Something Old, New, Gemmy,
& Blue,” which appeared in the
OPENING PHOTO: JIM LAWSON; PROCESS PHOTOS: TUCKER GLASOW

January/February 2020 issue of this
magazine, I discovered their work and
thought they would be able to create
something really special with the 3 4
material. When I approached them
about it, they sprang at the chance, slightly larger than the design. With 16 gauge round sterling wire for the
created this pendant, and shared how the stone in place and using the outside border, 18 gauge for the top
they did it. design sketch as a guide, transfer botanical designs, and 14 gauge for
the pattern onto the sheet using a the bail.
DESIGN fine Sharpie. Tip: When measuring and estimating
1 Trace the stone and then sketch

out a design for the pendant
piece.
CUT AND TEXTURE WIRE
ELEMENTS
the wire lengths, add a little extra
length to accommodate the curves.
2 Cut out a 22 gauge piece of

sterling silver sheet that is
3 Cut the wire elements for the
design using the drawing as a
template for lengths. Tucker used
4 Flatten each wire element using
a rawhide mallet and flat steel
surface.

Jewelry Project
What
You Need
TIME IT TOOK
4-6 hours
SKILLS
Intermediate metalsmithing
MATERIALS
• Sterling silver sheet (we
used 22 gauge)
• 16 gauge sterling silver
round wire
• Bezel
• Silver solder, hard and
medium
• Flux and flux brush
• Pickle and pickle pot
• Copper tongs (for pickle)
• Liver of sulfur for the
patina
• Turkish blue chalcedony
or stone of your choice
TOOLS
Calipers (or ruler and scribe)
for marking off sheet, metal
snips (something like solder
snips, a saw will also work)
for crude easy cutting, saw
frame and saw blades (we
used 3/0), pliers (we used
round nose, parallel, and flat
nose), wire cutters, rawhide
mallet, hammer, bench block
or steel surface to hammer
on, chasing tool for texture
(your choice of mark or
texture), files, bezel pusher,
small drill bit, tweezers (for
maneuvering and placing tiny
pieces), torch setup, soldering
block or tripod with mesh
screen (for heating from
the bottom), flex shaft with
appropriate attachments
for cleanup (we used fine
sanding discs, and 3M radial
bristle discs in yellow, which is
80 grit), brass brush and dish
soap for final burnish, Sharpie
fine point marker
SOURCES
Turkish blue chalcedony from
Jim Landon. Most of the other
tools and materials for this
project are available from
well-stocked jewelry supply
vendors, many of whom can
be found in our Advertisers’
Index, page 95.
Jewelry Project M EDI EVAL MEETS GAME O F T HR ON ES
5 6 7
8 9 10
11
TIP! If you try 5 Using a “dots” chasing tool,

add texture to the back plate
as indicated in the drawing.
soldering
12
while the 6 The texturing process causes
the sheet to warp, so next
flux is still wet, anneal and pickle the sheet, and
then flatten it with a rawhide THE BEZEL
the wire ele-
ments will tend
mallet.
9 Make a bezel using 4mm fine
silver.
to move around. 7 Taper both ends of the wire

elements using a file and sand-
ing stick. 10 Solder the seam with hard
solder.
Not cool.
8 Anneal and pickle the wire
elements. 11Check the bezel on the stone to
make sure it is a good fit.

12 Check the fit of the bezel on
the back sheet to make sure
there are no gaps and then flux both.
Cut appropriate amounts of medium
solder, and place the pieces inside of
the bezel.
13 Using a large rosebud torch tip

and soldering screen, heat the
piece from the bottom to solder the
bezel in place. Then pickle.
FORM, PLACE, AND 13 14

SOLDER WIRE ELEMENTS
14 Use needle nose pliers to bend

the wire elements so they fit
the pattern.
15 Lay out all of the wire elements

on the pattern to check for
symmetry.
16 Brush flux on the back sheet

and wire elements and then
15
place them in position around the 16
already soldered bezel.
17 Cut small pieces of medium

wire solder and strategically
place them along the wire elements.
Allow the flux to dry fully. If you try
soldering while the flux is still wet,
the wire elements will tend to move
around. Not cool.
18 Solder the wire elements in

place, again using a rosebud
torch. Build the heat slowly and
carefully so as not to melt the bezel
or wire elements.
LEAF ELEMENTS 17 18
19 Take a small piece of sterling
sheet, apply flux, flood one
side with medium sheet solder
using a rosebud torch, and then
pickle. Affixing the solder before
cutting the leaves out from this
sheet will make attaching these
elements easier.
20 Place the sheet solder-side

down and use a Sharpie to
draw out leaf elements. Then cut
them out using a jewelers saw.
19 20
21 22 23
24 25 26
21 Cut small pieces of 18 gauge

sterling silver wire and use a mini
torch to make tiny little balls for design
elements and then pickle them.
22 Apply flux to the back sheet

areas where you will be
soldering. Position medium solder
chips where the silver balls will be
attached. Lay out the leaf elements
and the silver balls, again following
the design pattern.
23 Allow the flux to dry fully, then

solder the pieces in place using
the rosebud torch. Start heating from
underneath. When the solder is about
to flow, focus the torch on the top
Amy Buettner and Tucker Glasow of the piece until the elements are
PHOTO: JIM LANDON completely soldered, then pickle.
About the Artists REMOVE EXCESS SILVER

Amy Buettner and Tucker Glasow began collaborating in 2000 and have been in business
for 18 years. Amy is a graduate of the Oregon College of Fine Arts with a degree in jewelry 24 Dry the pickled piece and
then use a fine tip Sharpie to
mark where excess material from the
and sculpture, and has explored and mastered fabrication skills from many professional
jewelry artists. Tucker studied video broadcasting and photography at Lane Community back sheet will be removed. Note
College in Eugene, Oregon. He has not only mastered his own unique style of wearable that four supports for the cabochon
jewelry creations, but is also an accomplished photographer who shoots all of the material will be left in place, but most of the
that ends up on their website and Facebook and Instagram accounts. back of the bezel will be open to
allow light to enter.

27 28
25 Use a 3/ 0 jewelers saw blade

to begin cutting away the
excess silver from the back piece.
26 Drill small pilot holes on the

inside of the bezel, insert the
jewelers saw blade, and then cut
away the excess silver.
29 30
27 Use a fine half round file
to clean up the inside and
outside saw lines.
28 Use a fine grit sanding disc

and flex shaft to continue
cleaning the piece.
29 Use a knife edge black rubber

wheel to clean the crevices of
the botanical elements.
30 Place the piece bezel-side

down on a sheet of fine
sandpaper and a flat surface, then
31 32
gently sand the top of the bezel.
31 Clean the entire piece using 80

grit yellow radial brushes on a
flex shaft.
32 Remove any rough or burred

edges with a sanding stick
and 400 grit sandpaper.
PATINATE, SET, SIGN

AND SHINE
33 Mix the patina (liver of sulfur)

in a well-ventilated area with
almost-boiling water and immerse
the pendant for a short time to
blacken the entire piece.
33
Meet Them
DOER’S PROFILE, PAGE 96
34
See More Work
35 36
THEIR TURN, PAGE 8
Turkish
Blue Agate
Super Texture
2020 BUYERS’ DIRECTORY starts after
page 88
Tools
TRIBUTE
DESIGN
Honors friendship
37 38
and an heirloom
Sweetheart
Pendant
Lay a silver rose
over red coral
Best Gems
for Spring!
PLUS!
34 Dry the pendant
thoroughly and set the 37 Sign the piece.
38
Easy Alternative
Eternity Bands
Tucson Show Strategies
Outstanding Gem Cutting
cabochon using a bezel pusher. Do one final cleanup with a
Sparta-Worthy Bronze Cuff
brash brush and dish soap

How to Float Fire
Set opal on an invisible riser
35 Use a burnisher to burnish

the bezel.
to burnish and shine up the entire
piece.
“Something Old, New,
Gemmy & Blue”
Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, 36 Use the 80 grit yellow
bristle brushes in the flex
shaft to clean off the excess patina
JIM LANDON is a long-time high school science
teacher, rockhound, and jewelry artist who lives
January/February 2020 in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in
in the areas to be more silver. Washington State.

5(*,67(5IRU
21/,1(
&2856(6
Improve your
urr
jewelry-making
i skills
kill
from experts in the field!
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Smokin’ Stones
By Sharon Elaine Thompson
PHOTO: COURTESY
BO MATTHIS
Diane
Kramer
Ring
Parrot
wing, silver
PHOTO: COURTESY
DIKRA GEM
PHOTO: COURTESY CAREY CADY
Call of the Tropics

Aptly named parrot wing is varied in shade, pattern,
and composition
YOU CAN PICTURE IT EASILY. Parrot wing is well. It can be silicified (turned into a silicate, like
a stone that looks much like you would think: chalcedony), which makes it harder and tougher.
a mix of yellows, greens, and blues. Like many It can be, sometimes is, and sometimes should be
stones that produce this kind of blue, it’s a copper stabilized for durability. The original parrot wing,
mineral. From that point on, things can get says Heusler, possibly came from Peru or Mexico.
confusing. Much of what is on the market today may be
We talked to John Heusler of Slabs to Cabs, coming from Namibia or Arizona.
who often works with rare and unusual stones With a rock like this, what you’re looking for is
and has discovered and named a few of his color and its distribution, good contrast between
own. First, although this is often called a jasper, colors, and an interesting pattern. The right stone
Heusler says it really isn’t. It’s a mix of chrysocolla will make a wonderful centerpiece on a neckpiece
or shattuckite (a blue mineral from the Bisbee or, if it’s among the tougher specimens, a bracelet.
Shattuck shaft), malachite, magnetite, and/ Use accent stones that pick up one of the stone
or tenorite, and may contain other minerals as colors to make it snap.

Just the Facts
How much does it cost?
Rough, depending on quality and whether or not it has been
stabilized, can run from $25 to $200 a pound. Cabs are priced
by the stone, though finer qualities may be priced by the carat.
How hard is it to find?

Parrot wing is not widely available in finer qualities.
What kind of jewelry can I put this in?

Because parrot wing is a rock — a mix of minerals — hardness can
vary. Harder, highly silicified specimens can be worn like chal-
PHOTO: COURTESY
cedony, that is, in most jewelry. Softer, more fragile mixtures of JEFFREY COX
minerals should be restricted to earrings, pendants, and pins.
How easy is it to set?

Well-cut cabs are easy to set.
Because parrot wing
What settings are best? is a rock — a mix of
Full bezels if the stone is one of the softer specimens; full or minerals — hardness
interrupted bezels if harder.
can vary. Harder,
Artisan/studio dos and don’ts: highly silicified
If you’re going to cut this yourself, be aware that copper minerals specimens can be
are dangerous to breathe. Use all necessary precautions to avoid
inhaling dust. The stone will become pitted in acids, so no pickling
worn like chalcedony,
and keep it out of the sonic. Avoid the steamer. The stones can that is, in most
burn if you don’t remove them before making repairs. jewelry. Softer, more
Wearer dos and don’ts:
fragile mixtures
Don’t put in a home sonic. Protect from rubbing against other of minerals should
harder stones and jewelry. Protect from abuse when wearing. be restricted to
earrings, pendants,
What cutters/designers think:
Says John Heusler: “If a stone is a mix of different minerals, look and pins.
for color, pattern and contrast. I like things that are bright and
vivid. They help me sell my cabs to other makers, and help me sell
my jewelry to consumers.”
Pendant and
Earrings
PHOTO: COURTESY KATHRYN ANEMA
SHARON ELAINE THOMPSON is a freelance writer based in Oregon. She has written for
Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist since 1987. You can learn more about her and read previous articles NESTLED AMONG LEAVES
at www.jewelryartdiva.com. She also blogs frequently about birthstones and other stones for PAGE 36
www.interweave.com/jewelry.
Leafy accents surround a parrot wing pendant — plus
complementary earrings! By Peggy A. Haupt
Nestled Among
Leaves
1
I
SN’T IT FUN WHEN you have my design for the back of a pendant.
an idea for a piece of jewelry — A leaf bail and an additional leaf at 2
and then you find the perfect the bottom of the pendant bring the
cabochon for it! I take designs for front and back of the pendant into a
jewelry with me when I am fortunate coherent design.
enough to attend a gem and jewelry
show. This time I saw a green and DRAW AND SAW
gold parrot wing chrysocolla cab
that was made for my design! In it,
leaves are pierced in the back plate,
1 Draw the base plate with the
pattern for the pierced design,
the leaf bail, and the extra leaf for
the bail has a leaf front and back, the bottom of the pendant. Glue
OPENING PHOTO: JIM LAWSON; PROCESS PHOTOS: PEGGY A. HAUPT

and there’s another leaf just for fun the patterns in place and let them
at the bottom of the cab. dry. You don’t have to glue the base
This piece started with a riff on plate pattern in place if you have 3
Michael Boyd’s Wyoming jade ear- plenty of metal.
rings way back in 2014, when they Saw out the bail and the leaf. File dental floss around the edge of the
were featured on the cover. I didn’t and sand the edges on the bail and cabochon. Remember to add a little
want to copy his pendant, so I used leaf. Remove the pattern pieces. extra for adjustments.
Tip: Place sandpaper on a bench
Earrings,
block when you need to sand a flat
edge. I use this technique when I cut
bezel strip to size.
2 Use a square to assure a perpen-
dicular mark with the fine marker.
Cut with scissors. File the ends until
PAGE 40
you have a perfect fit and no light
MAKE THE BEZEL shows between the ends.
Easier Ways AND BACK
PAGE 38
Measure for the bezel by holding
a strip of paper or by using waxed 3 Solder the bezel with hard solder.
Pickle, quench, wash, and dry.

Jewelry Project
What You Need

SKILLS TOOLS pieces to engrave, face mask
Sawing Pen, paper, fine tip marker, and goggles, a larger drill bit
Filing scissors, square, dental floss or pen or transfer punch to
Soldering or small strip of paper, center use when bending the bail
Engraving punch, steel bench block,
drill bit #65, jeweler’s saw SOURCES
TIME IT TOOK and 4/0 blades, lubricant for Most of the tools and
3-4 hours saw blades and drill bit, flex materials for this project are
shaft or Dremel tool, assorted available from well-stocked
MATERIALS files, assorted sandpaper, jewelry supply vendors, many
• 2"x4" 20-gauge silver or
sterling silver sheet
bench pin, soldering setup,
extra soldering blocks, torch,
of whom can be found in our
Advertisers’ Index, page 95.
• ⅜"x5" bezel strip striker, soldering pick, pickle,
• Hard, medium, and
easy solder
copper tongs, flux and brush,
quench water, graver, graver’s
• Cabochon block or other way to hold the
Jewelry Project NESTLED AM ONG LEAVE S
4 5 6
7 8 9
10 11 12
4 Sand the bottom of the bezel if it

isn’t flat. Place the sandpaper on
a bench block to help ensure a flat,
two small places at the top of the
cabochon to prepare for soldering
the bail. Remove the cab.
EASIER smooth base.
WAYS Shape the bezel around the
cabochon. Check that there aren’t 7 Cut around the outside edge of
the bezel, file, and sand.
any gaps.
• Make a partial
bezel, and extend the PIERCE THE BACK
top of the back plate
and bend it to form 5 Solder the bezel on the back
plate with medium solder. Pickle,
quench, wash, and dry.
Use the fine tip marker to draw the
tiny leaves on the back plate. I drew
them on the back and lightly pressed
the bail.
the center punch in each leaf where
• Eliminate the
bottom leaf.
6 Place dental floss over the bezel.
Set the cab in place to double
check the fit of the bezel. I bent
I need to drill. If you prefer, draw the
design inside the bezel and mark
with the center punch.

One link of chain will be waste
TIP! unless the chain isn’t soldered.
8 Using a #65 bit, drill a hole in

each leaf shape.
Tip: Keep your fingers and
hands behind the graver, not in
front of the sharp tip!
14 Flux and solder the bail using
medium solder. You can see
the solder on the leaf and on one
9 Saw out the tiny leaves.

Tip: After piercing a design,
make sure there aren’t any sharp
11 Closeup of the start of the
cut. Normally, I would com-
plete the cut before stopping.
side of the bezel. Solder.
ADD THE LOWER LEAF

bits of metal on the base plate. If
they are on the inside of the bezel
you can crack a cabochon when
Lightly sand to finish. Don’t
press hard or you will ruin the
engraving. Repeat for the small
15 Bend the stem of the small
leaf to fit the side of the bezel.
Position the leaf so only the stem
you are setting it. leaf. will be soldered; the leaf will bend
over the top of the cab. Solder with
ENGRAVING MAKE THE BAIL easy solder. Pickle, quench, wash,
Draw the leaf lines on the bail
leaves and extra leaf. Secure a
piece in a graver’s block or an
12 Use a round object to form
the bail. I use a transfer
punch, but the smooth end of a
and dry.
SET THE CABOCHON

alternate method. I use a roll of
tape or a wire jig or shellac on
a board since I don’t engrave
drill bit will work or even a pen.
Gently shape the bail a little at
a time.
16 Set the cabochon in place. Use
a bezel pusher or burnisher to
push the bezel in place.
much. Carefully bend the leaf over the
10 Engrave the designs on the

leaves.
13 Adjust the bail until you
have a good fit for solder-
ing it to the bezel and base plate.
cabochon.
Do any clean up sanding or polishing
and your leaf pendant is ready to wear.
13 14
15 16
Jewelry Project NESTLED AM ONG LEAVE S
MAKE THE EARRINGS

After I finished the pendant, I
wanted earrings to match. I found
a short section of chain and beads
that were left from another project
and they matched the cabochon. It
was meant to be! These earrings are
easy to make using a saw or wire
shears, and only take about an hour.
To make them even simpler, just use
more beads and skip the leaves. E1 E2
E3 E4
MATERIALS
Work Safe • 24 gauge sterling or fine silver
CUT THE CHAIN
• Always wear goggles and a face mask.
Good ventilation is a must and an •
sheet, I¾" x 2½"
4 1" head pins E1 I used three links of chain for
each earring. Remember that
exhaust system is an excellent idea. • 4 5mm beads one link will become waste when it
I keep a fire extinguisher beside my • 7 links of chain is cut if the links are soldered. Don’t
• 2 ear wires short yourself on the chain.
soldering area, have it surrounded by
a fire-resistant board, have this same •TOOLS
surface underneath the area, and a Layout: Pencil, paper and glue;
MAKE AND ATTACH
fireproof board on Hand: saw and blade or metal shears, chain LEAVES
the floor.
• Keep your fingers and hands behind the
and round nose pliers, wire cutters, needle
files, graver
Equipment: Bench pin if using the saw, board
E2 Sketch the leaf shape and
allow 1¼" for the stem. I
made the stem longer than neces-
graver point.
and tape or engraving ball or wire jig sary so bending would be easier.
• Always watch for flying metal when
Finishing: 220 sandpaper Glue the leaf in place, let dry, and
using metal shears or wire cutters.

Learn
Don’t fuss
from Peggy’s
TIP! making all
Inspiration
the leaves
the same: a
little variety adds
interest.
Special Settings:
Saddle and Strap
(video)
E5 E6
WRAP AND ATTACH

THE BEADS
E6 Thread a bead on a head

pin. Place the chain nose
pliers against the bead. Bend the
wire to a 90-degree angle.
E7 Change to round nose

pliers and form a loop.
E8 Insert the head pin into

a chain link and continue
to wrap the wire. If you used a
longer head pin, you may need
E7 E8 to cut and smooth the end of the
wire. Repeat for the other beads.
saw or cut it out. File the edges and
san d the entire leaf. Repeat for six
leaves.
E4 Place the round nose pliers
above the leaf on the stem.
Bend the stem around the pliers.
HANG AND WEAR
Add ear wires to the top of each
chain and the earrings are ready
E3 Always remember to keep

your fingers behind the
graver as you work! The tip is very
E5 Insert the stem into a
chain link and continue
to bend the stem around itself.
to wear.
PEGGY HAUPT is an artist who is fortunate to

sharp. Use tape on a board, a wire Watching for flying metal if you live near the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennes-
jig, or an engraving tool to secure a need to remove excess metal, cut see. The beauty of nature inspires her creativity.
leaf for engraving the veins. It isn’t any excess off and file the end
necessary to have all the leaves look smooth. Use the chain nose pliers
the same — a little variety adds inter- to squeeze the end tight against
est. Check the back of the leaf for the back of the leaf. Repeat for a
scratches and sand if necessary. total of six leaves.
Trends
By Deborah Yonick,
jewelry style expert
STRENGTH &
PERSONALITY
Fashion colors this fall lend
themselves to relatablee
experimentation
OFFERING A RICH narrative, Pantone’s

fashion color palette for fall-winter 2020-
21 is imbued with strength and personal-
ity, encouraged by our ongoing desire for
unique self-expression through creative
and unusual color statements. That’s how
Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of
the Pantone Color Institute, describes the
top color picks on the NY runways for
fall-winter ready-to-wear.
The leading fall-winter 2020-21 colors
feature some traditional tones and surpris--
ing ones that offer room for experimenta-
tion. The idea of trying out new hues or
blending them with more classic colors
works in this time of genderless, season-
less, you-be-you fashion, WWD says of
Pantone’s palette.
Ten stand-out colors were popular with
designers at the seasonal shows: two reds,,
an upbeat Samba and a strong Fired Brick; k;
a hypnotic purple Magenta; a dusky pink
Rose Tan; two peachy hues, warm Peach
Nougat and earthy Sandstone; a radiant
autumnal orange Amberglow; a deep cool--
ing blue-green Ultramarine Green; Color off
the Year, Classic Blue; and an acidic Green
Sheen. The palette also includes four new
takes on classic neutrals — deep Blue
Depths; Military Olive; a bluish gray Sleet;
and off-white Almond Oil.
Eiseman calls the colors “relatable yet
displaying clever tweaks for the season,” KIR
Bangles
conveying a level of functionality, while Sterling silver,
also lending themselves to unique state- labradorite, chalcedony,
rose quartz, white and black
ments that stand out. She describes the mother-of-pearl
palette as “stripped of excess,” reflecting PHOTO: COURTESY KIR

The palette reflects the
“changing mindset of today’s
consumers, who prioritize
value and longevity over color
choices that are here today
and gone tomorrow.”
Swarovski
Gem Visions 2021
Cubic Zirconia
Punk Heart Cut
PHOTO: COURTESY
SWAROVSKI
Samuel B
Bracelet
Sterling silver, apatite,
prasiolite, amethyst,
citrine, chalcedony
PHOTO: COURTESY
SAMUEL B
Amberglow
KIR
Samba Latiffa Ring
Sterling silver,
freshwater pearls
PHOTO: COURTESY KIR
Mastoloni
Wrap Ring
14K yellow gold, 4-6mm white
freshwater pearls, diamonds
PHOTO: COURTESY MASTOLONI
Sandstone
the “changing mindset of today’s AWASH IN COLOR
consumers, who prioritize value and Colored stones continue to take
longevity over color choices that are center stage in jewelry design, finds
here today and gone tomorrow.” trends-tracker Amanda Gizzi, direc-
What is most defining for Eise- tor of public relations and special
man is the wide-ranging acceptance events for Jewelers of America. With
among consumers of a spectrum of Classic Blue the Color of the Year,
colors to realize their own individual- she sees blue gemstones like sap-
ized unique identities. “People have phire, topaz, and tanzanite remaining
Classic Blue to feel comfortable in what they important. While revealed pre-Covid,
wear, but you also have to give them Classic Blue turned out to be the
permission to experiment a bit,” she ideal color for the time, with this en-
told WWD. during hue instilling calm, confidence,
Fresh color blends for the season and connection when it’s needed
include: Classic Blue, Fired Brick and most.
Rose Tan; Green Sheen, Rose Tan and “The Classic Blue color is joined
Ultramarine Green; and Military Olive, by a variety of warm tones in the or-
Almond Oil, Sleet, Magenta and Blue ange and red family that are popular
Magenta Purple Depths. this fall,” points out Gizzi. “Orangey
Trends
Amberglow lends itself to mandarin

garnets, fire opals, and orange sap-
phire. While the red-hued Samba,
Fired Brick, and purple Magenta
can be seen in rubies and garnets.
Sandstone, Peach Nougat and Rose
Tan exhibit shades of light pink and
neutral tans making way for gems,
like morganite and rose quartz. And
Ultramarine Green brings to mind
deep blue-green tourmalines.”
Jane Collins and Ana Correa, Honora
Rings
footwear and accessories senior and Sterling silver, mother-of-
associate editors, respectively, for the pearl, freshwater pearls,
diamonds
trends forecasting firm WGSN, shared
PHOTO: COURTESY HONORA
color and gem trends in a recent we-
binar hosted by the Couture Jewelry
Show. Discussing design priorities
during and post pandemic, colored
stones play a key role in our “above
the keyboard dressing” and digitally
dominated lifestyles.
Among the design trends fueling
greater demand for color is our desire
for statement jewelry, occasion-wear
for every day to spice up on-screen
socializing. “As we conduct more of
our lives online, jewelry that stands
out on screen — like bold cocktail
rings, dramatic drop earrings and
statement necklaces — will be es-
sential,” says Correa, “with a focus on
colors and materials that pop.” Swarovski
Gem Visions 2021
With the wellness sector uptrend- Aquamarine Cubic Zirconia
ing, healing stones and the effects PHOTO: COURTESY SWAROVSKI
around positive-energy materials will

be fundamental for jewelry design, re-
ports Correa. “Adorn collections with
natural semi-precious gemstones,
geodes, and calming crystals. Invest in
stones with transformative qualities,
unique cuts, or reflective surfaces that
Swarovski
create otherworldly aesthetics.” Gem Visions 2021
Popular materials have natural Orange-yellow Cubic Zirconia
PHOTO: COURTESY SWAROVSKI
iridescence, as found in opals, mother-
of-pearl, and abalone. Correa also
Green Sheen Peach Nougat Ultramarine Green Fired Brick Rose Tan

Almond Oil Blue Depths Sleet Military Olive
Martha Seely
Shooting Stars Cuffs
Sterling silver, yellow gold, rhodolite, spessartite, blue topaz, citrine,
amethyst, blue zircon, tourmaline, sapphire, tsavorite, diamonds
PHOTO: COURTESY MARTHA SEELY
Mastoloni
Three-Pearl Hoop Earrings
mentions metals like silver and copper JEWELRY STYLING 18K white gold, 5-5.5mm white
freshwater pearls, diamonds
trending because of proven anti- How people wear jewelry is being PHOTO: COURTESY MASTOLONI
microbial properties. Lustrous pearls impacted by the Covid-19 pan-
are especially beloved, as a traditional demic, finds Gizzi. She hails layering
favorite that takes a modern approach necklaces, the go-to look for the es-
to jewelry design, like hoop drops, calating number of Zoom meetings
wrap-style rings that offer stack- taking place, especially necklaces
ing illusion, and open-style abstract that come prelayered or in layered
designs. styles and take the guess work out
Collins sees a focus on invigorat- for wearers.
ing, energizing, and restorative colors Big, chunky chain looks are trend-
(especially shades of blue, green, ing, not only in jewelry design, but
purple, orange, and red), with fancy also apparel and footwear. There is
color sapphire, topaz, and garnet gem comfort in this familiar style, Collins
complements. Emerald is another says, which can be used as design
stone to watch. A gem prized since elements in a range of jewelry types,
antiquity, emerald signifies nature, in varying scales, and with or with-
balance, comfort, and growth. Birth- out pavé.
stones, Correa adds, are the perfect While hoops and dangle earrings
draw for personalization, with these work for above keyboard engage-
traditional stones most meaningful in ment online, they are a loss-risk and
IB Goodman
jewelry design. challenge for masks to go on and Earrings
Rainbow and multi-color settings off with ease, says Gizzi, requiring Sterling silver, abalone, diamonds
are all the rage, as consumers em- styles with lower profile to avoid PHOTO: COURTESY IB GOODMAN
brace jewelry that not only enhances getting snagged. Also, she expects
their mood, but also looks great in classics like by-the-yard and tennis
DEBORAH YONICK has been writing about
the digital realm. Collins cites om- styles in diamonds and gemstones jewelry and fashion trends for more than 25
bré and colorful tassel designs with will be popular, as people return to years for trade and consumer publications
vibrant, translucent stones among the work and look for ways to feel put- and online, and has loved both for much
longer! With roots in New York, she presently
favorites. together and dressed up. lives and works in York, PA.
Embedded in resin and cut in cross section, pine cones
reveal patterns both familiar and unexpected
By Kieu Pham Gray
Have a Slice of
Pine Cone
1 2
I
WAS FASCINATED. The first most unusual piece of resin containing depending on the thickness and
time I saw resin incorporated pine cones. I was completely smitten. size of the cabochon, you may
with wood was on a Facebook When cut at a cross section, you can wear out more than one saw
video where they were making these see all the details of the middle of the blade. Use a larger saw blade if
crazy tabletops. Then a few years pine cones. So cool. And of course, a you have one.
ago, on an all-girls “goddess” trip, piece landed in my pocket. Trace the shape of the resin cabo-
I learned that Sheri Rozsonits, one With so many interesting aspects at chon onto a piece of 24g sterling
OPENING PHOTO: JIM LAWSON; PROCESS PHOTOS: KIEU PHAM GRAY

of the ladies in the video, had also every angle of the piece, it was hard silver sheet metal with a permanent
been using this technique to create for me to consider covering up any marker to use as a guide.
components in her jewelry — mind part of it. I wanted to highlight the
blown! visible pieces of pine cone and let PIERCED PATTERN
It’s a family affair. Refining tech- them tell their own story while adding ON BACK
niques on resin use the couple first my own comment. By piercing one Draw or trace a pattern onto the
learned on YouTube, Sheri’s husband, side of the pendant with a thematic silver sheet metal to use as a
John, now embeds resin into the design, I was able to tell a story and guide for sawing.
voids of pieces of wood, producing allow the pinecones to be present on
blocks of the material. After the resin
has cured, Sheri cuts the block into
pieces for her jewelry, which she then
the opposite side.
CABOCHON SHAPE
2 You can also transfer some
laser prints by placing the
printout face-down onto the
fabricates.
Recently I had the opportunity to
visit their workshop where I was given
1 Resin and wood are both materi-
als that are soft and easily cut.
You can simply use a jeweler’s
metal and rubbing acetone on the
pattern.
You can also glue your pattern
a private tour and a quick tutorial of saw to shape and size your pine directly onto the sheet metal and
the process. While there, I spied this cone in resin cabochon. However, remove after sawing.

Jewelry Project
What
You Need
SKILLS
Understanding of silver
soldering
Basic metal fabrication
Piercing
TIME IT TOOK
2 hours
MATERIALS
• 1.5"x1", 24-gauge sterling
silver sheet, large enough
to cover one side of your
cabochon
• 4x4x10mm SS square tubes
• 14g SS square wire, 6"
• 2/0 saw blades
• Cut Lube
• Acetone
• New Glue
• 4 brass, 3⁄16" machine
screws, button head
• Hard, medium, easy solder
paste
• 400, 500, 600 sandpaper
TOOLS
Bench block, rawhide mallet,
flush wire cutters, student files,
soldering setup, chain nose
pliers, center punch, chasing
hammer, jewelers’ saw, tube
cutting pliers, flex shaft rotary
tool, #56 HSS drill bit, fine
tweezers
SOURCES
Most of the tools and materials
for this project are available
from well-stocked jewelry
supply vendors, many of whom
can be found in our Advertisers’
Index, page 95.
Jewelry Project H AVE A SLI CE OF PINE CO NE
3 4 5
6
8
3 Pierce a hole in the middle of the
pattern for sawing. If you do not
have a hole punch that can reach 7
to the center of your pattern, use a
high-speed drill bit to drill a hole. center — will be enough to do the
job. Using a flex-shaft rotary tool,
4-5 Place the sheet metal

into a jewelers’ saw with
the pattern facing up to pierce the
drill holes with an HSS drill bit; I used
#56. Your drill bit size will depend on
the size micro screw you choose.
shape. By piercing the center shape
before trimming the perimeter, you CREATE THE FRAME
will have more leverage to handle
the sheet metal. Be sure to wax the B Use 14g half round wire to cre-
ate a frame for your cabochon.
saw blade as needed with Cut Lube Measure the length and width of 9
or paraffin to help the blade glide. If your cabochon and add double the
you have warped the metal, flatten
it on a bench block using a rawhide
mallet.
width of the wire to the length (for
14g half round add 1.6mm to the
length).
9 Using hard solder paste, solder
the frame together. Pickle, rinse,
and dry.
1.2 x 0.1”
A Center punch
the sheet
metal to prepare
1” x 1.5”
10-11 I like to solder three
sides together first,
double check my size, then solder
it for drilling holes the fourth side.
approximately
4mm from the
outside edge. Diagram A Diagram B 12-13 Solder the frame to
the sheet metal using
medium solder paste. Pickle, rinse,
6 In my piece, I chose to use four

micro screws in the corners
of the frame, though two — one 7-8 Cut two pieces of each
measurement and miter
and dry.
Using a pair of bezel shears, trim the
silver sheet around the frame. File the
at the top and one at the bottom each end at a 45° angle. all edges to remove any rough spots.

find them
www.facebook.com/JohnsWoodies
14 Sand edges as needed includ-

ing the sheet metal.
sawing. You do not want to be
holding the pliers in the air to saw.
Then sand the ends to remove any
THE BAIL burs or rough spots. See More Work
Mark a piece of sterling silver, 4mm,
square tubing to the length desired
for the bail. I prefer to have my tube
bails no longer than ½" because
17-18 Place easy solder
paste on the tube
and solder to the top of the
otherwise it makes the chain lie a little frame. I like to face the front of
too wide. the frame down for soldering so
that the tube can be fl ush with
15 Place the tubing in a tube

cutting pliers with the marking
between the gap for sawing.
the frame.
Note: take care not to overheat
the tube before heating the frame
unit. For the solder to flow evenly
16 Brace the tube cutting pliers

against a bench pin or your
workbench to create leverage for
between the bail and the frame,
you must ensure that both units are
evenly hot. Pickle, rinse, and dry. THEIR TURN, PAGE 8
10 11 12
13 14 15
16 17 18
Jewelry Project H AVE A SLI CE OF PINE CO NE
Preserve
in Resin TIP!
You can
Resin Earrings transfer
and Pendant
(project)
some laser prints by
placing the printout
face-down onto the
metal and rubbing
acetone on the
Resin Sea Flower pattern.
Pin Pendant 19
(project)
15+ Ways to
Alter Metal
Surfaces (online
workshop)
Exploring Resin
Jewelry-Making
(video)
www.interweave.com/jewelry 20 21
Color Resin READY FOR FRAMING accuracy, however, you may opt to
Brass brush the entire unit, then drill the pieces separately.
sand or polish the unit to your liking.
Colorful Resin
Earrings
Measure the thickness of your cabo-
chon and subtract at least 2mm; this
will be the depth of your hole for the
21 Use the frame as a guide
for marking the holes in the
cabochon to ensure that it is precise.
(video)
micro screw. Ensure that your micro Remove any burs from the drilling
screw is not longer than the depth of sites by burnishing or sanding.
the cabochon. If it is, you will need to Pick up a micro screw with a pair
trim each screw with side cutters. of fine tweezers and dip into a little
New Glue before placing in the hole.
Resin Flower
Pendant (video) 19 Mark this measurement onto
the drill bit used for the frame.
By marking the drill bit, I am ensur-
The glue will add extra security for
the setting. Use an X-acto knife or
eyeglass screwdriver to turn the
ing that I do not drill all the way screws into place.
through the cabochon. I used a small
piece of painters tape.
Bezeled Resin & KIEU PHAM GRAY has been creating jewelry for
Silver Bracelet
(video) 20 Place the cabochon into the
frame on a bench pin and drill
through the holes previously pierced
almost 20 years. She and her husband Andy own
and operate www.TheUrbanBeader.com, where
they work to provide the industry with specialty
in the sheet metal. I prefer to drill supplies and tools. Most recently, she co-founded
www.interweave.com/jewelry www.EverCrafting.com, a social media site for
the cabochon through the frame for serial crafters.

The ESSENTIAL GUIDE to
Gemstones for
Jewelry Artists
Learn about characteristics of
gemstones, where to find them,
and how to implement each unique
stone into your jewelry designs.
Page Count: 188

Retail Price: $14.99
Get Your eBook today at Interweave.com

Use artfully arranged cut metal leaves to hold a stone
in place and hang from a cast twig bail
By Lexi Erickson
Autumn Setting
Y
ES, I BROKE my own rule. I
always tell my students at the
beginning of the semester
to learn each of the rules of jewelry
making so they will know how to
break them properly later. However,
this time, I just totally ignored my #1
design rule: design the whole piece,
front and back, and think out any
construction problems which may
arise. I was so excited about using
leaves as prongs, and designing the
1 2
back, that I completely forgot about
the bail! There are not many steps of the piece to the front and hold the is usually cut fairly thick in order
in this project, but having to figure stone in place. I used this shape to to show the suture pattern well,
out that bail at the last minute still replicate the leaf-like shapes in the this stone goes from thinner to
presented a challenge. Yep, I still stone. Repetition is a good design very thick (8mm), and I was using
make boo-boos, and still have to principle, but you could also use a 2x5 mm flat wire for the bezel.
come up with solutions on the fly. different shaped leaves. The stone’s sides show a bit, but
Glue the pattern onto your 20 fortunately, they have a nice finish.
LEAVES AND PRONGS gauge metal and saw or punch out One thing that came to my mind was
1 Choose a leaf pattern you like.

The shape doesn’t have to be as
difficult to cut out as these leaves,
10-12 leaf shapes in sterling and cop-
per, brass, too, if you’re so inclined.
This will give a variety of colors. File
that this stone could have broken
during cutting, and this shape may
have been a unique way to save a
but it does need some substance as needed. Sweat solder medium stone. It was a design challenge, I’ll
and size to fold over from the back solder onto the back of each leaf. admit that.
Pickle, rinse, and set aside.
2 OPENING PHOTO: JIM LAWSON; PROCESS PHOTOS: LEXI ERICKSON

Tip: On the leaves that will help hold Place the cut-out back plate
Design the back the stone, think about where to place face down on the fire brick and
arrange the leaves in a pleasing pat-
plate to look best the solder. It should be only on the
part of the leaf that will be soldered to tern, fluxing as each leaf is placed
with your stone. the back plate. Melted solder on the in its correct spot. Overlapping
This shape is a bit entire back of the leaf will make push-
ing the leaf over too difficult to get it
some of the leaves makes them
look more like they’ve just fallen
difficult to design to hold the stone securely. that way, and makes the back plate
around, but that’s more interesting. Remember to have
BACK PLATE enough leaves hanging off the edge
my stone, cut from a Design the back plate to look best to hold the stone successfully. Flux,
fossilized ammonite with your stone. This shape is a then walk away to allow the flux to
bit difficult to design around, but dry. This will stop most movement
with its distinctive that’s my stone, cut from a fossilized of the leaves when soldering. When
suture lines visible. ammonite with its distinctive suture the flux is all dry, solder, pickle, and
lines visible. Though this material rinse. Set aside.

Jewelry Project
What You Need

SKILLS
Soldering
Basic Metalwork
TIME IT TOOK
About two hours
MATERIALS
• 22-gauge sterling, 22-gauge copper for
leaves
• 20-gauge sterling for back plate
• 2x5mm flat wire
• 1 sterling cast twig
• Medium wire solder rolled through the
mill on the tightest setting
• Glue stick or rubber cement
• 1 ammonite suture stone
TOOLS
Forming: Jeweler’s saw, #2/0 and #4/0 saw
blades, hydraulic press (optional), leaf dies
(optional), leaf patterns, #2 and #4 6-inch hand
files, needle files, 2 pairs of flat nose pliers,
Wubbers medium bail making pliers, Fretz
sharp hammer #412
Soldering: Torch, flux, pickle, charcoal block,
T-pins. firebrick, copper scrap wire, pickle pot,
solder pick
Finishing: 15 and 9 micron 3M finishing film,
½-inchx6-inch round wooden dowel, Dremel
or flex shaft, 1 treated 1-inch muslin buff on a
mandrel, 1 untreated 1-inch muslin buff on a
mandrel, large polishing set up (optional), 2
6-inch wheels for tripoli and rouge (optional),
brown tripoli, red rouge, Dawn detergent,
ammonia, old soft toothbrush
SOURCES
Sterling, copper and flat wire are available from
Santa Fe Jeweler’’s Supply (www.sfjs.net),
Leaf dies: Dar Shelton’s Pancake Die Paradise
on FaceBook. Most of the tools and materials
for this project are available from well-stocked
jewelry supply vendors, many of whom can be
found in our Advertisers’ Index, page 95.
Jewelry Project AU TUM N SET TI NG
Overlapping some of the leaves

makes them look more like
they’ve just fallen that way,
and makes the back plate
more interesting. Remember
to have enough leaves hanging
off the edge to hold the stone
successfully.
3
BEZEL And then, voilá! I suddenly found
Next, anneal the 2x5mm flat wire a sterling silver cast branch from a
because it’s tough to bend. If you project I made three years ago. With a
still have trouble bending it, try bit of finagling (an important jewelry
cutting and filing a notch ¾ way term), I cut the casting in half, filed the
through, which helps tremen- ends, annealed my half (bending cast
dously. Snug the wire to fit up metal is difficult), and bent it with the
Suture Lines against the stone on one side. This bail making pliers. Next, some filing
Ammonites were aquatic cephalopods will need to be a secure fit, so bend to make sure the cast twig was fitting
(rather like coiled-shelled squid) that the wire with two pairs of flat nose flush onto the top of the flat wire —
thrived in past geologic times. As they pliers to avoid warping it, making because solder won’t fill gaps!
grew, they added larger and larger cham- it either uneven when it sits on the
bers in which to live. The visible walls of
these chambers are called suture lines, and
back plate or on the sides.
4 After more finagling, and with
the help of T-pins and a coiled
are distinctive from one species to another.
Well-preserved fossil ammonites may show 3 Place the flat wire onto the back
plate and solder using easy
solder. Pickle and rinse. Check for
piece of copper wire, I was able to
solder the bail onto the piece. (No, I
don’t even allow a third hand in my
these lines in a striking pattern.
gaps in the solder and make sure all studio.)
the leaves have stayed secure.
FINISH, SET, HANG
BAIL WITH A TWIG
Here was where I made my big
mistake. I always think how the
5 Prepare the back of the piece
for finishing by cutting any
protruding leaves so they won’t
bail will interact with the piece in catch on the buffing wheels or hurt
terms of engineering and design anyone. (Lexi’s #1 Rule of Jewelry: It
well before now, but not this time. shouldn’t be painful.)
I don’t know what I was thinking. File with a #4 file for a consistent
You can’t successfully solder my smoothness along the side. If you are
usual trademark question mark comfortable and familiar with using a
bail on a surface this uneven. So large polishing setup, that is preferred
I spent a few hours staring at my for the back of this piece. Polish with
Placenticeras species ammonite fossil from
bench pin, which is my way of tripoli and then rinse with warm water,
the Pierre Shale; Placenticeras are known thinking through design problems, Dawn detergent, and ammonia.
for their incredibly convoluted suture lines and then spent an afternoon rum- Buff to a high shine with red rouge.
and often beautiful preservation.
SPECIMEN COURTESY OF maging around boxes, drawers, The red rouge will also bring out red-
AND PHOTO BY TERRI HAAG
toolboxes, etc. dish tones in the copper and, if you’ve

See More Work
THEIR TURN, PAGE 8
4 Solder
used any, brass. Clean as before with
with Lexi
the Dawn and ammonia mixture. You
may also finish with sandpaper or
by using a Dremel and flex shaft if a
full-size buffer isn’t available. Making
Using the Fretz sharp hammer, Soldered
hammer all along the edge of the flat Jewelry
wire. This will burnish the top and add (special
a finishing bit of gleam. Set the stone publication)
tightly against the flat wire, and using
your fingers, push the bezel leaves
over the stone. Finish by using the
wooden dowel and push the leaves
down as far as possible. Using a dowel
How to Solder
will work like a metal bezel pusher,
Jewelry
but unlike a metal pusher, the wooden
(videos)
dowel will keep you from scratching
the leaves or stone deeply if it should
slip. Finish by sanding with the 9
micron finishing film. Check for sharp
5
Using a dowel will edges where the leaves bend over the
stone that would snag clothing. If you
work like a metal www.interweave.com/jewelry
find any, do a bit of sanding with the
bezel pusher, but 15 micron, then 9 micron finishing film
to eliminate them.
unlike a metal pusher, LEXI ERICKSON is a Contributing Editor to
Because none of my millions of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist and Jewelry Making
the wooden dowel beads looked even remotely compat- Daily. The multiple award-winning jeweler has a
Master’s Degree in Jewelry Fabrication and Design
will keep you from ible with the stone, I decided instead
and has taught high school through university level
to use a soldered chain I’d made as jewelry and metalsmithing for 35 years. Lexi lives in
scratching the leaves a practice project for soldering. This Highlands Ranch, Colorado, with her family and two
obnoxious and loving Bichons, and teaches a limited
or stone deeply if it added a unique and lighthearted
amount of private lessons in her studio so the
touch for a fun autumn look. Have fun puppies can continue the style of living with which
should slip. making and wearing this unique stone they have become accustomed. She can be reached
with your autumn wardrobe. at www.lexierickson.com.
Dash of
Creepy Fun
Jewelry artist Roger Halas loves sci fi, fantasy,
and beauty By Terri Haag
W
eird jewelry is not new.
I first ran into Roger
in 1995 when he and
others were already
featuring work with dark creatures
most people would rather hit with a
shoe than wear. These days, if you’ve
opened more than three Lapidary
Journal Jewelry Artist magazines in
the last six years, you’ve probably
run across Roger Halas’s words and
works. He’s pretty memorable, what
with his Alien-esque motifs and H.R.
Giger-influenced designs, scorpions,
spiders, exobiological entities, etc.
Roger not only pushes our “creep”
buttons, but seriously messes with our
notion of what constitutes jewelry. He
takes the universal push/pull of fas-
cination vs. repulsion and sticks it in
your face. Literally. Halas is the creator
of the face-hugger brooch, which, in
case you have been marooned on a
technologically backward planet for
centuries, is the crab-like, long-tailed
creature with a bad attitude that burst
out of a giant egg in the 1979 movie
PHOTOS: JIM LAWSON, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
Alien. (Scene: Intergalactic commer-

cial towing vehicle Nostromo’s execu-
tive officer, Thomas Kane, pokes ner-
vously around huge eggs in a cave on
LV-426, only to find his head encased
in a face-hugging zeno-beastie. What
follows is one of sci-fi’s most terrifying
and iconic moments.)
A brass and copper face mask made — and

modeled — by Roger Halas.
PHOTO: COURTESY ROGER HALAS

design
Stingray Pendant
Mokumé gané, sterling silver, garnets
“My biggest fear is obscurity, having my
artwork lost to time and space. I want my
work to inspire future generations, and to
remind them that it’s okay to be creepy.”
“So, Roger,” I start out our inter- my mother is also an artist, I sup-
view. “What with scorpions and expose there was a genetic link to my
traterrestrials and skulls, etc., clearly creative process, which ultimately
you are still a denizen of the Dark led my journey into wearable art.
Side. I love it, but have to ask: where Because that’s what jewelry is: wear-
is all the woowoo coming from?” able art. At least, to me it is.
“I’m drawn to strange themes be-
cause of my fascination with science LJJA: What other jobs have you held
fiction and fantasy, where the only over the years?
Mystical Moonstone Ring
creative limits are those posed by Sterling silver, moonstone
the human imagination,” says Halas. RH: I’ve always been a bit of an
“People were horrified by Alien, yet entrepreneur, selling crystals and the crap out of everyone ever after.
even as a child I was inspired by the fossils in the past. I also work in the Mr. Giger died in 2014 and the world
overall concept, production design, film business as a specialty costume lost a great visionary, but at least
and of course, the creature.” designer. if we run into big eggs in caves on
faraway planets someday, we’ll know
Legos, Genes, Films, LJJA: Speaking of films, one of your to keep a flame-thrower handy.
and Rocks heroes is clearly H.R. Giger, the bril- So who’s your new idol if you have
LJJA: How did you get your start in liant Swiss painter and set designer one?
jewelry making in the first place? of the Alien movies, and no wonder.
His designs and biomechanical con- RH: One of my idols is James Wan.
RH: Actually, I got my start with cepts influenced almost every sci-fi The first big film I worked on, Aqua-
Legos. Yes, the kids’ toys. And since movie and TV show since and scared man, was brought to life through his
Dash of Creepy Fun
n
Is Anyone Out There? Alien Pendant

Onyx, sterling silver
Citron Chimera Cuff

Argentium sterling silver, fine
silver, citron, peridot, onyx
artistic lens. I also admire Jon Fa- LJJA: Where did you grow up and
vreau, who has made an incredible go to school? Oh, wait . . . you were
transition from actor to filmmaker, a young, unnamed passenger on the
and I’m especially happy with what Nostromo who somehow survived,
he’s done for the Star Wars universe right?
through the Mandalorian character.
A space age gunslinger? What’s not RH: Nope. I grew up in the San Fer-
to love? In fact, I think I’d make a for- nando Valley, in Canoga Park.
midable intergalactic bounty hunter.
Dark Yet Elegant
LJJA: Me, too. I mean I think you’d LJJA: You must get some odd looks
make a great intergalactic bounty at trade shows. What do others
hunter and I also think I’d make a make of your style and design pen-
great intergalactic bounty hunter. chants?
Maybe we can team up? Until then, I
know you sell online within this solar RH: Most people tend to appreci-
system, but . . . ate my work, because even when
Do you have a Terran storefront, I go dark, I also go elegant. Sleek
too? lines, color-coordination, symme-
try — I like pretty things. Think of
RH: I prefer to sell online because a wasp, and you see a streamlined
there’s virtually no overhead cost. predator. An organic machine. Yet
And social media provides a great there’s also an underlying beauty
Alien vs Predator Ear Cuff
Sterling silver
advertising platform. to it. And when it comes to design,
I prefer symmetry over chaos. I like
beautiful things, even when they
“As far as villains go, I absolutely can kill you.
loved Cate Blanchett as Hela in LJJA: We clearly have different no-

Thor: Ragnarok. She was the perfect tions of what constitutes “pretty,”
but I love the wasp analogy, and I
combination of menace and swagger, think bugs are incredibly beautiful.
with a sprinkle of dark humor.” I’ve even had scorpions and taran-
tulas as beloved pets, but even so,

“I like beautiful
things, even
when they can
kill you.”
I’m not sure I want to wear one on

my nice, white lace blouse.
Do women really buy these?
RH: There is always a market for the

macabre. In fact, there are many
people who favor Halloween over
Christmas, so anything with a dark,
Gothic, or even horrifying theme will
appeal to this demographic.
LJJA: Speaking of tarantulas, I once

reanimated a dead one. Not kidding.
It was at the bottom of the Jacuzzi,
but not wanting to waste such a
lovely thing, I put it in a glass box
and poured salt over it, because I
knew you could reanimate drowned
flies that way. When I came back
a few hours later it was wandering
around the glass box, very much
animate. After stumbling around Archer’s Thumb Ring
Black jade, sterling silver,
shaking my fists and yelling, “It’s garnets, sapphires
ALIVE! I tell you, it’s ALIVE,” I let it
go, but it probably needed intensive
psychotherapy and boy, I’ll bet it had
some doozie nightmares. My own
favorite nightmare is there’s a knock
on the door and it’s the police! And
they want to go look in my hall
closet! Sure, I say, I have nothing to
hide! Then I remember that actually I
do have something to hide! There’s a
decapitated head under the bicycle
helmets and old badminton rac-
quets! Oh, noooooooo.
How about you? Any really great
nightmares to report?
RH: Believe it or not, I don’t have

nightmares. Maybe it’s because I’m
desensitized to the macabre, so it
doesn’t really bother me. My biggest
fear is obscurity, having my artwork
lost to time and space. I want my
work to inspire future generations,
and to remind them that it’s okay to Gunslinger Belt Buckle
be creepy. Sterling silver, copper
Dash of Creepy Fun
Phoenix Barrette
Sterling silver, brass, garnets
LJJA: How do you arrive at a design, Bench, Business,

dark or otherwise, and develop it? and Borgs
LJJA: Are you still bench-making
RH: When I’m designing for myself, everything or have you moved into
I usually do everything in my head. commercial production, too?
When I’m working on a film, I’m
taking direction from the costume RH: I make everything myself.
designer. It all starts with a concept
piece, which can be rendered on LJJA: Do you have monsters under
computer or sketched on paper. every bed or is it a peaceful, non- A silver belt buckle Halas created for Dwayne
Johnson in Jumanji.
Then, I make it. scary haven? So the question is . . . PHOTO: COURTESY ROGER HALAS
What’s your house like?
for a piece that took days to make.
See More Work RH: Believe it or not, my house is

fairly tame. Having been in the min-
Without asking for personal financial
information . . .
eral and fossil business for decades, I Does Hollywood pay better than,
have some favorites that I’ve kept as say, Starbucks?
decorator pieces. And I’m particu-
larly fond of crystals and the whole RH: Depending on who you’re
idea of them having metaphysical working for, the pay can vary from
properties. So, when my work goes chicken scratch to enough to put
dark, I’m not actually turning to a down payment on a new car. I’ve
the Dark Side. It’s just my creative had the fortunate experience of
expression, typically with a dash of working on some very big projects,
creepy fun. like Aquaman and Jumanji, and now
I’m working on Phase 4 of the Marvel
LJJA: I was once commissioned Cinematic Universe.
to make some props for the TV
series King Solomon’s Mines and LJJA: So, non-jewelry question. It
THEIR TURN, PAGE 8
was shocked by how little they paid looks fun to be a Star Trek Borg,

what with the enhanced eyeballs frighten rather than allure, it makes
find the artist
and super-strength and no beer bel- me look twice. And it gets me WWW.ETSY.COM/SHOP/
lies and all, but do you have any idea thinking “Wouldn’t that make a cool RHALASCREATIONS
why they are so easy to beat up? monster?”
Heck, even a small woman like me
could apparently incapacitate a Borg LJJA: I always loved Alice Krige’s
with a firm backhand. Borg queen from Star Trek: First Con- Roger’s Ring
What’s up with that? tact. So seductively, sensually evil.
I want an Alice Krige brooch.
RH: Borgs do seem rather weak What’s your all-time favorite sci-fi
considering their enhancements, so movie or character?
I’d attribute that to biological decay.
Think about it: Borgs assimilate, but RH: It’s difficult for me to pick a
they don’t eat, meaning their organic favorite sci-fi film, but obviously
systems should wither away without Alien is right up there. I like the
proper nourishment, like zombies. fantasy elements of Star Wars,
and the exo-political themes in
LJJA: It must be hard to pull new Star Trek. Yet as far as villains go,
creepy images and concepts out of I absolutely loved Cate Blanchett
our Jungian id-muck. What next? as Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. She was
the perfect combination of menace SEAHORSE SUMMONS
RH: We all know that monsters come and swagger, with a sprinkle of PAGE 62
in many visual forms. There is always dark humor.
the ugly variety like The Thing or
the mutated grizzly bear in Proph- LJJA: So besides face-huggers,
ecy. Then, you have the cryptid like what’s the strangest jewelry item
Megalodon or Sasquatch. But my you’ve ever been asked to make? “Jewelry on
personal favorites are, of course,
the infamous Alien xenomorph and RH: Once I made a wearable urn for
the Dark Side”
cloned dinosaurs. a friend, for her fur buddy who had
People are attracted to things that passed away. in Lapidary
are unsettling for the same reasons Journal
they ride roller coasters. That’s why LJJA: [Long pause.] . . . Okay, that’s Jewelry Artist,
a good horror film can be a box definitely weird, even for you, Roger. September/
office success. So, when you see October 2015
a piece of jewelry that is meant to RH: Yup. [Big grin.] Yup.
Sterling Space Cuff

Sterling silver, star www.interweave.com/jewelry
diopside
30+ Projects
Jewelry
Making with
Roger Halas
www.interweave.com/product-
category/jewelry/featured-artists-
TERRI HAAG is a freelance writer based in Tucson, Arizona. She has been a frequent jewelry/roger-halas
contributor to this magazine since the 1990s.
A ring that calls forth the power of Atlantis By Roger Halas
Seahorse
Summons
OPENING PHOTO: JIM LAWSON; PROCESS PHOTOS: ROGER HALAS

1 2 3
T
HE OCEANS have always had IMAGE SET AT DEPTH it, you can cut yours out as well and
an impact on my work as an
artist. The colors, the shapes,
even the dangers therein; it’s a world
1 This ring is all about the seahorse.
How you create that seahorse is
a matter of choice. Since I carve my
give it the same treatment. Again,
this creates depth, which I believe
makes for a stronger look.
like no other. So of course, when I own stamps from tool steel, that’s Remember, this is Atlantean, and
was hired to work on DC’s Aquaman, my preferred method. But it can just Atlanteans are no slouches. At least,
I could not have been happier. as easily be engraved, etched, or not in the recent film version where
Designing for an iconic superhero made via chasing and repoussé. Use they settled their differences in the
was a dream come true, so I will pass 18-gauge sterling to create the image. arena and where fraternizing with
that experience on to other metal- humans was punishable by death.
smiths through this marine-related
project. 2 Oblong seems a fitting shape
for a seahorse. So create a bezel SHANK
I’ve always been fascinated by
seahorses. Noble little beasts they
are, with such poise and elegance.
with 18-gauge sterling sheet, how-
ever tall you want it. I made it taller
to give it depth.
4 Time for the ring shank.
Meaning, time for the 14-gauge
sterling to come out. Use masking
It’s no surprise we find them on tape to determine the size and cut it
everything from canvases, city murals,
Steampunk machinations, and yes, 3 Since my seahorse was stamped,
I cut it out and soldered it onto a
whatever width you like.
even jewelry. So prepare yourself for

an adventure, gather your tools, and
get ready to create a ring fit for an
base plate. Then I soldered the bezel
around it. This is not a difficult pro-
cess, and the look is very rewarding.
5 Forge the shank around a ring
mandrel. Then, file a notch into
both ends of the shank. With pliers,
Atlantean. If you etch the seahorse, or engrave bend these ends outward.

Jewelry Project
What
You Need
SKILLS
Intermediate metal
fabrication
TIME IT TOOK
3 hours
MATERIALS
• 18-gauge sterling sheet
• 14-gauge sterling sheet
TOOLS
Torch setup, jeweler’s saw,
files, ring mandrel, pliers,
hammer
SOURCES
Most of the tools and
materials for this project are
available from well-stocked
jewelry supply vendors, many
of whom can be found in our
Advertisers’ Index, page 95.
4 5
Jewelry Project SE AH ORSE SU M MO NS
Q&A with Roger
DASH OF CREEPY FUN 6 7

PAGE 56
Since my seahorse was stamped, I cut it out

and soldered it onto a base plate. Then
Stamping Basics I soldered the bezel around it. If you etch the
seahorse, or engrave it, you can cut yours
out as well and give it the same treatment.
Again, this creates depth, which I believe
makes for a stronger look.
6 This is how the shank should look.

Because the tops have been bent
outward, you can see how this com-
ponent will fit inside the bezel. Notice
how they aren’t exactly parallel.
Rather, the compression from forging
COOL TOOLS & HIP TIPS has made the piece springy. This is
PAGE 14 good, because it creates enough
tension to secure the piece without
the need for soldering clamps.
30+ Projects
7 Solder the shank to the bezel.
PERSONAL EXPRESSION
8 Almost done. Of course, I cut

notches across the bezel to
make it look somewhat mechanical. the written word, or jewelry design.
8
Aquaman’s director, James Wan, is And this ring brings you one step
a big fan of Steampunk. Remember closer to that amazing world where
the hologram scene, where the superheroes, magic, and even mon-
device was activated by a bead of sters become reality.
sweat? Yes, we Steampunk enthusi-
Jewelry Making with Roger Halas asts were very happy with that. So,
for this project I went for it. ROGER HALAS is a stone cutter, metalsmith and
www.interweave.com/product- After all, art is about personal jewelry designer who specializes in science fiction
category/jewelry/featured- and fantasy themes. He also works in the film indus-
expression. It’s about living out our
artists-jewelry/roger-halas try as a costume designer and prop maker. He can
fantasies through whatever medium be reached through Instagram at rhalascreations, or
we choose, be it sculpture, watercolor, through Facebook.

IN TO N EW
JEWELRY-MAKING
TECHNIQUES
It really is astonishing. You can take
an object as light and delicate as a
feather and create a perfect impression
of it in metal simply by passing them
together through a rolling mill. While you
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hear “rolling mill,” this magical piece
of equipment has other uses, too. In
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artists also use a mill to prepare solder
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metal for use.
If you don’t have access to a rolling mill

(yet), take heart. You can enhance your
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basic hand tools, too — you just have the
pleasure of doing it for a longer time!
10 TEX
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In the right light, the cabochon in this necklace really
shines By Betsy Lehndorff
Yooper Magic
I
N THE NIGHTTIME DARKNESS
of my studio, I shine a special
flashlight across drawers of
cabochons and beads, hunting
for anything that glows in its
purple beam. My goal is to dress
up a Yooperlite pendant so that it
looks good in all kinds of lights. By
itself, Yooperlite — as in Michigan’s
Upper Peninsula, where it was first
found — is a dark gray stone with
a smattering of white specs and 1 2
orange smudges across its surface.
Even a couple jots of silver. But not
a lot of “wow.” So, I’ll add some vivid
blue lapis, red rubies, and black-and-
white striped beads, then toss in a
special effect or two. Once worn,
all I have to do is add a splash of
black light to turn my necklace into a
handy conversation starter at parties
in dark restaurants.
DESIGN
3
1 I do an informal layout of stones
and beads that I have. For this
OPENING PHOTO: JIM LAWSON; PROCESS PHOTOS: BETSY LEHNDORFF

project, I decide I’ll need three bezel the scribed line. Pierce out each
cups. I want them all to have the backing plate about 1mm outside
4
same height, so I will be using 4mm your scribed line. the back plate of the lapis setting,
fine silver bezel wire. Tip: I used a really fine tungsten then use acetone and a wipe to
scribe and cut exactly on the line remove all ink from your metal.
BEZEL CUPS only to find later that my bezel cups
2 To make the backing plates, I use

a giant Sharpie Pro to cover a
were almost too tight. Give yourself
a little wider margin outside the line, AN EASIER
section of sterling silver sheet with
black ink. Then I use a scribe to draw
especially if your sawing skills are
wobbly.
WAY
the outline of each cabochon onto If you are using round
the metal. This creates a line that is
easy to follow with my saw. 4 Even if your stones are sym-
metrical, take a moment to
match your backing plates to your
calibrated stones (cut to
standardized sizes) you can buy
ready-made deep sterling silver
bezel cups from a well-stocked
3 Place the sheet on your bench
pin and cut out each backing
plate with a jeweler’s saw, following
stones. Scribe or draw up arrows to
indicate “north” on the metal and
the back of the stones. Hallmark
jewelry supply company.

Jewelry Project
In most lighting, the central
Yooperlite gem appears subdued
(left), but under longwave ultraviolet
(opposite page), it really glows! The
stone also glows, but weakly, under
shortwave UV light.
What You Need 5 Working with the rectangular

stone at the top of this design,
cut one end of a strip of 4mm bezel
SKILLS TIME IT TOOK wire flush and file, making sure your
Soldering 8 hours cut is perpendicular to the length. To
Stone setting
estimate how much wire you need,
Beading
measure the sides of the plate and add
about a quarter inch. For this plate,
MATERIALS
I need a strip 5 inches long. Starting
• Yooperlite™ cabochon silver jump ring made
• Lapis cabochon of 12 ga. wire
at the middle of the bottom edge, I
• 12mm moonstone • Four 4mm I.D. fit the strip around the backing plate,
• 22-gauge sterling
silver sheet
jump rings made of
16-gauge wire
bending the wire at each corner with a
pair of parallel pliers. Once all the way
• 18" of 28-gauge 4mm • Hard solder • Medium SoftFlex around, mark the trim with a fine point
fine silver bezel wire • Medium solder cable for beading
• Beads Sharpie, trim and file the second end
• 2" 2.55mm O.D.
sterling silver tubing
• 2-part, glow-in-the-
dark paint for watch • Crimps flush, making sure there is no gap and
• 9mm I.D. sterling dials • Clasp the bezel fits closely. Repeat with the
two other stones.
TOOLS
Safety: Ventilation, eye
protection, magnification
Design: UV longwave
handpiece or rotary
Dremel tool, salon-style
sanding sticks in a variety
absorbent cloth
Finishing: Bench polisher
or rotary tool with
6 Fit your torch with a #00 tip. On a
piece of Solderite board, flux each
bezel with Prips, and join with a snip of
flashlight, natural or of grits; ¾" Moore’s clean muslin buff and hard solder. Quench, pickle, and rinse.
manmade components sanding disks in Fine, X Fabuluster polishing
that glow in black light Fine and XX Fine grits, compound for high shine
Hand: Sharpie Pro
Permanent Marker with
chisel tip, bench pin,
1000-grit sandpaper,
jeweler’s chain nose pliers
Soldering: Respirator
or a crimped brass brush
for burnished finish; hot,
soapy water and tooth
7 Fit each bezel onto its back plate.
Make sure the bezel seam is in
the middle of the bottom edge of the
sharp scribe, jeweler’s or soldering ventilation brush, blue painter’s tape rectangular and the square settings.
saw with 4/0 blades system, 6"x 6" Solderite Stone Setting: dental
and lubricant, ring file, soldering board; soldering floss, 2-part epoxy, These seams will later be hidden by
acetone, wipes, bench pick, fine tweezers, mixing cup, microfine jump rings. Add stone to check fit.
block, hallmarking air/acetylene Smith brush, plastic credit card,
stamps and chasing Silversmith torch with #0 burnishing tool, acetone
hammer, flush cutters,
straight edge, fine point
and #00 tips and tank of
fuel, Prips flux in spray
and swabs for clean up
Beading: Bead board,
8 Turn on ventilation or put on
respirator. Flux front and back of
each bezel cup with Prips in a small
black Sharpie, parallel bottle, quench, pickle pot cutters, crimping tool
pliers, flexible shaft and and copper tongs, soft spray bottle, heating and spraying
three to four times until you’ve built
SOURCES up a snowy white coat. Position snips
Most tools and materials can be found in our paints for watch dials. of hard solder inside each cup, and
for this project are Advertisers’ Index, page Look for Yooperlite at heat with a #0 Smith torch tip until
available from well- 95. Esslingers.com and https://www.yooper- solder flows. Quench, pickle, rinse,
stocked jewelry supply Otto Frei carry long lites.com/ or google for
and dry with soft cloth. Repeat if you
vendors, many of whom lasting glow-in-the-dark online sellers.
have gaps.

Jewelry Project YOO PER MAG I C
5 6
7 8 9
9 Use the ring file to smooth the

back of each bezel cup and the
bezel wire seams. Remove file marks
with a nail salon sanding stick.
10 If you are having trouble

cleaning up the bezel seams,
mount a fine grit Moore’s disk on a
Dremel tool. The flexible sandpaper
makes quick work smoothing away
excess solder. 10 11
11 Recheck the fit of your stones
in your bezel cups by draping a
length of dental floss across the cup
then pressing your stone in. If it gets
13 Set up the first two bezel
cups, the tubing and the
large jump ring on your Solderite
stuck, you can use the floss to tug the board. I’ve drawn guide lines with a
stone out. Don’t force the stones into straight edge and black Sharpie on
the cups; you could break them. If you the sheet silver to make placement
need to make adjustments, try sanding more precise. Flux well with Prips.
the edges of your stones vigorously Tuck snips of medium solder on the 12
with a sanding stick, then check fit “north” side of the tubing. This way,
again. (I know. I check fit a lot.) you’ll be able to clean up the excess
solder later with Moore’s disks. Add
LINKING UP THE CUPS jump ring to connect the two bezel
12 At your bench pin, use your

ring file to flatten one side of
your tubing so it will adhere well to
cups together, and position snips of
solder to the top and bottom of this
circle. Heat with torch until joined.
the back plate. It will become the Quench, pickle, rinse, and pat dry
bail when strung with beads onto with a cloth. Check these joins to
SoftFlex. make sure they are well attached. 13
Jewelry Project YOO PER MAG IC
Yooperlite™ — rock that’s a

glowing success story
Sally, Cheri and I giggle in the dark as we stuff ourselves into a friend’s small bathroom In January 2019, Rintamaki was able
stumble along the rocky shores of Hubbard with the lights out and I notice something. to quit his day job and go into rock deal-
Lake, Michigan, where we live. Eons ago, The dull gray stone from the quarry continues ing full time, developing an international
glaciers inched across this area and we are to glow for three seconds after exposure to reputation, especially in Japan. He’s
hoping they dragged some Yooperlite all my black light. Turns out it’s mildly phos- even bought a new Subaru and is on his
the way from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. phorescent, like the dial of an old-fashioned way to making his first million, he says.
Using a single black UV flashlight, we hope wristwatch. Working with craftspeople and
to excite this stone’s electrons and cause it to other vendors, Rintamaki sells
reveal itself with a fiery glow. A NEW FIND Yooperlite beads, cabochons, night
However, on this cold night, we have The recent discovery of Yooperlite in sky photographs and UV flashlights on
no luck, although we aren’t completely Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, or U.P., as it’s his website, and gets anywhere from
disappointed. We do come across a bunch often called, is drawing new attention to $1 to $600 a pound depending on the
of sandy pink rocks that seem to glow like rocks that fluoresce. In 2017, casino worker fluorescence of the stone. He himself
lava, even under water. As a backup, we jump Erik Rintamaki discovered it on the shores of cuts yooperlite spheres and leads night-
in the truck and drive to the Alcona County Lake Superior one dark night in April. time rock hunting tours, unless he’s on
Road Commission gravel pit 20 minutes Originally, Rintamaki was combing the the road selling at gem shows.
away, watching out for deer. There, we have beaches with a black light in hopes of finding According to reports, Yooperlite
official permission to search for Yooperlite. more Lake Superior agate, which he sells originated from an outcrop in Ontario,
There’s more nervous laughter as we hike as a rock dealer. After four fruitless nights, Canada, called the Coldwell Alkaline
in darkness about a quarter mile. (Sally is however, he spotted something else -- three Complex, and was brought down and
afraid we will come across a bear, so we make stones that looked as if they were on fire tumbled into smooth pebbles and
a lot of noise.) Finally, surrounded by piles when his black light hit them. Although the cobbles by glacier and wave action.
of culled gravel, we shine our single beam rocks were bland looking in regular light, Rintamaki says the stone has a Mohs
around, seeing only glowing white blotches he’d never seen this reaction before and hardness of 5, but to me it seems harder
on non-descript gray stones. For the heck of knew he’d found something special. But he to cut than that. However, it does polish
it, I put one of them in my pocket. Later, we didn’t know what. So, he raced to his home in up beautifully, like granite.
Brimley, Michigan, to do an Internet search. “It’s consistent,” Rintamaki says.
To his surprise, he came up empty-handed. “You don’t get a lot of fractures. It’s
See More Work Rintamaki then contacted friend Gabe kind of a lapidary dream. If you drop
Reyna in California. After some study, Reyna them on the floor, they don’t shatter in
determined the rocks contained a syenite- 50 pieces.”
rich fluorescent sodalite, which is clear, not Although Rintamaki has been leading
blue. And it hadn’t been found in Michigan Yooperlite hunts in the summer, you
before. don’t have to go to Michigan’s far, far
Rintamaki got his find published in a May north to find your own. That’s why Sally,
2018 article in Mineral News as a new discov- Cheri, and I are out one cold winter
ery, which gave him naming rights. He called night stumbling over rocks in the dark
the stone Yooperlite and, in a flash of genius, in Alcona County, which is hundreds of
trademarked the word. No one can use the miles to the south of the main source.
term Yooperlite to sell the stone unless they “You can find it in Michigan,
have his official permission. Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota,
“There are a lot of hoops, and trademarking Pennsylvania, and Ohio, Lake Superior,
is very expensive,” Rintamaki says. “You have Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, in farm
to prove you were the first person to use that fields, driveways, gravel pits,” Rintamaki
word ever and use that word for a rock.” says.
Since he has a reputation for enforcing It just takes a good quality UV
his trademark, his discovery has proven to flashlight, patience, luck, and a couple
THEIR TURN, PAGE 8 be gold. of friends for company.

SPECIAL EFFECTS
16 I mix equal parts of luminous

watch dial powder and adhe-
sive together and fill the polished
round bezel cup half full. This paint
develops a matte finish once dried
overnight. When I am ready to set
the moonstone, I add a little more
powder and adhesive to the cup so
14 15 it will cling to the back of the moon-
stone. Then I press the gem into
place. This waterproofs the setting.
17 I use a burnisher to tighten the

bezel. After another period of
drying, I give the jewel a light polish.
Tip: Fine jeweler Michael Nashef has
used glow-in-the-dark powders in some
of his experimental work and notes that
when mixed with epoxy the effect can
become streaky or darken over time.
After consulting with him, I decide to
track down the watch dial powder (non-
16 17 radioactive) and build up a thick coat in
the bottom of the bezel cup.
STONE SETTING
18 I cut a plastic card into two

rectangles the same size as the
lapis stone, which is a little thin. I use
epoxy and clamps to glue them onto
the back of the stone. Once cured,
I add more epoxy to the inside of
the bezel cup, press the stack in
place and tighten the bezel and
corners with a burnisher. I also set
the Yooperlite, which is thick enough
and doesn’t need backing.
18 19 Once everything is cured, I clean
14 The next step is to solder a

jump ring onto the bottom of
the setting and the top of the round
grit Moore’s disk to clean up
soldered areas. Scrub with a
toothbrush and hot soapy water
up the bezels with Moore’s disks and
give the sterling silver a final polish.
Then I use a jump ring to attach the
bezel cup. Since all of the bezel and repeat with X Fine and XX glow-in-the-dark moonstone to the
cups are the same height, use the Fine disks. You can burnish bottom of the Yooperlite.
edge of one bezel cup to support silver surfaces with a crimped
the jump ring for another bezel cup.
See placement in photo, which was
taken before fluxing.
brass brush. Or use Fabuluster
and a bench polishing machine
or clean buff on a rotary tool
19 I string black and white glass
beads and small rubies onto
medium sterling silver SoftFlex,
to shine up the silver. Scrub attach clasp and crimp.
CLEAN UP THE BACKS well with hot soapy water
15 Use a jeweler’s saw to trim

the excess tubing flush. The
blade can catch on the thin metal,
and a toothbrush to remove
compound, then dry. Cover
backs with painter’s blue tape to
BETSY LEHNDORFF, a Michigan silversmith, has
been freelancing for Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist
since 2010 and occasionally posts articles at https://
so use a light touch and rotate the protect from scratches during www.interweave.com/jewelry. Got questions? Betsy
setting if necessary. Then use a fine stone setting. can be reached at betsylehndorff@gmail.com.
Doublée:
Gold on Silver
A low-tech and inexpensive way to create the look of
pure gold and the strength of sterling silver
by Charles Lewton-Brain
G
old surfaces justify a higher
price point on a finished
piece, and when gold gets
expensive, goldsmiths get creative.
In 1979 I was working in Pforzheim,
in then West Germany, where I also
studied at the Fachhochschule für
Gestaltung with Klaus Ullrich. In the
1960s, he had done a lot of fusing
of 18, 22, and 24 karat golds in his
work. As the gold price rose at that
OPENING PHOTO: JIM LAWSON; ALL OTHER PHOTOS AND ALL JEWELRY: COURTESY CHARLES LEWTON-BRAIN
time, he began making doublée
material in order to retain the pure
gold color on his work and still keep
the work’s price down.
At his workshop I watched him fuse 1
a sheet of .3 mm 24K gold to a 1 mm
sheet of sterling silver. He used a large with no flux, just using the reduc- differentiate it from the commer-
propane/air blowtorch with the air ing atmosphere of the flame and cially produced sheet material.
supplied by a foot bellows. Then he charcoal. At the time the term was first pub-
rolled it out to the size he needed, Then, by engraving before rolling, I lished in English in the mid 1980s
controlling its shape by changing could determine the width of lines by (in Metalsmith and Lemel), there
directions during rolling. The final roll the direction in which they were rolled were no sources in North America
was done with writing paper, printing — stretching their thickness by rolling. for commercially made gold fused
the gold with a delicate texture to (or soldered) to sterling silver. There
break up the light reflecting from its
surface.
When I returned to Canada in
1 18K/sterling earrings, made from
punched discs that were engraved
and then rolled to form ovals.
are now. The currently available
commercial gold/silver sheet is sold
as “laminate” or “bimetal”; some
1981 and set up my own workshop, is soldered, some is fused. I know
I worked with this fusing technique
so as to have pure 24K color and the
strength of sterling without having
2 Pendant using doublée,
engraved through.
of 10K, 14K, 18K, and 22K material,
the latter made in small, artisanal
batches by Phil Baldwin, known for
to spend a fortune on inventory. As I HANDMADE AND his mokumé gané available through
had been shown, I began by using .3 COMMERCIAL Reactive Metals and Rio Grande.
mm gold sheet, 1 mm sterling, and flux Doublée is a German word of In the handmade approach
to fuse them with. As I understood French origin meaning rolled gold described here, a sheet of 24K gold
the process more, I lowered the gold or gold fill material. I use the term is fused onto a thick slug of sterling
thickness to .1 mm gold sheet and to describe the small-studio-made silver and rolled out. Other karats of
increased the silver to 1.5 to 2 mm gold-fill material described here to gold can be used.

Technique Demo
Round Moon and Figurative pins with

doublée by Charles Lewton-Brain
The commercially produced

material is normally used to look
like a gold object, at least from the
front. My approach is to treat the
laminate as a two-part mokumé,
cutting through the gold layer to
expose the silver underneath. The
surface is then rolled to reflatten it
and create patterns of silver on the
gold surface. I usually rollerprint
ordinary photocopy paper on
the patterned surface to unify its
texture. The design is then brought
out by using dilute potassium
sulfide (liver of sulfer), which makes
the exposed silver turn black and
shows the pattern against the
lustrous gold surface.
Handmade doublée has different
qualities than the manufactured
metal laminate. It is far less perfect,
its finished size is limited by one’s 2
Technique Demo DO UBLÉ E: GOLD ON SI LVER
workshop facilities, and it takes time to

make. There is lots of control over gold
layer thickness. I prefer 24K gold for
the color and ease of fusing. I can fuse
successfully with most torch systems,
including air/acetylene.
3 Brooch, 24K doublée, sterling silver,

aluminum, brass.
While 14 karat, 18 karat gold, and so on,
may be used for the homemade version,
24 karat gold is easiest to use. As its
melting point is so far above that of ster-
ling or fine silver, it does not easily alloy
with the silver but fuses to it instead.
4 Brooch, 24K gold doublée, sterling

silver, oxidized with LOS (liver of
sulfer).
PREPARATION
Here is a way to make doublée on a
small scale with limited equipment: a
charcoal block and a gassy torch flame.
3
5 24K gold chunk and a 3mm thick
sterling silver slug.
ROLL THE GOLD

Roll the 24k gold out to .1 mm thick-
ness. While rolling, anneal the gold
when it shows signs of curling, and
increase the pressure in small incre-
ments to avoid rippling the sheet. One
can roll it incredibly thin on a single
annealing but ripples and edge cracks
may result, therefore several annealings
may be needed.
6 Rolling the gold out after annealing.
7 The gold is rolled until the desired

thickness: here .1mm.
The silver used should be at least 1mm
thick (I use 3mm thick silver for this
procedure). Thicker metal will give a
greater final surface area of gold from
the same starting area. The fusing is also
more controllable with a smaller slug. I
usually end rolling the sheet at 0.5mm
thickness.
4
CUT
Cut the thick silver to the blank shape
for fusing. Rounded or oval shapes
are best for least stressful rolling, but
square and rectangular ones with
rounded edges work. Using shapes
without interior angles that are
greater than 180° is best. Called re-
entrant angles, these cause tearing
of the blank while rolling. I generally
keep the size of the piece being fused
5 6
under 5 cm to allow better control
over the reducing gassy atmosphere
when using a flame. The thicker the
slug, the larger the resulting piece
after rolling.
8 Place the silver blank (slug) on

the gold sheet and cut the gold
out around the silver with shears
or scissors, leaving about 1.5-2mm
of extra gold. This is to prevent any
silver alloy formed during fusing
from crawling over onto the top (the
front) surface of the gold sheet —
which is a nightmare to clean off.
7
9 This is a reasonable amount of

overlap on the gold foil.
Clean both gold and silver of oxides
and greases on their contact surfaces.
Pickling and alcohol work well.
FUSION
Fusion is done on a charcoal block,
which improves the reducing
atmosphere and provides a smooth
surface underneath.
8 9
10 Place the gold foil flat onto the
block with the silver slug on
top of it.
11 Use a vertical, very bushy,

gas-rich flame that envelops the
metal and charcoal. The gassy flame
prevents oxididation of the copper
in the sterling alloy, which otherwise
would prevent good fusion. Under
the flame, the charcoal block burns,
consuming oxygen and extending
your working time. 10 11
The temperature is slowly and

evenly raised until the sterling silver
nears its melting point. The moment
that fusing has taken place — when
you’ve observed that flash of liquid
silver alloy along the edges of the join
— stop heating.
12 The moment of fusion.
13 The slug after fusing.
After fusing, cut off excess gold

sheet and save it. File the slug’s
sides smooth and finally emery them
12 lengthwise, as any vertical indenta-
tions can foster cracks when rolling.
After filing and emerying, lightly bevel
the back edge with file and emery,
again to avoid cracking. Because of
the high temperatures used, the grain
structure is compromised.
14 Sanding the sides of the fused

slug.
CREATE PATTERNING
Mount the slug for engraving,
drilling, and so on through the
gold layer. Any piercing of the gold
layer will result in a pattern. A fine-
pointed center punch that pricks
the gold surface, for instance, will
produce dots of silver on the final
piece, which react to liver of sulfer
13 thus making black spots.
14 15 16
17 18 19
15 The gold layer cut through

with a graver, chisel, or burr.
16 The slug is ready for rolling

after cutting through the 24K
gold layer.
17 Rolling the cut gold.
18 The slug part-way through the

rolling process.
When rolling, increase the pressure
in small increments, and examine the
edges for cracks at every pass. If even
a tiny crack appears at the edge, then 20 21
that point should be filed back just
past the origin of the crack to prevent
it going further. Frequent annealing
slows down the cracking, as does
keeping the edge smooth.
19 Here is what a crack looks like

if you rolled too much without
annealing or removing trace cracks.
FINAL SURFACE
When it is the final thickness (I usu-
ally use .5 mm), the surface can be 22 23
printed with a texture such as cloth
or papers of different kinds using
the rolling mill. 22 Another option is to use
scattered silver filings fused
onto the gold surface for a speckled
may easily be burnished down
with a fingernail. If large areas
have not fused or large bubbles
20 Metal sheet rolled with paper

to texture the surface.
effect. (over 1mm) exist, they should
be pricked through, flattened,
21 Brooch, 24K gold doublée on

sterling heated so that relief is
23 If bubbles show on the gold
from reheating or further
soldering, as in this closeup, they
and fused again to the point
that silver alloy is noticed at the
prick mark.
formed.
24 25
See More Work
THEIR TURN, PAGE 8 26 27
References 24 The exposed silver in the

finished piece may now
be colored with a little liver of
27
across.
Brooch, 24K gold fused to
sterling silver, engraved, 5.5cm
This discussion about doublée sulfur diluted with ammonia.

(Charles Lewton-Brain ©2020) is To sum up: Using gold doublée lets you
derived from the author’s 2017 paper
to the Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry
Technology, “Gold Applications, Part
25 The final piece is now
raw material to make
jewelry from.
make pieces with gold on them at a more
affordable cost. It lets you get the pure,
lovely color of 24k gold on your work,
2: Doublée and Gold Painting.” The which lets you charge more. It gives
symposium’s published papers are
free to download at www.santafesym-
posium.org/papers.
26 Closeup of the final
surface.
you options for pattern as a two-part
mokume, and is fairly easy to do. Good
luck and have fun with this technique!
The term “doublée” first appeared
in English in the U.S. Metalsmith, 1985,
V.5, N.4 (Fall), pp. 38-40; and then in
CHARLES LEWTON-BRAIN is a master goldsmith who has studied and worked in Germany, Canada,
the Australian Lemel, “Doublée,” June and the U.S. He has taught jewelry making extensively, won numerous awards, published prodigiously in
1986, pp.3-4. the field, was instrumental in the development of the online jewelry making forum and information site
www.ganoksin.com, and developed the technique of foldforming metal. You can learn much more at www.
brainpress.com.

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www.interweave.com
Gold Plated
How the jewelry industry achieves the golden glow of
gold at lower cost
by Sharon Elaine Thompson
T
he cost of gold is astro-
nomical — but there is
nothing like that look. A
thin layer of gold on the
surface of a less expensive metal
makes a much more affordable
option for makers and customers.
There are quite a few techniques for
achieving this, some relatively low
tech, inexpensive, and safe.
This, however, is a detailed look at
electroplating, the process widely
used in the jewelry industry by expe-
rienced professionals. It is advanced,
challenging, and potentially quite
dangerous. If plating is a technique
you think you might want to learn
about, this will provide a good over-
view of it to help you decide. And of
course, If you are familiar with the
technique and use gold plating on
some of your jewelry, always follow
your manufacturer’s instructions
precisely. The final product — a beautiful
“Plating” is the application of mi- worry about,” says Thomas Flores gold plated ring.
PHOTO: COURTESY RIO GRANDE
crons-thick metal to another surface, at Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New
and in the jewelry industry this is Mexico. If cyanide and sulfuric acids
usually another metal. Gold plating come into contact, they create hy-
is commonly used to even out the drogen cyanide gas which is deadly. The plating process combines
color on gold jewelry that has been Cyanide-free gold and silver plat- electricity and water at voltages
repaired, but you can also plate ing solutions are available but are high enough to cause injury, so
silver, bronze, and copper with gold, still acid-based — acids that can handling plating equipment and set-
completely or selectively. Plating is a splash and damage eyes or skin. ting up the plating environment also
pretty straightforward process — but (Adding acids to water, not the require care. A non-conducting work
there are a lot of caveats. other way around, helps limit splash- surface and glass beakers are essen-
ing.) Electro-cleaners are alkali- tial. With a metal beaker on a metal
Safety based. “An alkali burn on skin or in work surface, the entire work surface
Plating chemicals are dangerous. the eyes is far more serious than an would be electrified once current
Gold and silver plating solutions may acid burn,” writes Alberta, Canada, was run through the setup.
contain cyanide, which is potentially jewelry artist and educator, Charles There are four ways chemicals
fatal if handled improperly. “The Lewton-Brain, in his The Jewelry enter your body, says Neil Bell,
industry is trying to move away from Workshop Safety Report. These president of Red Sky Plating, in Al-
cyanide-based solutions because of solutions must always be used with buquerque, New Mexico: skin, eyes,
the cyanide/acid hazard you have to great care. ingestion, and inhalation. Profes-

technique
sionals protect these pathways to
reduce the risks of working with
dangerous chemicals. (For all the
risks associated with plating, see
Charles Lewton-Brain’s The Jewelry
Workshop Safety Report.)
Precautions advised for gold plat-
ing are really specific recommenda-
tions derived from good habits to
follow in general. Gold plating safety
measures include:
• Always read and follow manu-
facturers’ recommendations on
procedure, handling, and storage.
• Read the SDS, the Safety and Data
Sheets, that come with the solu-
tions and plating equipment. Be
Preparing a ring for the gold plating process.
prepared for a spill or exposure by PHOTO: COURTESY RIO GRANDE
having the necessary supplies and
equipment on hand and knowing
the procedures to follow. Know
what to do in an emergency. Keep
emergency contacts prominently
displayed near the plating setup.
Make sure others know where
those contact numbers are. Con-
tact local hazardous waste depart-
ments and know proper disposal
procedures for all your spent plat-
ing solutions.
• Keep cyanide away from other ac-
ids — even pickle. The combination
of cyanide and acid creates gas
that can kill. Keep all solutions in
plastic containers that can’t break.
• Keep the work area clean. Use the
appropriate beakers and equip- The ring is dipped in electroplating solution. PHOTO: COURTESY RIO GRANDE
ment only for electroplating, noth-
ing else. Be sure all beakers and
solution bottles are clearly labeled.
• Do not have a plating setup ar-
ranged on a metal surface. For
an extra layer of protection, use a
heavy rubber mat on the floor to
stand on.
• Label all containers and beakers
clearly with the solutions in them.
This includes labeling the rinse
beakers with the solutions that will
be rinsed in them. Also label all so-
lutions correctly when taking them
for hazardous waste disposal.
• Always work with adequate venti-
lation. Use a fume hood.
• Wear eye protection, disposable
gloves, an apron, safety glasses, The ring is removed from the electroplating solution. PHOTO: COURTESY RIO GRANDE
Gold Plated
and closed-toe shoes when plat- The Setup they’ve done provides them and
ing. When working with acids, According to professional platers, manufacturers with information that
have lots of baking soda on hand successful plating depends largely can help with troubleshooting later.
to neutralize spills. (Cyanide spills on two things: getting the jewelry Plating solutions combine acids
require different handling. Read really clean before plating, and care- (or cyanide), water, and dissolved
the SDS information.) fully and consistently following the gold. Because of the hazards of
• Never allow children and animals correct procedure. No skipping or cyanide in gold and silver plat-
in a shop where they can uninten- skimping on steps, and following all ing solutions, many jewelers prefer
tionally be poisoned or burned. instructions that come with a gold- to work with non-cyanide based
• Don’t get complacent. There are plating solution, which are printed solutions. The only difference some
too many horror stories in the in- on the label or downloaded from the people have reported between them
dustry about accidents that could manufacturer’s website. There are is that cyanide-based solutions may
have been avoided. “Taking [the many different manufacturers and be able to plate more objects before
process] for granted is the most even more different colors and kar- the solution is “plated out.”
dangerous thing, forgetting that ats of gold-plating solutions avail- The proportions of the elements in
you’re dealing with chemicals and able. Instructions should be treated the solutions are important. Changes
incompatible solutions. Compla- as product- and manufacturer-spe- in these proportions will affect plat-
cency is the biggest enemy,” warns cific. A similar product from another ing quality. Plating solution must be
Lewton-Brain. manufacturer may require different heated as it’s worked with, and as a
• Questions? Always contact the procedures. result, the water (but not the acid)
manufacturer of the plating solution Many pros like to write out a cheat evaporates and must be replaced
with any questions at all. sheet for each step so they don’t with distilled water. Tap water con-
have to depend on their memory. tains impurities that contaminate
Keeping a log of exactly what solutions, leading to unsuccessful
plating. With gold-plating solution
running $200 to $400 per pint, it’s
not something jewelers want to have
to replace it frequently.
Over time and use, gold will plate
out of the solution and onto the jew-
elry in it. After a while, the plating
process will take longer, quality will
decrease, and eventually there may
be no plating at all. Then it’s time to
replace the solution.
When gold plating base metal
products — such as copper, brass,
and bronze — the piece must be
“preplated” with another metal,
usually nickel. “Preplating seals the
surface so the base metal doesn’t
oxidize over time, which it will.” The
oxidation migrates though the gold
layer to the surface, tarnishing the
gold plating. Preplating also helps
with the uniformity of the plating
and adhesion of the gold plate to
the surface of the metal. Because
of the issues with nickel allergies,
says Flores, people are moving
away from that and preplating with
Mike Melvin of Stuller, Inc. prepares rings for the plating process. palladium.
PHOTO: COURTESY STULLER, INC.

“Not 15 seconds, not 30, not 45.” The
solution will bubble, which is what
removes the last traces of soil from
the jewelry. From this point on, the
jewelry is kept moving from bath
to rinse to bath. It must stay wet.
If it dries out, the process must be
started again.
Then comes a one-minute rinse
in distilled (not tap) water, without
Electroplating supplies and tools voltage or heat. The electro-cleaner
from Stuller, Inc. is alkali-based, and if brought into
PHOTO: COURTESY STULLER, INC.
the gold plating solution would kill
the pH of the solution, preventing
Clean Finish to Start good adhesion. When doing a lot of
Here is the general process the pros plating, jewelers keep the rinse wa-
follow for gold plating. Before a jew- ter fresh by replacing it after every
eler can plate successfully, almost four or five pieces.
all other jewelry processes must
be completed, including solder- The Acid Dip
ing, bending, sawing, and so on. All A rinse in an acid dip helps activate
stones should be set except stones the surface of the jewelry for plating,
such as peridot, coral, shell, pearl, but it is also part of the cleaning. The
hematite, lapis, malachite, turquoise, acid strips away any remaining alkali-
or those subject to thermal shock. based electro-cleaner that could
The jewelry should be well finished, contaminate the plating bath. The
textured as desired or polished to a electro-cleaner doesn’t rinse away
bright finish. Plating does not cover easily with water, and this step is very
scratches or imperfections or fill po- important. The rinse is done for one
rosity — it may accentuate them. minute without heat or voltage.
Rio Grande’s equipment and supplies for
Next comes a thorough cleaning electroplating. PHOTO: COURTESY RIO GRANDE
Bell recommends a “water break”
in an ultrasonic filled with a solu- test at this point. After the rinse,
tion designed specifically to remove water should wet the entire surface
polishing compounds, followed by a a thorough ultrasonic cleaning. It of the piece without beading up or
rinse in distilled or deionized water. simply removes the last traces of “breaking.” Breaking indicates the
At this point, steam cleaning can contaminants from the jewelry. “If surface is not clean and active, and
boil off any surface water. To avoid there’s one thing we can stress,” the process should be started over
scratching it, the cleaned jewelry says Mike Melvin, at Stuller, Inc., in from electro-cleaning. When the
should be handled with rubber- Lafayette, Louisiana, “it’s to follow entire surface is wetted, it’s ready for
tipped tweezers or cotton-gloved the proper procedure.” plating.
hands, not directly with fingers. This Electro-cleaning involves heating To prevent carrying acid to the
is because the acids on anyone’s a special electro-cleaning solution plating bath, the jewelry should be
hands etch the metal, leaving notice- precisely to the manufacturer’s rec- rinsed in distilled water, with no volt-
able fingerprints after plating. ommended temperature, checking age or heat, for 30 seconds to one
Professional platers strongly cau- with a thermometer, and setting the minute. You do not want acid in a
tion against plating directly after voltage as instructed. Then, either cyanide-based bath!
cleaning in a sonic and steaming a stainless steel anode is inserted
because of the likelihood of contam- into the solution, or a stainless steel Electroplating
inating the plating solution. Instead, container is used to act as the posi- The electroplating solution needs
they next electro-clean the jewelry, tive anode. to be used heated according to the
rinse, submerge in an acid dip, and Attached to the negative pole, the manufacturer’s guidelines for that
rinse again before plating. Electro- jewelry should be immersed in the solution. The negative lead should
cleaning is not a replacement for solution for “a minute,” says Melvin. be attached to the jewelry. The posi-
Gold Plated
tive lead should be attached to the

correct type of anode. The voltage
should be adjusted per the instruc-
tions. Then the jewelry is plated
for the recommended time, rinsed
with distilled water for one minute,
steamed, and rinsed again.
If everything has been kept clean,
the solutions uncontaminated, and
the attempt has been at the right
temperatures, voltage, and dura-
tion, plating should be successful.
If the plating setup is left standing
between plating sessions, the bea-
kers should be covered, not exposed
to the environment. The level of the
solution in the beaker should also
be raised to the proper level with
distilled water before the next plat- The electroplating process in progress at Stuller. PHOTO: COURTESY STULLER, INC.
ing session.
Where Things will contaminate the solutions.

Go Wrong Only distilled water works for
Safety If the plating wasn’t successful, the rinses.
Reading problems can usually be traced
back to something skipped, done
• Not following the manufacturer’s
recommended procedures. Alter-
To keep yourself and your incompletely, or a corner otherwise ing temperatures, voltages, and
employees safe, look for Lewton- cut. Here are some of the most likely time can lead to a rough or poor-
Brain’s The Jewelry Workshop issues. quality surface, hazing, or burning.
Safety Report at http://brainpress. The jewelry wasn’t clean: polish-
com/Books.html#SafetyReport ing compound is not completely More Bang
removed, there are fingerprints, it Gold plating is a process used every
has not been electro-cleaned or day in the jewelry industry. It’s also
acid dipped. This, say professional employed successfully by some
platers, is the biggest cause of poor studio artists with the proper setup
Fuse Gold plating quality. Sonic and/or steam and procedures. Electroplating gold
cleaning is not enough when it is only one way to get a lot of bang
comes to plating. If it’s not clean, for your gold buck, and we’ll look
the plating will not be even — or the at more studio-friendly options in
item will not plate at all. an upcoming feature — and you can
Proportions of acid or cyanide/ find instructions for one of them
water/gold change. This happens in from Charles Lewton-Brain in this
a number of ways: issue starting on page 72.
• Evaporated water is not replaced.
• Using only part of plating solution SHARON ELAINE THOMPSON is a freelance
and “topping off ” with that when writer based in Oregon. She has written for
Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist since 1987 and
the solution gets low. “This throws blogs frequently at www.interweave.com/jewelry.
off the proportions in the mix and Learn more at jewelryartdiva.com.
the chemistry. That really affects Acknowledgements. Thank you to Neil Bell,
the results,” says Melvin. president of Red Sky Plating, Mike Melvin,
Stuller, Inc., in Lafayette, Louisiana, Charles
• Not rinsing after electro-cleaning Lewton-Brain, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada,
DOUBLÉE: GOLD ON SILVER
or acid-dipping steps. and Thomas Flores, at Rio Grande, in
PAGE 72 Albuquerque, New Mexico, for sharing their
• Using tap water to rinse. Tap water deep knowledge of plating and how to stay
contains numerous impurities that safe while doing so.

Write for Catalog
Tru-Square Metal Products • P.O. Box 585 • Auburn, WA 98071
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Beautiful
Blends
Lisa Krikawa’s progression through metal, mokumé,
and marriage jewelry By Terri Haag
PHOTOS: COURTESY LISA KRIKAWA
Autumn mokumé set with

faceted orange sapphire
“I
Krikawa Jewelry’s specialty is mokumé
always knew my career would be somewhere in the
gané, the Japanese metalsmithing technique
arts,” says Canadian-born Lisa Krikawa, now of Tucson, that creates the appearance of wood grain,
Arizona. “But after doing sculpture and trying my hand which is how the term is usually translated
at other artistic endeavors, I found myself in a jewelry- into English. It is created with layers of
differently colored metal that are bonded
making/metalsmithing class at Palomar Community College in San
together into a billet and then manipulated
Diego. Within a week I was utterly hooked and I knew that would be to create that grain-like patterning as one
it.” It’s a familiar route from one art form into another, but not every and then another layer shows through.
metals major hones in on such intricate work.

pictorial
“I started my own business, which consisted of
soldering in my garage using a garbage can lid
for a base,” says Lisa Krikawa. “It was often
terrifying — if a billet fails, which they do — it
can represent a huge investment in both time
and money, mostly money. You have to remelt
and refine out the metals all over again.”
Dragonfly Mokumé wedding set

bridal set with
faceted green sapphire,
white and yellow gold
Fleur de lis ring with

faceted pink sapphire, Embracing tree branch ring; rose
diamonds, rose gold, and platinum gold with Montana sapphire
The business wasn’t

always a sure bet. “For
one birthday my hus-
band made dinner,” Lisa
recalls. “When I moved my
plate I found my birthday
present: a one-ounce gold
coin to help pay for my
jewelry-making habit and
help finance the business.”
Oak leaf platinum bridal set

with faceted blue sapphire
Beautiful Blends
Lisa describes the process of creating mokumé as Men's mokumé
engagement set with
first layering sheets of precious metal together like
black and white kite-
a stack of papers. Then it’s compressing the sheets shaped diamonds
in a kiln just hot enough to let the molecules of metal
“have a grand time jumping around” but not hot
enough to melt them completely. The result is an
extremely thin third layer — called a eutectic bond
— forming between the original two sheets, while
maintaining the color and properties of the originals.
Rose gold and

mokumé bridal set
with blue trillion
sapphire
“Marriage is the eternal union of two

souls,” states the business’s website, “souls
who are nonetheless vibrant and alive now
on this mortal plane of existence. Forged
between precious metals, compressed
upon the very cusp of alloying, mokumé
gané represents the best of both worlds,
between the immortal durability of metal
and the delicate vitality of nature.”
Mokumé ring
with faceted
blue-green tourmaline
and blue and green
diamond accents
It turns out that mokumé gané

lends itself especially well,
philosophically and materially, to
wedding and engagement rings.
Charmingly, her website romanti-
cally compares the fusion of mo-
kumé gané metals with the fusion
of lives and souls in marriage.
Tricolor maple leaf wedding set;

yellow, rose, and white gold
In 1990, after completing the University of Arizona’s Master of Fine

Arts program, Lisa was ready to forge (ahem) ahead with Tucson-
based Krikawa Jewelry, and in 2002 launched www.krikawa.com.

Mokumé wedding set
Formed in infernal conditions, the mokumé gané billet is manipulated

to show the characteristic wood grain look. “Imagine taking that stack,
punching it up from the bottom, then filing the top peaks off. You would
start to see concentric circles. That’s what happens in a mokumé billet.”
After that the metal is milled, carved . . . and turned into rings.
Platinum
Hummingbird
ring with faceted
pear cut pink
sapphire
TERRI HAAG is a freelance writer based in Tuc-

son, Arizona. She has been a frequent contributor
Scatter bezel rose gold ring with champagne diamonds
to this magazine since the 1990s.
Lisa Krikawa and her team focus on client/artist co-designed rings for every
possible occasion and taste. “We don’t carry any inventory — everything is made to
order” using the client’s input. In effect, the website is a huge portfolio of past work.
Facets
news & product innovations
Jewelry Artist Podcasts

by Katie Hacker, that bring Gold on Silver,” page 74) will
these professionals straight to discuss his ground-breaking fold
your phone, computer, or other form techniques. CERF director
electronic device. Cornelia Cary will talk about
Season 1 includes several CERF’s new program in response
fascinating interviews. Jewelry to Covid-19. (See “CERF Is There
artist Christine Dhein discussed for You,” page 20.) And just as
tips for green jewelry making. soon as he has the time, Roger
Rockhounds Alex and Keith Halas hopes to bring you a look
Horst talked about cabbing, at his work creating jewelry
gem carving, and other lapidary for the movies as well as his
work. Becky Nunn described sci-fi, fantasy, and steampunk
the challenges faced by her designs. (See “Dash of Creepy
jewelry findings business during Fun” on page 56 and “Seahorse
the pandemic. Artist, teacher, Summons” on page 62.) Other
and gallery owner Julie Sanford podcasts are also being planned
chatted about her path to a for Season 2 as well.
Jewelry Artist podcast host Katie Hacker
successful jewelry business. And You can download the Jewelry
Interweave’s Tammy Jones talked Artist podcasts on your smart
If you’ve ever wanted to about her favorite passion — phone or find them online at
learn from and about top pearls. interweave.com/jewelry-art-
jewelry makers and industry At this writing, Season 2 is in ist-podcast.
professionals from the comfort the works, with more informative
of your own home, now you interviews being planned —
can. In the spring of 2020, several with people you can find
Interweave introduced a series of in the pages of this issue. Charles
Jewelry Artist podcasts, hosted Lewton-Brain (see “Doublée:
Natural vs. Lab-Grown Diamonds

Diamondére, a custom fine jewelry firm, has recently
published a comprehensive guide to the similarities and
differences between natural diamonds, lab-created diamonds,
moissanite, and cubic zirconia. For jewelry artists and
customers, the guide includes information on what you can
tell from “eye-balling” stones, considerations for everyday
wear, pricing differences, and more.
PHOTO: COURTESY DIAMONDÉRE
More at www.diamondere.com/blog/natural-dia-
monds-vs-lab-diamonds-vs-moissanites-vs-cz-2.

Red Backpack
Fund
The Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation recently
teamed up with GlobalGiving to establish the
Red Backpack Fund. The Foundation donated
$5 million to support female entrepreneurs in the
wake of Covid-19. The Fund planned to award
grants to at least 1,000 women business owners
through September 2020. The grant recipients
were selected by a team of grant specialists, social
workers, entrepreneurs, analysts, and monitoring
and evaluation experts.
Several female jewelry designers and business
owners were among those selected for the grants.
Kristen Baird® Jewelry of Savannah, Georgia,
was one of the jewelry businesses chosen. Baird
remarked, “It is an honor to be recognized for our
unique jewelry designs, innovative practices, and Jewelry artist Kristen Baird at work in her studio.
our focus on giving back to our community, and PHOTO: COURTESY KRISTEN BAIRD
I am overwhelmingly grateful for this boost of

confidence in what we are doing.”
For more on help available to jewelry artists
during the pandemic, see “CERF Is There for You,”
page 20.
More at www.globalgiving.org/
redbackpackfund
Free Mokumé Gané Book

Mokumé gané artist Steve Midgett will provide free access online to the
complete contents of his book, Mokumé Gané: A Comprehensive Study.
In the 160-page book, Midgett shares the art of mokumé gané from
its ancient beginnings in Japan to its resurgence in the digital age
along with detailed how-to information for making mokumé by multiple
methods and 5 step-by-step mokumé jewelry projects. Midgett hopes
that metalsmithing and jewelry arts educational institutions will utilize
his book as a resource for their students. (For a pictorial of mokumé
gané jewelry, see “Beautiful Blends,” page 86.)
More at www.mokume.com/book
Coming
in November/December
• Picasso stone
• Collaboration piece for charity
• Resin and wood jewelry
• Grow and set bismuth crystals
Peggy Haupt
Above and Beyond Pendant
Picasso stone, sterling silver
PHOTO: PEGGY HAUPT
Follow Participants and speakers at the 2019 SINTER™ conference.

PHOTO: COURTESY ALLIANCE FOR METAL CLAY ARTS WORLDWIDE
Us On
Instagram!
2021 SINTER
Conference
@InterweaveJewelry
InterweaveJewelry is your
resource for free projects,
The Alliance for Metal Clay Arts Worldwide will
videos, trends, and more.
There’s always something
present SINTER™, a conference for the metal clay
new to learn! artist community. The conference will be held
from May 12-18, 2021, and will include speakers,
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Facets accepts news and images
The 2021 SINTER conference will be held at
Facets accepts news and images
the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA.
of new products, innovations,
Check the AMCAW website for more details and
industry happenings, and events
registration information.
as space permits. Share your news
for possible print publication or
www.amcaw.org/sinter
online use by sending items to
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“Facets” on the subject line.

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• On the RuAgate P LU S : opals, silver clay casting, jewelry repair, (972) 490-0303
• Pyrite-in- rrings
• Ri pp le Ea Ellensburg
Simple Fili
Set a Kite
Blue Agate
gree Succes
-Shaped Blu
e Opal
s
and gem trees, from April–October each info@craftguildofdallas.org
MAY/JUN
E 202 0
year. Check out our website. www.craftguildofdallas.org

Since 1948, The Craft Guild of Dallas has
a
Peer into el Pendant INTERW
EAV E.COM
Studio JSD offered beginning to advanced jewelry
iling
Smooth SaWire
Torch Enam
and metalsmithing courses. Classes in
DIY Twist
219 N. 7th St., Suite 4 fabrication, stone setting, wax carving/
Grand Haven, MI 49417 casting, beading, wire-wrapping, enamel-
(616) 607-2470 ing, design and more are offered in our
Subscribe at state-of-the-art studios. Each year, we
www.studiojsd.com
Interweave.com Students at Studio JSD are encouraged
host Master’s Invitational Workshops.
2020 brings Jane Redman/Elizabeth
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Schedules include multi week class sessions, Roper Lyons. For more information check
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IRU21/,1(
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arists including Michael David Sturlin, Julie
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skills from experts in the field! program schedules and reserve your bench (703) 299-0921
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at Interweave.com Quench Jewelry Arts, LLC Learn to make jewelry from award-winning
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Learn basic metalsmithing techniques, wax
We offer a broad range of jewelry classes carving, metal clay, enameling, powder coat-
YOUR AD HERE! and workshops for all ages and skill levels. ing, granulation, and more. We welcome all
Master series as well as Metalsmithing 1&2 student levels from beginner to professional.
Contact sessions, stone setting, wax carving, lost Our light-filled, well-equipped studio is
Stephanie Griess wax casting, cuttlefish casting, enameling, located in the heart of Alexandria, Virginia’s
(970) 613-4630 project-based classes and more. Creative historic district with unique restaurants and
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ŝŶĐƌĞĂƟŶŐŚĂŶĚŵĂĚĞũĞǁĞůƌǇ͘dŚĞƉĞƌĨĞĐƚƉůĂĐĞĨŽƌ
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Helping Creatives
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GEMSTONES
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ADVERTISERS' INDEX jewelry shop to the next issue, please
contact Stephanie Griess at
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Contenti Company ...................................1
KANSAS Catch up on the
Craftoptics ................................................94
Crown Trout Jewelers .........................95
McMullen Jewelry Natural
Stone Gallery
latest trends and
Evenheat Kiln, Inc. .................................94
Fire Mountain Gems ............................ C3
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techniques in
Gem & Lapidary Wholesalers Inc .85 (316) 684-1611
www.mcmullenjewelry.com
jewelry making!
Gemini Saw Co., Inc. ............................33 Come and discover the wonders of
Gemological Institute of America.. 13 nature. A wonderful collection of loose Get started with a free eBook
gemstones, cabochons, crystals, and download and sign up today:
Halstead Bead Inc. ................................33 mineral specimens. Unique gifts, beads,
John C. Campbell Folk School .......33 and carvings. Custom jewelry work in
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Monsterslayer, Inc. .................................19 gemologist on staff. The art and craft of
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Reactive Metals Studio, Inc. .............94
Rio Grande ............................................... C4
Ross Metals .....................................“85, 94”
Royalwood, LTD .....................................94 SINCE
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Stuller, Inc. ....................................................5
Tru-Square Metal Products ..............85
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The advertiers’ index is provided as a reader
service. Occasional last-minute changes may
result in ads appearing on pages other than
those listed here. The publisher assumes no www.interweave.com
liability for omissions or errors.
LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST
Doer’s Profile
Amy Buettner
& Tucker Glasow
“Wind of Rivers”
Centerpiece/Pendant
Fabricated sterling silver, 22K and 18K gold
Blue Biggs Jasper cut by Hans Gamma
PHOTO: TUCKER GLASOW
FAVORITE PART
It’s a three-way tie — the thrill of the
hunt and discovery of our stone mate-
rials, along with the sound and feel
of the tools working the metal, com-
bined with holding the finished piece
in our hands and seeing our vision
realized.
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

Having been self-proclaimed stone
hunters for over 20 years, we know
how truly one-of-a-kind some of these
minerals can be. There are countless
DONE TUCKER: A sculptural ring I carved cabochons, specimens, and pieces
We’ve been honored by different from wax in Amy’s studio when we of rough that we didn’t buy but still
art festivals through the years, but first met. She showed me how to dream about.
our main accomplishment to date sprue, invest, and cast it in sterling
is having created a life that we love silver. I still wear it almost every day. ON BENCH NOW
and a business that can support our A couple of wedding ring commis-
passion. HEROES sions, along with some other commis-
Many famous and historical artists sions. Some oddities we found while
DOING come to mind, but first our teach- cleaning out 20 years of collections,
Normally, we’d be burning the mid- ers, mentors and those who took and of course, there’s always an egg
night oil getting ready for our sum- us under their wing. Thanks to carton holding 12 stones, each that
mer show season. But in the new Christine Clark, Deb Stoner, Becky will become a piece of jewelry.
paradigm of life during a pandemic, Thatcher, Gary Wilson, and more
we are focusing our energies on for showing us the ropes and SEE MORE AT
revamping, updating, organizing, and sharing their knowledge. We are www.amybuettner.com
learning things that have been on the inspired by so many: Art Nouveau
back burner, like cutting and cabbing style, Art Smith, Albert Paley, Judy
beautiful rough we’ve collected over
the years.
Geib, and Hans Gamma, just to
name a few. Learn
from
FIRST PIECE
AMY: A marriage of metals project,
DESIGN SOURCES
Like almost every artist ever, nature Amy &
where I made a ring out of sterling inspires us, particularlly nature’s Tucker
and brass. It was shaped like a cube stones. We never cease to be
MEDIEVAL
and it had a red jasper stone set on amazed by the geological, energet-
MEETS GAME
top. I gave it to my mom, and 28 years ic, and chemical phenomena that
OF THRONES
later, she gave it back to me because must happen to create the miner-
PAGE 26
it didn’t fit her anymore. So now, it als we use. It’s mind-boggling and a
lives in a shadow box on my wall. wellspring of inspiration.

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What are some of the tools and equipment mentioned in the magazine?

What are some of the tools and equipment mentioned in the magazine?

What podcast is mentioned?

What podcast is mentioned?

Pristine Facets.

Seeing is believing—scan this QR code,

800.545.6566 #RioJeweler riogrande.com

LEARN MORE AT Interweave.com/Jewelry-Artist-Podcast

Ring & Hoop Forming Presses Butane Torch Soldering Kit

Pepetools Super Ring Bender

102-038 thru 042 $34.50 190-891 $289.90

Economy Dapping Set 800-343-3364 | 401-305-3000 | contenti.com

• 49 mm steel dapping block

10 SOCIAL DISTANCE MARKETING

26 MEDIEVAL MEETS GAME OF THRONES

36 NESTLED AMONG LEAVES

ABOUT OUR COVER:

2 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

46 HAVE A SLICE OF PINE CONE

A Good Time to MANAGING EDITOR Karla A. Rosenbusch

Be Clever MARKETING & ADVERTISING

a scary or injurious event to goad us into being AD TRAFFICKER Cari Ullom

complacent when we haven’t felt threatened for Jessi Rodriguez

In the March/April issue, Christine Dhein, known widely for her

Retailers: If you are interested in carrying this magazine in your

VISIT US ON THE WEB:

4 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

Ellensburg agate cabochon

Momoko Okada’s “Essence of Japan”

Lexi Erickson’s “Go Fly a Kite”

6 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

Riff on the design of any of these or

DEADLINES: OCTOBER 31, 2020

8 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

Kieu Pham Gray’s Roger Halas’s

10 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

Designed by: John F. Heusler

Designed by: John F. Heusler Designed by: Sam Patania

Designed by: Denise Peck

METAL STAMPING IS ONE OF THOSE HIGHLY FOCUSED, low-cost techniques

Item Two: Stamps

16 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

HELEN I. DRIGGS is a book author and an experienced teaching artist.

Ü>` Ü>Ì Interweave.com

SNOW & STARS CORP.

OPENING PHOTO: WARREN FAIDLEY/THE IMAGE BANK/GETTY IMAGES

20 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

22 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

Rebecca Rose and her husband used

24 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

OPENING PHOTO: JIM LAWSON; PROCESS PHOTOS: TUCKER GLASOW

1 Trace the stone and then sketch

2 Cut out a 22 gauge piece of

26 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

TIP! If you try 5 Using a “dots” chasing tool,

to move around. 7 Taper both ends of the wire

28 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

13 Using a large rosebud torch tip

FORM, PLACE, AND 13 14

14 Use needle nose pliers to bend

Ü>` Ü>Ì Interweave.com