New Soldered Glass Jewelry Just Added to the Store!

Just a quick note about soldered glass jewelry... 1. I just released some new pieces today and there are more coming soon! 2. I am working on "How to create soldered glass slide jewelry, Part 4 - Tips & Troubleshooting.

Like anything else, there is a learning curve to making the soldered jewelry and I have already learned a few things in the short time I have been doing it. I will share what I have learned and give some advise on how to avoid and fix boo-boos. I am pretty sure I might be an expert on that now because I am quite boo-boo prone. Hopefully I can help someone else avoid them.

Anywhoo... here's a peak of some of the new pieces that are in the store or will be soon.

P.S. - I am sort of excited about the chokers because I had fun making handmade jumprings, the S-Hook closure and bale out of wire and soldering it all. It was cool using the soldering iron for something besides pendant edges.

My New Handmade Jewelry Cards

Please forgive me for I have not crafty blogged for while which is a no no in bloggerland I know, but I am happy to report that the reason I been absent is because I have been too busy being crafty. My jewelry business (http://www.treebysea.com/) is doing pretty well and I have been working hard to get a bit of stuff made up so I have more stock on hand to be prepared for some future craft shows and some wholesale marketing I plan to do.


I have just developed my new packaging. (shown above) What do you think? So far I have had possitive feedback. Since I am a graphic designer at heart, I enjoyed creating my own cards via Photoshop CS. I printed them with my inkjet on cream colored speckled acid free recycled paper from PaperZone. I found some cool 2" reach paper punches that let me punch in the middle of the card. They are made by McGill (http://www.mcgillinc.com/shop/). They work great and make the cards look professionally die cut.

I have small circles for hanging earrings and a punch that is two 1/4 inch parallel lines that are perfect for feeding ribbon through to tie my pendant to the packaging. I also found a great resource for self-adhesive flap clear covers that really add a lot as well as protect the cards and the jewelry. Go to http://www.clearbags.com/. Great prices, customer service & quality. They come in just about EVERY size you can imagine.

I also found an easy tidy way to hang the necklaces. It's not an original idea... I have seen many manufacturers use the same technique, but it is good to know I can mimic the technique and it works. I punched two small holes about 1" from the top of the card and 3/4" from both sides of the card. Then with sissors I cut from about 1/2 inch from the top of the card at a diagonal towards the hole on both sides. I slide the necklace in the slits to the holes and it holds it perfectly.

I will be writing again soon. Part 2 of the Soldering Slide Pendants is coming. I took a class today conducting by one of the Simply Swank owners, Lisa Bluhm and it was great. (Lisa, if you are reading this - Hi. Nice to meet you. Thanks again.) Both of the owners are dolls and their products rock. More on this soon! Caio 4 now.

How to Make Microscope Slide Pendants, Part 1.5

OK. So I promised a "Part 2" post about making glass slide pendants. It has taken me a while because I have been doing a little research so I can offer the best advise and resources out there on this blog for you as a reader, but selfishly, for my own sake too.

I have two soldering irons, flux and solder from hardware stores that I or my husband bought and they just don't work for me. They are too large and not the right temp, and for all I know, the flux & solder are not right for humans to wear on their skin. The more I read, the more I realize just how dangerous it is to solder with the wrong compounds and in an area that is not well ventilated. PLEASE read all warnings on the packaging if you try this hobby.

When purchasing solder, BE SURE that it contain no lead and no antimony which is commonly used in hardware grade lead-free solders and is toxic. The jewelry you make should not make you or the wearer sick! That would be terrible!

I have made slide ornaments (thankfully none as jewelry with harmful solder), but I admit I am not as good at soldering as I would like to be and have wasted many projects that I started because I messed up. I appear to be "Solder Challenged", so, OK, I give! I am talking a soldering class next month at a local craft store and I can hardly wait.

I think it was meant to be... I was just thinking about looking for a new soldering iron set up when I saw a whole section of soldering, slides, books, etc. at my local Ben Franklin store. Right above it was a class announcement. The teacher is Lisa Bluhm, who wrote a book called "Simply Soldered Jewelry & Accessories" (see Amazon link below) and designed many products specifically for slide jewelry crafting under the trade name "Simply Swank". I almost purchased a whole kit (Around $55.00) of her stuff and the book on the spot, but I decided to wait to see how the class goes. Maybe I truly am solder challenged for life, but if that Lisa can teach this Lisa to solder better, then I will gladly buy all of her wares.

I will let you know how it goes in Part 2 of this blog saga after the class in May!

In the mean time, check out these books about soldering jewelry using glass and collage:

How to Make Jewelry from Glass Microscope Slides & Solder

Japanese Cherry Blossom Pendant
Originally uploaded by ashe-villain

If you are into handcrafted jewelry, then you may have already seen or heard of jewelry made by using 2 glass microscope slides to sandwich flat items, which are then soldered around the edge to make a solid piece. Loops are soldered to the top and/or bottom to act as connection points. These are mini framed pieces of art that are as much fun (with practice) to make as they are to look at and wear.

Sample pic is from flickr user "Ashe-villain" who allowed the blogging option (thanks). Visit her store.

What do you need to create this fun art you can wear?
Microscope Slides or other polished edge small uniformly shaped glass piece
Glass cutting tools (optional - only if you want to do a size other than your pre-cut glass)
Stuff for inside the "glass sandwich"
1/8" Copper tape - the type used for stained glass
Burnishing tool
Shiny silver jewelry grade Lead-free solder and compatible flux that matches temp of soldering iron
Small disposable non-plastic paint brush to apply flux
Wire or jump rings
Pliers
Damp Sponge
Glass cleaner and lint free towel
Soldering Iron & sturdy stand
High heat resistant work surface
Well ventilated space
Clamps or "third hand" tool to hold the slide in place while soldering
Safety goggles
Instructions

What can you put inside the slide sandwich?
The possibilities for what you can put inside is limited only by the fact that it must be pretty thin flat, and able to stand the heat of the soldering iron near it. I have seen paper collage, feathers, lace, photos, pressed flowers, glitter, confetti, snips of hair, poems, postage stamps, fabric & fiber, food labels, sheet music, on and on... One thing to note, make sure objects do not contain any moisture, as in wet glue, when you solder. The heat may cause steam to get trapped in side and will ruin your project. Don't get anything that melts or burns easy close to the edge of the project so the heat will not harm it.

End of Part 1.

Go start collecting stuff to put in your slide sandwich and check back here soon for part 2!! Part two will feature more instructions, samples and resources for where you can get the supplies mentioned above.