Archive for August, 2011

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Affordable designer font stamps!

Monday, August 29th, 2011

Fun fonts add more personality to stamped jewelry - even to stamped dog jewelry!

When stamped metal jewelry first became popular, most artists were limited to the basic block letters that were available in the market. But, wow, how things have changed! There are now many fonts available – fancy script fonts, playful lowercase fonts, swirly decorative fonts.  How is a jewelry-maker to choose?

Well, one consideration is price. Our new font sets  cost less than HALF the price of similar font sets on the market! Made by EuroTool, our quality stamp sets are available in five new fonts.

The letter 'K' on a brass heart. Simple and sweet!

Monogram - 6mm high ornate script capital letters. Perfect for initialing and monogramming charms and tags.

The next four fonts are available in both uppercase and lowercase, so you can stamp with proper capitalization even!

I used uppercase Verona on this pendant.

Verona - a curly serif font with bubbly personality.

I like how the letters aren't quite the same size in the Siena font - makes it look much more natural.

Siena – an easy to read sans-serif font that looks like very neat handwriting.

All uppercase Highland letters on this dog tag.

Highlands – clean handwriting with a italic slant. Sans serif.

Uppercase Aras font.

Aras – a whimsical, playful font. It reminds me of the ever-popular Comic Sans font, but with serifs.

Metal stamps make impressions in sheet metal. When you hammer, the stamp displaces metal. The thicker the metal, the less you will notice the movement of metal: all you’ll see is the indent left by your stamp.  On thin pieces, you’ll likely see a shadow of the stamping on the backside, and the edges might get kind of wonky.  Sterling silver, brass, copper and even aluminum can be personalized with metal stamps. 24 gauge or thicker is best, but 26 gauge works too, as long as you don’t get too close to the edges.

Want to get started with metal stamping, but don’t know where to start? Check out both our metal stamping tool kit and our metal stamping blanks assortment.  The kit includes basic uppercase block letters. For maximum enjoyment, add a set of the above font stamps and/or a few design stamps! For step-by-step instructions on how to make a stamped charm from sheet metal, check out our metal stamping technique sheet here.

I messed up almost immediately on my test piece, but it makes me think the letter 'D' could make a great decorative border!

One last tip: be sure to keep your stamps organized. These artistic fonts are especially easy to mess up (is that an ‘a’ or an upside down ‘g’ ??). Since the stamps will arrive alphabetized, take a moment to write the letter for each one on the side that faces you while you stamp. A fine-tipped Sharpie works great! ~ Cindy

 

 

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A quick guide to beading needles

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

Hello, bloglandia! Today I finally decided to finish the ends of a flat braid I made with a square Kumihimo disk. I recently blogged how to finish the ends of round Kumihimo braids (versions of which can be made with either the square or the round disk). What stalled me on finishing my flat braid was lack of a needle.

It just takes a few quick stitches to secure the braid before you cut off the knot and add a cord end. Make sure to use thread that matches your project so you don't notice the stitches.

Since the flat braid is well, flat, you need stitch through the braid to keep it from unraveling. Sadly, needles and I don’t get along too well. It is never the poor needle’s fault. It is my fault for not choosing the right needle. When you treat all needles the same, instead of appreciating their unique qualities and character quirks,  you can quickly run into frustration.

So today when Amy loaned me a needle, warning me it was a size 15, I said, “oh, that’s fine!” even though I had no idea what she meant. After several frustrating minutes trying to thread the darn thing, I learned. Size 15 is tiny. Check out this great bead needle and thread size chart from New Native Nation. You gotta love Spudmama!

While I’d long suspected that beading needles must be different than regular sewing needles, now I  know why. As Spudmama explains, beading needles don’t “bulge” around the eye – this is what allows them to pass through seed beads multiple times for bead stitching and bead weaving projects. The smaller the number, the bigger the needle. (ex. size 10 needles are larger than size 15). Plus, “sharps” are stiffer than standard beading needles. Therefore, the smaller the project, the tinier and flex-ier the needle should be.

So, if  you need a needle for something other than seed beading (like finishing a flat braid or making a wrapped leather bracelet) I recommend using size 10 sharp beading needles since they are (relatively) large and sturdy.

I used "choker clamps" designed for flat ribbon, such as velvet and organza, to finish the ends of my braid. There are teeth inside the clamp, so once you flatten the clamp firmly with pliers, it won't slide off.

If you are brave enough to make tiny seed bead jewelry, refer to Spudmama’s chart and stock up on aspirin and magnifying glasses! Oh, and needle threaders! ~ Cindy

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How to transfer texture to metal with a hammer!

Friday, August 19th, 2011

As promised, here are some photos and instructions on how to use brass texture plates to transfer beautiful patterns – pebbles, waves, flowers and more – onto other metal. With just a hammer, you can easily (but not quietly!) transfer the patterns from the brass sheets onto copper, aluminum, silver or even … brass. Transferring from brass to brass sounds silly – why not just cut up the texture sheet and use that? – but to texture pre-cut shapes, like these brass fairy door and window cutouts, it makes total sense.

I love hammering metal because it is cheap, fast and fun. The results are similar to what you can achieve with a rolling mill (not cheap!) and etching (not fast!). Those techniques are fun though – we will post a tutorial on etching soon. But today, we hammer:

Tape your piece face-down onto the texture plate. Cover the entire piece with tape to avoid transferring a tape-seam along with your pattern.

Place the piece on a steel block and hammer away! Make sure to hit every little bit of your piece.

Pull back the tape part way to check the transfer. If there are any missing or faint spots, keep hammering.

The piece will likely get a bit misshapen as you whale away on it. Not to worry.

Once you are satisfied with the texture, remove the tape and use a rubber or rawhide mallet to flatten your piece again. You might also need to file the edges a bit.

Tada! Before and after hammer time.

When using a long strip of metal, like these pre-cut copper and brass bracelet strips, I just tape down one edge, texture up to the tape line and then turn the piece around to texture the other side. The strip will curl upwards as you work, but it is easy to flatten out.

The hammered texture on the back of the piece is a nice bonus, like on my copper bracelet.

To really bring out the high and low points in the texture, apply a patina such as liver of sulfur or Win-Ox and buff the high points with steel wool (note: these patinas do not work on aluminum).

Annealing (heating) your metal piece beforehand will make it easier to transfer the pattern, but as you can see, it isn’t necessary. Have fun hammering!

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Torch-enameled components from C-Koop Beads!

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Stackable enameled copper flowers from C-Koop Beads.

Fun, colorful enameled jewelry components are popping everywhere!  I attribute the trend to talented artists whose business smarts have led them to develop enticing product lines of individual beads, gears and charms for designers to turn into finished jewelry. Just one or two enameled elements easily take a piece from ‘pretty’ to ‘pretty amazing.’

One such enamel artist is C-Koop Beads, aka Sara Lukkonen. Sara began making and selling enameled beads back in the 70′s. When she picked up the torch again in the 90′s (in her chicken coop of a studio!) her business expanded by leaps and bounds. We are really excited to be offering a great selection of C-Koop artisan-made enameled beads, links, charms, pendants and findings. Here are just a few of them:

So many colors of adorable little rings.

Three sizes of flat and domed disks.

Clasps, connectors, pendants and big-hole beads too!

If you are interested in doing your own enamel work, check out this how-to video from Enamel and Tiffany. It shows the entire torch-enameling process, plus does a great job of making it clear what types of tools and work space you will need. While the video focuses on beads, the process is similar for making other components. Check out our new selection of 18-gauge copper shapes – they are perfect for both torch enameling and etching!

While I know I would love enameling, I don’t have time or space for yet another addiction right now, so I opted to layer a couple of C-Koop flowers on a bracelet instead – yay for instant gratification!  ~ Cindy

Black leather bolo cord made this triple-wrap bracelet super quick and easy to make! A 6mm SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS rondelle fit perfectly inside the purple enamel bead cap for a tiny bit of sparkle.

 

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