Customer Work - Rosemary modifies a technique Thursday

See how Rosemary modified a Technique Thursday project to include a few Elaine Ray washer beads. I loved the results.

Can you saw?

Join us on Thursday night for Technique Thursday and you can learn to do a pierced pendant and really work that jewelers saw. You'll leave with a sweet little copper charm and a better knowledge of how to make that saw do what you want.

You may even learn how NOT to break blades!

See you Thursday, 6:30-8:30.

Create a forged bail for St. Patty's Day!

You can create a forged bail for a two-holed pendant on Thursday night at Technique Thursday. You'll learn a few methods of twisting, pounding and coiling wire to make a one-of-a-kind bail. Hand-crafted findings are the way to set your work apart! Join us from 5:30-8:30 for a fabulous make-n-take for just $3. 

For more infomation about this and other Technique Thursdays click here.

Technique Thursday; Beaded Wire Bangle

Have you ever wanted to use beaded wire? I don't mean wire with beads on it, I mean wire with a textured or 'beaded' surface. We have this lovely nickle-silver beaded wire that is sturdy enough for ring bands and bangle bracelets. The wire is very popular for soldered uses. This cold-connected bracelet makes the most of the wire beading to provide the perfect space for a bit of wire lacing.

We used this beaded wire, this Swarovski crystal dangle and this antique brass 22 gauge wire.

If you are in Raleigh, come make one on Thursday night, February 24th, at the shop. We have a nice big work table and we'll talk you through the technique. Each bracelet will only cost $6.

Technique Thursday is every Thursday evening at the store. Click here for more information.

These earrings feature lovely sculptural bead cages cut from brass tubing. The edges have been 'coined' or cut with tiny hash marks using a hammer. This technique is the featured technique tonight at Technique Thursday here at the store. You'll saw the tubing and then coin the edges. It's an amazing detail that really sets the earrings apart.

Our Technique Thursday is a drop-in class focusing on metalsmithing techniques and tips each Thursday night. For just a few dollars you can make the project under the watchful eye of one of our most talented staff members. For free you can watch others make the project.

We'd love to see you tonight. If you'd like to look at upcoming Technique Thursdays click here.

Really, really cool new tool...

 

I'm excited about the new riveting and eyelet setting tool that we received from Crafted Finding this last week. The folks there have been trying to get me to try the tool for a while but honestly, the super-slick YouTube video makes it look too good to be true. 

Well, for the first time in a while maybe we CAN trust a YouTube video! 

This tool is, to quote our fabulous Chantal 'da bomb!' It sets rivets like nothing else and makes eyelets so perfect you can't tell which side was the good side. I made the five samples right here in about five minutes (yes, not my best design work but I was riveting anything that didn't move!) That red lucite flower? I widened the hole with the hole-punching side and then riveted it right in. The flower did not break. We've got the tool set up at the demo counter in the store right now and you can stop in and try it out. If you want to make a project with it join Sarah and everyone else on Thursday night for Technique Thursday. She created a necklace with a very sweet nickle-silver disk pendant with a flower riveted right in the center. Come make the project for just $8.

See the tool and the video here.

See the lucite flowers here.

See more about Technique Thursday here. 

and that red leaf filigree and pink rosette filigree that you see on the pendant is just this and this sprayed with a bit of red or pink spray paint!

Staples

Tonight the talented Sarah Tector will show off this nifty staple connection at our weekly Technique Thursday event. This is a drop-in, technique-centered free class that is always fun and informative. You can come by between 6:30-8:30 and make a cuff like this for the cost of the materials only. Creating wire staples allows you to securely attach unwieldy items to each other in a permanent way without using heat. This is a great way to assemble collaged metal pieces and add charms, filigree and watch parts to your designs.

You don't need to register, just show up!

Technique Thursday - Reverse Hoop Earrings

These Reverse Hoop Earrings are created with a bit of silver wire and a mandrel. They look clean and simple in your ear and you can add any type of bead to make the sparkle. Drop in and learn how to make them tomorrow at Technique Thursday between 6:30-8:30. For just $2 you'll have a pair of silverplated earrings and some new skills.

These lovely earrings are the current Superstars at Ornamentea. At least once a day we have a very lovely, very hip young woman come in and ask us to show her how to make 'those big flower earrings.' We have a pair at the store that feature a crystal in the center, plus these, plus a pair with bead caps and metal beads. They are all popular.

I think this flower is so popular because it is both bohemian and graphic. The earrings can be hipsterish or hippie, depending on the beads and the hairdo.

It is so funny how trends ebb and flow. I remember a few years ago when large flat pieces of capiz shell were all the rage. We could not keep them in stock and it seemed like we only filled up the dish to have it empty again. Last year we started a run on metal octopi for necklaces and now this flower is suddenly on everyone's earlobes. Since winter seems bent on staying around for a bit longer I guess that these flowers might be the closest thing we have to spring here...

If you are in Raleigh come and make a pair of these earrings on Thursday night for just $4 a pair. That's a great deal for a bit of spring...details here.

If you are not in Raleigh, the flowers and other good things can be found here.