This is coming more than a little late, but I had the honor of speaking at the 41st annual SNAG conference this year. For those of you who don't know what SNAG is, it stands for the Society of North American Metalsmiths and it's a pretty big freaking deal. It was a huge honor to be asked to participate on the panel and I had a great time at the conference! It's a week long and has all kinds of demos, tools and equipment for sale, as well as notable people in the jewelry industry that come to speak or pimp out their books(Tim McCreight was there!). It was held at the Westin and the them was The Heat is On. ...

This Ring was made by Michelle, probably a year ago. •Clean lines  Michelle has a very Scandinavian aesthetic to her work that I love. At the same time she manages to make a lot of it rustic. •Tube setting She does a lot of her stone setting by tube setting faceted stones. There aren't too many cabochons in her work portfolio.  This piece is enameled a dark color underneath, with a light blue faceted stone that is tube set on top. Love it! I love what she's been doing lately as well! She gave me a pair of earrings that remind me of one of my favorite  Ikea lamps. I'll have to share those soon with you all because they're just about one of my favorite things. Hopefully she'll be making more. ...

Here at the studio, I have a hard time keeping track of solder. Because there are so many people using the studio, sometimes things don't get put back in their designated space. If I didn't have a system for knowing what is hard, medium and easy solder, I would go crazy. Here is my system as well as a handy sign you are more than welcome to print out and use for yourself! • Only use sheet solder • Color code it with a sharpie:     Black for Hard     Red for Medium     Blue for Easy I have a color guide for anyone who doesn't know at the studio • Keep it in a container like this one .  I have the container labeled so I can just flip open the lid and see... My solder, in its right place, ready to be cut and used! Do you have any other ways you use to keep track of your solder? Please share them with us!...

I was interviewed this week by Kendra from the Downtown Devil about DIY culture in Phoenix. There are some really cool businesses I have never heard of in the article. Check out the post here. I think I have some exploring to do. How about you?...

We are in Tucson this week at the JOGS gem show and having a wonderful time! When I knew for sure we would be exhibitors at the show, I made plans to meet up with Kevin Potter of Potter USA . Kevin is a jeweler who makes tools for the jeweler and hobbyist. I first heard about his products through my sister who volunteered for an organization called Seeds for Autism which gives vocational training(like jewelry making) for adults with autism. Seeds for Autism has a hydraulic press that she would rave about. After meeting Kevin at this year's SNAG conference and seeing his press in action, I knew it was only a matter of time before I got one for the studio! Long story short, I picked up our press during a free minute today and can't wait to use it! Along with all the heavy machinery of Kevin's shop, is one of our presses above. We got a blue one. Kevin uses all of this machinery to make amazing tools for jewelers and hobbyists. He definitely makes our lives......

These are a couple of pendants Tomi made after learning tube setting in Jewelry II. She's planning on adding tube set pieces to her Etsy shop where she sells a lot of custom stamped pieces. During class, we hear her phone give off a money sounding ding all of the time to indicate she has made another sale. Below are some custom silver guitar picks she does. Aren't they a great idea? Tomi had her 500th sale just before last weeks class. It's so neat to see people coming through the studio and doing well! I'm sure she'll have a thousand soon! Tomi's shop is called Tomi's Treasures . What are you're favorite pieces from her shop?...

Debbie came into the studio a few weeks ago never having even pierced out a design into metal. Last week she finished our ball ring and set an aqua cab on top to give to her granddaughter. That's pretty quick progress isn't it? She changed up how we normally do the silver ring and at first I wasn't sure how good it would look, but I love it!...

Sara is a vibrant lady from Cuba who spent over 30 years of her life living in Hong Kong. She was very close to the Sham Shui Po district - where there are some amazing finds for jewelry! Sara brought this finished lariat in today. She learned how to do the texture on the cone last week, then figured out how to make the cone on her own and came up with a beautiful design for it! Like her on Facebook to see more of her jewelry. ...