Happy Friday!  Lot's happening this week at the studio.  We had new Jewelry 1, 2 and 3 classes start and lots of people in during open studio.  I love to see the studio buzzing with activity!   We are getting ready to add a torch in the back room along with some stools for the benches.  We hope to have the back room ready to go in the next week or two!   Don't forget to sign in to open studio.  You can find the blue glittery book on top of the water cooler. Tip of the week :  Put a small scrap of leather in your toolbox.  Leather is great for setting your piece on so that it doesn't get scratched.  If you find your piece of jewelry is getting hot when filing or using the flex shaft, use a piece of leather to hold onto it.  You can also use a tiny piece under a cabochon stone if you find that your stone is too low or is uneven.  We would love to hear your tips.  Comment below with your tips!!! Love the colors of these enameled pieces created by Vera, Lori and Mar...

Last weekend we had an amazingly productive workshop etching and forming many bracelets. NC Black puts on a fun class while working the tar out of people! Everyone did an amazing job and the silver pieces were especially stunning. These blanks are etched and ready to be formed. Below, Les is demonstrating how to form the bracelets on one of NC Black 's signature stakes. The bracelets after they've been formed and etched! Andrea and Les showing how to safely reclaim the metal that was etched. This was such an amazing class and a great way to learn how to safely etch without using nasty chemicals like nitric acid. ...

This weekend the studio had the pleasure of hosting Green Etching with NC Black . Andrea and Les taught a great workshop and we etched many different designs into metal. After etching each piece they then showed us how to form our bracelet blanks into attractive cuffs for wearing....

Our friends Andrea and Les from NC BLACK Co. will be up in November to teach a 2 day green etching workshop. They are amazing teachers and VERY fun to be around. Galvanic etching is an electrolytic process, the principles of which have been known since the early 19th century, and the original process was patented in 1840 and called electro-etching. This workshop will demonstrate the galvanic process on a small scale for studio applications. Students will learn to electrically etch with minerals bronze, copper, and sterling silver. This is the ONLY non-industrial etching technique available that allows All the etched silver material to be recovered. The projects in this class include several image transfer methods as well as resists and intaglio techniques that will be used to create several etched bracelet blanks. After students etch a bracelet blank in each material, they will then learn to anticlastically raise them into cuff bracelets using NC BLACK Co 's end hook stakes ...