Perfect Gifts for Your Valentine

What broad wouldn't love some jewelry for Valentine's day?  Now through February, receive 15% off your order in my Etsy shop when you use coupon code LOVE15.

I created these lovelies with Valentine's Day in mind, but they would be great for any day of the year. 

I love this ring so much, I might just have to make one for myself.  A pretty fuscia ruby set in a fine silver bezel with a floral pattered band.  It screams "romance."

Tell the world you are taken!  A stamped sterling silver tag with the words "spoken for" accented with a fun pink chacedony briolette.  I have one of these I made for myself and I get so many compliments on it.  Plus, my main guy thinks it's pretty awesome.  Ain't love grand? 

Love, love, love these dainty ruby dangle earrings.  The sterling silver chain is so delicate and light, the rubies appear to float from your ears.  They pair perfectly with this asymmetrical sterling silver flower and ruby necklace.

Solder Station

In my quest to teach myself metalsmithing, I purchased the Metal Essentials How to Solder Jewelry Vol. 1 & 2 DVDs with Lexi Erickson from Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist.  I thought these were great instructional videos - detailed enough to give one confidence to light the torch and begin soldering, but not overly complicated.  There is a so much to know about soldering, and I admit, I was intimidated.  Hard or medium solder?  Flux and pickle?  What the heck is sweat soldering?  These DVDs have got you covered.  It even includes basic torch safety and station set-up. 

In the DVD, Lexi uses a metal solder station with a turntable.  It's a very cool set up, that she sells on her website.  I had a station already set up in my "studio" that was sufficient for my beginning work.  The more I watched the videos, though, the more I coveted that awesome turntable and firebrick.  Finally, as a Christmas gift to myself, I purchased the station and turntable.  There was a small delay in shipping since they station was being manufactured, but Lexi was very kind and sent many emails to let me know the status of my order.  When it finally arrived, I was so excited to try it out.

All I can say is WOW!  This may be the best investment I have made in my studio.  It made soldering so much easier.  Seriously.  I am in love with the whole turntable idea.  I can turn the fire brick to get a different angle when soldering instead of turning the piece (and risk moving some carefully placed component) or having to move the torch in a weird or awkward way. 

The first piece I made at my new station was the bezel for this carnelian in this necklace:

I love the color of this carnelian cabochon!  It's so bright and cheery.  I accented it with lemon-lime colored grossular garnets and hung it on a sterling silver chain. 

From Rough to Finished Piece

Here is the first piece I created from start to finish.  I took this leopard jasper from rough to finished cabochon and set it in a fine silver bezel.

Leopard Jasper Cabochon Necklace

How I've Been Spending My Weekend

Over the past few years, I've been wanting to learn lapidary and metalsmithing to expand my jewelry making.  I inherited some incredible lapidary equipment and rocks from my grandfather.

 

 

He loved slabbing, cutting and polishing cabochons.  Of course, there wasn't an instruction manual to be found for any of the equipment, and with grandpa no longer around to ask, I had questions.  Lots of questions...you know, like "what the heck is this?"  Or "how does this thing work?"  And, "where do I start?"  It took a long time of staring longingly at the equipment and supplies before I just jumped in and went for it.  I have to admit, it's still a bit intimidating, and I still see areas to improve in my cutting (girdles and flat spots for example) but it's a great feeling to pop a finished cab off a dop stick!

It's also empowering to use grinders, saws, torches and power tools and have a finished piece of jewelry to show for it.  Look for new stuff in my shop soon!

Mother's Day Gift Ideas.

I turned over the calendar today and realized that Mother's day is next Sunday! So in honor of all the classy moms, I'm running a sale in my Etsy shop through Tuesday, May 5. All items are 10% off and I'll upgrade to priority shipping for free. Just enter mom10 in the note to seller, and I'll send you a revised invoice.

Here are some of my mom's favorite items.

Sterling Silver and Turquoise Wishbone Earrings:

Gunmetal Glass Pearl Earrings:

Drusy, Amethyst and Aquamarine Necklace:

Labradorite, Moonstone and Swarovski Crystal Necklace:

Spring!

The weather is finally starting to warm up here in Wyoming and my tulips are in full bloom. I must have spring fever because I've noticed I've been drawn to colors that remind me of spring. Pink, green, yellow, blue have all been showing up more and more in what I'm creating.

Pretty rose quartz and prehnite necklace:



This color reminds me of robin's eggs. This beaded necklace is made amazonite and sterling silver. I just love the color:





The pink chalcedony, orange carnelian and green peridot of this necklace reminds me of rainbow sherbet:

Little dragonfly earrings are perfect for this time of year These earrings are made with sterling silver wings and the body is made of peridot, citrine, aquamarine and amethyst beads:

Jumping in the blog pool!

Welcome to Classy Broad Jewelry!

I'm a self-taught jewelry maker with a background in geology. I love to create and use mainly stone and silver. Please have a look at my designs here.

I think all broads should feel classy and hope you will find my pieces fun, affordable and stylish.

Thanks for looking!