Happy Thanksgiving from the Jetteam

Thanksgiving in the United States is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November and commemorates the first Thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and Native Americans at Plymouth. In early autumn of 1641, the 53 surviving Pilgrims celebrated their successful harvest, as was the English custom.  That celebration is remembered as the "First Thanksgiving in Plymouth". This is a day where families come together to share in a celebration of the fall harvest.


Thanksgiving is celebrated in different ways by different people everywhere.  Turkeys are the main dish in most households, although others serve ham or other main dish. Mashed potatoes with lots of gravy, dressing with various additions such as giblets, onions, mushrooms, etc. are added to the menu. Of course, cranberry sauce, in either the jellied or full berried style, is a spicy addition. The gamut of vegetables ranges from basics like corn to green beans almondine, butternut squash and other fruits of the earth.

What would Thanksgiving be without desert? Pumpkin and Mincemeat pies along with other pastries and sweet concoctions served with after dinner coffees and teas complete the dinner. Time to settle down and relax with family games and football on television.


The Jetteam is thankful for each and every one of our followers and customers. We send our heartfelt wishes for a blessed and fruitful Thanksgiving and a joyous holiday season.

What's on My Bench??

Today's episode is from JET member Phylly of SendingLoveGallery. Let's see what Phylly does with turquoise:

Sometimes a complete jewelry design will come to you in a flash, but other times you start with part of an idea and wait for the rest of it to gel. In my case, what’s been on my bench for a few months are these gorgeous turquoise chunky beads.  They are a mix of New Mexico and Arizona turquoise all in similar sizes in the blue green color range. I kept them in my work area and would occasionally look at them and think about how I would like to use these lovely stones.  

I didn’t see them in a necklace so I began to think about making a bracelet. There were not enough stones to make a bracelet using only the turquoise nuggets, so I would need other beads and elements mixed in. Knowing turquoise looks great with silver led me on a hunt for the perfect silver focal bead. I finally found a wonderful handmade sterling silver star bead.  With this bead as part of the design, my first thought was to use all oxidized, darkened silver findings with it, but when I laid them out they looked too dark with the turquoise and the silver bead. Even though the star bead has an oxidized light and dark design, shiny silver was going to be the way to go. So, I laid out the turquoise and some of the sterling findings and spacer beads I would need in a pleasing design on the bead board. 

The star bead has large holes so I put bicone sterling beads with small holes on either side of it for stability. Then I tested the combination by threading a larger saucer bead, a small bicone, the focal bead, another bicone and saucer bead onto my jewelry wire to see how they looked –and that combination worked to support the center bead. 

After looking at my design I decided to add a small turquoise bead to each end of the bracelet, which would make  2 groups of 3 nuggets separated by a sterling saucer bead on each side.  Then I threaded the clasp, wire protector, crimp bead, crimp cover, sterling beads and turquoise to complete one side of the bracelet.  

I checked the length of the finished half of the bracelet and it was fine, so I completed the other half the same way. This side of the bracelet ends in chain, to make it adjustable. 

Here is what the finished bracelet looks like:

 

Beautiful bracelet Phylly!. Thank you for the glimpse into your creative process. Remember if you want to learn more about Phylly, please check out her Etsy shop, SendingLoveGallery!  

Stay tuned for next week's episode of What's on My Bench??

In Praise of the Weird and Wonderful

This week's blog post was generously provided by Karla Rosenbusch of KarlaKraft on Etsy. Karla is one of our newer members on the Jetteam and we are happy to have her with us.

 

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Like most jewelry artists, I love pretty stones! Diamonds, rubies, sapphires — they’re all lovely. But they’re also expensive and can be very hard to work with, especially if you’re an amateur like me. So lately, I’ve found that I love working with more unusual non-traditional materials.

 

Since I enjoy creating with rivets and cold connections, I came up with a design for mounting stones in an “envelope.” I cut a perfect circle out of a square of metal with my disk cutter, dome around the circle with a dapping block, place my stone in the hole, and rivet another piece of metal to the back. Fairly easy and lots of fun! But I’ve also discovered that I can use the same technique for materials other than stones.

 

I found some wonderful glass cabochons with images inside — the Man in the Moon, a Ouija board, and other cool things. They make the most delightful pendants! I even got some large glass eyes from a taxidermist, but I haven’t used those yet. I’m really looking forward to playing with them

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I also found a source for “pool ball” cabochons. Yes, actual pool balls. I took one that was sliced to the right size, used the envelope technique, and made what became one of my all-time favorite pieces!

 

 

I also found some faces carved from buffalo bone from Bali and used those for my “Goddess” series of pendants — which have proved very popular! And I also discovered a source for “fossilized” tumbleweed. Yep, I did, in fact, say “tumbleweed.” It is dyed, pressed, and heated, turning it into a stone-like material. I’ve only made one pendant with the tumbleweed, but I really need to get more. I just love how it came out.

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But I’ve found other uses for unusual materials, as well. Since I’m someone who loves recycling, upcycling, and “green” things, I’ve been doing a lot with recycled aluminum cans. I’ve made a whole series of pendants using recycled beer, selzer, and soda cans — the more unusual, the better! I just cut a disk out of the can, dome it, and attach it to a piece of metal — usually a nice copper or brass disk. That’s how I made my “moose crossing” pendant, “polar bear” pendant, and so many other strange and wonderful pieces.

 

So even if you can’t afford (or aren’t interested in) traditional and “normal” stones, there’s a whole world of unique materials out there. Just find what intrigues you and play!


Karla
KarlaKraft

What's on My Bench??

Today's episode is from JET member Gaetana of SatinDollCo. Today, Gaetana is going to talk to us about one of her non-jewelry products she sells in her shop.

I recently was forced to minimize of "MY STUFF" which actually forced me to get rid of a lot of unwanted clutter. I found some hidden treasures that I totally forgot about. I also came across my pattern that I use to make my card cases which got me thinking. Since I have a ton of vinyl just laying around why not make them into card cases too.

It first starts with the vinyl. I chose to first work with the gold and green. The purple I'll come back later to work on.

I then pin the pattern down with stick pins and cut.

Now it's time to get the real work: making the holes and pounding the rivets. For this I'll need gold rivets and ore. Since  I have no hammer  the ore will do double the job by punching  the holes and wooden side I'll use to hammered the rivet two pieces together.This part is a true labor of love because I'm doing all the hole punching and setting the rivets by hand. Tons of pounding. My neighbors love me. =)

Once all the holes are made and the rivets have been placed and set it's complete.Here's a look of it open:

and it closed:

Our Moss Green Vinyl Card Case is complete and can be found in my Etsy shop. You can also find them in black, gold and cognac. Now this is what I call handmade!

Thank you Gaetana for a glimpse into your creative process. Stay tuned for next week's episode of What's on My Bench??

Val Swanson

Designed by Val

What Wood is That? A Book Review

Today's blog post was contributed by our very own Mollie Ann, from RoughMagicCreations. Mollie is our resident book reviewer and  member of the Jetteam. Mollie is quite busy with all of her shops on Etsy. She and her husband Joe operate these unique and creative shops. RoughMagicals and RoughMagicHolidays and MirandaMercantile. And if that's not enough, Joe has two shops of his own on Etsy, ProsperosBookshelf and FeedbackTheatrebooks. A busy couple are these two!!

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Here is Mollie's latest review on a great book.

 

On the premise that jewelry designers, and other artisans as well, are people who are usually interested in other art forms, for today's review I've chosen WHAT WOOD IS THAT? Subtitled "A Manual of Wood Identification,"  This 160 page book by Herbert L. Edlin is a delight for woodworkers, craftsmen, furniture restorers and DIY carpenters of every variety imaginable.

 

This is a terrific reference for everyone interested in discovering what kind of wood they are looking at. With its authentic wood chips and the detailed descriptions, I call this a treasure for anyone interested in learning about and/or working with wood.

 

 

The first section of this book comprises a multi-page foldout panel with samples of 40 different woods ranging literally "from A to Z" -- Afrormosia to Zebrawood. The second section is an interesting and informative guidebook to wood identification, with 79 black and white photos and illustrative drawings.

 

 

Following a brief Introduction, Part I "The Wood from the Trees," presents a concise history of mankind's uses in two chapters: "Man Masters Timber" and "From Forest to Fireside." Part II, of special interest to artisans, concerns "Wood Identification," provides clues to a wood's identity in formation and structure, and explores 14 "Keys for Naming Timbers." 

 

In some ways, these keys are not so very different from the criteria used in identifying gemstones: general and secondary colors, grain, hardness, weight and country of origin.

Other identifiers include rings, pores, rays, smell, bark and leaf shape.The properties of the 40 varieties of wood included in the actual samples are presented in outline form, along with well written text.

 

 

While this book is intended for beginners, the author does not "talk down" to his readers, a refreshing approach often missing in other guides for novice craftsmen and artists.

First published in 1969 in Great Britain, my copy of WHAT WOOD IS THAT? is a handsome brown hardcover manual with an attractive dust jacket. With various dust jacket designs, it is available online from several sellers, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 

 

I also found a copy listed on Etsy: www.etsy.com/listing/220424400

Mollie
RoughMagicCreations