Jewelry Made at Harold Studio this Week

Below we've got some of the things that were made at the studio this week.

Becki Etched some peace signs into metal that she is going to turn into a ring.

Susan is making some really cute stuff after taking the enameling workshop we had a few weeks ago.

 Textured Silver Ring

 A soon to be spinner ring by Lynn.

Quartz Earrings

 Smoky Quartz earrings by Michelle

Knot Bangle

Knot bangle by Lynn

Silver Bezel Pendant

Bezel pendant by Ruth. I like the different shape!

Dot Necklace

Really cool necklace made by Rebekah. She riveted in all of those dots!

Happy Saturday! I hope you have a great rest of the weekend!
-Johanna

How To Get Rid Of Patina In Hard to Reach Spots

How to Get Rid of Patina in Hard to Reach Spots

Lynn has this lovely silver ring of her grandmother's that she wanted to wear, but she hated the patina that was inside of the swirls. So we decided to take a shot at removing it.

The Ring

The first thing we needed was a q-tip.

 I cut off both ends and put it in a flex shaft.

 Then, I tapered the end on a file, so it could really get in the hard to reach areas.

 I charged up the tapered tip with compound.

 Then used it as a tiny polishing tool.

 And viola!

It definitely could use a little more work inside with the q-tip and maybe some higher shine compound (We used tripoli.) but the ring is certainly on its way to being patina free everywhere!

-Johanna

Best of the Month: May Jewelry at Harold Studio

Jewelry Made at Harold Studio This Week

Some of the jewelry pieces made at our studio this week:

Tube Set Pieces: 

Lori learned how to tube set and these are her first two silver pieces doing it. I think the stone in the tube set ring is a garnet. The pendant wasn't quite finished when I took the picture, but I think it looks great!

 

Faceted Silver Ring:

This is the top of a cast ring Michelle made. I like her idea of making the silver look like a faceted stone.

 

 

Copper and Turquoise Swirl Earrings:

These are some simple earrings Ruth made by curving wire then hammering it flat. She then attached the beads by wrapping a thinner gauge wire around the curved shapes she made.

 

Silver Knot and Turquoise Rings: 

Made by Mikako on a Saturday

 

Stamped initial ring:

A partially finished stamped initial ring made by Deb for her husband. 

Happy Saturday!
-Johanna

Wild Canyon Games

Last weekend, I went up to Williams, Arizona to participate with a team in the Wild Canyon Games at Lost Canyon. It was their first ever year doing it, and so much fun!

The goal of the games is to raise money for kids to go to camp. Lost Canyon was absolutely beautiful. I wish I had taken more pictures... but it was an incredible experience that I want to repeat next year!



On Saturday morning, each of the members of our team had to compete in their own individual events. They were Mountain Biking, Road Biking, Running and Geo caching. I, of course, did the run. I was kind of nervous going into it too, because it was at a lot higher elevation than I am used to, and I hadn't run anything over 4 miles in the last month. The run was a 15K. Yikes! So, the Wednesday before, I made sure to run 7 miles and planned on just hoping for the best for the run.

Well, it was definitely intense, with some crazy inclines and rocky areas! There was even someone on our run who saw 3 bears! He ran back to me and another girl and insisted that we all run together.






















After the crazy run, our teams got together for an amazing lunch, then participated in group events for points. We rock climbed, zip lined, ran through obstacle courses together and got very muddy. We didn't win, but I'm definitely okay with that. It was way more fun that I had expected and I got to try new things that I never would have thought I'd get the chance to do!

What We Made This Week

Michelle of Miki Design Shop cast a few silver rings at the studio this week.
I love the swirls on this design, and that she decided to oxidize it. I think it brings out the stone more than it would if it was the white color of silver.

Mara made this riveted heart in Jewelry I. She sawed, textured and heat patinaed the pieces, then used what she learned in this weeks class to join the two pieces of metal together. 

Michelle made this Faith Peace & Love riveted cuff

Mikako made this ring for a friend the other day. I just thought it was so pretty. Don't you?

Hope you had a wonderful, long, and restful weekend!
-Johanna

Iowa for Mother's Day

Last weekend, I visited my Grandma for Mother's Day. She is the youngest of thirteen children and her last living sibling, Ellen, is in a hospice. So, I thought it was probably a good time to visit. Ruth (my grandma) is such an inspiration for me. She has an amazing and positive outlook on life that I KNOW takes work. She's never been the type to prolong any phone conversation (In fact, she's usually the one to end them with me!) because she always has something to rush off to, like a card game with her friends.

We ended up going over to Pella, Iowa one day. It's an old Dutch town, and they have a tulip festival every year.

Tulips are my absolute favorite! It was a shame we ended up going on a Sunday, because there were some amazing looking bakeries that were closed.

Thankfully, the tulips were still out and looking good!

It was a fun trip that consisted of a whole lot of card games, coffee shops and laughter. We spent our last afternoon going thrifting in Perry and playing checkers at a cute coffee shop called Big Chair.

Hope you had a great Mother's day! 
-Johanna