Homemade Wooden Jewelry Displays

Those of you who do craft fairs know that jewelry displays can be expensive, and the ones that aren't don't look that great. Personally I don't like the look of the typical black velvet or white leatherette ones, and the alternatives seem to be very pricey. After doing a lot of searching on the internet, I came across this article explaining how to make a silhouette jewelry display bust. I wanted to try it for myself but since I don't have access to a jigsaw, I had to look into how to do it by hand. Turns out you can cut wood with your jewelers' saw if you get scrollsaw blades without pins. I had to go to a specialty woodworking store to get them, but they weren't too expensive. I drew out the shapes I wanted and stuck them down to a sheet of 1/4" plywood with spray adhesive, then cut them out with my extra deep sawframe. I glued a little piece of wood onto the back of each to make a stand, and painted them with spraypaint. I'm also going to glue a little piece of cork onto the back of each so I can secure the excess chain with a pin.

Cutting out the pieces

Ready to Paint

Macro-Filigree

I've been dabbling a lot in filigree work lately, and I really enjoy doing it. The only problem is that filigree work tends to be a little, well... fussy. I wanted to try making something a little more bold and modern in a filigree style, so I scaled up the wire and the design elements to make big filigree. This first pair of prototype earrings was inspired by traditional ironwork designs.

Upcoming Class: Custom Handmade Earrings

My newest class is perfect for beginners who want to learn how to make earrings and beaders who want to step up to wirework. We'll be learning how to make earrings using basic wire-wrapping techniques and beads. We'll also learn how to make our own headpins and ear wires. By combining a few simple techniques you can make an endless variety of earring designs!
This class is open to UW-Madison Faculty and Staff, and Wisconsin Union Members. If you're not a member, consider joining, or you can purchase a 6-month introductory membership for an additional fee. This class starts on Monday and has three openings left! There's still time to sign up. Here's all the info:

Wisconsin Union Mini-Courses: Custom Handmade Earrings
Learn how to make unique bead and wire earrings using basic forming and wire-wrapping
techniques. Learn how to make your own ear wires too! Great for beginners.
Two Class Meetings: Monday 2/13 & 2/20, 6:30pm-9:30pm
UW-Madison Memorial Union CraftshopMadison, WI
Register Online

Upcoming Class: Metal Jewelry Design Basics

If you are in the Madison, WI area and you're interested in learning basic metal fabrication skills this is the class for you! We will cover sawing, drilling and piecing sheet, riveting, finishing, texturing and basic soldering. This class is perfect for absolute beginners and jewelry makers looking to expand their skills into metalwork. This class is open to UW-Madison students and staff and Wisconsin Union members. If you're not a union member consider joining!
Here is all the information on the class:

Wisconsin Union Mini-Courses: Metal Jewelry Design Basics
Three Class Meetings:
Wednesdays 2/8, 2/15, 2/22, 6:30pm-9:30pm
UW-Madison Memorial Union Craftshop
Madison, WI
Register Online

New Filigree Jewelry and Photo Improvements

I'm finally getting back to work after a nice holiday break. Now that one craft fair season is over it's time to start thinking about the next one. With applications coming due next month, I decided I needed to improve my product photos. I got a nice professional looking brushed silver-tone background, and improved my "lightbox" to get better diffused light. A long time ago I made myself a makeshift lightbox by assembling a small box of white foam board. The foam board did a good job of reflecting the light but I still had problems with hard reflections on my jewelry from the light shining into the box from the open front. To solve the problem I cut a window in the top of my box and covered it with a piece of parchment paper. I shine a daylight bulb through the window and the paper nicely diffuses the light. No more hard reflections and phantom lightbulbs.
I've been working on my filigree jewelry and I have some new items up in my etsy shop. Also, I promise that more copper beads are coming soon. They're in the tumbler right now as I type.

Holiday Shopping with Free Shipping

The craft fair season is officially over, but the online shopping season is still going strong! I'm having a free shipping sale in my Etsy shop from now until Christmas. Enter code SHIPFREE at checkout. Orders placed up to December 20th will arrive by Christmas so there's lots of time left to shop! I'll be listing new items throughout next week and etched copper beads will be back in stock soon.

Art vs Craft This Saturday!

Come and see me this Saturday at Art vs Craft in Milwaukee. The show runs from 10:00 to 6:00 at MSOE. It's going to be a great event with lots of talented artists and crafters selling their wares. Buy handmade this holiday season!