What's On My Bench

I have spent most of the week working on a number of "Just because you love me" pieces. These are the pieces you make for family. I started the week with four and am now down to one!

I also started a new skill set this week. I am teaching myself to do filigree.

My first attempt at filigree. I need to use less solder.

The filigree work hasn't been done in the true sense of the word since I didn't use twisted wire. While it presented a number of problems, I am quite pleased with the results and am learning a considerable amount.


My second attempt:

I will have to go back and work on the bezel of the faceted stone on this piece.

When I got to the third piece I decided to add a prong setting for the faceted stone. Since I am unwilling to do step soldering, I had to rethink this design. Each attempt I made at attaching the prong setting to the filigree presented a new problem. Ultimately I decided to go with a bezel setting.

I am very pleased with the final product here.

This items aren't available in my shop yet. I am in the process of making my shop over and will add them as positions becomes available. I am looking to achieve more of a gallery feel to my shop. I hope you will check in there to watch my progress.

And The Winner Is....

I have to tell you, I never knew that hosting a giveaway could be so exciting! I started out last week with a few followers who were mostly, friends and family. This week I have almost twice as many blog followers! I have new Facebook Fans, email subscribers, and Twitter followers! The traffic through my shop has been up as well! What a great week!

I have decided that this will not be my last giveaway. I think I will host one about every six months! I hope you will stick around as I grow this next year!

I know, who cares, right? Tell us who won already!!

The winner of the Sterling Silver and Copper Viking Knit Bracelet is:

debijackson!!

CONGRATULATIONS DEBI!!!

GIVEAWAY!!!

Here's your chance! Watch the video to earn 4 chances to win this bracelet!
Open to U.S. Residents only.

The prize:

NOTE: There is no sound on this video

Viking Knit Tutorial-Part 3

Hey folks! So sorry for this coming so late. This one was the hardest one to do yet, not to mention, I had a few personal setbacks. (Namely my youngest daughter took my camera one day without asking! :D )

This is the final installment but I will still be happy to answer any of your questions. Just post them here.

I hope you will come back later this week for a special surprise!