February Blog-o-sphere Think Tank

~"Your favourite winter meal/ recipe?"

Ha ha… I don’t really have “recipe”… I cook daily but not because I like to cook. I cook so my family can eat decent fresh meal. My meal has to be simple & easy! But usually pretty tasty too:) in winter I cook soups a lot. What kind is depends on what else I’m having that day and what’s in my refrigerator.

Simple & Easy but Tasty Soup
1) Put sliced onion & shredded carrot in the water and boil
2) Vegetable bouillon
3) Little sea salt & pepper
4) Soy sauce
5) Drop or two sesame oil
6) Farm tofu (cut in cubes)
7) Spinach

I struggle what to cook daily… I cannot wait to see everyone’s recipe for inspiration! Here is other blog that talks about same topic

Andes Cruz: http://www.andescruz.wordpress.com/
Stephanie Nocito Clark: http://thethinkingsofacoldweathergirl.blogspot.com/
Kirsten Skiles: http://www.kaskiles.com/
Shaun Young: http://shaunyoung.ca/
Brad Severtson: http://hammeringoutaliving.blogspot.com/
Wendy Kelly: http://www.wendykianakelly.com/
Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/
Kathleen Krucoff: http://mysticalmythicalmetalwork.wordpress.com/
Kathryn Cole: http://www.kathryncolejewelry.blogspot.com/

Happy Cooking:)

Riveting the Poppies

~how do you rivet those little balls without cracking the glass?

I got this question through my Flickr page. I’m no expert but I could be very cleaver & love questions like this! And I had locket order to do today so I decided to take pictures step by step. BTW, to me riveting is the single most valuable technique I learned at jewelry class. It’s opened up how I incorporate my enamel pieces into metalwork in so many ways!

You’ll need~
*one poppy disc
*brass locket
*1” - 18g fine silver round wire -And it’s important to use fine silver because fine silver doesn’t harden so you don’t have to put too much pressure hammering them.
*nail head punch –I got mine at “Harbor Freight Tools” for about $3. In jewelry class, we were using a fancy tool that has many sizes but this will do me just fine.
*stand for nail head
*riveting hammer
*small drill
*bead reamer




Let's start!

Drill a small hole on the middle of locket. Hole should be snag to wire so it’s better to start small and wider with reamer.

Make ball on one end of silver wire.

insert poppy, then locket on wire.

set ball end on the nail head punch. Punch end should be large enough to cover most of the ball but small enough to not touching the enameled surface.

Clip wire to leave about 1.5mm.

Tap on wire until they are almost flat.

file on sharp edges.

Yay, finished!

Happy Crafting:)

February 14th Talk About Blog

~What’s the most romantic piece you’ve ever made and why?




Wow, this is tough one! I made so many pieces and I try to put little romance in every piece. But as I was thinking about this topic I remember the one custom piece I made a while back. A customer requested earrings inspired from this cute quote: 'A Bird and A Fish Can Fall in Love, But Where Will They Live?' isn’t this a cutest?! And she wanted bird and fish to be like but you can tell the differences of bird and fish and in different colors. I was delighted to design & made this piece!

And most recently, I made this cherry blossom ring that I think it’s so darn romantic! The ring is on sale on Handmade Division team shop. And I’m working on necklace & bracelets next!



Now, let’s go see more romantic pieces the other team mates made!
Rickson Jewellery: http://www.ricksonart.blogspot.com/
andes cruz http://andescruz.wordpress.com/
Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/
http://barbaradonovan.blogspot.com/

Happy Valentine's Day & Happy Crafting!

finding the *perfect* texture...

I love imprinting textures on the rolling mill. I particularly love organic textures. my friend at jewelry class gave me this webley thing to texture with and I just fell in love with it. I use it all the time but it's not going to last forever. I must find something else before it's runs out. but I can not find it anywhere...



one day, I found "web lace" that looks just like it (well on the picture anyway..) on Etsy. but even though it look similar, when I run though mill, it didn't look nothing like it!

my teacher recommended "cheese cloth". this is quite close and I love it! I have to get some more of those.

but best texture I found was "aluminum foil"! I just love the subtle organic texture and best of all, I can get it anytime in the store! I think I'll try combine cheese cloth & aluminum foil next time.

Happy Crafting:)

Romantic Pink Enamel Sakura Ring

Every time I think about spring (and I think about it in icy winter weather like now…) I think about cherry blossoms in Japan. You can enjoy gorgeous blossoms all over the town, parks, everywhere! And the fact that they will only last about 10 days, add the beauty to the whole seen.

I created this ring thinking about beautiful Japanese cherry blossom. As usual, my main focus in the enamel piece but I think I did good with the metals too! I made ring with sterling silver made to look like branch and solder little copper leaf on the one end. Looks very delicate, feminine and organic. And it’s listed on new Handmade Division team shop!

Happy Crafting:)