I Can Get Everyone Else's Wedding Rings Done, But Not My Own!

Palladium White Gold Wedding Band, originally uploaded by Nicole Solo.

I love Etsy's Alchemy! Someone requested a Palladium White Gold Wedding Band, and I won the bid. It turned out so beautiful, I almost fell in love with it myself! Meanwhile, I have yet to finish my OWN wedding set, and the Seventh is quickly approaching! I did, however, have a very nice feeling of pride and contentment with what I do for a living, knowing I can make meaningful pieces of jewelry that people will wear (hopefully) their whole lifetime. Love to all,
Nicole

Palladium White Gold Wedding Band : $120

Mother's Pendants Now Available

Mother's Pendant 2, originally uploaded by Nicole Solo.

I finally have my Mother's Pendants available in my etsy shop! I have them priced at $150 for a three-stone pendant (these are nice sized stones!) and will happily make a custom piece for you. More information here.

Pictorial: How To Make a Custom Mother's Pendant - Part 1

To keep my mind off a toothache, I present to you: How to Make A Custom Mother's Pendant - Part 1 - Making the Bezel Settings.

Step One: Choose your pretties.

This custom pendant will use 8mm round moonstone, citrine, and simulated sapphire cabochons.

Step Two: Snip, snip, snip your bezel wire to the correct height.

My strip was way too wide for these stones, so I trimmed it.

Step Three: Mark the length of bezel strip you need for each stone.

Step Four: Cut to length.

Flush cutters save on cleanup time.

Step Five: File the edges to make a perfect seam to solder.

Step Six: Seeee?? (No gap)

Step Seven: Flux and solder.

(click photo for solder tips)

Step Eight: Pickle.

Step Nine: Round and enlarge bezel if neccesary.

Should just fit over stone, but not too tightly.

Step Ten: Cleanup.

I like to do a little bezel cleanup at this stage.

Step Eleven: Sand bezel to correct height.

Figure-8 motion helps keep the height uniform.

Step Twelve: Repeat previous steps for additional bezels.

(Picture taken PRE-sanding)

Stay tuned for part two, to be completed after I get a dentist's appointment :)

Preview: Le Petit Birthstone Rings

Preview: Le Petit Birthstone Rings, originally uploaded by Nicole Solo.

While I'm waiting for some decent sunlight to come out to get better photographs to list some things, I just *had* to introduce my new Le Petit Birthstone Rings! They are adorably tiny and the stone nestles above your other Le Petit stacking rings perfectly! I have all twelve months' birthstones available in 3mm for sterling silver and 2mm in 14K gold. My Le Petit Birthstone Rings are only $18 each for silver, and $65 for solid 14K Gold! E-mail orders[at]soloartworks.com to order.

Craft Supply Love.. And Hurt In My Wallet for Rent-Time

Recently my Grandmother comissioned me to make three custom pendants with silver and bezel-set birthstone cabochons. So I figured out the cost and ordered the supplies when she paid me. But it turns out she only paid me for ONE of the pendants for now, so I had to rely on dearest Boyfriend to help me out with rent again this month! Dangit. Just when I think I'm staying afloat. -But- in the supply order comes extras... mmmm... gold, gemstones.. even my first <insert flashing lights here>diamonds</end lights>! Its 12:44 now and the mailman is usually done with the building's mailboxes by 1:00 and I'm chomping at the bit to go check. My package probably won't even arrive until Monday but there is always that hope that your sheer excitement will make it come sooner, right? A girl can always dream :)

Its almost time to BOGO! Plus: Alchemy's back!!

I've been super-busy gearing up for this weekend, working my little hiney off making all my freebie earrings and getting my extra rings ready! In case you didn't know, since not all of my items are going to be Buy One Get One Free, I'm going to be giving away free earrings or a free ring with every non-BOGO purchase! The styles will be my choice, but they will all be sterling silver, and handmade by me :)

On another note, has everybody noticed the return of Etsy's Alchemy? I have placed a bunch of bids on custom requests for things like silver and gold rings, earrings, and more :) If there's something you've always wished could be made for you, Alchemy is the place to request it! You can even request a custom item from a specific seller via their shop! Click Here to visit my shop and check it out.

No work for me today - or - Ohhhh the pain...

So we went to the gym yesterday for the first time in my new fitness goal. And OMG Ow ow OW ow ow. So no hammering for me today! Sitting on the couch assembling necklace ribbons and promoting in the forums will have to be it for me! Who knew my chasing hammer was so heavy?

Speaking of the forums, from one of my <3<3<3 Heartfest!! <3<3<3 threads, I found a seller named Sosorosey who had the most adorable crochet napkin rings. I asked if she could make me one into a wrist cuff, and look what I bought! Got it today and its been keeping my wrist trendy and warm all afternoon :)

And one more thing - apparently my last post was my 100th blog post here at Filed Fingers :) Cool!

Swarovski Rosary

This is a rosary I just made for a custom order. It is just about the most beautiful thing I've made. I used Swarovski AB Crystals and Sterling Silver wire and crucifix/connector. It's sold, but I would be MORE than happy to make one for anybody in any color, for $75 for Swarovski Crystals.

Alternately, here is another example, with glass Cathedral beads and Silver Plated wire, with Sterling Silver Components. Something like this would be $30-40