The leaves are turning, the air is crisp, it’s time to get back in the studio and take a class with us!
Make your own Holiday gifts this year in one of our 6-week classes like Intro to Silversmithing , or Intro to Wax Carving
FALL+WINTER 2016 COURSE CATALOG
Saturday + Sunday | July 16 + 17 | 11am-5:00pm | $240 | Register Now!
In this weekend workshop we’ll be exploring different styles and techniques to create your Perfect Pendant. Learn to construct bezel settings for cabochon, faceted gemstones, and fancy shaped stones. Working with sterling silver, we use hammer and stamps, as well as high polish, and oxidized finishes to accentuate textures and highlight designs. Students may bring their own stones or purchase from the tutor’s collection. Materials are provided.
Check out some of our students amazing work!!!
Next weekend we’re hosting a super fun Weekend Workshop on Etching!
Saturday + Sunday | Jun 25+26 |11am-5pm | $240 | Register Now!
In this two day weekend workshop students will discover how to create raised patterns in metal without using any special equipment! You’ll learn how to transfer images onto metal to etch a variety designs using a low toxic and safe method. Etching is the process of using chemicals to cut a design or pattern into a metal surface. Etching your own designs into metal is a fun and rewarding way to customize your jewelry!
Class covers a variety of resist processes including ink transfer techniques and free hand solutions. We will also be covering basic metalsmithing techniques like drilling, filing, refining, and a variety of polishing and sealing methods, so this class is open to beginners as well as intermediate and advanced students.
Extra materials will be provided.
We spent a little time in the studio perfecting the technique this week, here’s some fun action shots:
Here’s the pieces after they’ve come out:
And here’s a couple styles of the final products!
This weekend we’re hosting a super fun one day workshop on Salt Casting!
Saturday | Jun 11 |11am-5pm | $179 | Register Now!
Salt Casting is the art of melting metal to its molten form and then pouring it over salt. This creates spontaneous forms and unusual shapes. In this workshop we learn how to recycle metal, create many different alloys, pour metal into different forms, and fabricate jewelry out of the salt cast pieces. Your old jewelry and scraps (gold, silver, copper) can be cast into new and wondrous forms. The salt cast pieces can be made into earrings, pendants, and pins during the workshop. Extra materials will be provided.
We spent a little time in the studio perfecting the technique this week, here’s some fun action shots:
Here’s the pieces after they’ve come out:
And here’s the final products!
Join us this weekend for a great foundation class in stone setting!
This Saturday and Sunday, Dec 12 + 13, 11am-5:30pm Register Now!
The bezel setting is the earliest method for setting gemstones into jewelry – and hasn’t changed much over the last few thousands years. To create a bezel, you take a piece of metal and fabricate it to the size and shape of the outside of the stone. You then place the stone inside the bezel and push the metal over the top the stone.
Bezels are a simple, clean and secure approach to setting gemstones. They keep your gem safe and clean from dirt and don’t catch clothing.
We had a great time this weekend at our Filigree workshop. It was so much fun and the students created some really amazing work.
Michelle Chong’s elegant earrings.
Erica Ffolliett created this gorgeous ring. Love the center set stone!
We love these stunning earrings by Dierdre Padin. Amazing and intricate detail work!
Check out some of our upcoming Weekend Workshops, including Flush Setting, Wire Crochet, and Tube Setting, and get the chance to make a unique and original piece of your own!
A few weeks ago in our Intermediate Wax Carving class we were lucky enough to get a visit from Daniel Baez, the owner of Taba Casting in the Jewelry District.
Daniel gave our students a lesson in mold making- the practice of using a model to create negative space within a rubber form. Molds are essentially what makes the jewelry production world go ’round. Knowing how the process works is essential to anyone interested in producing their pieces on a large scale.
Molds can be made from any number of things- anywhere from a finished piece of metal jewelry, to natural forms like tree bark or animal bones. Basically anything than can withstand the heat of melted rubber can be used to make a mold.
In order to create a rubber mold, the model is covered in layers of raw rubber and placed inside a vulcanization machine. This machine heats the rubber up to 375 degrees and melts the layers around the model to create a solid mold. Once the rubber is melted around the model, it is cut open to reveal the negative space inside, which is an exact replica of the original piece. Here Daniel cuts open a silicon mold.
After the mold is cut, a special type of wax is injected into the mold to create a wax version of the original model. This process can be repeated over and over to create any number of wax models which are then cast into metal to create multiples.
There are so many kinds of molds! Interested in learning more about mold making creating multiples of your pieces? Check out our upcoming Mold Making workshop on August 10th and 11th!
Check out some amazing student work from our recent one-day intensive: Sterling Rings 101. See our upcoming one-day intensives here!
Here’s some of the beautiful bracelets & necklaces we’ll be making in our upcoming Viking Chain Workshop. Jewelry by our instructor Jill Hurant. 
LILOVEVE 