Jorgensen Studio Silversmith

The neighborhood section of the Palm beach Post came out today with the article about me and the jewelry. Is there away not to be self conscience when you see yourself posted on the web? I don't know if it's possible. The reporter asked some random questions like who would you most like to have dinner with, etc. It is really hard for me to be as out going as I'd like in that sort of setting. That whole public speaking thing, just freaks me out. You put yourself and your work out there. It's like taking a leap off a cliff. Ugh! I guess if we all have personal battles to fight, I am ok with that being mine. I'll keep working on being fabulous in an interview for when I become famous. I wish the article had shown the jewelry more. The article in the print paper has the etsy website address so that is totally awesome, and is much better than the 1 minute video clip that they posted online. Hopefully, it is interesting enough to warrant some people to go look at etsy. Th...

Blogging is new for me, very new. So as time goes on and I figure things out I am sure you will see some changes to this page. Thankfully, I have teenagers that can help me. So in my wanderings around the blog word occasionally I find other blogs that I find fun to read or informative and I will post them here so you can see what makes me giggle or captures my short attention span. I came across one today while trying navigate the project wonderful site. "Mom's crazy life" is written by Dani, a mother of 6, who works full time and goes to school. I don't know how she manages this amazing feat, but she does and writes about it on her blog: http://www.momscrazylife.com/ Have fun reading it. OK , I really have to get off the computer now and get some work done.

Bling rings on the bench. Vintage Swarovski crystal cabochons and sterling silver settings. I have been a busy beaver, We had an extra day off this week! thank you Fay! all the schools were closed on Tuesday and I got to stay home and play in the studio. Those are good days. No damage here on our home front , although there was a tornado that touched down a couple of miles away and that made the national news. Also heard about my neighborhood on NPR today on the radio. Seems as a lion and a tiger got out again. Oops ! It did end better this time as they did not make it off their own property this time, and were safely returned to their cages. I so enjoy the possibility of waking up to a tiger in the yard. Keeps you on your toes. Honestly, the gentleman that keeps them was Tarzan many years ago and has a nice bit of property where he has a sanctuary for large cats. Down the road a bit is Lion Country Safari. We have lots of fabulous lions, elephants, and other such wonderful creatur...

I have so much more on my plate to worry about than weather, really, but it seems to be a common subject so far on this blog. So today finds most of Florida hunkering down for Fay. She is still tropical storm Fay and not hurricane Fay, so that is a plus. The storm trackers have her hitting the west coast and just giving us on the east coast some blustery weather for a few days. The keys have been evacuated of tourists, and are getting the brunt of it today. 45 mile an hour winds are predicted for my area. That means all the stuff out side that can blow around has to come inside.... Doesn't Mother Nature realize I have orders to fill? Ugh! If you want to follow Fay's progress there are a bunch of neat things to look at here: http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200806.html So if I am quiet for a few days...maybe I lost electricity.

New Dots Circle Earrings have come out of the tumbler and have been added to the shop. These are simple and classic earrings that are available in two sizes and two colors. I will be adding a few new things to the shop over the weekend to get the shop ready for the big newspaper feature. Th Palm Beach Post is featuring me in next weeks neighborhood section! I am very excited about the article, although not really excited about having my picture taken. I hope it will be a good article that highlights etsy and the jewelry well. I always get so nervous about these things. While they were here, they also shot a bit of video. Both of me answering questions and of me at the bench. I'll set up a link as soon as it is posted. We are heading into art fair season here in Florida. I will be getting a schedule of events together and posting that as well. So much to do and never enough time!

I am doing a custom order of a variation of a stack ring set from my Esty shop. Did that make any sense? lol I have a stacking set called "vines" in the Etsy shop that are three sterling bands with little silver dots on them. The "vine" set is wavy and undulating (as vines tend to be), but a customer wanted them straight and also ordered a couple bangles to match. Here they are before they go into the tumbler. The band part has been oxidized, because if you my jewelry some part of it has to be oxidized. The little dots or balls that are attached have been polished on the high points for a really nice contrast. I have some hearts on the way into the shop. They are in the tumbler as well. The hearts will be able to be personalized, so they should be fun. Ohhh, I almost forgot. Some great circle earrings are in the tumbler too and should be posted sometime this weekend or Monday latest. I went shopping for a new torch yesterday. I came home empty handed. Don't y...

Florida is the lightning capital of the world. It strikes all sorts of things all the time here, but it still freaks you completely when it happens close to you. We have many tall pine trees in the backyard of our new home, thankfully they are taller than the house. This past week lightning hit the tree closest to the house, maybe 50 feet away. The picture to the left shows the pale zig zag line down the entire tree where the lightning blew the bark off. To the right you can see the scaring better that was left behind. I hope the tree doesn't die and fall over. My daughter was sitting in the family room in front of the sliders that face the yard where this tree is and said she saw hit and it was bright red not white as one would expect. My husband is a bit of a tech geek, and a bit anal retentive (I do love him dearly) so all the computers, printer, big screen, etc all have battery back-ups and surge protection. It did blow out our modem and the phone system because it came thro...

Every so often I will let you view what is sitting on my bench. Most of the time what sits there are projects that require many steps and more time than I have in a single day. These works are in process and you will be able to follow them along. Right now I am working on several pieces that are similar to the majolica clay and sterling pieces that have sold out of the etsy shop. These are bigger scale pieces and incorporate the blue blossom tiles. I have also started a piece with a lemon tile I made as an option for a custom order. Here is the "plan": And here it is translated to sterling. What else is on the bench today? I am working on rings so I am making bezels for the vintage crystal and glass cabs I have. Bezels are a staple for silversmiths and should be one of the first things to master. Making bezels uses all your skills and is a stepping stone to more advanced work. Back to work.....

Having started in clay I can't ever wander too far from it. It calls to me when I have been neglectful. I have been looking for a way to integrate my love of pottery and jewelry that expresses my style. I think I have captured that with these pendants. These little colorful gems are a labor of love. I start with raw terracotta clay and form a tile. That tile once dried has to sanded to make sure it will fit into a bezel. Then it goes into the kiln for the first firing. Once fired each little tile is glazed with three coats of white base glaze and sanded with fine steel wool. Then the fun part begins. The tile is then hand painted with majolica glazes in the traditional method of over glazing, before going into the kiln for the second firing. After the terracotta tile is cooled from the kiln, I hand fit and solder a fine silver bezel to a sterling silver backing individually for each tile because as they are hand formed they all are varying in shape. This is a labor intensive proce...