Jorgensen Studio Silversmith

Just a quick note about whats new. The hammered hearts with gemstones are being added to the etsy shop one by one. The newest is a fat 1.5 ct London blue topaz. So pretty! I just love this shade. Also the hammered stacking bands with gemstones will be added soon, but it has been rainy all day which makes for bad pictures. I have been "piddling" at my computer lately as my husband likes to call it. I have been reading blogs and roaming around randomly on the Internet more than I would normally do. I have been reading up on Buddhism for fun and found out that you tube really is awesome. There seems to be alot more down time lately in the studio for me to just ramble around. I guess its the equivalent of shuffling around the house in your jammies and fuzzy slippers. Life seems to have gone into slow motion. There are still all the activities with the kids. SAC meetings, flag football, and debate mom stuff, but there isn't the mad rush. It's easier lately. I know th...

On the bench lately has been a whole lot of unfinished stuff, lol .... But I have been experimenting. Circles seem to be taking up the focus of my brain lately, and I have been running with it. I am trying to find a way to make an eternity band from circles without making myself crazy in the process. Creating a ring with handmade individual circles is a lot of work. First, I hand form a coil and use a jewelers saw to cut the coil into individual rings which are all soldered closed. the soldered rings are hammered and soldered together to form the ring. It is a bit time consuming and not very practical for a seemingly simple piece of jewelry. I really like the look of the piece so I am going to continue to experiment to make it a viable piece for the shop... any metal smiths out there have a short cut? I also have been experimenting with patinas and really would love to expand the color palette on the patinas I use. I love the green, and it is a natural true patina, but I want more...

I finally set up the Dwanda site. What is Dwanda ? It is a commerce site for handmade items similar to Etsy but caters to Europe and uses the Euro as the currency. Hopefully it will bring more internationally buyers my way, although I wish the translation feature was easier to use. Anyone out there that can help me with German? http://en.dawanda.com/shop/JorgensenStudio I set up a new logo there too. What do you think? Funny, I spent hours today trying to make up a new logo for Etsy and I didn't end up liking any of them. I went back to the old white logo with a new picture. This one took all of 5 seconds and I so love it. Stock template and all. Now I just have to make it fit Etsy .......

I have been in a shopping mood lately. I think it is because I like every other American is terrified to spend any money that I don't abosolutely have to, and I always want what what I can't have...lol So I thought I would show off what I am looking at on etsy, with a mini and showcase so of the really awesome talent that is there. If you have never shopped on etsy, let me tell you I highly recommed it, but watch out it is addictive. Etsy is filled with artists and crafters and small business people, selling handmade items, vintage pieces and crafting supplies. go look..it is really cool....or click on my shop and go to my favorites below especially if you are looking for my birthday present....lol http://www.etsy.com/

Here they are! Aren't they just the sweetest thing. These are the new Harlow Earrings. Handmade from sterling silver and fabric flower petals. I cut and dome each of the the little blossom bases from sterling sheet and hand form the ear wires which are then soldered in place. A little sterling stamen hods the flower petals in place. They are also available in the shop in read and new colors will be coming! These are a new addition to my etsy shop http://jorgensenstudio.etsy.com. There you can find my artisan handmade sterling silver jewelry. The new green bling ring that I blogged about last is also now listed in the shop ! Come by and see the new stuff......

It has been awhile, sorry! My youngest daughter has been sick. I thought she had just caught my cough that I have had for the past couple of weeks and still cannot seem to shake, but she has strep throat. So she is needing more of my time lately and I have little time left to blog. I have been trying to finish the last of the series of bling rings. I must say I like this one best. It is the same vintage Swarovski crystal from the other bling rings, but in green. It has a patterned band like the first, but thinner like the second. It is just right. It will soon be added to the shop to take it's place with the clear bling and the blue bling. I also have some new mixed media earrings to add to the shop. Hopefully I can get some pictures taken and get them listed. They are a really fresh idea, and I am really excited about them....so keep a look out. I told you all about the rain and the general sogginess of everything here. Well it seems to be perfect conditions for tree frog love. Th...

It has been raining here for what seems like weeks thanks to all the passing hurricanes. It feels like winter up north. The doldrums. Is that how you spell doldrums? Do people still use that word? So I have been lazy. I spend more time on the computer and less time at the bench. I keep blaming my head cold and I guess the weather is just another excuse. I definitely have a case of the blahs. Everything seems to be on auto-pilot. Neat and tidy and on schedule, but that routine is not conducive to creativeness. I had to run into "town" to get some quick supplies yesterday. I wandered around aimlessly in the store. Tried to go clothes shopping and hated everything I put on. Although, that really isn't out of the ordinary. But here's the thing, It seems to be spreading. It might be because the state is in such economically bad times, and everyone is just trying to muddle through until we see some light at the end of the tunnel. But everyone seems to be sleepwalking, just...

I showed the sketch to bench progress photos of this piece a little bit ago. I thought I would add another sneak peek. It's not quite finished. I want to shorten the middle chain, clean up the edges and finish setting the bezel. I really like incorporating the majolica in the jewelry. They are some of my favorite pieces I have made. The majolica was my first love so to speak, so I guess I am still really attached to the process. You can scroll back on the blog to get a quick lesson in majolica, and see the original sketch of this piece. I am debating the opening of a second Etsy shop to sell findings. The price of silver seems to be going down daily and that makes it easier for someone like me hand making findings to compete with the pricing of commercially factory made findings. I think that the competition on Etsy is all jumbled together and it is getting harder and harder to find the handmade findings in the sea of commercial supplies. But I really think that there is a str...

Can you believe all the hurricanes one after another? We went for a few years without much activity so they must have been saving it all up. Fay has drenched our sandy soil, Hanna skirted by us creating more rain, and Ike has most of South Florida stocking up on supplies. There is standing water in everyone's yards, everything is wet and mushy. Even the hot South Florida Sun has not dried up all the water. My fear with Ike is that the track has him turning to the south yesterday ( yippee !) but he will skate by close enough to create a lot of rain and cause severe flooding because out soil just can't hold any more water. As of this morning they have Ike going almost due west over Cuba and missing us completely. Here's the tracking: http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200809.html Let's all cross our fingers.... The problem with hurricanes though is that if they miss you they soon become some other persons nightmare, and I really wouldn't want to wish it...