Jorgensen Studio Silversmith

What's Trending in Wedding Style Right Now?  What are the top trends that brides are looking for and dreaming about? Pinterest is always a good place to look to see what people are loving at the moment. Its ultra current and its fun to look at.  Trend #1 Succulents. Oh my these beauties have taken over. Everything from bouquets to favors and decor for the big day. I have to agree the soft colors and rustic style are so in tune with brides sentiments these days.  Less formal and more personalized is the name of the game.   Trend #2 Farmhouse Rustic.  Casual, comfortable, homey. Vintage pieces mixed with wood and old metal. Texture is big and the colors are muted. Do you see yourself dancing the night away in an old barn, exchanging vows in a forest clearing, or just surrounding yourself with shabby chic and homemade goodness?     Farmhouse can be as rustic or as classic as you want it to be. Vintage a...

Square Moonstone Engagement Ring   Choosing the Right Engagement Ring Vivian From The Handmade Letter Shop on Etsy posed a few questions to me on types of engagement rings and settings and what I have come across helping my customers choose the right ring for them. Vivian has a beautiful blog so be sure to take a minute after reading my interview to see all the great articles she has there. https://www.thehandlettershop.com/blog/choosing-the-right-ring

Mother's Day Gift Guide 8 Things Mom would Really Love Mother's Day is fast approaching. If you are the kid that runs into CVS before brunch every year for a card and a bunch of flowers that are less than fresh, let me help you out with a few ideas that she will really love. Most are affordable and some can even be done last minute.  1. Your Time:  Schedule a special day for you and her to spend some time together. It could be mani/pedis at the spa. A trip to her favorite museum or art event. Even a class that you can do together. "Plant nights" are a cute thing that are popping up across the country where you spend the evening making a terrarium to take home. If plants aren't her thing how about a night of wine and painting? Those things are everywhere.    2. Plants  Not the dying ones for the grocery store or the pharmacy chain. Have one of these super adorable kits shipped to her - we don't all live close enough to do plant night togeth...

Featured on Emmaline Bride - http://emmalinebride.com/rings/engagement-rings-under-100/ A beautiful blog for all things wedding related featuring handmade products.

Ever wonder what an ant colony looks like under ground? This professor uses free casting of aluminum to make a casting of the ants tunnels. So amazing.

My TV Debut! I made my tv debut recently on a local show here in Louisville called Great Day Live. I was terrified! I am a very nervous public speaker - It is my biggest fear actually. I am teaching a class at our new Artist Co-op called "Etsy Success" about tips and tricks to be a better Etsy seller. They wanted to do a segment specifically on Selling on Etsy and the class so I was the go to. Its really great PR for the Co-op so I couldn't bring myself to say no. My family teased me about being the next youtube sensation if I vomited on live tv, but I made it though and discovered it wasn't as hard as I thought. I just have to learn to not talk with my hands. I don't know if that is possible. Here is the link to watch for yourself : http://www.whas11.com/great-day-live/video/Block-Party-boutiques-tips-for-selling-your-handmade-creations-on-Etsy-213313521.html Ps - I'm the redhead.

Custom Wedding Set A custom wedding set, made with a lab created emerald in a sterling silver "cake" ring. Wedding band made with hammered sterling  center and 14kt yellow gold rolled edge.  The cake rings are available in my etsy shop with a variety of different gemstones. www.jorgensenstudio.etsy.com  

Custom Work I've been keeping busy with custom work lately, which I love to do. Its an exercise in problem solving and stretches my creative imagination.  The princess shaped rings were part of a birthstone series for a really fabulous customer.  Lab created alexandrite and citrine were used. The alex was so dreamy in its color I didn't want to send it away when it was finished.   This juicy peridot was damaged near one of the edges and sentimental to the customer, so we decided on a bezel that would hide the damage and protect the stone also. The bright silver really shows off the brightness of this stone.

It has been awhile since I've posted, I am sorry. Life just takes over and my blog gets forgotten. I keep telling myself I need to get better at this, but like exercise its all too easy to procrastinate this task until tomorrow. I have been busy, June is a big month here. Two birthdays, a graduation, everyone home for the summer. Trips to state parks, garage sales, picnics and new jewelry to make for wedding season. I just thought I would post a few pictures of the new pieces, some have been posted to the Etsy shop, some not yet. This is the new big white topaz "Let them Eat Cake" ring & the new swirl wedding band, both in sterling silver bright finish. Listed Here The new white topaz three stone ring, bright finish, round faceted stones. Sterling silver patterned band. Listed Here I have had these beautiful heart shaped blue topaz stones forever, but they were just waiting for the right inspiration. A three stone ring with a center ...

Gem Shows When I lived in Florida I was lucky enough to live where the local Gem & Mineral Society had a huge gem show each year. I could go there and find amazing stones, and buy enough to tide me over (well almost) until the next year. Moving to a new state, I've had to relearn a lot of things I already had figured out. One of those is whether or not there is a local gem show where I can interact with vendors to get great prices on quality stones. I try really hard to keep my jewelry affordable to regular folks & getting the gemstones sourced from reliable dealers is a big part of that. Besides it is great fun & a bit of an addiction. This past weekend there was a small show across the bridge & while there was only one vendor with loose gemstones that were not just beads, I did score some lovelies. Sometimes it pays off to be the only one buying loose stones at a show too. One of the best scores of the day is a beautiful 4.5 ct Ruby Cabochon. I'll have to sav...

Just wanted to say a quick thanks to Alyson from unruly-things.com for featuring my simple little spinner rings : Here She has a lovely & stylish blog that you should check out.

The new anniversay band. I have been wanting to make this ring for such a long time. It took me awhile to figure out the engineering of it, but all that time scratching my head paid off, I think. I am so smitten with it & how it looks with the stacking rings. It has just been added to the Etsy shop : Here It is available right now in a limited number for 64.00 I am looking forward to making these with colored gems too! I want more.

My person Icon Rings started a couple of years ago & once in a while I add something new, like recently I added a horseshoe and a ladybug to the the ones I offer in my Etsy shop. Sometimes customers ask for special custom icons and I am happy to create them when I can. Above are a few of the recent custom requests. A bird, a dog bone, a heart and of course the ever popular hipster mustashe. If you would like your own little personal icon ring or set contact me through my Etsy shop for info.

I've begun to expand on the thicker hammered sets of rings. This is the first set. It holds a shimmering snow white moonstone that is very ethereal. Its listed in the Etsy shop here: Moonstone Stack Set The snow this winter in my new home state has been record setting I am told. I must say it is charming at first, and watching my daughters run to play like little girls in the first snow was a wonderful memory. But lets face it, snow is only charming for so long, and after awhile its just cold and damp and a bit hard to get used to for this Florida transplant. So if the moonstone is my unconscious ode to snow, the cherry blossom promise ring is my ode to the promise of spring. These are amazing oval pink topaz gemstones that I bought last year at my favorite gem show. Large 5x7 stones that are wonderfully cut so there is so much sparkle to the soft pink. The exact color of cherry blossoms. The band is a new floral design with cherry blossoms an leaves circling the band. I only have ...

Sometimes customers have their own special gemstones that carry history with them. A grandmothers diamond, a special gift, a purchase from a special trip. These memories attach themselves to our mementos that we carry through life. It's not very Buddhist , but for most of us it is true. Objects have a special meaning beyond their physical worth. Sometimes I am intrusted to work with these special bits of cherished memory. This was the case with this lovely purple blue Ceylon sapphire. It really shows off its color in the bright silver princess set. I would say that at least 1/4-1/3 of the work I do is custom. I think it is really tremendously rewarding to be able to create something that will be a cherished bit of personal history and a bit humbling.

A very special wedding set, made with a wide band and a large rose cut garnet. A beautiful looking ring that reminds me of Mary Queen of Scots. Opulent and Rich with warm tones and lots of detail. On its way to its new home. I do quite a bit of custom work for my customers and I must say I really love it. It not only expands my imagination to try new things but it expands my skills as a metalsmith because I have to work out the crafting of the piece and how it needs to come together. Sometimes in this process, I see new possibilities about how a new piece can be made or an idea develops in a totally new direction. Sometimes a new piece develops from that trial & error of engineering a custom piece. That is how the lotus ring & earrings came into being. I posted the custom ring that I was working on already on the blog. But while I was testing the pieces, what size they needed to be & how they fit together, I fell in love with the simple petal shape & the lotus rings sp...

A custom wedding set with the prong set ring. This one is set with a white topaz; brilliant and sparkly but at a much nicer price than a diamond. I've just listed the white topaz ring in the Esty shop & the matching band is available upon request. Click the title to take you there.

Here is a look at another custom piece. An eternity band I made using the lost wax cating method as a custom piece for a great customer of mine. This process takes a long time, and she was very patient. :) The lost wax method of jewelry creating begins with forming a piece of jewelry out of wax. It can either be carved out of hard wax or built up out of softer waxes. There are many methods as personal as there are people using this process. Once the wax is made it is sprued on a casting tree and inserted into a flask that is filled with "investment". The investment is like a plaster and fills the space completely around the wax. The flask is heated and the wax burns out leaving a hard investment mold with a void where the wax once was. The metal alloy (silver, gold, etc) is then melted and poured into the flask to fill the void where the wax was. Once the alloy is cool the investment is cleared away, the sprues are cut off and the piece can be sanded, polished & finished....

Its been crazy in my life lately. We have moved twice this summer. Packed, unpacked, oops new job, pack, drive cross country, unpack. Whew! We are finally getting settled in our new home though and all the children are back at their respective schools. I have been busy with custom orders so I thought I would give you a look. One is a totally new direction. A customer contacted me with a picture of an old Mexican Silver ring & wanted one made. Here is my new take on an old design: All the little marquise shapes were soldered together and hand shaped. All the little buds/stem pieces were made & then everything placed down on silver sheet. I imagine there were over 100 pieces of solder individually placed the first round of soldering. Then I pierced through the sheet and cut out shapes to give the piece a bit of lightness. It was then oxidized & polished back to show the pattern. I love the way it turned out. As with most of my custom work, I do test pieces first. I have a sma...