Metalsmithing

Reticulation and Fusing


Hammered solder jumprings chained to make a necklace
If you are interested in buying this necklace right now, click here buy now


Omega holder


24 ga 1.5" headpins


16ga sturdy fun clasp measures 1 inch


Exclamation Pendant!!!!
Blue Glass Cabochon


In January I took a metalsmithing course at Mountain Gems with Dominique Brechault. Mountain Gems is located in Burnaby and is a wonderful store for Gems and tools for metalsmithing. After figuring out how to really saw through metal with fluidity, I fell in love with metalsmithing and especially soldering. There were several disasters in class which were perfect. I learned so much from Dominique. I learned how to saw, pierce metal, solder, reticulate silver (heating up silver, over and over and melting it so it wrinkles), fuse (joining to metals together without solder), make bezels, and cabochon setting. I took this course every Wednesday for 8 weeks, and after a long day at work, the 3 hours I spent in this class were the best 3 hours of my day (except seeing Emma & Peter afterward). I'm looking forward to taking an advanced metalsmithing course with Dominique in the autumn.

Above I discovered soldering jumprings and joining them is very addictive. I've made several necklaces and bracelets using 16 and 16 gauge sterling silver rings, and then doing my favourite thing hammering the rings afterward for texturing. As well, I've taken my metalsmithing skills to make almost all my on findings (clasps, headpins, jumprings) to truly make my jewellery all handmade by me. The Omega holder above is one of my trademarks for making lanyards for people who work and need to wear ID tags.

The last photo is a whimsical pendant that I made with glass cabochon. This piece is for sell (and will be uploaded to my website this weekend).