Silver Market Over the Last 30 Days – Kitco.com

Silver market prices are affected by many variables so no one can say for sure what will happen next. However, current strength in the US Dollar and the modest economic recovery are both slowly pressuring precious metal prices back down to earth. Let’s hope it lasts.

Artisans have been frantically stocking up on silver jewelry supplies over the last couple of weeks to take advantage of better prices. The rush on merchandise has left our stock somewhat depleted, especially in trending categories like silver chain and silver blanks. We are restocking as quickly as we can to fulfill demand. New shipments arrive every day. If you are waiting for specific items be sure to log in to the website, then you can request email alerts when out of stock items come in.

It is nice to have some good news! Embrace it. Spike that football, do a victory dance and enjoy the moment. Have a great week, everyone!

2011 Copper Finalist Kelly Jones of Wraptillion has found a marvelous way to combine industrial aerospace hardware into wearable jewelry designs. She has created a jewelry line from re-purposed specialized hardware designed for steering assemblies and transmission housings, which she joins together using her favorite chainmaille techniques. The collection includes unforgettable titles such as: Alternating C-Ring Carbon Steel and Bronze Earrings, Asymmetrical Brass Stacked Washer Earrings, Overlapping Macroscopic Earrings and of course you can’t forget, the C=CXC Earrings. Don’t let these mechanical names fool you, her designs work in a beautifully feminine way.

Jones comes from a family of artists and engineers but she has always considered herself the “non-artistic one.” She attended the University of Washington and earned her Masters in Library and Information Science. Writing was her love, and to keep her hands busy while she pondered her stories, she picked up some of her old hardware jewelry that she had saved from her college days and began to create new pieces. Side note:  if you love reading and you delve into Kelly’s Etsy shop or wraptillion’s laboratory to see  her work, it is an additional bonus to be able to read her creative short stories she has laced throughout her websites.

Kelly’s favorite materials are metals such as stainless steel and titanium. Prices on her Etsy site range from $30 – $155.  She will be featured in an upcoming book titled “30-Minute Bracelets: 60 Quick & Creative Projects for Jewelers” by Marthe Le Van scheduled for publication on June 5, 2012. Her jewelry can be found in fine galleries and museum shops across the Northern United States and are available for wholesale buyers online at Vianza.com.

Halstead Bead, Inc invites new silver jewelry designers to enter its 7th annual grant competition for artisans in the industry. The winner of the 2012 business development grant will receive a prize package including $6,000 in cash and merchandise.  Complete eligibility requirements and the submission checklist are on The Halstead Grant Application PDF.  Applications may be submitted between now and June 9, 2012.

First, the good stuff. Pinterest is fun. Scratch that. Pinterest is REALLY fun. In a world overrun by words in news, blogs, tweets and texts Pinterest is a welcome respite. It’s refreshing to browse a purely visual site full of beautiful images. You will see so many things you like – things you want to try, things you want to buy and things you simply admire. Pinterest is full of positivity. The site has done an amazing job thus far of limiting commercial abuses and endemic internet porn to keep pinning enjoyable. It is easy to control your pin stream so you only see things that genuinely interest you.

Pinterest is an ideal community for creative people and the handmade movement. Many artists in every medium are active on the site. Creating boards is an amazing way to fuel your creative drive. Run a search for a theme you are pondering and you will quickly find visual inspiration that is pre-filtered in a way ordinary search engines cannot duplicate.

For small businesses and professional artists, Pinterest is a great opportunity. It offers a unique way to promote your work by pinning images from your website and having those images shared through social connections. It also offers search engine optimization (SEO) benefits because those pins act as little votes in SEO algorithms that will gradually improve the search rankings of your website over time.

So, now the bad stuff. Obviously, there are some risks as well. The biggest risk for artists is that their work will indeed spread across the internet but with no reference to the artist or link to their original website. Pinners who take images from aggregator sites like Artful Home or Etsy may not take the time to cite the artist in the pin title. Or, even if the first pinner does use a citation, subsequent re-pins may delete that information and spread the image without credit.

Like many new technologies, Pinterest is facing challenges. The concept behind the platform is brilliant but in practice it gets a little more complicated. There are legitimate concerns about image ownership and rights as pins are freely added and shared. The original source of an image is often lost or never credited to begin with. Thankfully, Pinterest recently clarified their Terms of Use to diminish some of the copyright concerns of many individuals. They now offer a way for you to block pinning from your website as well if you choose to do so. However, exposure is a goal for any small business. You cannot increase your sales by hiding your wares from the world. You are better off encouraging responsible pinning of your work. Also take the time to troll Pinterest periodically to look for your creations. If they are not credited to you and/or linked directly to your original website, just post a kind request comment on the image so the pinner will update the pin. Most pinners are happy to properly credit images when it is brought to their attention.

All of us as Pinterest users also need to make an effort to pin more responsibly. In the early months of the new website people were far too casual about posting and sharing images without even considering the sources. With the Pinterest debate heating up we all need to make more of an effort to make sure pinned images are linked to the original source’s website and/or credited in the pin title. I was equally guilty but I now try to only post and re-pin images with a clear origin. Whenever possible, I go back and update my old pins with more complete information.

Finally, the ugly truth. Pinterest may be the latest lightning rod in the debate of copyrights on the internet, but it is not the sole culprit. File sharing is an issue on many digital platforms. No matter what the service providers do with their terms of use or their privacy settings these issues will persist online. You can be angry about it, you can shake your fists and you can try to hide your work from the world but it will not change a thing. Instead, you will just miss out on the opportunities that exist right alongside the risks. Mitigate the risks to the extent possible and then know you cannot control everything. Enjoy Pinterest for what it has to offer and do the best you can.

You can follow my pins at www.Pinterest.com/HalsteadBead . Now that you have my two cents worth. What do you think of Pinterest?

Infinity Necklace

“The body is my primary inspiration. I work to discover elegant, contemporary shapes that will complement and complete the wearer – her collar bone, her jaw line, her ring finger. My tools are the key. Each hammer, mandrel and pair of pliers creates its own shape or texture. I love dreaming up new ways to combine these basic elements into something exciting, fresh and inspiring to wear.” -Kendra Renee

Five Strand Cuff

Prices range from $79 – $380. Kendra Renee jewelry is available for sale on the artist’s website as well as in several  fine galleries  and stores across the the country.

Wheel Hoops

Halstead Bead, Inc invites new silver jewelry designers to enter its 7th annual grant competition for artisans in the industry. The winner of the 2012 business development grant will receive a prize package including $6,000 in cash and merchandise.  Complete eligibility requirements and the submission checklist are on The Halstead Grant Application PDF.  Applications may be submitted between now and June 9, 2012.

I just booked my flight for the Bead & Button Show in June. I registered for classes months ago so this was long overdue. It was a frustrating morning on airline websites but that’ll teach me to procrastinate booking!

Bead & Button is a fun little expo but the real draw for the event is the staggering roster of classes offered in nearly every discipline of the jewelry making arts. You can learn a new skill or master advanced techniques. Courses are taught by nationally renowned teachers and authors. Here is a list of some of the skills on the menu:

-Metal Clay

-Lapidary cutting & polishing

-Metalsmithing

-Soldering

-Cold connections

-Lampworking

-Enameling

-Wire work

-Chain Maille

-Keum-boo

-Seed beading

There are regional expos that attempt to emulate the success of Bead & Button but the scale of the event is simply unparalleled. If you attend one event per year, I think Bead & Button should be it. Visit one of the embedded links to check out classes that are still available. Keep in mind that you will need about half a day to walk the expo so you can cram classes into the rest of your time in Milwaukee. It is a little tiring to do a lot of classes in a row but it is worth it!

This year I am squeezing six classes into my trip. I will leave with skills and inspiration that would take months to garner through other means. Let me know if you will attend this year! I will be there for a whole week. Can’t wait!

Michi Necklace

Laura’s book, Unconventional Chain Mail Jewelry, due to hit  shelves on May 15, 2012, will cover five basic chain maille projects and also include sections on leather working, wire gauging, texturing metals and making jump rings. Click the link to pre-order your copy.

Author: Laura Poplin

As an active member of the American Craft Council, Ohio Arts Council and the Dayton Visual Arts Center,  Laura has recently found a love in teaching developmentally disabled people the art of jewelry making. To find out more about her classes, workshops and book signings click this link to her upcoming schedule  in the Ohio area.

Armor of God Bracelet

The Halstead Grant is accepting 2012 applications between April 15 and June 9th this year. The winner will receive a $6,000 prize package for their silver jewelry start-up. Visit the grant website to download an application.

To celebrate Earth Day in April we invited Christine Dhein to give us some jewelry studio tips in this guest blog. Christine is the Assistant Director at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco. She is also the founder of the Green Jewelry News digital newsletter.

Examining jewelry soldering practices in the studio is one of the best opportunities for reducing environmental impact. Here are some less-toxic alternatives for jewelers to protect your health, the environment and to reduce chemical use. Below are some simple tips to get you started.

• Finding Less-Toxic Alternatives – The most commonly used studio chemical is pickle. Options that are less toxic to jewelers during use include citric acid pickle, (available from major suppliers) and vinegar and salt. For the latter, mix one cup of vinegar to one teaspoon of salt or slightly more, if required. Use either solution warm with proper ventilation and follow proper disposal procedures, outlined below.  Find other less-toxic alternatives at  www.silversmithing.com/1altern.htm

• Reduce Pickle Consumption: Use a Small Pickle Pot – For most jewelers, the volume of pickle required is very small. Try using a small (2-3 cup) pickle pot to reduce chemical use.

• Be Kind to Your Pickle Solution: Make it Last! - To keep solution strong, avoid introducing baking soda. Rinse tongs, baskets, and jewelry from neutralizing bath before returning them to the pickle. As water evaporates, add more water. If the pickle is weak, add more acid. With care, pickle solution can be used for many months to a year before replacing.

• Practice Proper Disposal – Each region is governed by different requirements for hazardous waste disposal. After being used in jewelry manufacture, even less-toxic pickle alternatives contain copper. Copper is a heavy metal, considered hazardous, and must be disposed of properly. Neutralizing pickle will not remove the copper. All oxidizers are also hazardous materials, containing heavy metals. Collect hazardous materials in clearly labeled plastic containers with tight lids for storage in the studio and during transportation to disposal facility. Consider evaporating liquids to reduce storage volume.

Green Jewelry News is an, electronic newsletter, founded by Christine Dhein, designed to keep jewelers, industry professionals, and students up to date with “green” news, events, and exhibitions along with eco-friendly studio practices and tips for daily living. To subscribe, send an email to green@christinedhein.com with “Green Jewelry News Subscribe” in the subject. Also, find us on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Jewelry-News/238129319588206

• Stacking Rings – Narrow and simple stacking rings with hand stamped names or inspirational words will be hot sellers this year. Mix up stamped rings with set birthstones or riveted ornaments for fun and funky collage styling.
• Charm Bracelets – Charm bracelets are always popular gifts for mothers. Family themed silver charms and expressions of personal history are great ways to express yourself.
• Turquoise & Orange – The big color trends this spring will be bright turquoise blue and vibrant orange. Give your wardrobe a pop of color with these statement hues.
• Hand Stamped Mother’s Charms – The hand stamped jewelry trend is still going strong. Consumers are now looking for more unusual shapes and variations on charm cluster necklaces so get creative! Check out our brand new stick figure family stamps and our huge selection of stamping blanks.
• Family Trees – The family tree design motif is a hot seller this year. Combine tree pendants with custom family name charms for a meaningful tribute to loved ones.

We have a selection of suggested jewelry supplies for Mother’s Day  available online.

Collection: Eclipse Eye Candy Ring

Deborah is the author of “The Art of Resin Jewelry,” published by Lark Books. She has studied jewelry fabrication at six institutions including Holland Lapidary School and Revere Academy, where she competed and won a scholarship.

Collection: Sirens Playa Bracelet with Spiny Oyster

Fehrenbach Fine Art Jewelry can be purchased on-line, at upcoming shows, in galleries, boutiques and fine jewelry stores.

Collection: First Blush Entwined 2 tone Earrings

The Halstead Grant is accepting 2012 applications between April 15 and June 9th this year. The winner will receive a $6,000 prize package for their silver jewelry start-up. Visit the grant website to download an application.

This year’s edition features the work of two talented lampwork glass artisans. Please contact the artists directly via their websites if you are interested in purchasing their glass beads and pendants. A gold filled choker necklace early in the catalog is embellished with luscious red flowers and green leaves by Lisa Kan.

Later in the book, clients will find a lampwork owl pendant by Julie Karnos of Silver Sage Creations.

Finally, at the end of the catalog we profile last year’s Halstead Grant winner, Layne Designs. Thank you to all the talented artists for their contributions to this year’s catalog. We hope everyone enjoys the 2012 edition.