Blog Author

Halstead Jewelry Author Erica

Erica is the former Studio Coordinator at Halstead. She spent 14 years with the company across a variety of departments but fell in love with metalsmithing. Erica's top tip for new metalsmiths is: "Practice! Be patient with yourself and have fun with it. Don't be afraid to ask questions. All of us at Halstead enjoy helping people whether it's questions on products or technical help in the studio. We're here for you."

Articles by Erica

Understand the difference between beading findings in this jewelry beading guide. Our educational article covers clasps, headpins, stringing wire, and more!

A Jeweler's Guide to Essential Beading Findings

Learn about beading findings in our educational jewelry guide! When you are beginning beading, the lingo can be overwhelming. Learn the essential vocabulary and common components you will need. Choose the right beading wire, clasps, headpins, and more for your next beading design.

5 Unisex Designs to Expand Your Jewelry Collection

Trying to find a way to bring in new clientele? Incorporate these 5 unisex designs into your existing jewelry line to expand your collection.

Which gauge and temper should you choose? Our helpful guide can help you choose the right sheet and wire gauge and temper for your next jewelry-making project!

Jewelry Materials: Guide to Gauges, Tempers, and Annealing -

This blog outlines a few basics in jewelry making – tempers, gauges and annealing. Knowing about tempers and gauges will help you purchase the best sheet and wire for your jewelry.

Why jewelry chains break & how can you prevent it from happening? Read for helpful tips & tricks on preventing jewelry chain from breaking.

Why Jewelry Chains Break & How You Can Prevent It

Let's look at why jewelry chains break and ways to prevent it. From common causes to less known culprits, I'll share some helpful tips to extend the life of your favorite jewelry chain.

Learn how to use wire to create various jewelry elements, including hoops, links, chain, and clasps.

Using Wire to Create Jewelry Elements

Wire is a fundamental jewelry material and can be used to fabricate a multitude of elements. This blog will cover a few ways you can use wire to create jewelry, including hoops, links, chain, and more!

Jewelry Design Competitions - Entering, Submitting & Helpful Tips -

Are you considering entering your first jewelry design competition? Having entered my first contest here's my experience on the matter. From process steps and submitting your work to helpful tips I learned during my experience, read all about the process here.

Lessen the impact your jewelry business has on the environment with these tips for creating recycled and sustainable jewelry.

Practicing Responsible & Sustainable Jewelry Making

Lessen your impact on the environment by learning about recycled & sustainable jewelry! Learn how to become more eco-friendly by making small, but important changes around your studio.

Bulk up your jewelry retail store! Learn how to make ready-to-wear pieces quickly and easily with this step-by-step guide.

Ready-to-Wear Sterling Silver Jewelry for Your Retail Store

Bulk up your retail store with ready-to-wear jewelry pieces! Ready to wear items are great for low price point impulse purchase items making them quick upsells yet easy to stock.

Add texture to your jewelry designs. Read the in-depth article and then watch the how-to video. Discover texturing today!

Texturing Metal for Jewelry

Texturing is a lot of fun! Discover popular ways to texture on jewelry metals. Watch the video below for even more information on this popular jewelry-making technique.

In this article you'll learn what the best jewelry beading tools are, what componenents you'll need to start beading and much more!

Best Beading Tools Used for Making Jewelry

Learn what you need to start beading! We've gathered up a list of the beading tools, components, and supplies you'll want to have ready. We also have a video on finishing your beaded jewelry ends along with lots of helpful tips.

How do you set-up a wire wrapping studio? From setting up your work area to basic supplies, we cover a lot of information in this article.

Setting Up Your Wire Wrapping Jewelry Studio

Ready to wire wrap? Get prepared with this article! We've covered the studio area, gauges of wire, beginner tools and some materials that you can use when wire wrapping.

Jump rings are a popular finding in jewelry making designs. Check out this article to find more simple ways to incorporate them into your pieces.

5 Creative Uses for Jump Rings in Jewelry Making

Play around with jump rings! I had a fun day playing in the studio with a few extra jump rings I had. Just laying them out on the bench and moving them around brought up a few ideas. These are quick assembly and soldering pieces that are perfect for beginners.

Have you ever had your solder just ball up and refuse to flow or not even ball up at all? Possibly your metal turned bright red, but that li

Top 5 Reasons Silver Solder Doesn't Flow

Solder not flowing? Find out the reasons why. Jewelry soldering can be frustrating at times, but with the right knowledge, you can quickly troubleshoot the problems.

Soldering gold-filled can be problematic. It requires knowledge and training. Read this article for how to solder gold-filled jewelry.

Working with Gold-Filled: Tips for Success & Troubleshooting -

We receive more questions about gold-filled items than any other products here at Halstead. We have addressed many material issues in past articles. But, this piece will focus on how to solder gold-filled jewelry items and the issues that may arise. We will also discuss other hot topics dealing with gold-filled items such as sanding, filing, and cleaning.

Learn the tips and tricks to soldering copper and brass! Understand the material, soldering challenges and a few technical problems that may occur.

Soldering Copper & Brass Metals in the Jewelry Studio

Copper and brass are fun materials to work with in the jewelry studio. They are beautiful in their own right and they are perfect for learning new techniques. But, soldering these metals raises unique issues in design and technical execution. Learn more from our studio coordinator, Erica Stice.

Learn to pick solder! This is one of the 3 standard techniques that every jeweler should know. This method protects fragile pieces when soldering.