New fold form jewelry and upcoming shows

These are a couple of the new fold form cuffs I made this week.  They are light and adjustable.  I also made some leaf earrings and played with my new torch quite a bit.

There is one thing I don't like about the new torch.  I can't seem to learn how to spell acetylene.  I look it up every time.  Do you have any words like that?  Honestly spelling isn't rocket science but a couple letter combinations drop into a big black hole in my brain.   The other words I always have to look up are guarantee and omelette.  Seriously.  I just copy / pasted those words into this paragraph.

The pendant below is a fold formed penny with a sterling silver heart.  It's the first piece I made with the new torch and I was sooooo happy when it came together easily.  One of my biggest problems using the old propane plumber's torch was soldering silver to copper.  The solder just wouldn't flow.  That was a major problem because I love the look of silver with copper; they just belong together.  The acetylene torch gets much hotter, has a variety of tips (small to large), and is easy to manipulate around the piece.  Those qualities make all the difference. 

A new tool takes new skills.  I have used this particular torch before, and a couple others like it, but only occasionally in classroom situations.  I found an absolutely awesome resource for soldering techniques -- Lexi Erickson's Metalsmith Essentials: How to Solder Jewelry .  It was the best $14.95 I've spent in a long time.

Show alert!

Pickerington Antique and Craft Show- Nov 5
If you're local, come on out to the Pickerington Antique and Craft Show on Saturday. 
I'll be sharing a booth with my good friend and talented photographer Robyn Skowronski.  This is my first year doing the show but I hear it's always jam packed with cool stuff.  And I can't wait to hang out with Robyn! 

Gifts of the Craftsmen- Nov 13- Dec 23
Yesterday I also took a new batch of fresh-baked jewelry over to the Ohio Craft Museum for their upcoming holiday show, Gifts of the Craftsmen.  The two cuffs pictured above were part of the delivery.  More on this one later.

Well, I'd better get to work now.  So much to do for Saturday!