I Want to Play With Fire

I know what my next learning venture is going to be! I am finally going to teach my self how to solder sterling silver. I feel that I am limited to what I can do in some aspects without being able to solder metal. Like for instance I can make wire wrapped rings, but they really are not what I want to make. I have these visions of pieces of jewelry in my head, but I need to know how to solder to make those visions come to life.

So that is why I am taking the plunge and I am totally ready to play with fire!

The ring photographed above is an example of my frustration and me playing around with ring designs. It is pretty in the picture, but doesn't quite work in real life. I just need to get that one more tool and I could do it properly.

Can you tell I spent the day shopping for new tools?

Silver Dreams Ginkgo

Ok so I don't have a pussy willow necklace to show you just yet. (Mentioned in post below) I do however have a sterling silver ginkgo leaf necklace with a small rock crystal accent. I call it "Silver Dreams" because it has such a romantic and fairy tale vibe with the lightness of the sterling silver and the sparkle of the rock crystal.

I made the ginkgo leaf by tracing a real ginkgo leaf that I picked from a tree in Stanley Park, Vancouver. I traced it onto the sterling silver then delicately cut it out with a saw. I then gave it some curves and bends and with the swipe of a polishing cloth and sanding block it was done!

This necklace is listed in my Etsy shop.
Sterling Silver Crystal Ginkgo Necklace