I intended to continue with my crafty holiday making madness here on the blog but then I fell into the world of silversmithing and all other things drifted away.

It’s true that I can blow my bezel seams over and over again on a high migraine day but for the most part silversmithing is a place where the problems I encounter have readily available fixes and the results of my labor are stunning.

I’m 5 weeks into my training and I am loving every intensive second of it. Now when I see jewelry I deconstruct it with my eyes. When I see stones I imagine how I would tackle them. I finally feel as though I can DO something with my life, even though I can’t do all the things I’ve previously trained for.

Here is a photographic journey through some of the steps in my last piece:

Here is my further assembly of silver and pearl earrings.

So this is what has been occupying all my time this past month! I will try to get to another set of make your own holiday gift ideas here soon!