(no subject)

[afmetalsmith]

It was SO nice to be back in the studio again! This past week has been one of lots of prep work, and research, and marketing, and not nearly enough metal. And tomorrow will be another no-metal day, since we have social stuff going on. (Which will be fun and everything... but...!)

Not that I got tons done. I did get a recent Rio order mostly sorted out. The stones are in my inventory system now (but not the boxes), and the tools are put away. I am excited about the projects that the stones will be in, and looking forward to getting to work on them!

I did work on polishing the Russian filigree pendant, and it's close to done. It's not completely done because I designed it to have something dangling off the bottom, and (basically) hate everything I have that could do that. A friend's offered to let me check out some small heart beads (rose quartz and onyx, I think), and they may be just the ticket since the basic shape is a freeform heart. If I end up not liking them, I'll do a drop with 2-3 graduated-sized beads, probably black and red (black onyx or coral, hematite, with garnet in the middle if it's 3).

I'm also eager to see if the wooden dapping set I got will help with those tricky double-spirals on my Viking beads. When I fused a bunch of them last time, the elements got stuck on... but several of the spirals sort of unwound a bit and sproing!ed out. I could tap them back into place with my steel dapping set... except that would flatten the tops of the twisted wires, which is not the look I'm going for. So: wooden daps. I feel optimistic about this. :)

Plus: next time I have some quality studio time I can get started on some of the experimental pieces I've been wanting to do. Joy! There's several setting techniques I want to practice, plus more filigree, and making progress on several projects that have been stalled for a while awaiting one thing or another.

And, of course, starting work on some new commissions! Fun stuff!

Comments

[beadoodles.livejournal.com]

Actually, this helps a lot. I really want to get a better system going this year...and That really does seem to be the only program out there that's solid and well known...I was also looking at http://www.artaffairsoftware.com/

I guess my style of jewelry is a closer to what the creator does, but I'm not sure for how long. And I do have the luxury of limited edition pieces...Which version do you have (standard, pro or deluxe?). I'm kind of looking at pro...

Thanks for your insights!

[afmetalsmith.livejournal.com]

I have Pro, but we're thinking of upgrading to Deluxe- it looks like it has some handy features.

I really do LOVE the pricing help, even though it's rather a pain for me to use accurately!