Laura Griffin Designs

Soar…

Rather than having New Year’s resolutions that are quickly broken, my friends & I choose one word as a way of setting intention for the whole year. It is a word that inspires and resonates….that calls you into being.

My friend, Mindful Mimi, mentioned she was inspired by both the words “Create” & “Soar”. I was particularly inspired by the word “Soar” myself (and took it for my 2010 word!)… it has such a lighthearted, happy ease to it.

When I was preparing to send her a package of hand-made goodies from across the ocean, I decided to pull out my silversmithing supplies to create a piece of jewelry she could wear. I wanted to make something that would remind her that dreams come true, if you only have the courage to leap and trust that the universe will provide all that you need.

I came up with the below design…

The quote reads, “Leap & you will sprout wings”.

Want to make one for yourself? Just follow the below simple instructions:

1. Use a jewelry saw to cut out a circle (approximately 1″ in diameter) from a piece of 24-gauge silver.

2. Hand-stamp the quote “Leap & you will sprout wings” using a metal alphabet set.
(I used these economical alphabet stamps from Harbor Freight Tools.)

3. Drill a small hole in the top for the bail.

4. Sand the whole piece.

5. Dip the stamped circle into a liver of sulfur solution to antique the lettering (alternatively use a black sharpie marker if you don’t have liver of sulfur available).

6. Polish the silver circle to a shine (removing any dark areas from the liver of sulfur).

7. Take some sterling silver thin-gauge wire (mine came from Hobby Lobby) & two small red freshwater pearls, winding the wire through the hole several times to create a custom bail

8. Attach a pre-made sterling butterfly charm with a few small jump rings and string onto a sterling chain.

Wishing you a wonderful day of creating and soaring,

Highlights from CHA…

So the whirlwind that is CHA is over & I’m back home to unwind. What a great few days. For those that have never been, CHA (the Crafting & Hobby Association) has a semi-annual tradeshow for the industry with over 3,000 booths to visit! There were make ‘n takes at most booths & a buzz in the air as buyers met sellers from all over the world! There were hundreds of talented designers scattered around the show floor as well.

Some of this year’s highlights for me… Meeting Carol (see previous blog entry) , classes with Tim Holtz & Lisa Pavelka, visiting with some of my favorite designers from the Hero Arts booth (hi Lisa & Shari!), talking to a few publishers, purchasing the new “it” tools from Zutter Innovative Products (will post more on these later when they arrive in the mail!), and seeing some friends from last year’s show.

I had the opportunity to catch up with one of my close friends, Caroline, and her fiance, Terry, on Sunday night as well. We spent the evening at Disneyland! It was a great way to see the park, in my opinion. Paid half the price because we were only there from 6-10, but we were able to visit most of the rides due to the short lines & see the Disney Fanstasmic night show on the river as well!

Meeting Carol…

Ok…so I’m a crafting geek. I totally admit it. And being the crafting geek I am, I can’t think of a cooler thing to experience at CHA this year than meeting the queen of crafting herself, Carol Duvall.

So how did I run across Ms. Duvall? Carol has a new papercrafting book coming out in mid-2007 and just happened to be doing a meet & greet in the DRG publishing booth when I went strolling by. She was ever so gracious & sweet as I gushed compliments towards her & was kind enough to take the above picture. So her eyes are shut, but who’s really looking that close?

Rotating Flower Ring

This is a rotating ring I recently fabricated from a sheet of 20-gauge sterling silver. It is based on a “poetry ring” design by Julia Converse Sober. See her wonderful pieces here.

I first sawed out the band & the ring base. The round ring bezel was soldered together, then 14-gauge wire was soldered to either side. I bent the ring piece into a U-shape & drilled holes for the wire to fit through. I then soldered small pieces of sterling tubing to either side for the wire to fit through. Finally, the wire was riveted to hold the ring in place. After sanding & buffing, I placed polymer clay inside the ring & a couple of beautiful cane slices on either side (blue cane by Denise Spillane & pink flower cane by Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg). After baking, I added a layer of Kato liquid polymer clay to the surface to give it shine.

Sterling Silver Flower Bead

I recently tried my hand at another sterling silver fabricated hollow bead. The flower design was drawn free-hand on a sheet of 20-gauge metal. The metal was then sawed out, filed, domed, soldered, sanded & polished to a high shine.  There are a few rough spots where my torch was a bit too hot for the metal…but it’s not too noticeable from a distance.

Sterling Silver Chunky Chain

This was the latest project I made in my silversmithing class. The chain is made from 14 & 16-gauge sterling silver wire. All links are soldered closed with every other link made of twisted wire. The toggle was also hand-made by soldering jump rings to a piece of square wire (see picture below).

Quick instructions: To twist your own wire…simply cut a long piece of wire (approximately 4 times more than the end length you want) -fold in half & attach looped end to a hook connected to a hand drill or electric drill & the other two ends to a vice. Twist until you get the look you want.

Yea!!! The gallery is up!

It has taken me months to find a gallery program that I really like that was easy to install on my server & user-friendly to boot. I’m now a huge fan of ZenPhoto. True to its name – it is simple & clutter-free, but easy to customize as well.

You can check out my new gallery here. There are only a few pictures in each section. I will be uploading more in the future as I am able to scan in some of my older published designs that I am now able to show online. TFL.

Designing in silver & polymer clay…

Well – I finally made the project that I set out to do when I began silversmithing classes a couple of months ago. I have been wanting to combine silver & polymer clay for some time & am fascinated by how amazingly beautiful it can look when done right. Of course, this isn’t one of those examples. But it isn’t bad for a first effort, I guess. The design reminds me a bit of Mondrian.

Quick directions:
Fabricate the bezel from fine sterling silver & solder it to a 20-gauge sterling base. Saw out the shape, file it, & attach a handmade bail (from 22-gauge sterling). After polishing, add some polymer clay in earth tones, bake the piece, sand it & buff to a shine. Helpful hint: Use some Mica pearlescent clay in at least one panel of your design to add interest (see top right panel of pendant). The light will reflect off of it beautifully & add texture to your piece.

An exercise in soldering…

With a stroke of luck, I finished the sterling silver necklace I’ve been working on for the past 6 weeks in my final silversmithing class.

This piece was made entirely from sterling silver wire. It involved soldering 42 handmade jump rings to 21 strips of measured wire. The “dogbones” were formed to shape, then soldered together using larger jump rings as a connectors. The back side of the necklace (not visible in this picture) contains a handmade chain & clasp.

I have to say that I was a bit nervous getting started (I mean the thought of me coordinating a torch in one hand & solder in the other can be frightening!), but it really ended up being a lot of fun. Suzy at the Craft Guild of Dallas has been a great teacher, and I’m hoping to stay involved in this new hobby. Thanks for looking!

My first sterling silver fabricated pendant…

Tonight was the last session of my beginner fabrication (silversmithing) class & I was able to complete one more piece of jewelry. A week ago, I picked up a wonderful stone cabachon at a local gem/bead store, the Rock Barrell. The stone is called “painted jasper”, and this particular cabachon had such a unique & beautiful line that it had to leave with me! I think it really does look like a painting too!

Here are the quick instructions on how to make this pendant: Measure & solder a piece of fine silver bezel wire to a piece of 20-gauge sterling. Saw around the bezel wire & file. Create a bail from 22-gauge sterling & solder it to the top of your first piece. Once the stone is set, shine the silver and you’ll get something that looks like this! I’ve so enjoyed learning about silversmithing that I’ve signed up for another session. It will begin in two weeks.