Over the years, many people have told me that they are not creative. They think that they are not creative because they don’t paint, sculpt, make jewellery or do any of the things that we perceive as being creative.This [ … ] Read More
Kathy Brandon – Artisan/Workingsilver.com Owner
Kathy was born in Silver City, New Mexico, and grew up in the tiny hamlet of Silverton, in an area called the Silver Valley in northern Idaho where her father was the Superintendent of the Sunshine Silver Mine. Kathy [ … ] Read More
What Tools Should I Use for Forming and Dapping?
We jewellers are a crafty lot. We produce some pretty amazing jewellery pieces and forming helps us give that wow factor to our jewellery! Mandrels are necessary in every jeweller’s toolbox. There are mandrels for bezels, rings, bracelets and [ … ] Read More
What is Pickle Anyway, and How Do I Use It?
When I say pickle, what is the first thing that springs to mind? Lovely, crunchy dills and onions or a crockpot of simmering sodium bisulfate? If it’s the latter, you are most certainly a jeweller! Even if it’s not [ … ] Read More
Copper: the Metal for Fall
When Fall arrives, I always want to make and wear copper jewellery. I don’t know if it’s because it reminds me of the vibrant leaves, orange pumpkins or the harvest moon, but copper feels right at this time of [ … ] Read More
Be A Learner, A Maker, A Creator……..Take a Class!!
The year has a natural rhythm, and fall is time for shorter days, cooler weather, and back-to-school. After a busy summer, we’re back in our routines. The kids are at school, learning all kinds of wonderful new things. Now [ … ] Read More
How to Prepare and Decontaminate Your Tumbler Barrel
I think it’s safe to say that most of us love our tumblers. They save us countless hours of hand polishing as well as beautifully work-hardening the creations that we have laboured over. I must confess that when I [ … ] Read More
Safety In The Metalsmithing Studio
Ever hear the phrase, ” it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye”? It comes from ancient Rome, where anything was allowed in wrestling except for eye-gouging. Nowadays, parents often say it to their children to discourage [ … ] Read More
Soldering Blocks – Which One Should I Use?
Quite often, when customers come into Workingsilver looking for a soldering block, they are not sure which block will work best for them. It’s true that there are many different blocks, which can get a little confusing, especially when [ … ] Read More
Which Pliers Should I Use?
Pliers are one of the most used tools on any jeweller’s bench. I have several different pair that I use constantly for a wide variety of techniques. For those of you that find the variety of pliers a little [ … ] Read More
Polish Your Style!
When I first ventured into silversmithing, there were a lot of things I knew nothing about. One of these was polishing. Like many other people, most of my experience with polishing silver had been either polishing my mother’s [ … ] Read More
St. Valentine’s Day- where love and jewellery collide
Ah, Valentine’s Day- a day for the hopeless romantics among us. In 270 A.D., Claudius, who was the Emperor of Rome at the time, had forbidden soldiers to be married because he thought that married men did not make [ … ] Read More