Making a list....

And I'm not checking it twice - I keep adding more to it! And the topic of this list? Why, new jewellery techniques to learn of course! It's that time of year, the eye of the storm, when all the organisation for my eldest's birthday is done and Christmas Day itself is over, all the Christmas orders are safely with their new owners and before the new school term starts, before my January sale gets really busy and before I start organising my youngest's birthday. So, of course my mind turns to new techniques I'd like to learn next year and the projects that have been on my "to-do" list since the beginning of this year!

At the top of the list is learning how to make a locket. I've made simple lockets that are held together with a ring through holes in the top and slide apart, but this time I want to add in a hinge. None of the techniques needed are new for me, but making such a small hinge will certainly stretch my soldering skills! The picture above comes from a great Ganoskin tutorial that teaches how to make both hinged and slide lockets.

A little further down the list there's a note telling me to make more rings. I only tend to make rings as commissions, and rarely make them to list in my etsy shop or on my website but I've got a desire to turn some of the pretty stones I've been collecting over the last few years into some equally pretty rings. I think this part of my list is partly a response to the fact that I've spent a large part of the last couple of years building up my made-to-order collections that I sell in galleries and my collection of clasps and components in my Daisychain Extra shop. I fancy spending a bit of time playing and making more self-indulgent pieces! Don't worry though, I'll still keep coming up with new clasp designs as well.

A project like this beautiful ring by janieartjewelry on etsy would satisfy my desire to etch silver as well!

Source: etsy.com via Joanne on Pinterest

Further down still (but still nowhere near the bottom of the list!) is etching. I teach my college classes how to make their own texture plates using salt-etching, but I've never etched sterling silver before, mainly because the chemicals needed are too nasty to use at home where I do most of my work. A couple of my more advanced college students have asked to learn how to etch silver though, so I think I'd better learn how to do it properly before I attempt to teach them! Thankfully the post that Francesca wrote a couple of months ago should help me with safety information and resist ideas though.

So, that's a taster of my to-do list - what are your jewellery plans for the coming new year? What techniques have you always wanted to learn? Or is there a particular style of jewellery that you want to make more of next year? Whatever your plans are there are two things that I'm sure of - we'll all add more to or lists as we go through the year, and we'll all have lots of fun as we work through them!

Oh, and in case any of your jewellery to-do list requires new jewellery components, don't forget that some of us currently have sales in our shops! See Jen's post from yesterday for all the information you need!


Jo Tinley
Daisychain Designs