book joy: rubber stamped jewelry by sharilyn miller

scan of rubber stamped jewelry cover

Just picked up this cool book. I am was lured in by its cover - aren't these gorgeous projects? The book starts off with a clinic on basic jewelry-making techniques, including wire stuff which is the author's special love. Then it's on to the recipes for the twenty projects.

Apart from the totally predictable stamped dominoes, the projects are extremely creative. One uses vinyl tubing to create a housing for rubber-stamped art. Toothpicks make a pendant. There's also a liberal use of shrink plastic - love it - bearing no resemblance to its original state. Also, polymer clay, which I haven't really gotten into yet.

scan of i love paris - project by suzie heinzel

Because I would like to incorporate my photos into jewelry, I was hoping for detailed how-tos on the cover project called "I Love Paris." Unfortunately, there isn't much explanation re: the soldering process. (No how-to in the front of the book.) She does give the ingredients, so i think going to assemble these and see if I can't figure it out. That's half the fun, no?

for the soldering, here's what i am going to need:
precut glass, .2 mm thick
copper tape
flux
soldering iron
rosin core solder 60/40

will check back in once the key items are in the house!

Meanwhile, here are the book deets:

Rubber Stamped Jewelry

by Sharilyn Miller

What's Doing Here?
Well today has been tough. The fire continues to rage - 0 percent containment. I wasn't able to carry on normally even though i am not directly affected. It's smoky, it's tough to breathe and people are fighting an enormous fire less than a mile away. When I went out today, everyone seemed business as usual, and it just made me feel weirder.

k.l. man is out of town visiting the kids in Los Angeles, so I am hoping for a little extra crafty time this week in between working on my wordpress skills and fixing up the dana rogers photography blog. feel free to check it out for more fire news.