Etsy Metal News 7.17.09

blush pink topaz ring by andescruz

Happy Friday! Here is a bit of news from our members:

Sophie of duckduckgoosestuff will be at Candyfloss--a designer/maker fair organized by Craft Candy in Sheffield. It's at the Millenium Gallery/Winter Gardens, which Sophie describes as an amazing venue. If you're in the area, definitely stop in and see her there.

Congratulations to Andes of andescruz who just hit 100 sales in her Etsy shop! Also, she will be celebrating her two year Etsy anniversary on the 23rd of July. She is currently running a huge sale in her shop--get on over there to pick up some amazing deals on some gorgeous jewelry!

And another congratulations to Norsola who recently had her Vampyr Ring II featured in the Trendspotting article in the Storque.

Etsy Metal Finds

1. GREEN BED // ARROUND COLLECTION byBellabas

2. Mossy Sprouts - 8x10 fine art photograph byApple Loves Orange

3. Hand Dyed Fabric Bookmark byRuby Mountain Dye Works

4. Reclaimed Wool Sweater Brooch byThe June Bride

Etsy Metal News 7.10.09

Wings Earrings by studiometalsmith--on sale now!

Here is some news from our members this week:

MaggieJs will be at The Big Crafty, an indie craft fair, at Pack Place in Asheville, NC, on Sunday, 7/12. Come find her on the lower level from noon until 6pm.

Kathleen of studiometalsmith is having a big sale in her Etsy shop! Head over for 25% off all earrings through July 16th!

Also, a huge congratulations goes out to Sara of sarawestermark who was Etsy's recent Featured Seller. Sara also achieved the huge milestone of 700 sales in her shop this last week. Congrats, Sara!

Etsy Metal Finds

1. DEKALB / BOX-LIGHT rectangular pendant lamp with diffuser by Resuface

2. Male/Female WC decor bathroom sign retro green/yellow/blue byMooza

3. Halftone Face Urban Wall Decor Vinyl Decal Mural byrEVOLV3rApparel

4. Recycled T-Shirt Rug in Grey (21'' x 30'') byTalkingSquid

5. Urban Modern Cups Mugs White with Skull Design bySoule

6. Koro - Made to order byPoaplum

Pebble Drilling Tutorial

Ashley Akers and Victoria Takahashi are two metalsmiths who utilize pebbles in their jewelry designs. Each artist drills holes in their pebbles, both as a means of connecting the pebble to their metalwork, and as an integral part of their designs.

Ashley and Victoria use similar, but slightly varied pebble drilling techniques, which they will share with you here.

Both artists use a few basic tools.

A means of drilling: Ashley uses a dremel tool and Victoria uses a drill press.

Diamond Coated Drill Bits: Ashley uses hollow core bits and Victoria uses cylinder bits.
*more on this below

Water in a shallow dish: Pebbles need to be drilled under water.


The key factors in drilling pebbles are:
Drill under water
Go slowly
Back your drill bit out often.


Backing your drill bit out of the pebble allows the water to flush out the slag, or debris, that builds up in the hole. Don’t push down too hard, but rather allow the drill bit to do the work. Be patient! As Victoria points out, “if you go to hard or fast you will completely overheat and melt off the tips and they go "squeeeeeeeeee" really loud, oopsy, $ cha-ching!”

Ashley finds it helpful to start out with a small pilot hole that you can drill outside of the water. This helps because the water quickly clouds up and you can’t see your hole, but have to go by feel. The pilot hole will be very shallow, just enough so that your drill bit doesn’t move around on the pebble.
*Ashley uses hollow core drill bits but is not completely satisfied with them. They are more costly than the cylinder type, and the small ones clog up very easily. After trial and error Ashley has decided that starting with a smaller drill bit and working your way up to the size you need the hole to be is quite helpful. The less material you take out at one time the easier this process is, and incremental drill bits allow you to do just that.

Don’t get impatient and push through the pebble on the back side. This will cause a fractured look where the bit breaks out a bigger section of the pebble. Sometimes even if you are patient this can still happen. Trial and error as well as patience are essential parts of this process.

You can expect to go through a lot of the diamond coated drill bits in the beginning. They can break and the coating can wear off, but this lessens with practice. It takes a while to get the feel of drilling pebbles. The denser the pebble the harder drilling will be, and longer it will take.


As always, it is important to take safety precautions when drilling. Be sure to wear safety goggles and keep hair and loose clothing out of the way.

Have fun, and happy drilling!

Here are some Pebble Jewelry Designs by these two artists.

Victoria Takahashi

Ashley Akers

SNAG Conference 2009

The Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) is,

"an international educational nonprofit organization, founded in 1969. Membership is open to anyone passionate about jewelry, design and metalsmithing. SNAG supports and advances the professional practice of artists, designers, jewelers and metalsmiths. Through education, innovation, and leadership, SNAG provides access to a vibrant and passionate community."

Many of our etsymetal members are also members of SNAG. Each year SNAG holds a conference in a different city somewhere in the United States. This year the conference was in Philadelphia, May 20-23rd. Titled, "Revolution", the conference was supposed to be about Revolutions in the metalsmithing field. Doug Bucci, one of the co-chairs of the conference said that the conference would, "provide the critical context to consider the future of our profession, provide us the opportunity to reflect upon our history, and ultimately celebrate the independent thinkers and decisive movements that ensure change, growth and evolution in our discipline."

The conference lineup/highlights:

Professional Development Seminar- focused on Web marketing and galleries

Pin Swap (crazy fun meet and greet + lots of new goodies!)

Vendor Room (lots of tools!)

Stanley Lechtzin- American Metalsmithing
Leo Caballero (founder of Klimt02)- Globally Networking in a Global Community

Juried Student Exhibition and Slide Show

Neri Oxman- Craft by Ecology

Camille Paglia- Art and Sex

Myra Mimlitsch Gray- Anti/Icono/Clastic

Portfolio Reviews

Gallery Night Tour- shows at local galleries including Wexler Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia Art Alliance, etc.

Panel Revolution/Evolution- moderated by Helen Williams Drutt English

Albert Paley

Education Dialog

As a first time conference attendee, it was a somewhat overwhelming experience, but TOTALLY worthwhile. I met so many amazing people, made so many great contacts, learned a lot, and left feeling inspired, enriched and invigorated. I feel like it was a great networking opportunity, but also a really good educational experience. It was really expensive but I plan on doing it again...totally worth it. I think it is important for people working in this field to be aware of what else is going on in the field, to know the other people working in the field, and to share what they are doing with others. I highly recommend attending the conference in Houston next year!

Read more about the conference experience on the blogs of the official SNAG bloggers for this year's conference:

Emiko Oye- Reware Style
Gabriel Craig- Conceptual Metalsmithing
Francesca Vitali- Frucci Design

Etsy Metal News 07.03.09

Let's see what's happening on our team this week!

Falling Leaves Necklace by Maggie J

Kathryn Riechert will be at the Jacksonville, FL Riverside Arts Market on Saturday July 4th.

Maggie J is participating in her very first festival on the 4th of July! It will be in Bryson City, NC at the Freedom Fest.

Congratulations to Rachael Sudlow for hitting 5,000 sales this week in her Etsy shop! How amazing is that?

And another congratulations to Colleen Baran who passed 5,000 hearts and had her Floating Saucer Two Finger Ring featured in the "Brass Knuckles Made For Looking Good, Not Evil" post on The Frisky!

Catherine Chandler has a huge sale (over 25 items!) in her shop for the month of July.

And a very Happy Birthday this week to Kerin Rose!

Have a great weekend everyone!