Birches and serendipity

When I'm working at my bench, a giant birch tree is my constant companion. All I have to do is look out the window, and there it stands, a gorgeous guardian spirit.

Most of our property is covered in black spruce, so the bright white bark of this birchtree stands out. When I'm daydreaming or trying to figure something out, my eyes rest there.

Here's my companion birch in early summertime.

From Tin Cup Designs Handwrought Jewelry

Decked with a rainbow in the golden light of a late summer rainstorm.

From Tin Cup Designs Handwrought Jewelry

And here is a close-up of her bark.

From Tin Cup Designs Handwrought Jewelry

No wonder, then, that one of my favorite jewelry patterns is called "Birches." Inspired by my faithful birch tree, it's also a lot of fun to make, as I enjoy hammering the bark pattern.

From Tin Cup Designs Handwrought Jewelry

Here I've added a tiny, pale citrine to the pendant. It reminds me of birch syrup, which I keep promising myself I will learn to make. These earrings and pendant are polished to a high shine; unfortunately, the shiny part shows up as grey in my photos. But I can promise that you will stand out as brightly as my birchtree when you're wearing them.

Serendipity is one of my favorite words, and it's a concept I embrace wholeheartedly: That so often when we're looking for something, we accidentally find something else that's even better. So I should not have been surprised to find an email waiting for me after my last blog post asking if anyone would be interested in bartering a bit of web design for jewelry.

But here's the fun part: The person who emailed me is substitute teaching in Fairbanks. She had picked up a copy of an Ikea catalog at the school (on her first day working there), and my business card fell out. She liked the design, was surprised that I'm in the Fairbanks area, and so she looked me up on the Internet. Ta daaa: There I was, asking for help with something she loves to do.

So we've talked, and it sounds like we've got a deal. Don't you just love it when the Universe gives you exactly what you need? And makes you laugh and shake your head at the same time?

Serendipity.

How do you make that?

Many, many times I've been asked, "How do you make that?" or even, "Do you really make all these things?" So I thought I'd show and tell a little of the process.

Most of my work starts out as a coil of silver or copper wire of varying gauges (thicknesses). Some of it, such as the cuffs, begins as a plain sheet of silver or copper. I keep the raw materials in a chest by my bench.

Today I'll just talk about how I make the chains. 

First, I cut off a length of wire and wrap it around a wooden or steel dowel until I have a coil of 20 to 50 or so links, depending on the size. I use a jeweler's saw to cut the coil down one side to make a bunch of open links.

Next, I use pliers to push the ends of the links flush together. I then solder some of the links closed with an oxygen/propane torch. I line a lot of them up at one time, and this is what it looks like (except that the board is usually at least half full of links).

Once I've soldered those links, I join them together with others and then solder all of those to make a chain. Some chains require more than 100 solder joins. (Yes, it takes time and patience.)

Next I hammer each link of the chain. Here are my beloved hammers.

See the one in front on the right? That's a planishing hammer, and I use it 90% of the time. It's my oldest and most beloved hammer.

After everything has been hammered, I toss it in a rotary tumbler with steel shot and let it go for up to eight hours. This is where it gets the bright, shiny finish.

And here you have an 18-inch "Paperclips" chain and earrings with 42 individually soldered and hammered links.

So, every single piece of every single chain I make, including the shepherd's hook clasp, has been formed, soldered and hammered by me. (The only thing I don't make is the earwires for the earrings. If I did, I'd spend days and days just making earwires, and even I'm not that crazy.)