Excited!

Hope everyone had a great start on 2014! And stay motivated on those New Year resolutions!

My 2013 went away on a whim. So many things happened - home renovation finally finished end of June, health issues slowed me down for 2 months, heartbreaking family issues because we lost the youngest member of our family, and traveling. Therefore I needed a good start of the New Year by getting a REAL jeweler's workbench! I am still in the middle of setting up/cleaning up my studio so no pictures yet! But here is something to share with you.

Picture of Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan. So quaint, so beautiful. Photo was taken early Spring.

For 2014, I am going to focus on adding colors to my collection. Please stay tuned for exciting creations!

Enjoying some rare Winter Sun here!

We've had rain for the last week, the Sun has finally decided to come out today! But at home it's freezing because of the renovation going on. I've learned to ignore the constant drilling and hammering noises in the background :)

Here is the view I see outside my studio/study/storage (for now). Stay warm my friend!

 Yes, we're packrats! Haha!

Long time my friend ...

We finally bought a home!

We sold our home of 10 years with some hiccups, but eventually things worked out. Finding another one at the crazy real estate market in the Silicon Valley is nonetheless a challenge! We got into a few bidding wars, won and back out on one of them, then found the home that fits our needs best!

It's smaller but a ranch style (no more stairs exercises for me), much older too (built in late 1940s), and with a rustic yard (with fruit trees and lots and lots of spices). Sellers are a retired couple moving to the East Coast to live near their children and grandchildren. They've lived there for 40 years and ain't ready to let their well-loved, well-kept home go yet ... The husband is actually a well-known artist! Inspiration is in the air ;-)

My next huge project is renovating to make it our own. Overwhelming but shopping is the best part! I'll have a dedicated studio, what's not to love!?

Crazy days ahead

About four weeks ago my family decided to sell our existing home and to buy a new one. After weeks of packing and cleaning, with a garage full of boxes and a pretty empty staged house, our house is finally ready for the open house this weekend.

I've foreseen a even crazier days ahead of us. The housing market in our area is a seller's market. Although we can get a good price for our house, we expect to get into bidding wars on our next one.

My tools are all neatly packed or hidden from sight, my bench is now stored inside the garage. My jewelry adventure is on hold until I find the perfect place for my family. The place we don't know where yet.

Please wish us luck!

A beautiful day to meet with an accomplished Metal Clay Artist

Finally we've some gorgeous typical California weather - 80s and bluish sky with some nice breeze.

Last Sunday was one of them and I got to meet Lynn Cobb! Lynn is an accomplished and published Metal Clay Artist in the Bay Area. She is also named a finalist in the prestigious Saul Bell Design Award competition for 2011 in the Metal Clay category! Imagine how exciting it was to meet her in person and the chance to adore her amazing Metal Clay art pieces!

Here is a picture of Lynn and I taken in front of her booth at the Saratoga Rotary Annual Art Show. On the left is the silly me holding a copy of the Metal Clay Jewelry magazine (which Lynn kindly autographed for me) just like a little fan :D

Lynn has the sweetest voice and the friendly smile! She looked so adorable in the Hawaiian shirt. Maybe one day we can clay together!

You can check out Lynn's Metal Clay art pieces here.

Tried something new!

Well, I've been bad and unproductive lately, Santa probably won't bring me any gifts this year if I don't speed things up! So, I tried something new -- tube setting!

I have been working on a pendant design calling for a tube setting faceted gemstone. In order not to ruin the design, I convinced myself to practice first. So here is the outcome:

It's a 4mm Amethyst CZ tube setting ring. Drilling a seat for the stone was challenging but it worked out fine after ONLY three tries :) The main struggle was how to set the stone at the right level. The stone actually tried to escape when I used my bezel roller on it. I also managed to scratch a blue spinel ... LOL! I replaced the stone with a CZ then so it'll hurt less if I fail. Luckily there's a prong pusher at school, so I used it to finish the setting. I'm quite happy with my first try! So if you've a project challenging you to try something new, don't put if off any longer. If I can do it, so can you!

There are also a couple of things on my bench. The garden pendant and the tree branch ring are both created by lost wax casting. More about them later!

Hope everyone has a lovely Easter weekend!

What's on my bench now?

After a busy Holiday season, I was expecting a slow down. But to my surprise, I've been pretty busy! No complaint at all, I'm counting my blessing everyday :)

Just a quick update on what I'm working on. I love how my Herkimer Diamond prong set earrings turned out, so I decided to give other rough gemstones a try. Here is a pair of green garnet earrings:


I want to make rings with rough gemstones as well! Just need to find the right setting for them. Simple prong settings might not be sturdy enough for rings since rings are prone to wear and tear, push and pull.

Also want to share a new discovery with you:


Isn't it gorgeous!!!? This is rutilated quartz with Amethyst. I googled online and find out it belongs to the Super Seven family, also called Melody stone. I'm totally in love with it! A simple pendant might best showcase it :)

Who's behind the monitor?

After years of selling and buying online, receiving and giving feedback has become part of a daily life. This post is inspired by a recent unpleasant transaction. As one of my dear MCHs, Dawn has said, "If people only knew how hard we work on the things we make, they might think before they type." True or not?

Every handmade metal clay piece starts with an inspiration, a lump of clay, and mechanical calculation. Which is the best way to present my inspiration? What's it going to be? What mechanical connection will work for the piece?

The mini snowflake earrings is one of my bestsellers, here is a tutorial on how they're made.

1. Claying is where the creative juice starts flowing. 2. Metal Clay needs to be dried before firing. Usually air dry for at least 24 hours, or drying in an oven for 30 minutes. 3. Forming and shaping the piece, this is an essential step to a nice finish.

4. Torch firing or kiln firing the piece to burn off the binder and to sinter the clay. 5. Since they're earrings, their backs need to be burnished for the next step - soldering. 6. A good cleaning is essential for a good soldering joint between the piece and the post. 7. Flux the pieces where the solder should be.

8. Solder, which takes lots of practicing. A piece can be ruined if handle carelessly. 9. Earrings put into the pickle pot of vinegar and salt (this is all natural and eco-friendly) to clean. 10. Tumble the earrings for at least 1.5 hour to work hardening and to shine.

11. Adding patina to the earrings to highlight the details. 12. How the earrings look after patina, they need a good cleaning, don't they? 13. Polishing using my Dremel. Cannot live without one anymore! Viola! Shiny and ready to ship.

(Of course, I don't need to bore you with the business side of things like ordering materials, taking photos, listing, packing, shipping, and doing taxes! The fun part is still creating!)

These earrings are considered simpler to make compare to the 3-D pieces of those metal clay masters but you can see they still demand careful planning, endless patience and flawless execution. And the earrings are priced at a whopping $19!

Maybe after reading this post, any unhappy buyer will value these earrings more? Maybe if you're a buyer, you will think before you type something negative like Dawn has said?

My feedback is ruined, so as my day yesterday, but there're always something to learn from it. Please remember that the seller is a human just like you, who has feelings, sitting behind the monitor.

After Thanksgiving

It was a crazy pre- and Thanksgiving week at my place. The first time ever I hosted a Thanksgiving "causal" dinner at my house. It turned out great and everyone was well-fed at least.

So, what's going on now? There is only one week left for school, with finals being next Thursday, so I'm trying to finish all my projects for the final presentation. Here is one of them:



I've yet to decide what to make out of them -- a brooch? a ring? a pendant? I'll let you know after hours and hours of hand polishing ;-) (Picture of them at their "raw" stage just out of the spin caster above.)

First try at prong setting

I'd been anxious to try prong setting, so I gave it a swing today. I made a very simple 4-prong setting in silver, found a matching pair of Herkimer diamonds and here is how it went.

1) I curved the prongs with a pair of pliers then measured the required height. Cut the extra wire. The cross looking wire at the back behind the Herkimer diamond is how the setting look like before curving and cutting.

2) I rounded the prongs with a wire rounder (got it from Jo-Ann), or you can use a Dremel with a cup bur. I don't have a cup bur, it is on my shopping list.

3) Setting the prongs with a bezel pusher. It usually goes like this: 12 o'clock, then 6 o'clock, then 3 and 9. Go slowly and gently so the stone won't slide into one side and you've to pull the prong back.

4) Make sure the stone isn't swimming inside the prongs. Then polish.

Viola! My first pair of prong setting earrings :-) Next time I should try a ring, a prong setting with seat, tube setting, or all of them!?

It's Show Time!

Today was the opening day of the Silicon Valley Small Works Art Exhibition, and my Lily of the Valley piece is showcased with other fabulous art pieces! I'm ecstatic since it's my first juried show.

The other pieces at the show are so inspiring that I felt so inadequate ... REALLY? My piece is up to par with all of these amazing work?????

The exhibit will run til Dec 13th, from Monday to Thursday at the Mission College Vargas Gallery. Hope to see you there!

My latest obsession - Herkimer Diamonds!

I saw them at a Gem Faire this Fall and am in love! They're actually quartz mined originally in the Herkimer County, NY, but their special structure makes them sparkle like the real diamonds under the sunlight!

They are known to have the magical power of reduce stress, balance and cleanse energy between the mind and body. Better than alcohol :) Just kidding! I enjoy a glass of wine from time to time as well. I'm in the process of making some simple and modern stud earrings with them. Hopefully will have the listing up sometime next week.

B-I-N-G-O

As many of you may knew already, I got a kiln!!!!!! The Paragon SC2 arrived a couple of weeks ago and was sitting in my garage feeling very lonely ... Before I can put her into good use, I hunt up and down, east to west on craigslist day after day hoping to find a steel cart for her to nest happily ever after ...

After two weeks of searching virtually to no avail, I logged onto Yelp.com looking for used office furniture places. Got a couple of places nearby and off I went hunting.

First place was small and not many choices ... then headed to the second place and B-I-N-G-O! A slightly abused steel cart on wheels with two shelves. Just perfect! And the price? Twenty-five big bucks! OMG! What a super deal! Thanks to Yelp.com!

I'm happy, my wallet is happy and my kiln is happy as well :-) I can't wait to give my kiln a test drive!

Etsy 2nd Anniversary! Thank you :-)

Today is my 2nd anniversary! Have to write a blog post to thank my fellow Etsy teammates, my friends, my customers and my family! Without your support and love, I wouldn't be able to grow so much!

In retrospect, I've:

1) moved away from the kitchen counter to a hand built bench! Yes, my little bench is now situated at a corner of the study area, next to my computer :-) This little sun-filled corner is my, my, my!

2) learned etching and planning to do more of it!

3) touched the very basics of enameling. My Thompson enamels are calling my name.

4) ordered the Paragon SC2 last week!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still super excited! This is such a huge step I made, meaning I'm more committed to jewelry making! This kiln will be firing and enameling jewelry! It should be here some time next week!

5) started the MetalClayHeads Etsy team! Met tons of great metal clay artists and exchanging life ups and downs with them on a daily basis.

6) started a blog that you're reading now, hehe.

So what's next? There are a few things I'm keen on doing more - enameling, base metal clay, etching. Plus learning some new skills such as injection casting and stone setting. Looking forward to all the new challenges in the coming year!

To-Do List

Over the years I've received tons of note pad free as gifts and from area realtors. I utilize them to create my to-do list.

I've a to-do list for house chores, a to-do list for monthly payments (more like a to-pay list), a to-pack list for travel (hope I could make that more often!) and of course a to-do list for my jewelry creations. Blogging has been on my list for the last two years. Now it has become a reality.


Then, what should I blog about? Hm ... weather in Northern California is gorgeous these days, no hurricane then ... Back to school is on full swing ... but the only one going back to school in my household is me!

So, guess I will talk a little about my life, a little about my beliefs, a little about my family, and mostly about my artistic outlet - metalsmithing and metal claying then! I hope you will enjoy my journey in the creative world. A little step at a time, hence one day at a time.