Time to get some Silver

Okay, I have posted about this before (last time Silver was hovering around $12 ounce) and I don't mean to be redundant, but NOW is the time to increase your supply. Logically a lower commodities price would indicate a stronger Dollar, but there are so many factors in what causes them to go up and down that it is beyond my time limits to stay current with the reasons why on a daily basis. However I do check Silver daily and I have noticed a fairly large drop in price in the past week. Will it stay this low? I don't really know but today's price ($15.26) is the lowest it has been for quite some time and I don't really see it going too much lower, so again, get some while the getting is good.
If you haven't read some of my previous posts about how cool it is that because we are craftsmen we actually get metal when we buy Silver (many investors get paper) you can read those if you want.
It is also a good time of year to get going on all your projects. It really isn't too early to start making your collection that you will sell next Christmas. Maybe you don't work that far ahead but I do. Just consider this a heads up and good luck with your work.

Happy New Year 2010

It's been a long time since I posted anything here. I noticed that I have had a few new subscribers so WELCOME to my blog. I hope in the future there will be more interaction, that is questions, comments, discussion, whatever you want.
I already know how to make jewelry and I am interested in helping other people, so let me know how I can help. My typical style involves a lot of soldering. Some of my chains require 500 individual solders. There are some pieces I made in this style on this webpage.

Here's a photo of a piece I made a while back using parts created with an interesting technique that I first discovered about 15 years ago. Recently I saw an article in a jewelry mag about how to do this. I can tell you here. The parts are cast using water.
I was reprocessing some silver for future castings into small pieces by filling my crucible and slowly pouring the molten metal into water. I noticed I was getting these cool little dome shaped pieces sometimes. I started paying more attention to the way I was pouring and my success rate got pretty good.
Once I had a little pile of the pieces I just incorporated them into other designs. What is really neat is they required no mold and no finishing!!
I like casting a lot and it requires a lot less tools than some other techniques, plus it is very immediate. Once a piece is cast it can be cooled and in your hands within minutes. Casting is great way to make parts to use later. Besides water casting, unique pieces can be attained casting onto wet-straw, ice, sand and lots of other mediums. Hope you like this tip. Happy 2010!!

Buy Silver Now!

Hey Everybody, I know I alerted you before to buy silver because prices were down and I gave my reasoning about why the price had dropped.Well, it's kind of like anything in life... the more you learn the more you find out you don't know. I just read a very interesting article and according to this guy the market is being manipulated -- read this -- and really has nothing to do with the weak dollar or oil prices or anything else. Okay, it is very complex and whether it will all play out, we'll see. However, it seems like it IS playing out.

After these big financiers process a bunch of their ' loss-orders' which will net them Billions or Trillions, the price of Gold and Silver will take off again and most likely double or triple what it was before. If this happens, Silver will be $60 an ounce!! Right now it is $11.50, so BUY NOW!!

Take advantage of being a craftsman and the fact that you can actually buy real metal instead of what an investment banker would want to give you... 'paper' silver. People who want to invest in metals right now are waiting in line. It is in such short supply that it is only being given to fabricators. That is me and you!! So again I will say, BUY NOW!!

Price for Bronze PMC

Sorry it took me so long, but I just checked the price for the new Bronze PMC and it is relatively cheap compared to Silver PMC. The Silver PMC (.999 silver) is around $45 for a 25 gram lump while the Bronze is only about $35 for a 200 gram lump. Wow! That is quite a difference.

Like I said in my previous post, I am personally not that interested in producing jewelry made from copper, brass and the like. However, this is a breakthrough in my opinion and I will definitely be getting some and checking it out.

I just completed teaching a PMC class and as always the 25 gram lumps were slightly prohibitive because they just disappear too fast. At almost 50 bucks a pop the creativity is stifled a bit. Using this new Bronze PMC should allow more freedom to experiment and ease some of the economic tensions that new students have.

Actually, the Silver PMC still intimidates me when I hold that bubble gum size wad in my fingers. I remember the first time I experienced PMC -- I thought 'this is great, but I want a 5 pound bag instead of this little tidbit'. But that is just me. Since I have a pottery degree and understood what clay will do 30 years ago I was very excited by PMC and the possibilities. When I heard CLAY, I thought alright! But then I realized the economic disparities between PMC (precious metal clay) and clay, lost a lot of my initial enthusiasm and reverted to my more conventional silversmith methods.

So if you haven't tried it, get some Bronze PMC and go wild. Once you get some great results let us all see what you've done. Send me a photo and I'll post it here on this blog.

Bronze PMC

I just got this notice today and it is good news for us PMC artists.
Rio announces BRONZE PMC! Surely it will be much cheaper than even Silver PMC, and even though I am not in a habit of producing my jewelry using Copper, Brass, and the like... I am definitely interested in this as a lower cost alternative for some 'parts' of my jewelry.
Check it out, here is the link for the June Newsletter and Clasp Conference.
Click Here.

Keep on truckin

If you are old enough (I am) to remember the 60's art from the hippie days that flourished, you will remember the 'Keep on truckin' dude... well, that is the subject of my post today. I haven't posted any 'help' in over a month and I wanted to let you know I am still here. I have been working a lot and not at the computer but I always think of myself this way... truckin on... I will never stop or give up.

Part of what I want to do here is tell you stuff, but there is another part -- answering questions. Since I haven't received a lot of comments I have let my blog sit unattended. Truth is, I would rather be working at my bench then sitting at the computer and if I really have time for only ONE thing, I will do my Yoga first ;) -- it is that important to me.

So I am here NOW to encourage you to ask questions and post your comments about jewelry making, PMC or anything you feel is relevant to life in general. Just do it, as the commercials say.

I also want to remind you of my upcoming classes (only 4 weeks away), go here to check it out. I'll be teaching at the ESSA in Eureka Springs, a beautiful place and the school has a brand new metal-smithing building that we will get to use. I have a plan for the classes of course, but they are small, so really, we will get to do anything we want.

Join the fun and sign up today. Give them a call if you need more info.

I got quoted

Wow! I got quoted in the Northwest Times last week. It is always amazing what reporters pick out and print from what is said in an interview. I have been interviewed before for events and articles and this particular article came out good -- I like what I said.

It is true, all of us are Artists! But some of have more creative urge than others and that is what sets us apart. We find a way to get the tools and materials and learn to create the things that we visualize.

Check out the article if you have time.

All I can add is that helping each other is what is really important in life and this is my goal with this Blog. Please feel free to ask questions or leave comments.