Silver Cups

Many years ago I went to 5 day beach parties for new years several years in a row.  During that time I started a tradition of making a new shot cup for the party. I have continued, over the years, to be interested in making silver cups. However not just for new years any more.  Sometimes for special occasions or gifts or just for the fun of it because I had an idea I wanted to exicute
Top left is the New Year Chaser.  This one was probably the most elaborate and complicated to make. It is a champagne cup on one end and a shot cup on the other. The double ended ball suspended in the middle "drops" when the cup is turned over, almost touching the point of the bottom cup but swinging clear.
On the right of the New Years Chaser is the Conch Cup.  Sea shells an sea life have always fascinated me (as you can tell by my website) This one is self explanatory but again, some tricky solder joins.  On of the most difficult things cannot even be seen in this shot.  The feet are tiny silver spirals that had to be soldered on near the end. Let's just say it's hard to solder something small to something big. 

 The Tornado cup and the Bubble cup are some of the early designs.  The tornado cup has gold balls swirling around the out side. This one proved to be difficult because it's one long piece of wire and that is one long solder joint to go top to bottom without any gaps or leaks and then soldering on the gold balls without re-flowing the whole thing was a challenge too. The "bubble" cup on the right was one of the first ones from the "beach party series".  I liked the idea of it looking like there is no bottom yet it holds a full once.  

The bubble cup on the left was done for the 4th of July. Again using the drilled out metal as a decorative design element.  I have used this technique on several jewelry pieces over the years.  On the right is a wedding cup done for a friend. They wanted lots of texture.  I like the little feet on this one

 This pair of shot cups are titled Scars and Strips
I used a course rasp file to get the texture on the out side and soldered on the copper and silver stripes cut from long strips of this material I made years ago for earrings and bracelet. That in it self is a good blog post.  Its a pretty involved process of soldering and rolling. These 2 were done for the fun of it but have been sold.

I used this "box making" technique to go a step further and make a tea ball.  I wrote a blog post on that one here.
 I don't have any of these on my Etsy store or website but if your interested in on just comment here or contact me  through the website 

Happy New Year

 New for 2018
 Happy New Year! (how long can we keep saying that before it's the same old year)
  Did the new year sneak up on you? It did to me. I went from an intense build up for the Holiday to a period of not having much to do, and suddenly there is too much to do again! Thus the late posting of this twice monthly update.
 There a lot of changes coming up this year. One thing I'm doing is starting a Gem of the Month series with designs  based on the stone color of each month. There may be one or several new pieces each month.  Some designs will repeat through out the year with different stones. Some will be one of a kind or limited editions
    I'll be adding new designs in my regular jewelry lines for both men's and women's. Including new buckles in silver and bronze. I have ideas for new animal and nature designs as well as some abstract variations. The women's line will get more one of a kind pendants with stones, more gold, and other designers will be added to the mix on my website. However the Etsy store will continue to be only my handmade creations.
   This newsletter will give you access to discounts on my websites, exclusive opportunities to own one of a kind pieces not posted to facebook or my websites, and It will tell you about instagram contests and give-aways.  I'll also share more stories from my blogs about my art and jewelry process and adventures.
    Art continues to be important.  I'll get more of my work online both on my etsy store and my Fine Art America site starting with a series of small mix media abstracts coming soon. I'm trying to make more time for painting on location and studio abstracts.
    I hope to stay more in touch with my audience this year. What do you want to see more of?  More jewelry? More art? More stories? More process? Do you only want updates only about art?  More heart jewelry?  More sealife ?  More expensive one of a kind jewelry? More men's jewelry?  Please feel free to reply in the comments . I'm always interested and listening to new ideas

   I'm trying to build my following so please forward this to anyone you think might be interested. Thanks again for your support! Wishing you a happy new year!