Fine and Sterling Silver Forest Storyteller Bracelet

The center piece of this bracelet is 1/3 ounce or a 10 gram fine silver ingot.  I have been milling these with various leaves and decided I wanted to make a storyteller bracelet.  I drew out a design for a forest scene, transferred it to my sterling sheet and started sawing.  There were a lot of wispy pine tree tips and I did manage to get those soldered down.  I got the solder to flow all the way around and there are no gaps.  That's where you need just enough solder and I honestly, probably use too much.  I'll tell you, that top piece won't be lifting or coming off though!

There were many steps to finishing this piece.  I pierced and sawed out holes for the paracord bracelet, engraved and hammered designs on the scene, added patina, removed much of that to enhance the detail, shaped the bracelet just a bit and made the 550 double paracord bracelet.

I had a really nice cut out that would have only gone in with my scrap to refine, but I decided to saw out what looked like a mountain above it.  I sweat soldered it down to a piece of texturized copper and sure that will connect with still another piece of metal and be made into a bracelet.  This piece of silver is small and again lots of jagged edges.  I had it face down, got the solder on there and some did float around the back.  When I flipped it to solder it together, there was some solder on the top and I'll sand it off.  Again, I was happy to get all the small edges soldered down.  I had an instructor last year who was such a great help to me.  Thank you Lynette!!!

What is a story teller bracelet...?  In the 60's Navajo silversmiths started making bracelets with traditional scenes on them.  They would have a backing piece of silver and they would saw out very small images which usually consisted of the hogan which is still considered the most traditional Navajo housing, home life, art such as weaving blankets on large looms, wagons, chickens, sheep, cooking, campfire scenes.  Many times scenes of Monument Valley and clouds overhead will appear on the bracelets and rings as well.  The detail or top layer pieces would be sweat soldered to the backing piece and this created the dimensional images.  It's a wearable storybook of the various aspects of their daily life.   If you would like to read more about the Navajo, check out www.navajopeople.org.   

Many years ago, I was at the old swap meet in Phoenix and I met a Navajo family and they had some storyteller jewelry.  Many times you would see people reselling Native American art, but I was able to meet and buy the bracelet directly from the family..  I've had the bracelet so many years and it's a little treasure to me.

So, the story teller bracelet I made has oak leaves from the Tonto Rim in Arizona milled on the front and back and a forest scene on the front.  This represents places I've been, things I like and things I've seen.  It's a way to carry that with you all the time.  I think we all kind of dream about the fond places we've been and want to go back to again.  When you wear something like this, it can remind you of that place and keep it close even when it's miles away.

Let it Grow, Let it Grow... Southwestern Gardening

Well, things are most definitely not frozen out here!  The blooms appear and nature works precious magic very early in the season here in the desert.  It won't be long before the summer days will be very hot and much of this may be a bit of a memory.  I think some frozen peaches may work out well for future smoothies!

I'm not a fan of spraying anything except water over my fruit trees or plants.  I noticed some little green things flying around which may be aphids.  I went to my favorite nursery in Phoenix and purchased the little crusty thing that is now hanging in the plastic mesh in the tree.  I was told it may take about two weeks for the mantis party to break loose, but I haven't seen any yet...  Hmmm?

The grape vines are full of leaves and there are some tiny bunches already growing.  Somewhere between the "Peach Pit" and those would be some tomatillos, anaheims, some herbs and maybe one strawberry plant.  Seems the little shamrocks have jumped over into this area as well!

It gets so warm out here so fast, I usually buy early girl or patio tomatoes.  They grow, get ripe, then I pluck them right off before they turn into those dun dried tomatoes that can seem to happen in a blink.  They do really well in a large pot and are currently in full sun.  I may need to bring those into the shade soon.  You've guessed it, I have a bit of a salsa garden going.  Yes, that's so southwestern!

Tomatillos...  What are they?  Well, they look like hard green tomatoes and when you see them at the store, they still have a loose skin or shell that looks like a little paper bag around them.  Salsa verde and green chili sauce is made with these.  You boil and cook down tomatillos, yellow hots and jalapenos and have the beautiful beginnings of green chili sauce.  There are many more steps to that recipe, but I'll save that for another day.  So the tomatillos are essential for so many sauces and meals that are green.

It's great fun and pretty essential to learn how to grow your own food.  It's really easy to drive over to the store, but it's nice to know that the food I'm growing here is pretty well organic.  I feel good about really knowing what I'm eating and it's nice to know some fresh stuff is right outside my door.

Engraved Sterling and Fine Silver Crosses

The top dog tag cross is made of sterling silver.  I milled and hammered detail on the metal and hand engraved the cross.  The top piece has almost a bit of a floral or forest feel to the background.  There are some leaf impressions on the piece as well.  The detail is also milled on the back.  The detail is fine and I may use different size gravers on future pieces.  Still, I like the fine lines on these.

The bottom image is a milled silver ingot and I sawed out the cross of sterling silver.  The crosses were sweat soldered down.  The detail on the front and back of the ingot came out really well.  The lines on the crosses aren't all perfect, but this was all done by hand.  I really like the top cross with the more angular tips.  The bottom cross is more rounded.  Ah, everything comes out different all the time!

Alternative Bezels and Frames

I'm taking a class on making alternative bezels and I had the idea to make something from one piece that looked like a frame.  This could be a piece where there are tabs sawed out that could be wrapped around the back of another piece.  Really, there is no end to the ideas someone could come up with based on this thought.  I actually like the frame part sawed out and finished like this just laying over the top of the other piece.  These were samples, so the next time I may make the base piece larger and have the uneven edge frame go all the way out.  You could then solder or rivet them together.  This metal was scrap I had and I originally cut this metal to use for simple earrings.  The frame pieces were harvested from the circular at the studio and already texturized. Looks like the metal may have been hammered on an anvil.  You could beat the metal on the asphalt out in the parking lot as well if you wanted.  You can actually purchase fancy hammers that will give you the same texture.  Take it from me, put the metal face down on your interesting surface and hammer with your nice hammer from the back.

Just some photos here of the process from sketches up to the almost finished pieces.  Hey, don't laugh...  In ancient times, people actually drew their own designs out and they weren't perfect either.  I used a multi-step patina process to get the impressed detail really dark and then layered the peacock hues over that.  The pieces seemed to look so nice right at that particular minute.  Copper always seems to change a bit and over time, the bright colors may not be so bright.  Many times the multi-color copper will tarnish and the minute you hit it with some sand paper or a little steel wool, poof... there went the color.  There are some waxes that can be used, but I've found the patina in the texturized areas, after a while will feather or seem to blur out.  Hmmm, I'm on the fence on the whole waxing or sealing, so I just leave it natural.  If it discolors, I lightly sand with some 600 grit paper that has already been used and is worn.  A little less tooth on the paper will help you not remove too much detail or patina in the recessed areas.  I just try new things all the time while working with the metal.

Cocobolo and Walnut Wood Veneer

Hmmmm, What might I possibly consider doing with wood veneer?  Well, I'm not saying yet...  I do love the look and grain of wood.  The exotic cocobolo wood has some really interesting visual texture and the walnut looks a bit more even in color.  I love the look of wood inlay and beautiful guitars made of exotic woods.  One of my favorite woods is koa and it's from Hawaii.  I call it sugar wood because it just shimmers and the gold tones are so beautiful.  The koa is so, so much more beautiful than even a curly maple.  There may be some birch veneer in the middle photo I looked at today and the last photo is of some finished koa.  You know with any of the things I make, you'll be wearin' it, not playing it.  I'll keep ya posted!