Spring Cleaning

"Spring cleaning" is defined as the thorough cleaning of a house or room. Or, in my case, something smaller–like the medicine cabinet.

Tucked in the back corner, amidst stray bobby pins and unused (and now tossed) hair care products, I found the first piece I ever soldered, which I thought was lost for good.

I took my first silversmithing class years ago because I wanted to learn how to make bezels in which to set polymer clay cabochons. The instructor and I went several rounds. She kept telling me to bring in the stone and she'd show me how to make the bezel around it, and I kept saying to just show me how to make the bezel, and I'll make the cabochon to fit it. Finally, I made a textured cabochon, and she taught me how to make a bezel (and I added a baby garnet just for fun.) Not bad for a first effort!

Fast forward a few years, and that idea of a polymer clay cabochon set in silver manifests as this bracelet.​

It was a long path from that first soldered bezel to this one – but it's fantastic to be able to incorporate the variety of skills that I've developed over the years into one-of-a-kind works of art.