well i tried to list a new thing everyday but i couldnt do it el oh el oh well.
mmm

im trying to fix my area again. *groanhands* i have a lot of new ideas.
i bought a gold ring. 18kt. i need a beaker or larger jar for my gold plating. i wasnt happy with the results! they would come to be too dark?? i thought it was strange. might be the voltage is fluctuating or the temperature of the liquid is wrong.
actually i need to get:
a beaker
a mini crock pot
better gloves
a respirator
a better work area
tumbler for silver

but most of all i think i need a larger jar. and will try with a piece of gold.

i finished reading lord of the rings last night! i wish i read it slower. damn. i think it lasted only two weeks. at least i have still the appendixes and the other books.

dropped off pieces earlier to briers! lots of cute new loves for valentines day so go check it out before it is all sold! briers is on west 4th by arbutus.

then after i went over the lacy west and its right in the same building as where the or gallery was, and woah! its full of stuff. im saving to get a tumbler and pellets so i can silver plate without having all the weird white deposits. got me some jax brown black. :D

finally got gold plating solution it was 90 bones! i didnt get a gold anode, but instead a stainless steel one, so the gold comes from the solution instead a gold anode. i got 18kt, coz i think 24kt is too almost orange. for me, at least. im going to do some plating after i finish up eating and shipping. simes is making food :D

other good news plenty decides to try out a few of my designs and will be carrying a few necklaces and earrings soon. ill post here when i deliver!

today and the other day i got all that i mailed on monday returned to me in the mail. so annoying. most of them are for dimensions and a couple are for weight. the goodie bags won off the newsletter are too heavy!

plated gold!

i still have no gold anode. i bought a pair of 18kt gold earrings from an ex-favorite supplier of mine but never got them so i had to get a refund. then today im polishing these brass lockets and am really wanting them to be plated gold. so i figure i might as well try now while the urge is urgent. no anode, i used a length of 10kt filled gold wire and it totally worked! but the color is so dark gold almost orange-y coz its 10kt. its ok though the wire is not usable anymore coz ees so ugly and eaten away now!
so now im all getting obsessed and really want to get plating all this brass stuff i have so i was looking for a lapidary place or some kind of supply and finally! found a place right downtown so i dont have to go as far as i originally thought (burnaby. heh, its not even that far) but anyway this place, its on smithe! lacy west. so im gonna go tomorrow coz later today i have a meeting with marie from plenty. cross fingers ill be supplying them with jewelry soon? :D could be rad.
also, im updating new stuff to briers by this friday. also wanted to see if there is need for more pieces at virgin marys, so i think i will just make as much stuff as i can finishing the chain i have here. whew. vacations over.

pics and plating

yay! blogger pics are now working again.
i uploaded pics in my older post: virgin mary's and soon ill resize the blim fair pics and post them too. theres a funny and dumpy pic of me in front of my table that i wanted to show. heh.

but guess what was the highlight of my day?
we got a plating machine!

it was only 75$. found it on craigslist, and it was in langley. super far but simon helped me (duh he grew up there) :D we took the skytrain and borrowed his moms car. turns out the dude we got the plating machine from is neighbors with simons old friend svein tuft. !
the guy, anders, he was a goldsmith for 40some years and retired, so he had and was selling his equipment. the plating machine was built by his dad-in-law (?) who was an electrical engineer who bought the parts at radio shack! so i guess its considered 'vintage' and 'handmade' yay!
ya it works really well! i have plated a bunch of my charms silver now. i dont have a gold anode so no gold plating till i get one..and theres not much gold solution anymore.. im wanting to go look for newer plating solutions coz these ones i got contains cyanide and are like 20+ years old.. they still work (yay) but maybe there are not "as" toxic stuff? i dunno.
anyway heres a pic of the machine and solutions:

see the heart sparrow charms in the botton right of the tray- you can see a brass one and a silver plated one.