We just released Art Jewelry magazine's newest free downloadable project – in it you can learn how to make a pair of really fun mismatched Serendipity Earrings (click here to download the project). In the tutorial I walk you through all the steps necessary to solder and assemble the oxidized fine silver earrings you see at right.
I created these earrings to showcase one of my favorite (low-stress, non-fiddly, imprecise) jewelry-making techniques – water casting. I'm telling you, this technique is fool-proof! Even if you've never done a casting of any kind before, I guarantee you that you will make one-of-a-kind, artistic, and organic-looking components with water casting.
The result are instantaneous, which satisfies my instant-gratification streak. 
AND, if for some reason you don't like the components that you've made, you can remelt them and try again. You can't beat that!
[I added a teeny-tiny 2mm 24k solid gold accent ball to each earring.
Little splashes of gold like that are a fantastic and inexpensive way to
add color and panache to a jewelry piece. No seriously, this gold's not
expensive: you can buy a pair of these little gold balls at Metal Clay
Findings for less than 17 bucks!]
- To see just how little time it takes to make a water casting, check out this video. (You need to be registered to view it, but registration is FREE!) Follow along as I pour molten fine silver into a bucket of water, and then immediately check out the results.
- To learn all the particulars about water casting, read my article "Goof-Proof Water Casting" in the May 2009 issue.
- And if you're mixing your own alloys to use with that water casting, you should check out our alloy calculator here. Just plug in the metal alloy you'd like to make and the calculator will instantly figure out the exact ingredient ratios for you. (Maybe it's just me, but here's a big whoo hoo for less math!)
- Speaking of calculators, we also have a gold karat calculator for you too. Just plug in whatever karat of gold that you already have and the calculator will tell you what you need to add to your gold to change it to another karat (either higher or lower). How nifty is that??
If you give water casting a try, please post a comment and tell me how you like it.
I'd be surprised if it's not one of your new favorites.
Take care,
~Addie~
P.S. Click here to download our free desktop wallpaper for the month of March – a necklace by John Wik featuring a chain mail bezel around a guitar pick. How cool is that??