As I have commented to many people, Debora can design and make necklaces faster than I can complete them with clasps. Sometimes she will also outstrip my ability to keep supplies up. Usually, I will use commercial clasps, because Debora prefers lobster claw style to toggles and other clasps. However, I ran out of yellow […]
When beginning at metal working, it is good to play with a simple project. In this case the metal is copper, and the project is a money clip. The entire project needs to be planned before you begin any work. Drawings of what you want to achieve and what effect you want need to be […]
Now that you can set your camera and adjust the settings (try different settings and take multiple pictures of the same piece), you want to have other items so you can take the picture in focus and be able to duplicate your environment every time. To do this you need four basic items: lamps, backdrop, […]
Several settings on the camera need to be set manually to get the most from your camera. In the menu there are settings for focus, lighting, and pixel usage. Set the focus for center spot, this will produce a circle in the center of the view screen to aim at the spot on your piece […]
Cameras are divided into two basic types: Point and Shoot and Single Lens Reflex. These are described below. I use a Point and Shoot type made by Kodak. While it does not have all the features and versatility of the Single Lens Reflex camera, the price was right for me. When working with film, I […]
Rasmussen Gems and Jewelry LLC began in 2008 when my wife purchased a parcel of gemstones from a television show. She brought them to me and said: “You’re the geologist, what are these?” Thus began my journey into gemmology. I queried the internet and found multiple textbooks and websites dedicated to gemmology. I purchased texts […]
I thought and thought and thought and just could not devise an unique chain pattern of my own, so I sat down and made a European Box chain with 6 mm ID rings (hand cut from 18 gauge round copper wire). The result is a 7 inch bracelet here displayed on a flocked hand. The […]
I was thinking and decided to try a twisted wire project. I took three strands of 18 gauge round soft copper wire and twisted them together into one strand. Showing this to my wife, she said, why don’t you use silver. I would like something done with this in silver. I took three strands of […]
For those who want to see the basic process for creating a piece of jewelry, here is a chronicle through the creation of a necklace pendant. First a brass blank was selected to put my design on. I had an idea about a “drop” of metal with a stone inset at the bottom of the […]
In order to create my art, I first cut the stone that will go in the piece, then design around that. Here are two stones cut in the lapidary in the past week. The first is a piece of Lapis Lazuli about 2.5 inches long and it is very heavy. Will probably use it in […]
