What I did today - Work in Progress Wednesday

I'm taking part in the "Charm Swap 4" with 19 other metalsmiths from Etsy Metal. Read more about it at the Etsy Metal Blog.


This is the charm I'm making. In the style of my Lucky Charm pendants, I decided on an anvil (because of what it symbolizes to us metalsmiths), hand drawn and etched in sterling silver. And an inspirational "create" tag alongside it, handwritten and etched in bronze.

Here are some work-in-progress pics for your enjoyment.


The original drawing of my anvil. All my stuff starts out this way - pen on paper.

I forgot to take pictures of the etching part. So let's pretend there's a picture of some metal being etched here:



Ok, the metal is etched. Now it needs to be cut.


This is me hammering out the anvils into circles with my handy dandy disc cutter. Some tools make life so easy.



Voila, metal is cut.



Soldering tags to the backs of the anvil charms. The tags have my initials stamped in them, along with a copyright stamp, .925 stamp, and the letters "em cs4" (Etsy Metal Charm Swap 4)


Cleaning up the sharp edges with my silicone sanding wheel.

Tomorrow I'll post of a pictures of all 22 completed charms.

(you can click on the pictures to make them bigger).