Happy New Year!!

And welcome to my first newsletter! I hope to send one out every month – possibly a bit more often than that, but I promise not to inundate your inbox with emails!

I know that some of you are most interested in reading about jewelry. Others of you are most interested in metalsmithing. For a while at least, I will include a bit of both in these newsletters. If you are most interested in metalsmithing, and not so much my jewelry - you can skip the first part and scroll down.

I hope you’ll find my newsletters informative and interesting. I’d love to hear from you about what you’d most like to see in future newsletters.

Barbara Kay Jewelry News

As some of you know, I opened up my studio for the Clark County Open Studios Tour in early November. It was so much fun meeting people and showing my newly remodeled and painted studio off! A few of you visited me; thank you so much! I hope to be part of the tour again next year.

Because I focused so much on the tour, and then on Christmas and filling pre-Christmas orders, I’ve been very slow adding new things to my online shop. But I am beginning to get things like my cloud and rain-lightning earrings into the shop, as well as my mushroom pendants, and a few other pieces that were made prior to the show. And now with the beginning of a new year, I’ll be starting on some new projects, about which I’m very excited.

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Stone of the Month: Larimar

Rocks, in particular semi-precious ones, were what brought me into jewelry making many years ago. Most of my pendants begin with stones. So I thought it would be fun to feature a different one in each of my newsletters.

This month’s rock is one of my favorites; it is a special favorite at this time of year, when the skies can be pretty gloomy and drippy here in the Pacific Northwest where I make my home. Larimar brings images of a sun dappled tropical ocean, bubbly edged waves and all the warmth and fresh gentle breezes that go along with a tropical beach. Interestingly, this rock is only found in one place, which does happen to be in the tropics: The Dominican Republic, and more specifically around the city of Barahona.

Larimar was first mentioned in a letter by a priest to his archbishop in 1916. Other than that, it really wasn’t known at all outside the Dominican Republic until 1974 when a tourist brought a piece that she had found to a Santo Domingo jewelry shop owned by Miguel Méndez. With the help of an American geologist, Méndez located the source of the stone. Although it had been found on a beach, he ultimately discovered that it had been brought by river from a mountain a few miles inland. This is where larimar is now mined; the mountain mines go down as deep as 150 feet.

Méndez named the stone Larimar, which combines his daughter’s name Larissa with ‘mar’, the Spanish word for sea. It has also been called Dophin Stone and Atlantis Stone. It is the result of volcanic activity that occurred millions of years ago, and is a form of pectolite. Pectolite is found throughout the world, but in most places it is white and gray – and is generally too soft and fibrous to be used for jewelry. Larimar’s blue color results from the substitution of cobalt for calcium in the stone, as well as from minerals such as copper. Because of the way the fibers are structured, unlike other pectolites, larimar can be cut and highly polished. But, also due to the internal structure, it can break and chip unexpectedly while being cut. My lapidary artist friends tell me that a lot of stone is wasted when cutting a cabochon out of a piece of larimar. It is also fairly susceptible to scratches; its Mohs hardness ranges from about 4.5 to 6. For this reason, larimar is best used for pendants or earrings. If I make a larimar ring, I try to make a setting that protects the stone.

Larimar’s color can range from fairly deep blue (most desirable) to pale blue and on to a more turquoise blue. It can include translucent whites and even some chatoyancy, similar to cat’s eye.

And finally, for those who are interested in the more metaphysical properties of stones: As you can imagine, larimar is supposed to help relieve stress and calm anxiety. It is also said to help one have an open mind during change, and to support peace, clarity, healing and love.

I have recently added a new larimar necklace, and a pair of earrings to the shop and am working on a ring. There will be more to come!!

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Are you thinking about learning to Metalsmith?

Have you thought you might want to try your hand at working with metal and stones? Just in case you have some questions, I have answers!

Q: Don’t I need a studio?​
​A: No, you don’t. When I started metalsmithing in my own house, I used a part of a home office. I know people who use a corner of their garage. Any spot that has room for a desk or small sturdy table will work. If (or when) you begin using a torch, you will want some kind of ventilation – but you can also buy ventilation “boxes” that suck fumes into a charcoal filter.

Q: What about furniture? I’ve seen jeweler’s benches sell for $400 and more. Do I need to use one?​
​A: Again, no, you don’t need an expensive jeweler’s bench. I do not use one myself. I started out using a small computer table which I still use, along with a couple of other old desks that I inherited. Because it is helpful to have your bench pin (which you saw on) up at eye level, you can raise a regular desk with bed risers which will make it the same height as a jeweler’s bench.

Q: Do I have to use a torch with tanks? I’m afraid of having compressed gas in the house.​
​A: No, you don’t have to use a big torch with gas tanks. First – you can make a lot of jewelry without using a torch at all. When you do start to solder, you can do pretty much anything you want to with an inexpensive butane torch. I used a cheap crème broulee torch that I bought from a kitchen supply store for a number of years before moving on to an Acetylene-Air torch. All of the demonstration images and videos in my Metalsmithing course are done using a butane torch.

Q: Are the tools expensive?​
A: This is a tricky question and the answer is basically Yes. However, you can start out with some simple and not terribly expensive tools: a bench pin, vise, jeweler’s saw, files, a hammer or two, a few other odds and ends – and possibly a little Dremel tool – and make quite a lot of lovely jewelry. As you move on, you will want to buy other tools to increase your options and to make some processes easier or faster. If you become as passionate about metalsmithing as I am… well, then, the sky is your limit when it comes to tools.

If you enroll in my Beginning Metalsmithing course, you will learn all about the tools we use (as well as the processes, of course). You will also get links to tool sources, which can save you time and possibly money. If you’re interested, you can find out more and also enroll here: Beginning Metalsmithing with Barbara Kay Jewelry​

If you are already a metalsmith and would like to see more advanced tips in future newsletters, please let me know!

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That is it for my first newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it! I would love to hear from you. Let me know what you think, and what you’d like to see in future newsletters.