World renowned wines coming soon to the neighborhood….

Posted by laketolakejewelry in Finger lakes and tagged with , , , , , ,

As you may have guessed, I’m a bit of a wine-o. I love relaxing with a glass of wine and finding the perfect pairing  with a new recipe. Soon we will have a new place to explore endless wines.  Geneva, NY will be home to a brand new wine bar, Microclimate [a wine bar]. Over the past year and a half I have watched a beautiful historic building on Linden St. be transformed from just another rundown, vacant building in downtown Geneva to a beautifully restored building filled with distinctive character.  

Last night was a small party for friends to honor those who have put in hours of work creating the final building. Since I had last been in the building the lighting was installed, the bar was built, the doors were hung and furniture was placed. What a difference it made. The bar has the feeling of a hundred year old establishment with perfectly placed modern touches. Stay tuned to Microclimate’s Facebook for the official opening date (probably in the next couple weeks). This is a must visit place in the heart of the Finger Lakes.

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Make Your Friends Green with Envy…

Posted by laketolakejewelry in Finger lakes, Recycled Jewelry

St. Patrick’s Day is a day of indulgence during the season of Lenten fasting, so indulge yourself with some lovely Green Jewelry from yours truly

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Chirp chirp chirp….

Posted by laketolakejewelry in Recycled Jewelry, Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , , ,

I’ve neglected this blog so much that you can hear the sound of crickets in here.

After the Christmas rush I have taken a little break from jewelry making. I also started a new job at the VA in Canandaigua. I have been training to be a responder on the Veteran’s Crisis Hotline. The training has lasted about 6 weeks, and just this week I have started taking calls on my own. I’ve received all sorts of calls, from homicidal individuals to those just looking to schedule an eye appointment. Each call is a new experience and I’m learning a lot

about the experiences Veteran’s have had during war and in life afterwards. I’ve heard a lot of really sad things and it makes me wish that we never had to send anyone to a combat zone.  I know that world peace is out of my hands, but I’m honored to help Veterans through their dark times. Speaking with a veteran, who at the beginning of the call may have been sobbing, or have a bottle of pills in his hand, and then working with him to the point that he ends the call laughing and thanking me for just listening is incredibly rewarding.

This job fell into place right before Christmas, and now that I’m taking calls on my own I’ve started a part-time, 20 hours per week schedule.  I am going to start out part time at the job and consider going full time. Right now I’m going to use the part time hours to spend more time on making jewelry.  I’m hoping that this job will allow me more time to craft jewelry, develop new designs and ultimately expand Lake to Lake Jewelry. So keep posted to see what’s coming down the pike!

The Making of The Finger Lakes Collection

Posted by laketolakejewelry in Finger lakes, PMC and tagged with , , , , ,

This silver Finger Lakes necklaces I make are some of my most popular items. I get a lot of questions around how they are made. I uses a material called Precious Metal Clay, or PMC for short. There are a couple of different kinds of precious metal clay, there’s bronze, copper, steal and I just was notified that there is now sterling silver. I work with PMC3 which is fine silver(99.9%pure). This is the easiest form to work with as the other metals require specialized equipment. With PMC3 all I need is a small butane torch, similar to what chefs use to make creme brulee.

The first step is to take the clay and mold it. I have made molds for each of the pendants I make. The clay is about the same consistancy of Silly Putty, and very easy to work with.

Once the piece is molded it’s important to do some last sanding and finishing before firing. It is much easier to sand it in the unfired stage. You have to make sure that the piece is entirely dried, otherwise when you fire it the piece will bubble and it will be ruined.

Once dried, you simply put the torch to it and fire away!

The first firing phase

The piece will burst into flame and burn for about 30 seconds. In this stage, the binder in the clay is burning off, leaving only silver behind

I continue to heat the piece until it glows red for at least 10 seconds

Once it is throughly heated I quench the piece by dropping it into water to cool. Then I clean the piece with a brass brush  and very fine sanding paper. To add depth to the piece, I place the piece into Liver of Sulfur to oxidize it. This process turns the piece black. By polishing the highlights of the piece it brings out the details. And voila the pendant is ready to be hung on a chain!

The final product

The streets were all a-sparkle at Corning’s Sparkle!

Posted by laketolakejewelry in Craft Show and tagged with , , , , , ,

Saturday night I was down in Corning NY for their Sparkle celebration. Corning really knows how to celebrate Christmas. They organize a full month of activities that celebrate the holidays and brings folks downtown to support local businesses.

I was invited by Karen Maio of Simple Style to participate in this year’s Sparkle. Simple Style has carried my jewelry for over a year. I’m sad to say that the store front will be going out of business, but you will still be able to visit the online store from the convenience of your living room!

I had read somewhere on the internet that the attendance was roughly 8,000, I have to admit I didn’t believe it at first, but after seeing the packed streets, I would guess that number is about right.

Market Street in Corning was all a-bustle

Here’s my booth all set up. This was a challenging show as I didn’t have a power source, so lighting was limited.

The goods

JJ working the booth

Trying to stay warm in my booth

It was a cold but fun night. My boyfriend, JJ was a huge help and I literally could not have gotten through the show without him bringing me chili and hot chocolate!

Well that wraps it up for holiday shows this year. Spring craft shows can’t come soon enough!