by Dona Miller | Jun 4, 2019 | Jewelry Blog
“When you have a dream you have to grab it and never let go.” What is your dream? Mine is to create jewelry that speaks to and touches people hearts. Making them feel worthy and loved. So why jewelry? Because it can be a talisman, a touchstone, a periapt...
by Dona Miller | Jun 3, 2019 | Jewelry Blog
What reminds you of, and reignites your strength? Standing on a beach? Sitting by a mountain stream? Reading by the fire? Playing with the dog? Going for a run? Sitting in a café sipping your favorite drink people watching? When was the last time you did something...
by Dona Miller | Jun 2, 2019 | Jewelry Blog
I fell in love with these Mookaite stones. This is usually not a stone I am drawn to. However, the combination of colors and shape yelled “Pick Me”. So I did. Here I am selecting accent stones. It is a selection based on color, size and stone properties....
by Dona Miller | May 7, 2019 | Student Blog
It is interesting how everything seems to be cyclic even as an instructor. One topic will be hot for a while, and then crickets on that topic. And just when you think you won’t be teaching that topic again, people start asking when the next class is. So here is a...
by Dona Miller | Apr 8, 2019 | Student Blog
Most of us are aware to use a cutting lubricant like BurLife on our saw blades, but did you know it can and should be used in all metal cutting processes? Saw blades. Using a lubricant will prolong the life of the blades. It will stop chatter and will make cutting the...
by Dona Miller | Mar 6, 2019 | Student Blog
A big hurdle for most artists is putting their work out there for the public to see. Most of us have that “fraud” mentality, that we aren’t really an artist yet, and why would anyone like our work let alone buy it? And as an artist you are going to get negative...
by Dona Miller | Mar 5, 2019 | Student Blog
I always love a good tip to make my work easier. I had completely forgotten this one until someone mentioned it the other day. In our quest to create bezels the correct size, we sometimes get them just a hair too small. In class I generally have people remake the...
by Dona Miller | Feb 5, 2019 | Student Blog
I get this question a lot from students…. How do you pick your stones for your work? Well if you are anything like me you get really distracted with shiny, pretty things, and that is double bad when it is stones. This is an area that you can overspend (often) and...
by Dona Miller | Nov 1, 2018 | Student Blog
Check to make sure flat surfaces are truly flat. Take a piece of 400-grit sandpaper, place it flat on your work surface, and sand both sides of your piece. If the sanding pattern is uneven, where there are spots that are not sanded, then it isn’t flat. Cutting and...
by Dona Miller | Aug 18, 2018 | Student Blog
What does “get out quickly” have to do with soldering? Recently I have noticed a number of students having trouble with their solder joins. They are seeing their solder flow, but when testing the strength of the solder join – like flaring a ring – the join fails....
