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Ruth Keen's interest in handmade jewelry started less than five years ago. She was vacationing in Maine at the time and came upon some beautiful silver pins made by a native silversmith. "Do you suppose I could ever learn how to make anything as beautiful as these pins?" she asked a friend with her.

"Of course you could, Ruth! Haven't you worked on pewter—well, silver is just another area of metalcraft."

That started Ruth Keen thinking. True, she had done some work on pewter in a craft group many years ago. It was fun, she remembered. Smiling, she said to her friend: "You may be getting a silver bracelet for Christmas!"

RUTH KEEN returned from that Maine vacation bubbling with interest in jewelry making. What tools would she need? Is silver a terribly expensive medium in which to work? How do you begin to make something like a bracelet? There was no end to the questions revolving in her head.

This wise lady found the answer to her questions by enrolling in one of the adult education classes at nearby Baldwin high school. '

"I have never understood persons who take up a handcraft as a hobby and go at it alone without help from anyone," says Ruth Keen. "There may be some psychological satisfaction in being self-taught, but a terrific amount of time is wasted in learning by tedious trial and error what can be learned quickly in a few easy lessons. Of course, experience is what counts from then on." Out of her own experience Ruth Keen has plenty of friendly advice to offer—and one big warning at the start: Supplement class instruction by studying the techniques of professional artisans.

Books and magazines dealing with jewelry making have also proved invaluable as a supplement to class instruction, according to Miss Keen. She particularly recommends a book called "Metal Art Crafts," by John G. Miller. This is a book on materials, tools, processes, and projects, designed for the use of those who are interested in making objects of sterling silver, copper, brass, pewter.

While Miss Keen believes in learning from others, she adds this word of caution: Don't become so dependent on a teacher or the presence of other struggling craftsmen in class groups that you fail to strike out on your own.

This spirit of initiative was evident in Ruth Keen at the very first class meeting which she attended. She stated that she would like to make a large lapel pin, of a wheat spray design, as her first project, Now, the instructor at the Baldwin school believes in letting each student work on individual projects, but she was most hesitant about having Miss Keen start on the wheat pin. She knew it was not exactly a project for a beginner. It was a piece that could not be finished quickly! Beginners have a way of expecting immediate results. But Miss Keen was determined. She promised to stick with the pin no matter how long it would take.

"I'm afraid I sorely tried the patience of our instructor," recalls Miss Keen. "She had to show me everything, step-by-step. However, the pin finally was completed at the last meeting of the class that semester; and it is now one of the pieces on which I receive the greatest number of comments. Believe me, I learned many techniques in making that single piece of jewelry. It is one piece of mine that is not for sale!"

IN JEWELRY making, as in everything else that requires skill, success comes with practice. Miss Keen did not consider herself a jeweler when that beginner's course came to an end. Each year since then, including the present year, she has enrolled in various advanced courses in jewelry making conducted by the adult education division of her local high school, in order to further her knowledge and skill. For this career woman feels that upon retirement, her ability to make worthwhile pieces of jewelry will not only give her something to do but it will bring in additional income.

"It seems to me," Miss Keen goes on to say, "that the average hobbyist fails in becoming adept in his field because he won't bother to put the necessary effort into learning his project thoroughly. It takes time to perfect techniques."

Miss Keen reminds us that the untrained painter doesn't expect to learn to produce a Rembrandt in one year! "Of course," she continues, "it does take a lot more than knowing the rudiments to turn out lovely pieces of jewelry. Creative ability is essential, too. But most people have more imagination than they are ever given credit for if presented with materials with which they like to work. Many a beginner has developed into a full-fledged artisan by patient practice. There is such a thing as acquired creative talent, you know! When I first began making jewelry it sometimes took me two or three evenings to make one bracelet. At first it is difficult to work out a design, but the process soon becomes routine. Now I can turn out two or three bracelets in one evening!"

Would you like to make some sterling silver jewelry? Expensive looking items in sterling silver cost much less to make than you'd think. Sheets of silver don't cost a fortune and you do not need an expensive kit of tools or a special workroom. Miss Keen does almost all of the work on her jewelry in the living room of her small apartment. Soldering is done in the cellar of a friend's home where the two women have set up a small workshop complete with gas connection for soldering which is not available in Miss Keen's apartment. She is quick to tell you that costly equipment is not needed for the home jeweler.

"Actually," says Miss Keen, "a seven-by-seven-inch sheet of sterling ¹/32 inch thick, costs about $4.50; but it can be used to make many articles. Silver wire and chains, which can be combined with sheet silver, cost very little. Small chains run about forty to eighty cents a foot, the more delicate chains costing less, because they use less silver. These prices are what you pay if you buy direct from a dealer. It is well to keep in mind that broken pieces of silver and shavings can be weighed and sold back to the dealer."

QUERIED AS to the equipment necessary to begin making silver jewelry either as a hobby or a profession, Miss Keen comes up with this encouraging information: "Few tools are needed." She says that her first bracelets and pins were made with just a jeweler's saw and blade, a half-round file, some "flat silver stock" and silver wire. These may be purchased for less than $10.

"Of course," explains Miss Keen, "if you plan to make much jewelry you'll find that a complete set of needle files is desirable, also a rubber mallet, a bench vise and a hand vise. It might be pointed out here that sheet silver is very easily bent. Therefore, when the silver is being cut, the part near the point where the cutting is being done must be held firmly. There is only one place where a firm hold may be produced and that is in a vise. Silver in any form, however, is so soft that the steer jaws of a vise will mark it badly, so cover these jaws with caps of sheet lead. This done the silver sheet may be held tightly with no fear of marks. The above tools, along with a blow pipe and gas connection, will make possible almost any piece of jewelry that you decide to fashion.

A charcoal block is customarily used when soldering; but Miss Keen found when starting out in this craft that a pie tin worked very well in place of the charcoal block. She used a tin that had come with a baker's pie, and while the heat warped it quite a bit, even that warping helped because it often made it possible to set a piece of jewelry on the slightly uneven surface that would have been more difficult to keep in place on the comparatively flat surface of the charcoal block. As the beginner advances, Miss Keen advises adding other tools—a ball peen hammer, chasing tools, a drill, stone setting tools, several pairs of pliers, and a polishing wheel.

Ruth Keen's first bit of advice to persons planning on learning how to make jewelry with an eye to selling what they make is this: Be prepared to meet competition. This comes not only from others as skilled as you are, but from commercial sources able to command hand labor at low cost. This fact is not stated to discourage you, but to make you bold. It takes time and sometimes is a tedious business to turn out a well-done handmade item. "For this reason," says Miss Keen, "it will never be worth your while to compete with factory made articles by using low grade materials in order to cut down your price tag. You can't fool the public on quality. You can build your reputation on quality. So always use top grade materials."

Now that Ruth Keen makes scores of items she buys silver sheets and wires direct from a large wholesale manufacturer. "You have to do this in order to increase your profits," she says. Findings, tools, etc., she still buys through the class instructor.

AFTER ALMOST five years of making jewelry, Miss Keen is confident that there are no shortcuts to a well-made piece of jewelry. If you want a fine piece of work it takes the time necessary for the finishing touches. "One of the commonest mistakes that beginners make is to try to find some shortcut," says Miss Keen. "They are so eager to get one piece finished so that they can begin on another! I used to think the instructor was sometimes carrying things too far when she would try to pry off a hastily soldered piece of silver on an item I was making. But I soon learned that a poor soldering job can spoil a complete piece of work, especially if there is a stone in the piece and re-soldering is needed after the stone is set."

According to Miss Keen, beginners should not attempt to repair broken pieces of silver. Broken silver may as well be weighed and sold to a dealer; or melted and made into silver balls for ornamentation of new pieces.

Ruth Keen makes pins, rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings of sterling silver, some of which are set with semiprecious stones. Her pieces sell from $5 to $25. Miss Keen has been selling her jewelry for only a short period of time and has not as yet worked out any set rule for deciding how much to charge for an item. However, she says: "I find that a charge of about twice the raw cost of materials works out as a fair price to all concerned. A piece that has a great amount of work in it might run a little more but on an average this formula has proven satisfactory with me. Pieces set with stones should run two and a half to three times the raw cost, for they are usually more elaborate and require considerable more work than pieces which do not have stones in them."

One of the most difficult things for the home craftsman to grasp is the question of the price tag. Miss Keen says there is no point in spending a lot of time and energy on an item and then selling it at a loss because you don't know how much your cost has actually been. So strict account of the cost of materials must be kept and of the time spent in making the article. "But," she adds, "if you are making bracelets, for instance, you must bear in mind that you'll make your third or fourth bracelet far more quickly than you made the first, so your price tag should be set on the quicker time. Then, take into consideration whether you are going to sell directly to customers or whether you are going to place your items in a local shop. Few shops take less than one-third off the retail price and most shops ask at least fifty per cent off the retail price. To the novice this may seem out of all proportion to the effort and money that has been expended in making the item; but you must remember that a shop owner has to pay rent, salaries, and other expense—so he needs this mark-up."

Persons who sell the jewelry they make must not forget that there is a ten per cent government tax on jewelry sales. Tax returns must be filed periodically with Federal tax authorities. Special forms for the purpose may be obtained at your nearest Federal tax agency.

MISS KEEN has not yet placed her jewelry in shops. Because of her full time job at the college, she feels for the present she cannot give more than a couple of hours an evening to her "business"; and members of the faculty and students seem to buy all the jewelry she can turn out in that time. However, Miss Keen has given a lot of thought to how she will enlarge her "business" when she retires (she has been at Adelphi college for twenty-six years so retirement is coming her way.)

"When it is necessary for me to make money from my jewelry to live on," says Miss Keen, "I intend to specialize in a few items each year, rather than make each piece an original design as I am now doing. I'll be able to turn out a far greater number of items in this way! Since profit from my jewelry is now only a side-line, so to speak, I prefer to do original designs—a bracelet, pin, or ring, for a specific person or a special occasion. It's much more interesting!"

Miss Keen is lucky in having ready-made customers at her fingertips. But the possibilities for building up a good customer list are unlimited provided, of course, that the items you turn out meet the high standards set down by customer demands. A big factor in building a successful home business enterprise is word-of-mouth advertising. One satisfied customer brings another, and so it continues to snowball. There are various methods that will enable you to gain this initial foothold. Miss Keen's suggestion is to ask a few friends and acquaintances to come to your home to see what you are doing. Most women whom you will communicate with for this purpose will appreciate your invitation as a favor. After all, each one of us likes to be given the opportunity to buy something new and distinctive.

Another way of getting customers, particularly if you live in a small town, is to place an advertisement in your local newspaper. A small advertisement of about two inches will serve your purpose. Rates for local newspapers are most moderate. Your advertisement could read like this:

STERLING SILVER JEWELRY
Made to your order upon request
Featuring
Rings   Earrings
Bracelets   Pins
Name  Address  Phone

You will find that it is necessary to run at least two or three advertisements because, to repeat again, success for this kind of enterprise lies in word-of-mouth advertising. You must get people talking about your work. Make up a mailing list of names of neighbors, acquaintances, business associates, and send out some form of announcement. Miss Keen says that government postcards make good inexpensive announcement cards. But you must give the card a touch of color to achieve that all important eye-catching impact. Decorative gummed stickers (the kind you use for gift wrappings) will brighten a postcard; and the message may be written in colored ink. You probably will think up methods of your own when it comes to tracking down customers. No matter how you do it, get those first few customers and get your momentum started.

At the same time you are selling to a handful of customers, seek help and advice on managing a home business from your state development council, department of commerce and industry, the women's exchanges, business and professional women's clubs, and local chambers of commerce. Take advantage of any available expert advice.

After all the good advice is assimilated and evaluated your next move is to talk with store buyers—the little shop is the one most approachable. A buyer will examine your item, suggest changes to make it acceptable and perhaps give you an order for six or a dozen. Local gift shops ate a willing market for jewelry.

COME ON! Just for fun why not follow Ruth Keen's directions and see what you can do. A very simple but effective bangle bracelet can be made of a heavy gauge half-round wire. This wire comes in ¼-, and ½-inch width and enough for one bracelet will cost less than $1.50. Here is all you do: Cut the half-round wire to desired length. You get the length of the bracelet by fitting a narrow band of paper around the wrist for which it is intended. The ends should not meet. Leave a ½-inch opening to allow the bracelet to be removed without the necessity of bending. Next, cut your design into the rounded side of the wire, using a half-round file. This design can be merely a series of evenly-spaced cross or horizontal lines, or sets of lines, or geometric patterns. (Figure 1). If you can't draw freehand with a file, trace or draw your design on a piece of thin, hard tracing paper with a sharp, medium-grade drawing pencil. Then apply a thin coat of fish glue (never rubber cement) to the under side of the paper drawing. Place the drawing on the silver surface and smooth in place. After cutting the design into the silver the paper may be removed with hot water. Your design must be cut quite deep so that when the bracelet is polished and oxidized these lines hold the black oxidation and make a pretty contrast to the polished surface.

Your next step is to bend the bracelet to desired shape. You may heat it with a blow torch to soften silver and the shaping may be done sectionally over a metal pipe or other rounded surface. It is important to adjust the blow torch to a soft blue flame. A yellow flame indicates not enough air, while a flame that roars indicates too much air. Pass the flame rapidly over the piece of silver and as quickly remove it. Repeat this operation until the silver bends to shape. If you don't have a blow torch, the bracelet may be bent to shape with a rubber mallet over a rounded surface. (Figure 2). Bend to shape as in Figure 3. Once the bracelet is shaped it should be polished—preferably on a buffing wheel, but it can be done by hand—with jeweler's rouge. Then it may be oxidized.

"Oxidation gives silver an antique appearance," says Miss Keen, "and I think it greatly enhances a piece of jewelry. The process is very simple. Oxidation is done with the use of liver of sulphur. A small piece dissolved in warm water will oxidize a number of pieces. Polish the item, first. Then wash it well in hot water and soap suds—with a little ammonia in the water to cut the grease from any polish remaining on the piece. Next, dip the piece in the solution of liver of sulphur. Don't get frightened when you remove it and see that the entire piece of jewelry is black! When the oxide is dry, hand-polish the item with a little powdered pumice. As you remove the black oxide you will find that it comes off easily from the high spots but remains in the impressions and around the base of the cut design."