Wax Carving Jewelry

Here's a little peek into my life of an Etsy crafter in NYC. 

Wax carving.  It's something I never thought I could do, yet it's one of the fundamental ways you can create a fluid-looking-3-dimensional piece of jewelry. I was never any good at working with clay or even carving Ivory soap bars on Girl Scout camping trips in 5th grade. Even now I am surprised when I'm finished carving a piece and that it actually turns out looking like what I intended it to.  I should have gotten over that by now, but that's another story for another blog.

Here's a piece that I carved in March. It took me about 3 1/2 hours to carve it, but I had to take little breaks in between. Usually when I start swearing I know it's time to walk away from my bench.

Step one, start with a block of wax:

Step two, saw off a slab and trace pattern onto the block:


Step three, saw out a rough shape:


Step four, shape with files, fingernail, rough cloth, whatever ya got:


Step five, using burrs carve out the back of the piece and create a bail so the chain can fit:


Last step, smooth it out until it's perfect and ready for casting:


And the final piece:

Ta-da!  That's how I make most of the work in my little corner of my little room in one of the biggest cities in the world. 

Stephanie Maslow-Blackman
metalicious