Yoi!

I live in Pittsburgh and if there is one thing that all Pittsburghers agree upon, it's the love of the local sports teams. Of all the cities I've visited, I haven't encountered anything like it - strangers will initiate conversations and truly bond over their shared appreciation of their teams. I think this speaks to the friendliness of Pittsburghers, in general, but that's another story for another blog.

This blog is about jewelry and this specific post is about these awesome PMC charms I created using the Cool Tools AlphaDisc system. I had been struggling with finding an efficient, uniform way to add lettering to my pieces and, on a whim, decided to purchase the AlphaDisc. As soon as the package arrived, I opened it up and started to experiment!

The two pieces pictured above are in raw form - they had not been sanded or polished at this point. However, you can clearly see the lettering. I was impressed with the ease of use and the clarity of the type. After viewing a short YouTube video I was able to use the system with no problems.

After shaping sanding away all of the imperfections, the lettering is much clearer. I used two different fonts - Typewriter (shown left) and Nile (shown right). I love them both! This is what the charms looked like pre-fire. I am pretty crazy about sanding because I like my charms to have a mirror-like shine...I'm not kidding! I like to see my face in them after they are completed.





Voila! After torch-firing and an application of patina, the charms are finished! I was very pleased with the results, thanks to the AlphaDisc. Although I don't like to consider myself a spokesperson for products, I have to say that this was an excellent purchase! My PMC work will definitely be enhanced by the ability to use uniform lettering. I can't wait to play with my new toy some more!

Oh, for those of you who don't know, "yoi!" was the favorite phrase of the famed Steeler's announcer, Myron Cope. These necklaces are just another way to display your Pittsburgh pride!