I thought it would be fun so share just how I saw my tiny hearts into each pendant I make. It is often assumed that I have some sort of a heart stamp or jump but the truth is I don’t! I make each and every heart by hand, free hand that is! Here’s how:

I start out by marking where the hole will go, I then hammer the spot to create a dip. This makes the drilling go much smoother, otherwise the drill bit would have a hard time catching in one spot and scratch up the metal (I learned this the hard way). Then I drill the hole. The drill shown is a hand drill and it really helps to have 2 sets of hands when drilling holes but since I only have 2 hands that got old, fast. After a year of using this hand drill I realized I really needed a jewelry drill press. Wow! Has that been nice!

Once the hole has been drilled in thread the super skinny jewelry saw into the hole and tighten the loose end of the saw into the clamp. Now I’m ready to saw!

I get a feel for which way it up depending on what shape I’m adding the heart to and I cut the first side of the heart.

At this point it pretty much just looks like an oblong shape. I saw another oblong shape at the opposite angle.

Now I have a heart! I inspect for flaws and fix them where needed. Now all that’s left is a bit of sanding, polishing, and adding the jump ring and chain. Then off it goes to the hands of one of my amazing customers. Of which I have the best. (hehe)