Skip to main content

A Distinct Lack Of Interest

That's how I'd describe my mood concerning my blog recently. Not because I don't enjoy writing stuff - I do, it's just "other things" have been on my mind.

I started a part-time home carer job recently after 18 months of working as a private carer doing a few hours a day so working for a company again feels a bit weird. There've been a few starting hiccups - not knowing when I would get my days off, cocking up my worksheet then expecting me to work 7 days a week without any notice (er, no!) and the inevitable Saturday night "can you help us out, someone's gone off sick" phone calls. After previously working for another care company for five years sometimes doing 15 hour days without a proper break I vowed when I left never to work nights again so the answer to those phone calls is a definite no! I work mornings and that's it :D I am enjoying the work though and the people I go to are lovely.



On the jewellery front (much better than work!) I've been experimenting with soldering. Nothing earth-shattering, just basic stuff like soldering rings and sweat soldering. I think if I ever fancy a go at bezel setting and more advanced stuff I definitely need to go to a class. I also had a go at solder inlay after seeing it in one of the many books I've bought recently on soldering! I love the idea of using solder to create a design in the metal. The top photo and the one below show earrings I've made with solder inlay. The earrings below were a complete pig to photograph because of the shininess and the reflection from my very pink camera :D


I stamped a design into the metal, flooded it with solder then sanded off the excess to reveal the design. I'd recommend getting a Dremel/flexshaft for this unless you want to spend hours filing and sanding! I'm going to make some more solder inlay designs soon.


I practised my sawing for these heart earrings (not my favourite thing) but practice makes perfect. I'm planning on sawing some more hearts to enamel this weekend too.



Soldered hoop with lampwork bead - I've read that sometimes the beads can crack from the heat as you solder the hoops closed but these worked ok. I positioned tweezers next to the bead to act as a heat sink and just concentrated the heat near the top. I like this design so will probably do it again!



Soldered copper hoops with Czech glass coin bead. I used the stamped design to cunningly hide the solder join :D

Comments

  1. Not my thing blogging, I don't seem to have the inclination or the time any more. Having said that I thought this morning that I would take a peek, I have to say that your jewellery and findings are lovely. Also your blog is very interesting, I used to work as a carer, working for an agency and a charitable trust, very worthwhile and rewarding work.... terrible hours.
    Ann

    ReplyDelete
  2. I haven't blogged in months... in a total funk.
    My job is in the bookies, so my hours are pretty antisocial, too- the shop closes at half nine every night, and we often get to spend all day there, from quarter to nine in the morning, and all this for the grand amount of £6.16 an hour. At least you get to do something really worthwhile and help people who need you! Even though that is the only aspect of your job I envy you for as I used to work in a care home in Germany and it nearly broke my heart how we'd always be pressed for time and never got to give the people the attention they really deserved. A tough profession, and an admirable one.
    On a lighter note, I am, as usual, darn impressed with your new designs! You make it look so easy, like it's nothing to solder metal. Ha! And your sawing skills are, at least to my admiring eye, pretty mad, too. I'd LOVE to be able to saw intricate designs out of metal, but then again, even if I could... it takes a talented artist like you to come up with tasteful little shinies that always make me wish I had a lot more ears so I could wear them all! <3

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for your comment Steff :D
    I've settled down a bit in the new job now - days off sorted out at last. I think it was having less time to make jewellery that was stressing me out :D

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Your comments and questions are very welcome!
If you would prefer to contact me directly please use the contact form on my "get in touch" page.

Popular posts from this blog

Combining Soldering And Enamel

The need to make cute, brightly coloured enamel studs propelled me into the world of combining soldering with enamel a couple of years ago. I knew from reading up on it that it was possible to enamel and solder on the same piece but wasn't too confident I was able to do it back then. It was a slightly embarrassing occurance that made me just get on with - I'd made some enamel studs with glued on stud posts. I'd used 2 part epoxy resin which was a job in itself as it set hard after 5 minutes so I had to keep mixing more up. The finished studs looked ok but that little voice in my head kept asking "are you sure you want to use glue?" I wasn't but didn't think I had any other way to do it so I used glue. I sold my first pair and merrily sent them on their way to Canada. A couple of week later the buyer got in touch to say the stud post had come off one of the earrings and the other was hanging off. I was mortified, apologized profusely and refunded her m

Etching Silver Using Nail Art Stamps

So my love/hate relationship with etching sterling silver continues. I've tried a few times now and always end up with different results most of them not that great to be honest. I've tried connecting the silver and a piece of copper to a 9v battery and also heating the ferric nitrate. Sometimes the results are good sometimes not so good. I currently have an etched piece of silver sheet waiting to be reticulated and rid it of the mess that is the etched "pattern".  I now know that using stamps and Stayz On ink just doesn't work with silver - the time needed to etch using ferric nitrate is much longer than etching copper and the ink starts to wear away after about an hour. This results in the pattern being patchy as the resist is eaten away and the silver ends up quite lumpy and course looking. I have yet to try using pnp paper. I don't know why but it all seems a bit of a faff to do. I don't have a laser printer so would need to find somewhere or

Embossing Metal With My Sizzix Bigshot

I must admit up until a few weeks ago I was vaguely familiar with the name Sizzix but as to what you actually did with a "Sizzix" I was completely in the dark! That was until I stumbled across a video from Vintaj showing how you could use their embossing folders with a Bigshot to create designs on metal ("metal" - my favourite word after chocolate!) I was really impressed and itching to have a go, I just needed a Bigshot........ I waited a few weeks then when the urge to possess one overcame me I went out debit card at the ready..............and the shop had sold out! So I trundled off to The Range on the off chance and came home clutching my own surprisingly heavy pink and black wonder machine. It sat on the dining room table for a couple of days while I waited for the embossing folders I'd ordered online to arrive then the time came to start playing! I started with some pre-cut 24g copper hearts and the Wildflower Vines and the Butterfly Swirls Deco