Cinnamon Jewellery

I'm really enjoying creating jewellery for me for a change! Despite making jewellery to sell I very rarely set something aside just for myself. Why? I have no idea other than the uncontrollable urge I have to keep making new pieces to add to my shops. In fact I feel a tiny bit guilty spending time making jewellery for myself which is utter madness I know. So to make up for this I've been making pieces at my jewellery course at night school that really are just for me and it makes me feel very extravagant {although I think that's more to do with the cost of silver to be honest!} As I make mostly earrings to sell and not really being a pendant type of person (I should be I know) the last two projects I did at college were rings. The latest is an etched silver and carnelian combination which morphed into being like a lot of my stuff does. It was originally going to lie lengthways along my finger than I realized it looked better going across. The shape changed seve...

One thing that has always caught my eye when I look at metalwork jewellery is contrast and layers. That difference in texture between patterned and smooth and also the depth added by layers and overlaying. I recently tried etching sterling silver firstly using copper nitrate and a battery. It worked but the results were unpredictable. By that I mean some pieces etched well within an hour and the next batch were hardly touched after 4 hours. A bit frustrating and not reliable enough for someone who isn't the world's most patient soul! So I decided to try ferric nitrate which is a bit more "hardcore" than the previous method and one I'd been hoping to avoid. The sterling silver etched well with the ferric nitrate. I used vinyl/plastic stickers you can find in craft stores and left it for about 2.5 hours. The stickers worked well and the etch was really clean and quite deep.  These earrings were hard to photograph because of their shiny shiny nat...

Look out for issue 45 of Bead magazine which was out on 13 March. Bead has a new look this issue and is full of Spring inspiration! There's quite a lot of floral action going on including a step-by-step project for my copper wirework earrings with ceramic flower beads.  I love those beads!  Seeing the photos has reminded me to dig out the rest of those ceramic flower beads and do something else with them. I bought a mix of colours including lilac, pink and yellow. I'd like to thread them onto copper or silver hoops then solder the hoops closed. I "think" the ceramic beads will stand up to the heat of the torch ok. Some strategically placed pliers would act as a heat sink and easy solder would make it a quick in and out job so I may well have a go soon. Here's the colourful front cover of Bead magazine - it's so bright you can't help but be cheered up by it :D

 I decided recently that etching is one of my favourite things to do with metal. I read about it online quite a while ago and immediately thought it looked cool but the thought of using an "acid" and having to find somewhere to store it (a perennial problem when you don't have a workroom) put me off. So instead I admired etched copper from afar. Until I got a bee in my bonnet about it again and bought Lexi Erikson's copper etching dvd. Lexi Erikson is very good at explaining jewellery techniques and making them seem much more straightforward than they first appear. I already knew that ferric chloride was a salt and not an acid so wouldn't eat my flesh through to the bone if I accidently spilled some on my hand. The dvd made me feel much more comfortable about having a go so I ordered some ferric chloride from ebay and bought some stamps and StazOn ink from a local craft shop. My first attempt went ok but for some reason I left the copper to etch for an hou...

Silver and Enamel Ring - Daniel Vior Ogham Jewellery  is a jewellery business based in Ayr, Scotland. Run by Michael Freedman, Ogham Jewellery sells a selection of finely hand crafted jewellery for men and women chosen from designers around the world. I was really interested to find out more about the business and any advice Michael might have on selling jewellery online. Silver and Rose Gold Rin g by  Aviv   What is your background? Have you always had an interest in jewellery?   Ogham Jewellery is a family business, which was started by my parents, Norman and Hazel F reedman. My father Norman was originally an accountant and a business consultant and mostly handled the financial side of the business, while my mother is a more creative person who had qualifications in art and pottery. My parents also ran a number of retail businesses over the years, including clothing shops, a restauran...