Cinnamon Jewellery

This is the pendant I made as a commission recently. It was a slightly different request from the custom work I've done before in that the buyer wanted me to use one of her own cabochons. She also wanted the pendant with a shiny silver finish. If you read this blog regularly you'll know that I don't normally do shiny. One reason is just that I prefer the oxidized look especially with patterned silver. The other reason is getting a smooth shiny finish on plain silver is difficult!   When the piece features a textured silver top layer and quite a few balls it's even more difficult to get a good polish on it. Getting into the crevices even with radial polishers was tricky as they caught the edge of the top textured layer and would have worn the pattern away if I hadn't stopped. But, after a lot of finishing work I did get a decent finish on it and I'm happy to say the buyer was very happy with it and it arrived in time for her birthday which was nice :D ...

I recently finished two copper pendants that had been waiting on the sidelines for quite a time while I finished some other orders. I'd managed to cut them out and file and sand the edges then some findings orders arrived and they were return to the "to do" pile. But at last earlier this week I managed to finish them! I used a mendhi style stamp I got from Hobbycraft for a £1 with Stayz On ink to stamp the design onto the copper then etched for about an hour. I love these type of detailed designs. My ferric chloride was on it's last legs and took longer than usual - it would normally take about 40-45 mins to get the light etched look that I prefer. *Tip!* If you're planning to use stamps for etching I've found the fine line designs work and look better than the thicker line ones. I then sawed around the edge of the design, filed and sanded and made the bails. Strangely enough I have never made a bail like this before. I've made hidden bails and p sh...

I managed to catch up with myself last week after a couple of biggish findings orders recently that kept me busy for two whole days and made a few pairs of earrings. I used some copper and silver I'd etched and ventured into wire work territory that I don't do a lot of these days. Just simple bead loops but it was fun getting my beads out again and choosing colours and the quickness of making them was a nice change! I bought these czech glass beads a while ago from Lima Beads  and I love the colours. They have a large selection of czech beads but I couldn't see the kiwi green colour anymore sadly. I also used some of the sterling silver sheet I'd etched using nail art stamps . The etched designs are small so I was a bit restricted and kept it pretty simple..... The shape of this pair with the garnet cabochons reminds me of little handbags (kind of). It's the first pair I've made with garnets and I love the colour combination with the oxid...

 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...