Cinnamon Jewellery

I went through a hoop phase a couple of weeks ago when I just had to make some hoop inspired jewellery. I quite often get these urges - sometimes it's for enamel, sometimes it's etching, it just depends. I'm currently in the grip of a hollow form phase but I'm having to wait for supplies before I can go any further which is a bit annoying but does serve to make me think about it a bit more before diving in! I wanted to continue my bezel setting practice so I added cabochons to the hoop earrings and pendants. I stamped a circle design onto the hoops and added a jump ring at the top then pierced out the part of the hoop in the centre of the jump ring to make a cute hanging hole. The glass cabochons are from a Turkish shop on Etsy and are lovely!  They remind me of jelly sweets. Tip! Put a piece of aluminium foil behind the glass cabs before setting them. The foil gives them a luminous glow in the light and avoids the backs of the bezels darkening an...

I've been playing with my Bigshot and the Vintaj design folders again. I've decided to rechristen them "design" folders rather than etch folders as the end result looks nothing like an etched piece of metal! I used 20g copper sheet annealed first to soften it then rolled through the Bigshot. It goes through fine but my cutting pads are suffering a bit and now are both bowed in the centre. Completely useless if I want to use my envelope dies so I guess I'll have to buy some replacement pads soon...... I made a simple pair in sterling silver too. I cut the shape using Xuron metal shears - very impressed with those and they save having to get my saw out and the ridiculous small plastic stool I have to sit on for piercing as the table is too low to use a normal chair! I also did a bit of simple soldering and made these bead and hoop style silver earrings. Can you tell how much I love these czech glass rondelle beads?!

 I posted recently about practising using my Bigshot to emboss metal and now I have some finished earrings to show! The copper "pansy" earrings above started life as copper discs that I used a Vintaj Deco Etch folder on to create the pretty flower and petal effect. The end result with the etch folders gives a more stamped look than etched to be honest but I do like it and have bought a couple more of the etch folders since. The petals were created using a file then the flowers were sanded and domed and the bead and earwires added. I could've used my saw to cut out the petal shapes but decided to sit in the sun and file industriously for 15 minutes instead! Purple lampwork earrings with the same flower design Serpentine beads with copper teardrop earrings Embossed Copper Disc earrings That flower design again this time in stud form!                  ...