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 ...

Around the World Blog Hop The idea behind the blog hop is for creative bloggers to write a post based around a couple of set questions. Their answers offer an insight into their creative thoughts and processes. The blog 'baton' is then passed on to a fellow artisan and so the trip around the globe gathers pace. I was very kindly asked by Heather of  Little Ram Studio  on Etsy to continue the hop. Heather and her husband Gary create delightful lino cut prints of British wildlife, dogs and beautiful landscapes. You can read Heather and Gary's Hop post on their lovely blog Studio Tales . What am I working on? I've recently become very interested in using resin in jewellery after watching several videos by Jennie Milner  , a US jewellery maker. Her work combines metalwork, art and resin and the result is colourful and fun jewellery. I'm very drawn to colour in jewellery so once I found out you can colour epoxy resin whatever colour you l...

All of the enamel studs I had on my website have found a new home in Australia so it was lucky I'd made a start on a few new pairs a couple of weeks ago to replace them. I mixed up some new opaque colour blends which I've christened rather grandly Apple, Denim and Amethyst. I've only just come up with the name for the purple mix - it was formerly just called "the purple one". Sounds a bit like Prince.☺ I also made some copper leaf studs using a leaf stamp design that I etched onto the copper then cut round and soldered sterling silver posts to the back. Very simple but cute. These and the enamel studs are soon to be appearing in my Etsy shop and website . As it's my birthday next Friday (17th) I decided to treat myself to some new rings. I used 2mm square sterling wire for the first time ever and I really like the look of it. I'm now thinking of making some silver bangles using the square wire........ I used a lovely labrad...

To continue my current tiny obsession with torch enamelling and decorative things you can do with your enamelled jewellery, I thought I'd experiment with sgraffito. The word sgraffito means "scratched" in Italian and according the the Encyclopedia Britannica is "a technique used in painting, pottery and glass which consists of putting down a preliminary surface, covering it with another, then scratching the superficial layer in such a way that the pattern or shape that emerges is of the lower colour" A friend sent me a copy of a bracelet tutorial {thanks Debs!} by  Angela Gerhard  who creates the most beautiful enamel jewellery decorated using sgraffito. I'd love to post a couple of photos of it here but I remember doing an enamel treasury on Etsy a while ago and seeing a little note on her shop page about her photos being copyrighted so I will respect that - although if you Google her you'll see lots of her jewellery photos everywhere! I ...

Until recently I've always used jump rings to attach my enamel pendants to a chain. Enamel is great but some of the methods of attaching things to other things commonly used in jewellery, in other words cold connections and soldering can be a bit tricky when combined with it. It is possible to solder and rivet enamel pieces but not without some difficulty. So....I just used handmade jump rings and always felt vaguely dissatisfied with the final look. Then I realized I could use my wirework experience and make my own bails! Why has it taken me so long to think of this? Who knows! I must have been thinking of "other things" (that means chocolate). I made some new pendants last week, two with pierced out detail and finished them with a cold connected wire bail.  Very simple in design - a length of 16g/1.2mm sterling round wire hammered at both ends and a hole drilled in the centre of the flattened areas. Tidy up the ends and bend into a loop then squeeze ...

I felt like doing some torch enamelling recently so came up with these colourful pendants using sgraffito and enamel pens. Sgraffito involves scratching a design into the enamel, either the first layer to reveal the metal beneath or you can fire one colour, sift another contrasting colour on top then scratch out a design or just lines to reveal the first colour layer. I went for three different colours which involved using pieces of cardboard strategically placed whilst sifting! Fiddly but I love the effect. I used enamel pens to draw (I use the term loosely!) poppies onto pea green opaque enamel. After firing I added the brown dots to give the flowers a centre. More enamel pen circles and dots. I don't find enamel pens that easy to use, they can be a bit blobby and having to hold them perpendicular and squeeze quite hard at the same time is not condusive to drawing pretty designs! Circles and dots are fine though! I will be experimenting further and making s...

The commission I had last week that is. Not the best photos I've got to admit but my customer was happy :D   The necklace and earrings will be winging their way to Virginia this morning :D

I've admired enamelled jewellery for a while now and not too long ago did a blog post about Etsy seller tekaandzoe  and her wonderful kiln enamelled creations. I didn't think at the time that it was something I would ever be able to do as the cost of kilns plus lack of space would be a problem for me. That wasn't until I saw an advert for a torch enamelling tutorial from US jewellery supplies website Beaducation  by Steven James . It's a great tutorial showing the basics on how to torch enamel on copper. Of course I bought it! I then spent hours scouring the internet for more information on torch enamelling, where to buy the tools I'd need and of course the enamel powders. There are quite a few UK sites selling enamelling supplies and tools but as usual I found the US sites had more choice (why do we always lag behind?) I bought some enamel powders from a couple of UK sites to begin with - Cookson Gold have a good selection but bear in mind th...