Cinnamon Jewellery

After what felt like weeks of making phone calls to gardeners, electricians, shed people and cladding people my new jewellery shed is at last up and running! I moved in a couple of weeks ago and after a few rearrangements of various tools and other stuff it now feels "right" and I'm settling in and getting to work nicely. I previously worked on the dining room table and in the kitchen which was ok but obviously meant I was limited in when I could do certain things like soldering and enamelling. I often wished I had a space of my own but it wasn't until another jewellery maker asked if I was interested in renting space in her studio that I thought seriously about having my own little workspace {I can't bring myself to call it a "studio"- it's a shed} The cost to rent a space in someone else's studio and the restricted access that would mean made me think that I could fit a shed in the backyard if the raised bed was removed...... and so th...

I recently took a holiday from my online shops for the first time in nearly five years! Yes I actually put my Etsy and Folksy shops and my website in holiday mode for two weeks. And the reason for this? Did I jet off to the Seychelles/take a road trip across the States/ move all my jewellery tools, equipment and "stuff" into what was a garden shed but is now my jewellery workroom? All very exciting options but it was the last one, the other two will just have to wait until my next break in another five years!  Yes, I now have my own space to work in which is like being in heaven after working on the dining room table and in the kitchen for nearly five years, having to get stuff out and put it away again (then get it out again when I realize I need to do a bit more soldering!) I love my jewellery shed, it's not quite there yet with the organizing and finding homes for everything but it's mine. I'm planning on writing a post about it next week with photo...

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'm slowly increasing my little collection of rings for sale. I made a set of three hammered sterling silver stacking rings which you can see in the photo above put together with a prehnite rose cab stacking ring. I made the plain band rings in the photo for me (for a change!) and find them so easy to wear.  I photographed them in their bright shiny state then oxidized them and photographed them again.  Etsy makes it easy to sell items with different variables like size or finish so the buyer can select when they pay. My website and Folksy shop don't have this option so I'll have to list the rings separately. I've learned that buyers don't always read everything in a listing ( something I'm also guilty of!) and I've had to contact a few to find out the size they want in the case of bangles bought from my website and Folksy. So expecting someone to remember to let me know the size, stone and finish they want in the case of my gemstone rings wou...

I posted last week about Joopy Gems and the order of pretty 6mm rose cut cabochons I was eagerly waiting for. Well they arrived last Friday, which is pretty good going considering they were posted in Hong Kong on the Monday. And I didn't have to pay any VAT on them which was even better! I was really impressed with the quality of the cabs and the faceted top side makes them sparkle nicely in the light. I got to work making rings with them that I'm going to start selling made to order. They do look very pretty so I'm just going to have to make myself a couple! I'm planning to add some plain textured silver stacking rings too so they can be mixed and matched with the gemstone rings. I also made a couple of twist rings using thin strips of silver and copper to make stylised roses (use your imagination!) I think I'll just make these in particular sizes to start with rather than made to order...... but that may change! I bought myself a pro...

I decided last week that I was going to start making rings to sell. I've made a few for myself but so far have shied away from making them because of the possible size problem. By that I mean sending a ring off only for the buyer to contact me to say it's great but it's a bit too big/too small can you resize it? Making to order in the size the buyer asks for should hopefully make this a fairly rare occurance (I hope!)  I'm going to start with stacking rings - plain and with gemstone cabochons as they seem very popular. I do have a lot of smooth cabs but after closer inspection I found a lot of them are a bit rough in places or even scratched. The saying "you get what you pay for" definitely rings true with cabochons! I've decided for my own sake and the sake of my jewellery it's worth spending more on stones to get the quality I would expect if I was buying handmade jewellery myself. There's nothing wrong with buying cabs in bulk ...

One of the things I wrote in my "things to do in the new year" list was to make more enamelled cabochons. I'd previously made a couple of 9mm small enamelled cabs which were a bit fiddly so I thought I'd make life a bit easier and go bigger this time. I also mixed the colours instead of sticking to just the one for a bit of variety. They are easy to make - just cut and dome a copper disc and enamel it! I still counter enamel the discs (just in case) then flip them over to do the fun side. You need to use a binder like Klere Fyre (which is spelt really oddly and I can never remember it!) as the domes are fairly steep and the enamel will fall off without something to stick to. Once they are done you carry on as with a normal cabochon. I use a wooden bezel pusher (an adapted peg in other words) as I invariably slip at some point when setting and I've had enough of ruining a piece at the very last stage by slipping and scratching the stone which is what usually h...