On the Workbench

On the workbench today are more custom skate numbers:

 

They are cut (with REALLY tiny sawblades) from solid silver sheet, then curves are filed on the edges.  After that, I engrave lines to separate the two numbers.  Like so:

Next step, sanding, soldering on the jump ring, more sanding, then polishing.

I’m also doing a custom Khanda pendant at the moment. It’s only little, so quite fiddly, but me and my tiny sawblades do like a challenge!

I’ve just started to file the edges off, so it’s got a fair bit of work to go yet…

Hello!

So, I’ve not posted anything for a while, huh?  Trying to keep up with orders and new custom enquiries sadly leaves very little time to write about them!

But anyway, been designing loads of new stuff recently.  I’ve been trying to carve a teeny tiny 5 claw crown collet from wax, so I can give tiny crowns to my mini-bees, but have finally admitted defeat, as I can’t get all the claws aligned and get it perfectly round at such a tiny size. I’ve sent off my scribblings to a CAD company now to get a quote.  I’ve never used CAD before, as I’ve always felt it kind of “cheating”.  Even though I might have designed the tiny crown, I didn’t technically make it by hand, so it doesn’t feel quite right, but in this case is definitely necessary.  It’s supposed to look like this:

I’ll let you know how it goes…

I’ve also designed some new mini-weather – the moulds are currently with the caster and I should get them back on Thursday – exciting!  There will be more earrings, necklaces, and even some rings!  I know, I know, I hardly ever make rings, but I’m trying to start doing them more.  Because I just make jewellery that I love and want to wear, and I don’t wear rings, it never occurs to me to make them!  These are going to be awesome though.

I’ve also done another custom skate number necklace recently – I’ve been doing quite a few of these recently, but don’t always get time to photograph them before they’re posted out.
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Terrible pictures!  I just did a super-quick white background experiment with bright underlighting, but didn’t have time to set up the other lights, so the exposure is all out of whack.

I’ve also got some more custom work on the bench – more of which soon.

An Earring for a Disney Fan

I was recently asked to make a single earring for a lovely Disney fan.

As the commission was for a boy, I kept it simple and went with plain silver in the iconic Disney Mickey Mouse head silhouette.

Here it is:

I think it turned out really cute!

New Silver Cloud Jewellery

I’d been working on some new shiny weather last year, but have only just found the time to photograph it.

I liked the idea of taking the double cloud design from my large raincloud necklace and translating to a smaller version.

So, we have some new stud earrings:

  

And a new raindrop version (I may have mentioned previously how much I like dangly earrings…)

 

And a delicate little rain cloud necklace:

 

I’ve used sky blue topaz for the raindrops on these, rather than the darker London blue topaz I usually use.

There’s also a little pair of London blue topaz mini cloud drop earrings, which are much less dangly:

 

I’ll have them up for sale on my website in the next couple of months.

New stuff.  Exciting!

New Custom Skate Necklace

I made another custom skate necklace in between Christmas and New Year, with the skater’s number, 333, on it.

Here are the numbers after I’ve cut them out but before the carving on the edges and the engraving has been done:

And the finished necklace:

 

I’m also working on some new ways to customise my little crash helmet necklaces, but it requires a bit of experimentation!

Hi There 2013

Well 2012 disappeared pretty quickly!  I’m amazed how fast the end of the year especially went by.  One minute it was August, and then suddenly December snuck over the horizon, bedecked with tinsel and blowing little glittery raspberries at me.

Again, I had rather failed to be organised in the run up to Christmas, mainly due to foolishly deciding to entirely rebuild my website from scratch a couple of months previously.  Next year there WILL be organisation.  No, really, there will.

So, 2012 then.  Achievements included the aforementioned new website.  Pretty, isn’t it?

I also designed an entire new collection, inspired by baroque architecture, for a wedding:

 

   

   

My roller derby jewellery was excitingly popular this year, and I got to do a few custom skate necklaces.  I love making the little numbers.

 The most exciting thing about 2012 though, was finally managing to reduce my hours at my day job, which completely saved my sanity!  My jewellery is starting to be a full time job in itself, so combining that with working full time hours at a law firm was just no longer sustainable.

So, what awaits me in 2012 then?  I’m pretty excited about this year actually – I have so many ideas that I want to get off the ground.  I have plans for new shiny things to add to my roller derby range for a start.  I’m also going to learn about etching and cold enamelling – watch this space for experiments with alarming chemicals!

Right, back to the workshop now – need to get started on my plans for world domination.

Happy new year!

New Custom Work

Phew, survived Christmas unscathed!  Chrismas dinner was nice, almost on time, and I didn't poison anyone with the turkey.  The less said about my doomed from the very start Christmas cake, however, the better...

Also I can now share some custom orders/pressies that I made for people, as (hopefully) they'll have received them by now.

A silver initial letter 'T' in my gothic font:

 

A custom roller derby necklace with skate number and black spinel gemstone:

And a Christmas present for my mum, made to match the earrings I made for her 60th birthday:

 

And a pair of earrings for someone at work, with little garnet stones:

The photography was done on my iphone, so it's rubbish I'm afraid, but I didn't have time to get out my proper camera and lights before I had to send everything out.

I've also done another couple of custom orders that I can't share just yet...