LuNi Designs

Its that time of year again

2009-12-11T03:57:00.000+02:00

The end of the school year has arrived and I needed a present for James' teacher.

She is pregnant and I think hormones have got the better of her - well it must be the hormones because how could anyone not love my son?

So........A small reminder of my talkative lively child.

The chain is fused sterling silver.

and the charm is etched - sterling silver.

Silly drawing done on ,printed and photo copied onto transparency paper.

Set the iron to the silk setting - it mustn't be too hot because you get smudges. Turn it upside down and balance it between 2 bricks. Get a knife and fork ready and put your clean metal on the iron finally place your image upside down on your silver hold the metal down with the fork and gently rub with the back of the knife.

make sure you have transferred the whole image to the metal. Paint nail polish on the back of your silver.

Place the metal into a nitric acid solution (1:4 acid : water). I used a tiny glass bowl.

I put the solution outside on a black table and it warmed up very quickly - it was a hot day.

I used a feather to remove bubbles from the surface of the metal.

Its as easy as that.

My Moms ring - finally!

2009-09-15T09:44:00.000+02:00

When I started making jewellery and way before I was ready, my mom asked me to use the stones in a necklace and earring set that my father had given her to make her a ring.So after three years procrastination I have finally made the ring.
Its very shiny and a pain to photograph but here its.

Pink tourmaline ring

2009-08-25T13:30:00.000+02:00

I am quite pleased with the way this ring turned out.

The triangles were fused onto the ring shank before I formed it.

Hollow madness

2009-08-18T11:53:00.000+02:00

I have the urge to make something hollow.Both the hollow pieces I have started to make in the last month have failed.

The first is a hollow ring I got this far then got a little frustrated when I couldnt fit the outer edge to the inner bit and I ended up flatting it with my hammer.

So I decided to make a pair of hollow earrings.
BUT....................

When I was polishing them one of the stones fell out and I cant find it. I have ordered a few more but I couldnt get the exact size so I might need to make another earring. The top stone is tube set and the bottom stone is flush set.

Still playing with enamel

2009-07-23T11:17:00.000+02:00

Thank you everyone for taking time to comment on my blog - I appreciate your comments especially those of you who have way more skill then I do!

Penny and I bought 3 more enamel colours and I made these earrings.

Michaela wanted me to make her a pair of earrings with stars um well stars are not so easy - they look more like starfish. I used orient red - the bumps are clear beads crushed and sprinkled on.

I have been using hairspray as a fixative for the enamel before firing - I have decided that it is not such a good idea as it seems to make my throat close up so I have bought a spray bottle and will be using gum arab and distilled water.

enameled bracelet

2009-06-23T16:48:00.000+02:00

This project comes straight out of the latest art jewellery magazine.It is enameled copper.It has black under coat with yellow, red and orange top coat - sifted on (I have no idea where to get liquid enamels from.) The random patterns were scratched out before I fired it. The blobs are broken beads fired into the enamel.I have etched some of the links and left others shiny.I had so much fun playing with colour. It reminded me of my beading days. Like my beaded jewellery this is kind of retro

edited on the 25th to add

I wasnt happy with the the clasp as it is here so I decided to face my fears and combine soldering and enamel. My problem was that I dont have eutectic solder. So I decided to make my own. After searching for a formula in all my books and on the web I decided to wing it and make up my own formula. I thought I would start with an 80:20 ratio and melt that and some hard solder next to eachother on a piece of copper to see which one melted first. It seemed like they melted at the same time so I went with it. I am very happy with the results!

2 pairs of earrings

2009-05-31T14:41:00.000+02:00

Michaela was going to a party last week. She asked me to make her some hoop earrings - in a hurry. I dont usually do things in a hurry but I did manage to make these in a couple of hours.

I made these little earrings with 2 stones I got in a bag of stones when I was in London.

I was a bit mad with myself because I damaged the one earring when I was trying to remove it from the jet set after I set it.

I am back

2009-05-29T13:19:00.000+02:00

This year hasnt been a good year for me and my jewellery ambitions. I have been focused on my overseas holiday but the holiday has come and gone and now I am back in my studio.

I made this pendant before I went away the bullet is labradorite and the stone in the top is a bluish green tourmaline.

My Melissa chain

2009-02-25T09:41:00.005+02:00

It was Vanessa's (my sister) 40th birthday on the 13.I wanted to make her something special. I decided to try a new technique. I have always admired Melissas chain which has just been published in Art Jewelry magazine so that was my obvious choice.

So I made some fine silver wire and a few links I made a small sample to see how it went. I decided that I dont like fine silver - it seems so soft. I got so frustrated with trying to ball the end of the sticks - It wouldnt ball unless I placed a piece of wood behind the work and then everything fused together. Eventually I managed to get it right but the fine silver was so soft that the pin came out anyway. I saw that Melissa pushes the jumpring closed afterwards to lock it in place. So I decided to try fusing both ends of the pins before assembling the bracelet. It worked! Yay. So I switched to sterling silver and balled first and here is my result. Thanks Melissa!

Here is a link to the wall paper of Melissa's chain

http://www.artjewelrymag.com/art/default.aspx?c=a&id=1026

Enamels

2009-02-10T14:28:00.002+02:00

I was really lucky to get a few enamels for christmas - and now that the festive season is over and the kids are back at school I have finally got to play with them. It took me a whole weekend to make a sample sheet. and another to make these experimental pieces.All are copper and enamel.

The forms were pressed using my vice, perspex and my husbands slipslops (beach shoes) which I cut up. The stripes on the big one are made using a foldforming technique right out of one of my new books - foldforming by Charles Lewton Brain.

TAGGED

2008-12-07T06:34:00.005+02:00

yikes Janice from Doxallo designs tagged me now I need to list 7 random or weird things about myself and tag 7 more people.
Finding 7 fellow bloggers that havent been tagged yet is almost impossible so I have chosen 7 people who I admire on the JAN forum for one reason or another. Sorry if you have been tagged yet again.
Thinking of 7 wierd or random facts about myself is extremely daunting.

Here are the rules
Rules -1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

These are my facts

1. I am extremely untidy and yet I am a perfectionist when I make or do something.
2. I hate making mistakes.
3. I remember lots of small insignificant details about everything but forget big things like baseball matches and birthdays.
4. I have a fiery temper.
5. I dont wear make up because I always feel like a little girl dressed in her mothers clothes when I do .
6. I am afraid of heights.
7. I love playing with lego.

And here are my 7 victims

1. Kay
2. Penny
3. Alice
4. Melissa
5. Swati
6. Kewlie
7. Chris

citrine earrings

2008-12-05T09:03:00.002+02:00

I started this pair of earrings about 2 months ago.

I tapered the wire for the tear drop with my rolling mill - I love my rolling mill. Then formed it around one of my dapping punches and hammered the subtle texture.

I made the claw settings - so I had a few tries before I was happy about them and they were the right size. I swear stones shrink.

The first earring was well behaved and did exactly what I wanted. The second earring was a different story alltogether.

As I got the stone set - the claw came completely off the frame. UUgh so I made a new one and when I was checking to see if it fitted the stone flew across the room and I still havent found it.

So I bought a new stone - which is much prettier and a little bigger then the first set of stones.

but the stone fitted beautifully.

Simple pressed form earrings

2008-12-05T08:46:00.004+02:00

These were formed with 4mm thick perspex, rubber from an old pair of slip slops and a vice.

The texture on the silver ones was from a piece of grass paper found in a scrap book shop.

The green earrings are formed copper - enameled with smashed beads and set in sterling silver with a little flower pierced out the back of the earrings - because I felt like it.

I love those earrings - I have given them to my sons teacher as a christmas present - I hope she loves them as much as I do.

forged earrings

2008-11-19T19:02:00.003+02:00

I made a bigger copper pair of these a while ago.

I loved them so much that I decided to create a smaller version in silver.

Enamel - well sort of

2008-11-11T18:28:00.002+02:00

I am desperate to learn how to enamel. Penny has a kiln and I have serious tool envy.

I Recently bought Linda darty's book on enamelling and set up a tin can Kiln as per a diagram in her book. All set up except uuh no enamels.

I can order enamels but I am impatient and when I want to do something I want to do it now - not wait for the mail man.

I have thousands of seed beads, from my bead obsession days.

So I crushed a few and used a tea strainer for mesh and hairspray to help it stick.

All thing considered I was really pleased with these results

Jasper Ring

2008-10-24T15:12:00.002+02:00

I started making this ring about 2 months ago.

But it challenged me at every turn.

My biggest mistake was trying to get away with a thin back plate for the large stone.

Then I realised it was too thin and I remade the whole of the top piece using .8mm back plate which was probably too thick for my torch to handle. Then when I was setting the stone the whole thing came off the ring. AAGH. luckily I was able to remove the stone without too much damage and resolder it to the ring. I made sure it was soldered properly this time!

adventurine earrings

2008-10-19T08:51:00.002+02:00

I have finally made something.
These earrings were a birthday present for my sister.

Double viking knit chain.

2008-09-08T13:14:00.002+02:00

This is a double viking knit chain. I found it much quicker to do this weave then the other weave I know.

earring finding

2008-09-07T18:04:00.002+02:00

The other day I got a phone call from Penny to find out if I knew where she could buy a silver screw on earring finding. I didnt know but managed to convince her that she could make her own. I like a challenge and thought it would be a good learning experience for me too. So here is my (unfinished) version.

Bead setting

2008-08-16T12:53:00.010+02:00

So in keeping with my resolution to practice other methods of stone setting.
When I saw Janices work, I decided to try bead setting again.
Setting the stone isnt that difficult. Its the cleaning up with the gravers afterwards that is really hard. I have been reading a little and I see that I am going to have to invest in another graver.
YAY more tools!
This was practice it wasnt supposed to turn into anything.

Just a pendant

2008-07-29T13:45:00.002+02:00

This was a spur of the moment pendant.

It is made with 2 tumbled stones and 5 faceted stones.

I think the tumbled stones are sodalite. Just because they are blue and Sodalite is on my list of African Gemstones.

I bought them in Pilgrims rest which is an old gold mining town in Mapumalanga (used to be the eastern transvaal) in South Africa.

I love tumbled stones because of their uneveness.

The faceted stones came in a mixed bag of gems. I presume they are smoky quartz because smoky quartz was on the list of stones included in the parcel and the colour fits. I flush set them because I always think that this is the least fussy way of setting a small stone but I did wonder at my sanity when 2 of the stones would not stay there.

Garnet earrings

2008-07-18T14:41:00.004+02:00

Here is my next stone setting attempt.

The little stones are spessarite garnets. 6x5mm.

I hate the way photos always show up all your mistakes.

These look a lot better in reality.

Play date

2008-07-12T09:28:00.000+02:00

I went to Pennys house yesterday. We are trying to get together once a month just to swap ideas and practice skills. It was great! Penny has a fantastic studio which she shares with her husband.(if she didnt live an hour and a half away she would be sharing it with me too!)When I arrived Penny made me coffee - I need coffee! Then We selected a stone for Penny to make a setting for. Penny has a stone collection that turns me emerald green.I then drew down a bit of wire for the settings I was going to make and made 4 jump rings. Then it was time to go home can you believe it 4 hours later and it was time to go home. I hadnt even got warmed up yet. Thank you for a fantastic day Penny.

woven earring

2008-07-09T17:35:00.004+02:00

Melissa from JAN made a pendant like this. Ireally liked the pendant -as a pair of earrings. I dont usually copy but I had to have a pair of earrings like that.

So here is my attempt.

Ametrine ring

2008-07-02T09:21:00.001+02:00

A year ago Penny and I did a stone setting course.When we were discussing taking another course I realised that I havent done much with stone setting. So my next few pieces are going to focus on refining these skills - I have a way to go still. This is a little Ametrine (about 6mm X 4mm).

Locket

2008-05-31T14:39:00.002+02:00

I havent been Idle for the last couple of weeks I have been busy with this. Once I started making letter stamps for my name I came up with this idea. And I needed a lot more stamps which took a long time.

These are the letters of our names. I know its not obvious but I am not an obvious kind of person I figure the only person who needs to know the significance of the words is the person wearing the piece. I am going to make a loop in loop chain to make up for it. and put a family photo probably sepia with resin on the inside.

hand made bead earrings.

2008-05-17T11:37:00.006+02:00

Here are the earrings I made to match the the necklace made with my first bead .

Oh dear bye bye bead

2008-05-17T10:34:00.004+02:00

I am so frustrated with myself.
When I did my first real jewellery course 2 years ago we made a bead as one of our projects. and I love that bead. I wear it on a piece of tigertail all the time. Its simple and I made it.
Anyway I decided to make a pair of earrings to match.
So I made two perfect silver beaded earrings. I finished them and they are beautiful and shiny. They would go perfectly with my first bead but my first bead is 2 years old and not so shiny anymore - it also has a few scratches that look suspiciously like file marks. So......... I decided to polish it up. and wouldnt you know I dinged my original bead! So now I have a pair of earrings and no necklace to match. I think I am going to ding the original bead all over with my dapping punches and possibly add a few balls and holes to match my dinged up earrings I already own and make another necklace to match my new earrings.

Link to the dinged earring story

home made stamps

2008-05-01T17:55:00.003+02:00

It's an unusually cold day in Durban today (about 23 degrees celcius).

So I spent a couple of hours making a few stamps.

flush set pendant

2008-04-28T17:26:00.005+02:00

We have just spent a wonderful weekend at my parents farm. Before I went I made a pendant for my sister (her birthday was in February) I never had time to take a decent picture but this will give you a rough idea of what it looked like.

Its made out of 2mm sterling plate and garnets.

second attempt at anticlastic forming

2008-04-22T14:04:00.002+02:00

Ok so my first attempt was way too big so its still unfinished.

This was my second try - it proved much harder then the first one.

I guess all I need to do is practice practice practice!!!

sinusoidal stake

2008-04-13T13:11:00.004+02:00

I find Aticlastic forms quite fascinating. Art jewellery magazine had a bangle project in the January magazine. The problem is they use a sinusoidal stake to form one.
I dont have one of those so I rushed off to Jewel tec to buy one - have money will shop -
they never had one but I wanted one so I showed the article to Andrew (my husband) and managed to convince him that it wouldnt be that diffucult to make one. Which he did and I have a new toy it just needs some refining which is a lot of sanding but that is my job and its a lot of work so I am going to do that after I have expoerimented with it.
Today I attempted to make a copper cuff - UUgh not as easy as it looks. The cuff is still unfinished.

curb chain

2008-04-02T14:38:00.002+02:00

I enjoy making chains once in a while. This is 1mm wire. The links are formed around a 3mm round mandrel. soldered together then I used a 1.5 mmm round mandrel to form an oval shape. Each link is twisted 90 degrees. Taken directly out my new chain book.

beach glass earrings

2008-04-01T06:12:00.002+02:00

I have finally used some of my beach glass.

I wanted the matt glass to contrast with the shiny metal.

I am interested to see how long the metal stays shiny.

Play date

2008-03-28T20:07:00.001+02:00

Today Penny and I got together to play.We set aside everything else and just made stuff it was great. I love having someone to bounce ideas off of.

fused glass pendant

2008-03-18T17:15:00.003+02:00

Penny and I took time out from our schedules on Friday to go on a fused glass course - just for fun. It was great. I got lazy towards the end and never glued the top piece of glass down. So it shifted a bit in the kiln making my hole skew and the top and bottom piece not line up. It doesnt look too bad though and is definately wearable.

Now all I need is a kiln - I want to play more!!!

hollow copper ring

2008-03-10T15:38:00.002+02:00

This is a prototype for a silver ring I want to make. I never had a template so I had to make my own So I made this test in copper first. Copper solder is not my favourite thing to work with - it makes so much mess and and and.... but here is my first hollow ring with a resin.

etched copper earrings

2008-03-03T15:08:00.004+02:00

With these earrings I drew the basic shape with a scribe and my oval stencil.
I then made the form a little more 3 dimensional using dapping punches.

I got a recipe for a copper etching solution from Jewelry artist network forum (thanks Tammy)which I used to etch the inner pattern. I used candle wax as a resist. I melted the wax in a tuna tin then dipped the whole piece into the melted wax. I then used a toothpick to remove the wax where I wanted my pattern. The resist seemed to work well. Although I noticed that the acid was starting to get under the wax at the edges when I removed my pieces.

Earring Bonanza

2008-02-11T11:05:00.000+02:00

I havent posted for a while.

We went away for christmas and new year . I wasnt all that motivated in January so I only have a few pairs of earrings to show.

Here is a picture of my birthday/ christmas present. needless to say I have been melting scrap metal and turning it into plate then texturing it then melting it down again and starting the whole process over - not very productive I know, but I was having fun. because I can. I still need to get a stand for it but the g clamps are working in the meantime.

This is a pair of shell earrings I found the shells at St Lucia (SA)Unfortunately I broke the second shell in half when I was trying to set it. So I havent finished them.The shells are set with a bezzle. the front of the earring is the backplate with a hole pierced out of it. As seen in the top earring. The shape of the shell made it a challenge to make these simple earrings, as the sides of the bezzle needed to slope from 2.5mm to about 1mm. With the bottom earring you are looking at the broken unfinished earring from the back

These are a pair of domed, dinged and drilled earrings.

I cut the circles - with a saw (I dont have a disc cutter.)

Domed them . Then put the domes into pitch and textured them with my dapping punch. I then drilled a few holes and tried unsuccesfully to add a few balls. Then I soldered them to a backplate and added a post.

Because I now have a rolling mill I thought I had better use some of my textured metal. So these werent that technical to make but I really enjoyed the process. I used "tutu" netting to get this texture.

Finally I bought a mixed bag of stones (all tiny) from bid or buy.

I know I need to practice some of the stonesetting skills I learnt in July.

So I gypsy set these 2 turquoise stones. This was a challenge because both stones were very unevenly cut. They took a while but I got there in the end

tumbled tigers eye ring

2007-11-30T09:06:00.000+02:00

This ring is made out of a stone I bought on impulse after my first jewellery course.

After I bought it the uneveness of tumbled stones seemed a little daunting to attempt setting. So they have been sitting in a peanutbutter bottle above my workbench for over a year.

Finally I was brave enough to try something. After reshaping it a little.

find the original stone

I have also textured my resin and sterling heart earrings

copper cuff

2007-11-26T09:42:00.000+02:00

I confess I bought a book that is not jewellery related but it is a Silversmithing book.

What can I say christmas is coming and it has some awesome ideas in it

This is a cuff that I made step by step out of the book.

A great day out

2007-11-26T07:52:00.000+02:00

Penny and I had an awesome day on Friday.
Penny had run out of silver. To order sterling silver plate or wire you need to wait 2 - 3 weeks for your order to be made up. Being an artist Penny couldn't wait that long. - So after phoning around she managed to contact the refinery who put her on to a local jeweller - Terry - who was willing to let us use his rolling mill to make our own plate.
I was not going to let Penny have all the fun so I went along for the ride.
First we went to the refinery to pick up the silver. Fine silver granules are so pretty. Sterling silver granules arent that pretty. We were thrown a little when the woman behind the counter asked us if we wanted sterling silver with indium or just normal sterling silver. Apparently Sterling silver with indium in it doesnt tarnish as quickly as sterling with copper.
There weren't enough sterling granules for both of us (yes I wanted some too) so I bought fine silver granules and Penny bought half sterling and half fine silver. We bought copper to add to our fine silver and then on to our next stop. Where we learnt that Terry doesnt add copper to his silver because of the fire scale - he adds brass instead. So we only turned Pennys sterling granules into plate.
I was surprised at how quick the process took I was prepared for a couple of hours work.
All in all the whole day was so educational and I still have my pretty sterling silver granules which I am saving for the day I get my own rolling mill. Because now that I have silver granules I need a rolling mill even more then ever.

pierced pendant with resin background

2007-11-18T09:18:00.001+02:00

One of the things I need to work on is my piercing.

This was my piercing practice piece.

I drew the motive on my pc. glued it onto my copper sheet and drilled and sawed it out.

Then I made metal frame out of copper and soldered a small bit of tube to the frame. I wrapped clear packaging tape around a piece of glass and stuck the pierced piece to the back of the glass. I then placed my frame on the top of the piece of glass on the tape above the pierced piece so that I could see where to place the three little tubes.The three little tubes needed to be exactly above the 3 holes I had driilled as I intended to rivet my pierced piece to my resin piece.

I then filled my frame with resin, let it set, cleaned it all up

and riveted the piece together then cleaned it all up again and oxidised it.

That is cutting a very long story short.

This piece was a real challenge for me to complete as I came across obstacles in nearly every step.

a square clasp

2007-11-18T09:07:00.000+02:00

Finally I have made a clasp for Steves bracelet.

I wanted something masculine and I didnt want to buy a clasp because I always think a bought clasp looks wrong after all the effort that goes into making a chain.

So I made this one out of sterling silver tube.

another teachers present

2007-11-13T09:45:00.000+02:00

I think these are made with carnelian stones -the stones have bands of colour so they could be agate. I never really know.

They are made with sterling silver the with a border of twisted copper and silver wire.

After twisting the wire I pulled it through my square draw plate.

blue earrings

2007-11-12T05:45:00.001+02:00

Here are a pair of earrings I made for teachers presents.

I think they look better in reality.

I was told that the stones were chalcedony so I came home to look it up only to realise that chalcedony is such a broad term so I am really none the wiser. I wish the information was more specific.

sterling and resin hearts

2007-11-08T08:52:00.000+02:00

These still need a little cleanup.

and I may teture the flat part. but I love the way they turn when you wear them and show you all different "faces" to them.

30 november 2007

I decided to texture the face of these I am very happy with the way they turned out.

quick pearl earrings

2007-11-08T08:45:00.000+02:00

I made these the morning before a show.

They were meant to be quick but nothing is ever "quick" with me.

I made the head pins myself. I forgot to check that the wire went through the pearls before I made the headpins. so they never fitted. So I then had to draw down some wire so that it would go through the pearls and make more headpins.

I made the chain and ear hooks too. I would have soldered the chain but I ran out of time.

A resin bracelet

2007-10-30T03:41:00.000+02:00

I am still playing with resin.

I bought polyester resin and a catalyst from the hardware store. I tested it out on this.

I got a lot of bubbles on one link but other then that I love this resin.

It sets quickly but not too quickly.

Steves bracelet.

2007-10-30T03:36:00.000+02:00

It was my nephews 18 birthday on the 23rd. I have made this for him using 1mm sterling silver wire.

I havent put a clasp on yet because I am trying to think of a clasp that will masculine and hand made I would hate to put all the effort in and then use a bought clasp.

Onyx Pendant

2007-10-27T10:42:00.000+02:00

This pendant was made to wear to a ball at Michaela and James's school.

quick earrings

2007-10-20T05:51:00.000+02:00

sterling silver, corrugated copper and opal?

green earrings

2007-10-20T05:39:00.000+02:00

These earrings are made out of copper, sterling silver and resin.

The 3rd attempt at filling these earrings with resin was succesful.

Needless to say I learnt a few things when making these earrings.

1. I need a thicker frame - the circles kept changing shape and I spent a lot of time reshaping them.

2. The frame needs to be stuck onto clear packaging tape - not brown packaging tape.- The sticky brown stuff on the brown tape sticks to the resin and makes a mess.

3. The resin that takes longer to set is worth the wait. - The resin in syringes seems to set with a oily look at the top. and I couldnt sand that resin.

4. You need to sand by hand.

5. longer setting resin is a lot thinner then the 5 minute stuff and tends to run under the frame even though the it seems to be sealed. I used the 5 minute stuff just on the edges this seemed to work well but that part of the pendant didnt sand nicely. next time I will try sealing it with super glue.

I sold these earrings to a lady named Sally I hope she loves wearing them.

Silver resin and copper earrings

2007-10-05T04:39:00.000+02:00

These earrings are for a friend who tells me she has elegant refined taste.

I think (from what she wears) this friend has a cool funky style I tried to combine the 2.

Copper Silver and resin.

Elegant yet funky????

a new toy

2007-09-27T05:21:00.000+02:00

I took Michaela and James pocket money shpping yesterday.
And I found a new toy for me.
Its really cheap and nasty, doesnt even have a name and I dont think it will last long.
I think it is for corrugating paper. So I thought that I would buy it and see if it would corrugate metal
IT DOES.
very thin metal.
perfect for adding a little dimension to some of my designs.

3 stone pendant

2007-09-25T11:20:00.000+02:00

This is my newest creation.

The colours are not quite right in the photo I will have to work on that.

The large stone is a flourite It is a clear purplish colour with very subtle lines.

The green stone is adventurine

And the little stone is a dark blue (dyed I presume) chalcedony (according to the seller) also clear.

copper cabs

2007-09-25T11:13:00.000+02:00

I made these a while ago.

click here for the story

woven bracelet

2007-09-15T00:01:00.000+02:00

I started making this a long time ago.

My plan was to make chain like this out of silver but they are so time consuming and use an enormous amount of wire I dont think that they would be really cost effective to make.

My Rock

2007-09-13T03:40:00.001+02:00

I bought this smoky quartz from bid or buy.

Its ginormous.

I love it.

horse pendant

2007-09-02T04:40:00.000+02:00

A special gift.

hinged bracelet

2007-08-27T02:46:00.000+02:00

As you can see I am going through a learning phase at the moment. I thought the best way to master hinges was do a whole lot of them.

playing with rivits

2007-08-20T09:37:00.000+02:00

As I have said before I really battle with tube rivits. So when my husband brought some copper tubing home from the aircon guy. I thought it would be perfect to practice these skills.

I drew the tubing down - from about 6mm outer diameter to 2.5mm.

It does help that the tube is seamless and the walls of the tubing is quite thick.

I stuck it in my vinegar atmosphere for 2 days - I really like that green - and sealed it with a clear spray on varnish.

vinegar patina

2007-08-20T09:17:00.000+02:00

A while ago we were discussing patinas in a forum conversation. I decided to try the vinegar recipe on this piece of copper that I had textured previously. I then forgot about my experiment. So it must have been a couple of months before I rediscovered it. - stunning.

I was a bit irritated with myself because the whole piece was the light green / turquoisy colour before I started messing with it. I have sprayed a light coat of clear vearnish on it to preserve whats left.

I am trying to get the same colour on some copper "cabs" that I have made. My problem is that I am too impatient to wait a couple of months to get the colour I want.

hollow heart earrings

2007-08-05T01:16:00.000+02:00

These were inspired by my hollow heart pendant

beach glass pendant

2007-08-03T10:08:00.000+02:00

I have spent the last couple of days making this pendant.

It started off as a pair of earrings using the round adventurine stone.

But the one bezzle was too small and after a lot of filing stretching pulling and tugging I gave up and decided to make a pendant with the other bezzle, which fitted perfectly.

The beach glass was on my inspiration wall and the colours went well.So I started to make a bezzle for the beachglass. The bezzle was too high so I sawed of a bit. The sawed off bit seemed to frame the glass quite nicely so I did another 90 degree turn and made the claws and added some balls.

bid or buy

2007-07-16T10:10:00.000+02:00

Is it worth it?
I needed a few gems so that I could practice my new gemstone setting skills.
So I went onto bid or buy to see if I could purchase some at a reasonable price.
Of the 4 purchases I made I am only really happy with 1 purchase.
The final straw being a tanzanite I recieved today from TFM.
The stone is definitely not as blue as the photo and there is an obvious chip in the stone.
I realize that I never paid very much for the stone so I could not expect very much. But what would have happened if the bidding for the stone had gone higher would the seller still have sent the defect stone?
Does the seller justify a horrible stone because I never paid very much in the first place?
Was I bidding on this stone all along or do they keep their rejects for cases like this when only one person bids on their products?
In all the cases I checked the sellers ratings and they get brilliant ratings.
Am I expecting too much?
The blue stone I received last week was replaced with 2 citrines - so I believe the guy when he says the first stone was never sent by him - then where did it come from? where did my stone go?
Then in the same parcel was a tourmaline with a chip in it. Can you believe it? Surely if you are fixing up an order that went wrong you wouldnt make a customer even more unhappy by sending them a chipped stone.
Are stones without chips just something that doesnt happen? Why dont these people get bad ratings if this is the kind of thing they are sending out. Is it the same as the blue stone / citrine saga where the guy demands that I change his rating?

An answer to my question came in the form an email from TFM
Good Day

My add clearly stated that the stones are selected from a large group and therefor the quality may differ... I will send you a replacement one free of charge if that is okay with you... I am really trying to achieve 100% positive ratings on bid or buy, so if this appeals to you, please change your rating, i will send the stone this afternoon. Sorry about the inconvenience.

Kind regards.
Rico

I have recently tried bid or buy again and have received two beautiful stones
The first an octogan shaped heliodor from top drawer.
and a beautiful spiderweb turquoise cab from gem zone I am extremely happy with both purchases.
I have decided not to change my rating and told him not to send a new stone.

more earrings

2007-07-15T11:10:00.000+02:00

Here are two pairs of earrings I made.

Avoiding the pave project I still have waiting for me after my course.

2007-07-10T11:42:00.000+02:00

I ordered a faceted citrine from bid or buy - Talitha and this blue thing is what I received I know the photo of the stone was bad but really this is ridiculous. I also ordered another citrine from gemwizz what a stunning stone.

I am back

2007-07-06T03:01:00.000+02:00

I am back after my jewellery course. What an awesome course thanks Chantal you are the best.
I have so many new skills my brain hurts
And so many more needs that there is a huge whole in my purse.
I was the only one on course who didnt have a proper hanging motor and so I rushed off to buy one today (you cant set stones without them) only to get home and discover that it has a foreign plug grrr.
After going to 4 different electric supply shops looking for an adaptor I decided to cut the plug off and put a SA plug on.
Its not working.
I am so frustrated. I will have to wait until Monday to change my new toy.

Anyway I am not quite finished with all my projects but here are a few pics.

Another course

2007-06-22T04:30:00.000+02:00

This all happened so fast.
I am so excited. I am going on a course on Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday and maybe Friday depending on the school situation in this crazy world (long story not fit for a jewellery blog).

I want to thank Penny for being so efficient and organising it you are a star.

hollow heart

2007-06-09T10:36:00.001+02:00

This is not what it started out as.
I am starting to think that copper has a mind of its own.

earrings

2007-06-03T07:24:00.000+02:00

I am really excited about these.

They are the first earrings I have made for myself as I only had my ears pierced 3 weeks ago.

It was really hard to make a bezzle for the little stones

I have a lot more respect for jewellers who work with tiny stones.

I may need to practice on the little ones as even these are a tad too heavy. Will I get used to it?

another ring

2007-05-31T10:22:00.001+02:00

I love this stripy stone.
and I love rings
so I made this ring for me.,

mosaic mirror

2007-05-29T03:39:00.000+02:00

I havent had much time for jewellery lately as we are renovating and everything is upside down.

I made this for our upgraded ensuite bathroom.

Mothers Day Pendant

2007-05-13T06:28:00.000+02:00

Well this sort of designed itself. It started off as one thing and ended up as something totally different.

I got quite frustrated as I was unable to solder the bezzle completely and have finally decided that I need a bigger torch.

The little kitchen one just did not cope with the large pendant.

flower

2007-05-02T08:26:00.000+02:00

My wire work has never been very good and this needs some serious cleaning up.

I made my flower out of 1mmx1mm square wire. then I hammered it to make it more 3 dimensional. This was a bad idea as the middle squiggles started to fall out. which meant resoldering which made existing solder reflow which made more squiggles fall out - which went on and on . and eventually became a mess.

I plan on attatching it to a ring but I might solder it to a plate and turn it into a pendant. Or just shelve it.

Charleans Ring

2007-04-22T11:55:00.000+02:00

This is about the 5th ring like this that I have made.

You would think that it got easier, but I really battled with this one. I am not exaggerating when I say that I soldered the bezzle to the shaft about 7 times before I was happy. The worst part is I think I shoud have left it the first time as it was only slightly skew and not as noticeable as all the problems you get when you heat something over and over again.

I love this ring.It was made for a friend for a friend.

When I was making it I decided the band was too small even though I had used the correct formula so I cut another piece of silver and made another band guessing how much I was out by.

The final ring was way too big.

I couldnt face removing the stone and making it smaller so I made a new ring with a much bigger stone. Using the band I made in the first place. LOL.

Stone and resin pendant

2007-04-16T09:46:00.000+02:00

I am working on a totally new (for me) idea.
I was experimenting with drilling a hole through a beach stone with a diamond bur. (I think that is what it is) it was taking forever.
It occured to me that I could engrave into my stone and paint resin on to it.
So I ditched the hole - (easily side tracked) and engraved a rough flower onto my stone.
I then painted silver poster paint onto my design as the stone is black and resin is translucent - I wanted to be able to see my picture. I have now added pink resin.
will add a picture once it is dry and I have added a bail and leather cord. That is if it works.

Our Easter Holiday!

2007-04-09T06:06:00.000+02:00

Easter Holiday

2007-04-04T00:37:00.000+02:00

Well we are off for a four day camping trip over the easter holidays.

I really need a portable bench. Although.....................
I tried beading on a camping holiday once.
It was a nightmare, I kept spilling the beads.

Little little beads everywhere.

Luckily it was early days and they were of the cheap and nasty variety. So I left them to decorate the campsite for future holiday makers.
Now that I am into precious metals I think it would be a lot safer if I just left my toys at home and had a break.
4 days, at least it is not as long as the christmas holiday was.

new bracelet

2007-04-01T02:34:00.000+02:00

I haven't made a chain for a while. I had some 1.6mm dia wire and it occured to me to try and make a bracelet with my new texture tool. I really do like the random texture that it makes.

I made the clasp out of .8mm plate. I needed to add the extra bar because the bar was too short and kept coming undone.

rivet attempt

2007-03-29T05:02:00.000+02:00

I bought a book by Joanna Gollberg that focuses on cold connection.
My goal last weekend was to create a riveted piece. I got side tracked and started making a couple of punches out of steel nails which I got on special from the hardware store.

I made a texture punch. Which lead me to texturing a small piece of silver to death. (annealed three times with hammering in between) Came out great. So I cut off the edges. I then added it to some copper and more silver finally using 2 copper wire rivets. I drew the wire down to just the right size (because I can) and the wire rivets worked perfectly.

My pendant needed a little something. So I soldered a copper bezel to my silver texture.

This is a riveting project so I needed 2 tube rivets to suspend my pendant from.
Tube rivets - what was I thinking? I am going to need a lot of practice at these things.
My first 2 attempts were a huge failure both split - why didn't I practice this first? Ok maybe I can drill these things out and try again.
Try again with a new piece of tube (sterling silver tube bead from local bead shop)
With my first attempt I heated the bead until it looked like it fused closed. This time I solder it properly. and try again. The first one split at the back. - Now I read my book. Perhaps I am hitting a little hard or fast. The next one works but the hole in the middle is a little oval in shape.?
No problem I even the shape out with one of the attachments for my drill. WooHoo works great.

Lttle green stone (was going to be carnelian but I opted for colour instead)

Sand Sand Sand

LOS - need to show off that texture.
Steel wool.
I was going to (might still) Weave/knit a chain for this pendant But I made this chain previously
and it seems to go quite well with the Pendant
So I make a few largish Jumprings with 1mm wire and attach it to my Pendant.

I try not to copy but this pendant looks so familiar that I am almost embarrased to post a pic incase my subconcious has recreated someone elses work of art. Here it is anyway.

Chisel art

2007-03-25T09:08:00.000+02:00

OK I am no where near Valentin Yoktov but I had such fun with this.

Now what to do with it?

Bookmark?

I realize now (after posting this on a jewellery forum)

That it is not as obvious to everyone else as it is to me what this is actually meant to be so I googled some pics

A Box

2007-03-24T06:07:00.000+02:00

All I made today was a box to put a pendant in.

I used homemade board (not made by me of course)

Lucy's Ring

2007-03-22T08:58:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was a public holiday I wanted to play so I did.

I made this ring for Lucy. I dont know what the stone is as she inherited it.

It has a sort of tigers eye effect with very thin yellowish veins running across it.

Anyone out there who reads this by chance and thinks they know what the stone is you are welcome to leave your comments.

disaster

2007-03-17T00:21:00.000+02:00

OK that is a bit melodramatic.
I was in my studio experimenting. I really want to be able to make an ingot mold out of charcoal. I was also testing to see just how much silver my small butane torch can melt. (I have a bigger torch but I never use it as it does melt even when you don't want it to.) So I had melted quite a bit of my scrap when I knocked the hot melting piece of metal on to the floor and it shattered into millions of tiny tiny bits of twisted silver.
Unbelievable.
I should have taken a photo once I had gathered all the bits.
because you should have seen it.
It was like broken glass. Really unbelievable.
Next time I am definitely going to be a lot more careful.

Cool tools

2007-03-13T08:55:00.000+02:00

This Post is dedicated to my husband who has made me some really cool tools to help with my jewellery making.

Joans Ring

2007-03-11T07:10:00.000+02:00

I have been commissioned to make a ring for Joan (My mother in-law) So I spent the day, yesterday making some square wire for the shank.
Isn't it amazing how much more beautiful a piece of wire is when you made it yourself?
Joan has chosen a faceted Rose quartz stone. Still deciding how I am going to set it.

Break

2007-03-01T03:29:00.000+02:00

I am having a frustrating break at the moment.
I have a guest for a month and my work room is right above the guest room.
It would be way too noisy to make anything I want to make right now. (which involves a hammer). but watch this space because I have a load of ideas going on in my head which I hope to turn into reality.

Bashed Pendant

2007-02-16T08:33:00.000+02:00

I read somewhere that you could use charcoal to make an ingot for wire.

All you do is drill a hole in the charcoal melt the silver then pour it into the hole and voila an ingot.Well I tried with some of my scrap. It never really worked (I dont think I can make the silver hot enough.)

I got a sort of tear drop shape.

So I played with it (and my hammer)

This is what I came out with.

Jampanese thingy

2007-02-14T10:12:00.000+02:00

Here is the other thing I was making.

I wanted to etch it. but reading all the literature on how to etch I realise that I am probably not responsible enough to handle such toxic things.

So I drew random squiggles with one of the engraving attachments on my drill. This gave me a very subtle effect which I like.

It should have a loop on the bottom for the leather to go through. But I just could not make it stay there. So I ditched that idea for the moment. Now what to make next?

Lazy weekend

2007-02-11T05:20:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we all went off and swam the midmar mile.
The weather was perfect.
I really enjoyed my swim. So much that I think I had my worst time ever. I dont know what my time was because instead of setting the stop watch I changed the time on my watch. So when I looked to see how long it took me it was about 80 hours.
We had a picnic afterwards. It was a lovely day.

Last night we had a major storm which flooded my work room. So instead of making jewellery I had a major clean up. organised some of the chaos that defines me.

The weather has been awful today I feel sorry for all those people who swam the mile today.
Andrew heard that the weather was the worst weather for midmar in twenty years. I am glad I swam yesterday.

resin and silver pendant

2007-02-07T03:26:00.000+02:00

I went through a few colour combinations before I was happy with this one.

progress

2007-02-05T04:54:00.000+02:00

I have had a very busy weekend. Despite the heat.
Still in the process of making 2 new pieces.
The first is an idea that I got out of art Jewellery magazine. only they use clay and I am using sheet metal.
I want to etch it but I need to do my homework first on where to find stuff to etch with.
When I have done this I will post a pic.

The other is a disc shaped silver pendant. I used square wire (which I made with my new square draw plate) to make a frame on the disc with random swirls inside. I soldered the frame and swirls onto the disc. I am in the process of filling the swirls with resin (dyed with powder paint) I have discovered that the resin makes the paint a lot darker then I thought. So I will need to experiment more with mixing. I have also found that it is wise to do one colour at a time which is a pain as drying time is about 72 hours. And if you get proportions wrong the resin wont set and you will have to start all over again.
So that is where I am at. Will post pics as soon as I am done.

New Ring

2007-01-26T04:18:00.000+02:00

Finally I managed to make something again.

Not perfect but I am pretty proud of it.

Our christmas holiday

2007-01-10T08:49:00.000+02:00

Have had a wonderful holiday.

So I have had to put the Jewellery on hold for a few weeks - absolute torture. As My wonderful husband spoiled me rotten with a whole lot of new toys to make exciting Jewels with.

gathering of ladies

2006-12-21T00:36:00.000+02:00

finished mannequin

2006-12-18T06:15:00.000+02:00

I have finished one mannequin. I think it came out quite well.
It always surprizes me how strong paper mache is.
I am going to try and make the other 3 out of plaster paris as I am running out of time.
Still waiting for the first one to dry.
If it works it is mass production here I come.

Pendant changed

2006-12-09T08:41:00.000+02:00

I changed the pendant when I started making it.

It was supposed to have the stone at the bottom with the triangular bit at the top but I attached the bail on the wrong side.

I liked it that way, so I left it.It seems to work.

The stone stuck in the bezzle when I was checking the size even though

I had used the floss method to pull the stone out. The floss slipped.

The bezzle was still a little high so I had to file it down with the stone still in - not a good idea.

The corners are ok

But I was a little disappointed at the top corner as it just was not as neat as I wanted it to be.

I guess with practice I will get a little better.

bracelet update

2006-11-30T03:25:00.000+02:00

Ok so I compromised a bit.

I am happy with the effect now I just hope they fit.