My Melissa chain

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

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

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

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

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

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

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