A Flash of Inspiration!

Well, my 3D craft workshop went down very well with the MENCAP group  on Monday and we were able to make a veritable army of ‘tatty tinsel fairy’ clones – 19 in all.  Everybody was really proud of themselves and what they had produced and were very excited that they were going to be able to put their creation in the ‘place of honour’ – on top of the Christmas tree at Christmas time.  There was a lot of laughter and more than a bit of chaos as fairy heads rolled onto the floor – and floaty skirts wouldn’t lay straight – but we got there eventually!

 

This photo shows the first batch that we made jostling for table space with their wide skirts!

So – another challenge is in store for them all next Monday!  We are going to make ‘Flickering Candle’ table decorations.  Last year I had thought about making something based on a candle with the group – but I couldn’t think of a way to make them look exciting without the risk of people trying to light the candle – with the obvious health and safety implications.

This year I got it sorted!  My son bought himself some tea-light candles from the place where he does week-end work.  But they were candles with a difference!  They were LED imitation candles…battery operated…and turned on and off with a switch on the base!  They were so neat!  Exactly the same size as a normal tea-light candle but battery operated!  I was sorted!

So – I began to work out how to do it.  It is all based on old and out of date or damaged DVDs, CDs and computer discs onto which I have mounted – with my trusty glue gun – a thin card tube just slightly smaller than the tea-light candle.  I then designed a holly pattern border and printed it out onto sheets of thin card which were then cut to size so that they were able to wrap fairly snugly round the candle, and these were then glued to make tubes.  These can then be slipped over the tube stuck to the disc and when the tea-light is inserted into the top the smaller tube on the inside prevents the candle from slipping down into the printed tube!  I hope you got all that!!  So this allows the tea-light to be lifted out in order to turn the switch on the base on and off.

I have been out for walks in the woods collecting fallen pine cones which I have sprayed with gold spray paint and have rediscovered tinsel from last year’s decorations – as well as some wire-edged tartan ribbon and some gold ribbon rosettes.  And I have been able to find in the local Pound Shop (Dollar Store) fabric poinsettia flowers, christmas tree coloured garlands and mini gold baubles!  I have inserted wire into all of these decorations so that all the members of the group need to do is wire the different decorations onto a piece of the deep green garland and when everything is secure, bend the garland into a tight circle and attach it to the disc with double-sided sticky tape so that the candle protrudes through he middle of it!

It is all so simple but that collection of odds and ends and woodland litter turns into this delightful little table centre!

I think they will all be thrilled to make this and I am sure those candles will be flashing on and off all through Monday morning – accompanied by much laughter and chatter!

My!  These Monday mornings are hard work – but so rewarding!

My last design for this year will be for Monday November 30th….and that still needs a bit of developing…but I’ll give you a sneak peek sometime next week!

 

Away with the Fairies

Last year I was given the opportunity to participate in some craft workshops for the local MENCAP group (a group of adults who have various physical and mental difficulties).  I was asked to design some Christmas themed activities that involved the creation of finished pieces of 3D craftwork and then demonstrate to and help the members of the group to make up the designs for themselves.  It was quite a feat – trying to think up ideas for interesting and worthwhile activities that were challenging – but not impossible for the members of the group to achieve – with a bit of help if necessary, but I came up with a few ideas and successfully delivered the workshops – and they must have liked what I did because they have invited me to do 3 more this year!

The group is run by volunteers and is funded by donations so there is very little spare money to be had.  Materials for activities have to be carefully sourced to get the best value and ‘reduce reuse and recycle’ is a bit of a mantra.

To get the best results for everybody in the group I make up ‘kits’ for each design – providing everything that is needed and where there is a particularly difficult technique or something too dangerous for the group to do individually I provide that piece ready constructed within the kit.

This year I have been asked to make enough kits for each member of the group and about 10 extra – which they hope to be able to make up and then sell to help to raise money for the group.  So I have gone into ‘mass production’ mode!!

I have only had a couple of days to come up with my 3 designs – and the first workshop is on Monday…so jewellery making has gone out of the window for now and I am into making a mess in a big way!  My first design is for  a Christmas Fairy….and it was influenced by the fact that I was given a huge bundle of fabric by a lovely lady called Clare.  I hope she will approve of the use to which I have put it.  Thank you Clare!!

The living room floor of my house is now the fabric cutting area and storage area for bags of purchased materials.

My kitchen work surface  doubles up as the workstation for messy and/or dangerous glueing and screwing type activities.  I have used loads of hot glue sticks in making the fairies’ wings, sticking wired tinsel to their skirts and giving them ‘tatty’ hairdos by sticking tinsel wigs to their heads.  And their heads have been made from plastic baubles which have had the hacksaw, drill and countersinker treatment to give them a point of attachment to the main body, which….wait for it….is a disposable plastic wineglass!!!!  Hah!  I am just so brilliant sometimes!!! Hahaha!

The dining table is now my main kit construction area.  Sorry everybody!  Dinner on laps for the next day or two!!

And the carpet of the entire ground floor of my house is scattered with flecks of tinsel and glitter!  Ahhhh!!  Pretty!!!!!  Hmmmm…I think that was what my dearly beloved muttered anyway!!!!

While the house is in such a mess I think it is a good idea to try to get the kits for week 2 and week 3 done as well…I really do have a long-suffering family!

But for the first workshop…this is what we will be creating…

The Tatty Tinsel Christmas Fairy (here sitting on top of my work lamp!)

She is designed to sit a-top the Christmas tree, as the plastic wine glass extends right down the stem of the glass giving a good 4 inches (10cm) of room to insert the top of the tree.  But she is equally as stable standing on a table – and I hope you will agree – she is beautiful enough to grace any area in which she is placed.

I hope we have loads of fun making her 25 cousins on Monday and that the 10 destined for sale make a nice little packet of money to fund some of next years activities!

I’ll post my week 2 design next week.

As usual – I would love your comments!

“Argentium Experimentium”

Is there anyone else out there that is trying to get to grips with Argentium silver and not exactly meeting with success??  I have tried to find information on other people’s experiences with it but have come up with very little success so far…but I will keep looking!!

I am a really recent convert to making jewellery with silver so I don’t have a lot of experience of working with the metal to really know what to expect when faced with Argentium!  But I have always been one to have a go and experiment!  I love working with pure ‘fine’ silver…it is just so clean and beautiful to work with….but it is not a very strong metal.  So although I make chunky, decorative chains from fine silver and use pmc with it as well, I am very aware of its limitations. That is why I was very excited when Argentium was finally available in the UK!

I have made earwires and catches with it since July with great success but I thought it was time to get more serious with it…and I especially wanted to see how compatible it is with pmc….so I have been having a play with it this week…  Can I just say that I am pretty new with pmc as well…and am reluctant to commit large pieces of it to experimentation!!

I have had a go at annealing the Argentium with a torch – using the Sharpie trick – and just watching for a very dull red colour change in a darkened studio but found it less than successful…so this time  – after initially trying to wind it round mandrels straight from the supplier and creating a very springy spring!  – I tried annealing it in the kiln…with the door ajar to allow lots of oxygen to circulate…

After allowing it to cool a bit and quenching it – it still looked rather springy…

Trying to get it tight round a mandrel was impossible – although I taped it into place!  See the gap that sprung open as I cut through the rings!!!

Anyway – I persevered…  I have already discovered that Argentium fuses really well…doesn’t even need a flux…and amazingly it goes silver again as it reaches fusing temperature!  Can you spot the difference between the fused and non fused rings here!!!

And here is the difference between the colour of the fused rings (right) and the smaller rings that I cleaned up in pickle…

So now we have my little pmc additions.  I have previously tried attaching stars and holly leaves to elongated Argentium  jumprings using pmc slip with some success and discovered that  if the attached area is too great it causes the Argentium to distort alarmingly!   So I have been very careful of the way I have attached them this time.  The rings were real experiments where I literally only attached the rings to the back with 3 or 4 little spots of pmc slip…just to see how strong a bond this would make!

Well – you can see by the results that the rings have distorted pretty dramatically  here so obviously the Argentium has adhered pretty well to the pmc even with a few dabs of slip!!  I am still pretty shocked by the extent of the blackening of the Argentium though – considering how bright it was after fusing it!  It is so thick it is actually pinging off the surface in little flakes!!

So I plopped them all into pickle after they had all cooled down a bit! and they came out looking lovely!

But as I gathered them all together I felt a horrible crunching noise in my hand and—– disaster!!  The ring from the ivy leaf – which had distorted so much in firing had snapped!  And as I manipulated it more I discovered that not only had it snapped but that I could break the rest of the Argentium off of the pmc leaf just using my fingers – and worse still…it snapped just like a piece of dry spaghetti!!

But I plodded on with my plans and popped a bit on enamel onto the pieces that were left…only to get distracted at the vital moment and ended up leaving them in the kiln for much too long…so that wasn’t much of a success either!!  A bit of a bad day all in all!!  (And it does get worse!!)  But look again!!  …why has the Argentium not blackened this time?  I fire my pmc and my enamel at the same temperature 820 degrees C – so why did it go black when fired with pmc but not when enamel firing and accidently leaving it in a hot kiln for the same sort of time??

Having messed these up I left them to cool in the kiln and had an evening with my grandchildren before looking at the pieces this morning….and yes…I couldn’t resist a fiddle!!  I could tell that the wire was just not feeling right…no where near as fragile as the ivy leaf ring was – but obviously not good…and there we go….  A pile of so much scrap!!

The broken wire I have discovered balls up beautifully – so perhaps that is not entirely wasted…but I can’t think how to salvage the pmc!!

I don’t know what I have learned from all this yet…and would welcome any comments!!  Perhaps Argentium isn’t compatible with pmc…not with a physical bond anyway.  I am thinking that the shrinking process with the pmc3 is disturbing the Argentium when it is at its weakest and most brittle state and causing it to shatter all through.  Perhaps it can only fire with pmc at its lowest firing temperature.   Perhaps it is only safe to use it with a mechanical attachment to pmc pieces….

Perhaps I will just go back to fine silver!!

As I have said above…I would really welcome any comments…and would love to have some information on how you have found Argentium to perform in the workshop…and with pmc if you have tried it!!

A Touch of Magic

Do you ever feel that your self image could do with a bit of positive imput??  Ever felt lost for positive ways to describe yourself?

I have found the most amazing list of words to make you feel totally brilliant!!

 

I just happened to put ‘gorgeous’ into an internet search (Don’t ask…It’s a long story!!!) and came up with a link to thesaurus.com which generated this fantastic list of related words.  Some of them are duplicated a few times…but why not??  Aren’t you doubly gorgeous, triply amazing, multiply pulchritudinous??  Of course you are!!  So have a browse of this list…pick out your words for today…stand in front of a mirror…look into your eyes and say….

Today I Am…..

Gorgeous, beautiful, magnificent attractive, beaut, bright, brilliant, centerfold, colorful, dazzling, delightful, dream,  easy on the eyes, elegant, enjoyable, exquisite, fine, flamboyant, foxy, glittering, glorious, good-looking, grand, handsome, imposing, impressive, knockout, lavish, lovely, luxuriant, luxurious, opulent, ostentatious, pleasing, plush, pulchritudinous, ravishing, resplendent,  splendid, splendiferous, stunning, sublime, sumptuous, superb aesthetic/esthetic, beautiful, artful, artistic, creative, gorgeous, inventive appealing, adorable, agreeable, alluring, beautiful, beckoning, bewitching, captivating, charming, comely, enchanting, engaging, enthralling, enticing, fair, fascinating, fetching, glamorous, good-looking, gorgeous, handsome, hunky, interesting, inviting, looker, lovely, luring, magnetic, mesmeric, pleasant, pleasing, prepossessing, pretty, provocative, seductive, stunning, taking, tantalizing, teasing, tempting, winning, winsome, beautiful, physically attractive, admirable, angelic, appealing, beauteous, bewitching, charming, classy, comely, cute, dazzling, delicate, delightful, divine, elegant, enticing, excellent, exquisite, fair, fascinating, fine,  good-looking, gorgeous, graceful, grand, handsome, ideal, lovely, magnificent, marvelous, nice, pleasing, pretty, pulchritudinous, radiant, ravishing, refined, resplendent, shapely, sightly, splendid, statuesque, stunning, sublime, superb, symmetrical, taking, well-formed, wonderful, comely, beautiful, a ten, beauteous, becoming, blooming, buxom, fair, fine, good-looking, gorgeous, graceful, handsome, nice, pleasing, pretty, pulchritudinous, stunning, wholesome, winsome, priceless, gorgeous, inestimable, invaluable, lavish, luxurious, opulent, precious, rich, splendid, sumptuous, valuable, eye-catching, noticeable, beautiful, , conspicuous, gorgeous, manifest, obvious, showy, spectacular, striking, stunning, glorious, adored, idiolized, divine, august, beautiful, bright, brilliant, celebrated, dazzling, delightful, distinguished, effulgent, elevated, eminent, enjoyable, esteemed, exalted, excellent, famed, famous, fine, gorgeous, grand, gratifying, great, heavenly, heroic, honored, illustrious, immortal, magnificent, majestic, marvelous, memorable, noble, notable, noted, pleasurable, preeminent, radiant, remarkable, renowned, resplendent, shining, splendid, sublime, superb, time-honored, triumphant, venerable, well-known, wonderful, lavish, profuse, splendid, abundant, bountiful, copious, effusive, extravagant, exuberant, first-class,  generous, gorgeous, grand, impressive, inordinate, liberal, lush, luxuriant, luxurious, munificent, openhanded, opulent, plentiful, plush, posh, prodigal, profusive, prolific, riotous, ritzy, sumptuous, swanky,  unsparing,  wildly lovely, beautiful, charming, agreeable, admirable, adorable, alluring, amiable, attractive, beauteous, bewitching, captivating, comely, dainty, delectable, delicate, delicious, delightful, enchanting, engaging, enjoyable, exquisite, fair, good-looking, gorgeous, graceful, gratifying, handsome, knockout, lovesome, nice, picture, pleasant, pleasing, pretty, pulchritudinous, rare, scrumptious, splendid, stunning, sweet, winning, luxurious,  indulgent, comfortable,  deluxe,  elaborate, epicurean, expensive, extravagant, fancy, fit for a king/ queen, gorgeous, grand, grandiose, gratifying, imposing, impressive,  lavish, luscious, lush, magnificent, majestic, opulent,   pampered, pleasurable,  plush, plushy, posh, rich, ritzy, sensual, sensuous, splendid, stately, sumptuous, sybaritic,  voluptuous, well-appointed, magnificent, glorious, wonderful arresting, august, brilliant, chivalric, commanding, elegant, elevated, exalted, excellent, fine, glittering, gorgeous, grand, grandiose, imperial, imposing, impressive, lavish, lofty, luxurious, magnanimous, magnific, majestic, noble, opulent, outstanding, palatial, plush, pompous, posh, proud, radiant, regal, resplendent, rich, royal, smashing, splendid, standout, stately, striking, sublime, sumptuous, superb, superior, superlative, swanky, towering, transcendent, pleasing, appreciative, august, content, contented, dignified, eminent, fiery, fine, glad, glorious, gorgeous, grand, gratified, gratifying, great, great-hearted, honored, illustrious, imposing, impressive, magnificent, majestic, memorable, noble, red-letter, rewarding, satisfied, satisfying, self-respecting, spirited, splendid, stately, sublime, superb, valiant, vigorous, well-pleased, attractive, adorable, alluring, appealing, beautiful, bewitching, captivating, charming, dazzling, enchanting, enticing, glamorous, good-looking, gorgeous, handsome, inviting, lovely, luring, pleasing, pretty, radiant, seductive, stunning, tantalizing resplendent bright, radiant beaming, blazing, brilliant, dazzling, effulgent, flaming, gleaming, glittering, glorious, glossy, glowing, gorgeous, irradiant, luminous, lustrous, magnificent, proud, refulgent, shining, shiny, splendid, splendiferous, splendorous, sublime, superb rich abundant, well-supplied, abounding, ample, chic, classy, copious,  deluxe, elaborate, elegant, embellished, expensive, exquisite, extravagant, exuberant, fancy, fecund, fertile, fine, fruitful, full, gorgeous, grand, high-class, lavish, lush, luxurious, magnificent, ornate,  plenteous, plentiful, plush, posh, precious, priceless, productive, prolific, resplendent, ritzy, smart, snazzy, spiffy, splendid, stylish, sumptuous, superb, swank, swanky,  swell, valuable, well-endowed, splendid luxurious, expensive, baroque, beaming, beautiful, bright, brilliant,  dazzling, elegant, fab, flamboyant, glittering, glowing, gorgeous, grand, grandiose, imposing, impressive, lavish, lustrous, magnificent, magnifico, marvelous, ornate, plush, posh, radiant, refulgent, resplendent, rich, solid gold, splendiferous, splendrous, sumptuous, superb, swanky, splendid, excellent, illustrious admirable, brilliant, celebrated, distinguished, divine, eminent, exceptional, exquisite, fantastic, fine, first-class, glorious, gorgeous, grand, great, heroic, impressive, magnificent, marvelous, matchless, outstanding, peerless, premium, proud, rare, remarkable, renowned, resplendent, royal, splendiferous, splendorous, sterling, sublime, superb, superlative, supreme, transcendent, unparalleled, unsurpassed, very good, wonderful, stunning, beautiful, marvellous beauteous, bonny, brilliant, comely, dazzling, devastating, excellent, fair, famous, fine, first-class, first-rate, gorgeous, great, handsome, heavenly, impressive, lovely, number one, out of this world, pretty, ravishing, remarkable, royal, sensational, smashing, spectacular, striking, superior, top, wonderful, sublime, great, magnificent,  august, divine, dynamite, elevated, eminent, exalted, glorious, gorgeous, grand, heavenly, high, holy, ideal, imposing, lofty, majestic, noble, proud, resplendent, sacred, spiritual, splendiferous, splendorous, stately, super, superb, the most, transcendent, transcendental…

Now – don’t you feel so much better???

Off you go…have a good day….and really believe in yourself.  You are one of a kind and truly —– (insert word from above!)

Fit for Anything!!

For those of you who have been kind enough to keep popping back to my blog – even though I seem to have abandoned it for so long…thank you so much!!  I thought my stats would have flatlined but they have kept gently bobbing along so thank you again!  Hopefully I am back now…and in almost full working order!

I caught something during the first week of September which really laid me low…perhaps it was the dreaded Swine Flu – I don’t know – but I have rarely in my life felt quite so rotten.  It seemed to affect my balance long term and made me feel really woozy and shaky.  I started to feel a bit more able by the end of September – and just as I started to get going again I caught a cold!  Not a particularly bad one, as colds go, but it has gone straight to my sinuses and has got me reeling and shaking again!  I very rarely resort to pills – but I have gone through a packet of decongestants now!  I’m still not right but I’m beginning to see the end of the tunnel now…fingers crossed!!

Anyway – by way of therapy – (as I daren’t trust myself with a flaming torch at the moment!!)  I’ve been having a go at wire weaving and I am really pleased with the results.

I have been posting my efforts on the UK forum run by http://www.cooksongold.com and thought using my blog would be a good way of showing them all what I am doing as I can post lots of photos on here – and everyone else can have a peek too!!

So – this was my first attempt – using 0.8mm silver plated wire…

And here is how I did it (but using 4 groups of 2 wires this time).

I started by cutting my wires and taping the ends together – making sure they were all tight and parallel (1)..  and then I clamped this taped bundle into a ring clamp to hold it firm.  I then pushed 2 wires alternately to the back and front of the clamp making sure the working section was kept straight and parallel at all times (2).

The wires on the right are lifted up and then bent over the other sets of wires – keeping the wires flat and parallel (3).  Then the wires that are laying against the clamp are lifted up and over this set of wires (4).

The wires that are now sticking out to the left of the clamp are carefully bent upwards – keeping them flat and side by side.  I do this by bending them against my fingernail to get a nice tight bend close to the woven wires (5).  The clamp is then opened and the work pressed downwards so that the weave you have just created is now clamped inside the ring clamp.  The set of wires to the left are now very carefully laid into a weaving position (6) and a new set of wires to the right of the work are lifted up before being bent over the other sets of wires as in picture 3 above …and then the process repeats over and over!!  It is as easy as that!!

As the work progresses you will begin to see that the taped end is slowly working its way out of the right side of the clamp.  This is just as it should be as the weave is added to in a diagonal fashion.

And this is what is going on inside the clamp!

I really do love things that are so simple and yet effective!!

Obviously this technique could be used with any number of wires, with 2, 3, 4 or more wires in each group and as many groups as you want – and any length of wire!  But PLEASE remember to wear safety glasses though as we don’t want any eyeballs jiggling about on the end of the wires…!!!  The only thing to remember is that you need to have an equal number of wires to the back and the front of the work.

There is so much scope with this technique and since I have only just found out how to do it I have a lot of experimenting to do!!  ….starting this week-end…. ‘cos I’m fit for anything now!!!  (fingers crossed!!).

Rich Pickings!!

My early morning walk has proven to be very productive today… I just happened to notice on a piece of pathway that I have walked hundreds of times before..one or two purple blobs.  On closer inspection they turned out to be small, rock hard purple fruits.  I looked up to see, hidden amongst the leaves of the overhaging tree branches little clusters of these fruits dangling temptingly way out of my reach!  With a little enterprising snooping and a bit of grovelling in the bushes I discovered a way through the hedgerow to approach this tree from behind!!  It is a huge tree…so it is probably considerably older that even me!!  But it is only fruiting on one small section….and by crawling through the undergrowth I was able to come up underneath the lower branches and pick away.  I whipped out my carrier bag – always kept in my pocket for just such an occasion(!) and began to fill it.

I gathered about 2 kilos – 5 pounds (ish)…and after rinsing and picking out the leaves and most of the twigs!!  I popped them into a pan with some water and boiled them up!!  Ok, so it is a bit messy as you have to strain out the stones when once the fruit has boiled down…so there are  sieves and colanders and blobs of thick fruit puree everywhere…or there is with my cooking!!  And the whole thing is inevitably greeted by my adoring and very patient other half by the well worn and affectionate question…”What are you up to now, woman?!!” as he enters the bombsite of a kitchen!!

But – to be fair – exasperating as I may be to live with they none of them complain about eating my creations!!….well, most of them anyway!!

On the hob this morning is a huge vat of my own brand of sweet chilli sauce – a great favourite for all of them and always labelled with the statement “Mum’s Hot Stuff!!”  ….so true in many ways!!!

And now I have added a big pan of the damson puree…

How pretty are they…..??!

Yesterday I made some Spiced Tomato Chutney – a lovely deep mahogany colour…..and I still have to make my renouned Dill Cucumber Relish….fondly known within the family as ‘pond slime’ – as I refuse to add artificial colours to the stuff that nature provides – and so it is a rather khaki green colour – rather more gastronomic than photogenic!!  (And yes, I know I am very hypercritcal because I use terrible, artificial colours to decorate  my cakes…but that is a whole other story!!)

Finding this hoard of natures little jewel coloured treasures has really brightened my morning!….

I have also added a little jewellery related post to the blog on my website this morning…so if you want to see what I have been up to over the last week or so do pop over and have a look!!  www.solunarsilverstudio.co.uk.

If At First You Don’t Succeed….Do It 120 Times!!!

I have learnt a lot of different techniques for making jewellery over the past year or so, but the one thing I still enjoy more than anything else is making fine silver chains, using pure silver wire.  It just relaxes me so much and I can go into my own little world and make beautiful bracelets and necklaces.  But as people keep telling me..nice as they are…a chain is just a chain – there is no WOW factor…even if it has a really decorative design…it is still just a silver chain.  I know they are right.

Last Christmas, I sold quite a lot of chains that I had wired semi precious stone beads onto.  Many people think that these stones have healing powers and this made them more attractive to buyers.  I hated wiring those beads on last year.  It is one of those techniques that I just couldn’t get to grips with.   It was great to get commissions – until they said they wanted semi precious stone beads!…that really knocked the shine of it!!

Not long ago I developed a new design for a chain that I knew would make a really great basis for a beaded bracelet and it incorporates my favourite twisted link which is rapidly becomming a feature of my most popular chains.  I knew I would have to face the hated bead wiring to really make the best of this chain.  So this weekend I decided that I would do nothing else until I had made 4 beaded bracelets.

I had to make a batch of ballpins – fine silver wires with a little bead of silver fused onto one end – as it is these that the beads are wired on with.  As I planned to use around 30 beads for each bracelet that meant I needed at least 120 pins….I could put off the beading for a little bit longer!!  But inevitably – I had to face it.

I chose a range of beads that were colour co ordinated…a range of red/pink; a range of turquoise/blue; a range of greens; and a mix of blacks an reds.  Most of the beads were semi precious stones but I added some glass ones as well to add a bit of sparkle and add a variety of shapes and sizes.

The first bracelet was a trial…I was all fingers and thumbs!!  Some of the wires had to be cut off because I had not done them right but I kept on and a little over an hour later I had a beaded bracelet!!  and it looked really good!!  And you know – there is nothing that spurs you on like success!  The second one came a little easier and looked just as beautiful!  I was definitely getting into this, I had developed a technique that worked for me and it was getting easier and easier with each bead I wired.  My fourth bracelet took about 40 minutes to complete the beading…still a rather long time – but it was no longer a challenge – more an exercise.

I was actually rather upset that I had only done enough pins for four bracelets because I wanted to try a freshwater pearl and swarovski crystal one too!  I have had other commitments today and so I still haven’t had a chance to get another one done…but just try and stop me tomorrow!!  I have an idea for a necklace too!!

I have shown a few people these new bracelets and have had nothing but positive reactions…so I am really quite excited!!  Why, oh why did I put it off for so long??  If I had faced my demons back in January, after the Christmas rush, I could have had loads of lovely colourful fine silver and semi precious stone bracelets and necklaces for sale on my website ages ago!!  What a silly woman I am!!

I’d love to hear your comments on what you think of my new beaded collection of bracelets!

An Exercise in Relaxation!!

I am a very fortunate woman.  I have been married to my lovely husband for 28 years and we have 4 wonderful children.  We have had some ups and some very down downs – as most people have in life…but as I have got older and life has become a little less hectic (with the children now adults) – I have had the opportunity to reflect…and I have decided that my children are amazing people…I am so proud to ‘claim’ them as mine…  They are all so very different to each other and each have their own strengths…but they have all been blessed with a good (albeit occasionally rather weird) sense of humour and a pretty balanced outlook on life.

As we struggled to bring up four children I don’t think we ever once thought that one day they would be ‘real people’…independent and strong adults…but they are now and an absolute joy to be with!

We only have our two youngest still living at home with us and rarely a days goes by without laughter in our house – and very few cross words.

Occasionally my husband and I look at each other with amazement and disbelief at the thoroughly laid back attitude our sons have – yet still they seem to be able to get done what needs to be done – perhaps they can teach us a thing or two!!

I recently caught my son ‘burning some calories’ on his exercise bike – which he had brought downstairs into the lounge….  and although I was bursting to laugh at the vision I saw – I just had to photograph him first!!

As a person – I know I need to learn to relax a bit more – or ‘chill’ as my sons would say – but really….could I ever ask for a better teacher??!!

Sorry – I got a little sidetracked…

I can’t believe how long it has been since I last put a post on here…I am so sorry – I got a little sidetracked!!

One of the suppliers I use in the UK to get my fine silver sheet, precious metal clay (pmc) and Argentium silver – Cooksongold.com – has just started a forum.  That may not sound too exciting – certainly not to many of you in the US as you seem to have so many of them (which we have looked at with envy from afar) but it is pretty much the only one devoted to jewellery (as far as I know) in the UK.  It has opened up a whole new world to me!!  I have had the chance to talk to people that know what I am talking about – and have experienced the same problems we have as jewellery makers in the UK – and talk about places and businesses that I have heard of and can access!!  It all seems so friendly…and yes…I have to admit it…I am just a bit addicted…no….majorly addicted!!  I am finding it really hard to drag myself away from the computer in order to make some jewellery…not just talk about it!!

Then on Friday lunchtime I got a commission – a bit of a rush job – to make a pmc (precious metal clay) charm to go on a bracelet – to be ready for Saturday lunchtime!  Well, that stressed me a bit I can tell you!  But I got it finished, packaged and delivered in time!

This is the front and back of ‘Kerry’s 30th birthday charm’ with a peridot swarovski crystal and a black freshwater pearl.

So then I decided to take the rest of the week-end off…to re evaluate…and sort myself out a timetable!

As I have said many times before – my favourite ‘chill-out zone’ is our local visitor attraction – Norton Priory Museum and Gardens – so this is where I went to unwind.

When I got there it was to discover that they had a special display on.  Sir John Myddelton’s Companie of Artisans and Merchants…a historical (Medieval) re-enactment group…were encamped there for the weekend – treating us to a very entertaining display of what life in Middle Age Britain was all about.  They were all very knowledgeable and very willing to talk about and demonstrate the ancient skills and trades they had mastered.  All their clothing was an accurate reproduction of what people wore back in the 1470s.  It was a totally fascinating and entertaining day.

I have photographs here of the 2 women who were preparing the dinner for the whole ‘Companie’ that evening – baking bread rolls and preparing a mutton stew and a baked fish….a selection of ‘oyles, tinctures and ointments’ prepared by the Herbalist and some of the amazing colours of wool produced by the Dyer all made from natural vegetable dyes.  There was also a Blacksmith, Furniture Maker, Silk Worker, Higgler and Candle Maker and many others.  It really was so interesting!

The weather was pretty lousy but that didn’t really matter – I had a lovely afternoon!

So having had a relaxing weekend, hopefully I will approach next week with a rather more balanced timetable – so that I can make a little bit of jewellery…and have a little bit of interaction on the forum… and have a whole lot of fun!!…now that’s what I call balance!!

What a Great Week-End!!!

Wow!  Have I had a great week-end (and a bit).

For a while now I have been toying with the idea of making some fine silver rings using pmc (precious metal clay) and building them on fine silver sheet metal ring liners.  Now anyone who knows me will tell you that I won’t pay over the odds for something I can do myself – so I bought some fine silver sheet with the determination to make my own ring liners rather than buy them at twice the cost (plus postage of course!!) from some other supplier.

Over the weekend I had a go at making a couple of rings with the fine silver sheet – cutting, shaping and fusing the join – and made a pretty decent job of it – if I say so myself!!  I then went on to produce two designs in pmc on these ring liners – and that really did make my day because they worked out so well!!

Since it all went so well I had another go yesterday and did a couple more rings…building up the pmc and fine silver designs.  I fired them in the kiln this morning and was even more pleased …because I was able to produce another couple of really good rings…but I felt something was missing…

…you see that one second from the left… inspired by the 40th anniversary of the moon landings -  I felt my ‘moon craters’ needed a little something in them.  I knew that I had some enamel powder somewhere – so I went digging around and found some transparent blue.  Now it has been a while since I last did some – not too successful – enamelling, but since these rings were only experiments for me to wear I took the plunge and filled my little craters with the enamel powder and popped the ring  into the kiln.

I’m really glad I went for it because I am just so pleased with the way it has turned out!!  I can only get better with these techniques…I just need some practice…but boy! am I happy with my week -end’s work!!

I’d love to hear your comments!!