Sunday Project - Bezels in Silver Clay

Between day job, Christmas jewellery orders and sing outs with my chorus, I have trouble finding time for
R&D, but I did manage something new this weekend.
I recently bought some gorgeous pear shaped cabochons - aquamarine and carnelian, and I wanted to do something special with them. Building on the bezel trials from earlier, I thought I might try mixing silver bezel sheet with precious metal clay.

I do some silver drops which are quite popular in the shop and thought they would look great with some added stones.

I tried pressing the stones into the clay, thinking I could leave a nice indent to add the stones to after firing, but it didn't work. It didn't make an impression at all, unless I pressed to hard that the clay was crushed.
So instead I tried attaching the bezel with some paste once the clay was dry.
The bond proved too flimsy and I had to solder the bezels on in the end, which was what I was trying to avoid.
Next time I will embed the bezel in the wet clay. If I can press it down far enough and fortify with paste, it should do the job.

In the end it worked after all, but the result is not as smooth as I would like it to be. For one the bezel on one aquamarine earring needs repairing, and I'm afraid I left a few nicks on the stones - too eager with my bezel roller. Patience is needed. It's very easy to scratch the stones.
Still I'm pleased with my first try, and as aquamarine is my birthstone, I'm quite happy to keep this first pair. 
:oD

New designs - Post earrings

Getting the hang of handmade bezels. 

Following on from soldering rings. I wanted to try making my own bezels for gemstones. The oxidised pair above on the left is a shop bought bezel, and the ones on the right are my very first homemade ones. They have considerably more of a handmade look to them, but I love them. I'll be keeping that pair :o)
Hand soldered the posts on there too. I am practising like mad and really getting the hang of it now.
I do think the handmade bezels have a completely different charm to them, but they are rather work intensive to make:
First measure the stones circumference, then cut a piece of bezel wire to the right length. File down the ends to make perfect even seams. Solder the circle with hard or medium solder, this is so that when you solder on the backplate and post on you can use a grade that melts at a lower temperature, so you don't mess up the first joint with the torch.  Punch out a silver round, file and solder on as backplate. Pickle the now fire-scaled piece.
Cut a post and solder on with easy solder. I find that if I centre punch a tiny indentation on the bezel, the post is that much easier to attach - more contact area in a dip. Pickle again. File the end smooth so the ear doesn't get cut. Now the finding is ready for a stone. 

The materials for the handmade one cost more than the finished shop bought finding, but for special projects I will definitely be making my own. It also gives the flexibility of working with odd shapes stones, which I also think have bags of character.

Bought bezel on the left, handmade on the right.

Today I have the less fun task of trying to organise my studio. Really has to be done, but in the mean time I am procrastinating here. Maybe another cup of tea before I get started.

Sunday Project - Soldering Sterling Rings

Practising my soldering

I'm back at my work desk after a lovely holiday in Cornwall. This weekend I wanted to try soldering. Still not very comfortable with it and the first attempts were rather messy, but these rings I am very happy with. I got some silver paste solder which seems to make the job a bit easier than messing with flux and solder chips separately.
When that bezel fell into place it made my day. I love stacking rings like these and the twisted wire just gives it a bit extra. I'd like to try and combine it with some silver clay focal charms too.
It's nice to have another method at my disposal - soldering means that I can add stud earrings to my range. That is, once I master adding the posts. It's a rather fiddly affair and one that some people on youtube make look like a piece of cake. It's not, I promise you.
For instance Andrew Berry. Wow. He knows what he's doing.

I'm falling in love with designing and making my own rings.

Following up on Bronze Clay

This is an addition to my previous post on bronze and copper clay.
So I've read up a bit about the Creative Bronze, and frankly it sounds like a general problem that it comes out looking more like copper.
One girl, Sabine Alienor, had very good results firing the clay in carbon in her kiln, which indicates that it might be an oxidation problem.
Since I don't have a kiln (yet) I decided to try removing the top layer of one of my bronze pieces to see if the core looked any different. So I took a heavy grind wheel to it. After heavy polishing and the leaf being a lot lighter, it does indeed look more like bronze, but it still has more of a pink tinge than I would like. Plus grinding half the piece off isn't really a good solution.

I think I might have to cave in and get a kiln, because I do love the look of bronze. Anyone got one going cheap?
:o)

Moulds & Stamps

This Sunday I have been playing with stamp carving and mould making. Working with metal clay you really don't have much time, so moulds is a great way to get a piece done while the clay is still workable.
While there's many gorgeous moulds out there to buy, they can not only be quite expensive, but they also steal some of my creativity away.
Making my own keeps my work personal and it's great fun. I've got pink shavings all over the floor :oD
I bought some very expensive silicone mould putty, but actually polymer clay works great as well.
Above moulds are made from Super Sculpey which is lovely to work with and only required 15 minutes in the oven.

Oh, and I had time to make my very first silver piece, complete with cubic zirconia. Really happy with the result.

Another Sunday

I've been playing some more with copper clay and different impressions. It's great fun playing with the clay and this week I have added some patina ink to provide some variety to the standard black of oxidisation.
I think it makes these tiny stars look great. The patina even survived the tumbler which is great.


Not so on the next piece which I had to touch up with more patina and then a sealant. I'm not convinced by the result, but maybe it's just down to more practice with the medium. I'll touch it up some more and see if I can smooth out the result.
The one I dipped in Platinol came out gorgeous. Can't argue with the classic after all.

I'd like to offer some pendants in my shop that has initials and text that can be customised and these are the first design to come from that idea.

Sunday Project: Copper & Bronze Clay

Actually this is more of a full weekend project.
Ever since I first heard of metal clay I have been intrigued. metal that you can mould and shape like normal clay? Doesn't that sound so much easier than hammering, sawing and soldering let alone casting metal?


I had to give it a go. I've read around on lots of blogs about this and it sound like the silver clay is much easier to work with, especially if you want to torch fire - I don't have a kiln.
In fact I read several jewellers frustrated accounts about torch firing copper and bronze and that it just doesn't work.
A bit apprehensive I thought it might be time to take a real course instead of my usual diet of DVDs, blogs and Youtubes, so I signed up for a day with Natalia Colman, who was just about the only teacher I could find with copper and bronze on the menu.
I had a great Saturday. Natalia is a friendly, thorough and patient teacher, and the little group of four students was just right and great fun.
We went through the basics of conditioning the clay, rolling, stamping, shaping, moulding and so on, but it was the firing that I was mostly interested in.
The copper performed without a hitch both in the kiln and under the torch. It came out beautifully, but with considerably more firescale and oxidation on the kiln run. Nothing my Dremel couldn't fix, but it did offer a good deal more work on the finishing - obviously firing lots of pieces at once makes up for that, but if anyone has tips on how to avoid a thick crust on the kiln result then I'd love to hear about it.
I loved playing with the clay and I if I am going to make any larger amount of clay jewellery, then I think the kiln would be handy. By torch each piece has to be held at the right temperature for 7-8 minutes and it won't work with larger pieces.

The bronze was a lot more temperamental with lots of pieces breaking and down right 'exploding' in the oven. I have no idea why this is - calls for more experimentation. Under torch it was a bit more reliable, but still went wrong on one piece which simply did not fire all the way through despite being quite thin.


Above is my own attempt with the torch today. You can see it in all the stages. Another issue as you might be able to see is that the bronze comes out with a more matte colour and that it cannot be polished to a high shine like the copper can - even is sanded down to micro fine.
 Plus when it is finished the colour looks more like copper than bronze to me. I wonder if that's a comprimise the manufacturer has to make to get bronze to handle in clay.
We used the Creative Metal Clay brand - also known as Prometheus.
Here you can see a bronze leaf and a copper face. 

Bronze & copper comparison - electric light and sunlight

Don't they look awfully similar? Even holding the pieces in my hand there is hardly a difference in colour. I'm a bit disappointed with that. I wonder if other brands come out the same.
Given all the problems we had with the bronze I don't think it's worth it, really.


But all in all I am really pleased that the torch firing actually is easy to get right, which means I can experiment a lot more and really be sure about the clay before I invest in a kiln.


Addition to this post can be read here

Sunday Project - Venturing further into unknown territory

After a few very busy weekends (ask me about Barbershop Conventions another day!) this one was all mine. I was able to get back to playing with new designs and the postman delivered my new micro torch. Is it silly to be over the moon over my very first hand-crafted balled eyepin?

Anyway, the torch means that I can anneal my copper which was desperately needed because it gets so hard after you handle it just a little, and the sheet that I ordered a month ago arrived to rock solid that I could only manage to make the faintest mark in it with my also newly acquired letter stamp set. I was so disappointed. 

But today I could cut a little piece out, file it thoroughly, anneal it with my new torch, pickle it, then stamp and bend and oxidise and polish to my hearts content.

This is my very first copper sheet ring. I was going to write 'Hello world' which is the first thing I always write when faced with a new programming language, but in the end I decided it would look better with just hello.

I love how I can just keep exploring this craft of mine and learn new things.

I also bought myself a pair of beautiful new earrings from Cinnamon Jewellery. I love them. Tracy is so talented. She has used patina ink on them and it looks amazing. I must investigate that too; after all painting is something I already now a bit about.

Copper earrings with patina ink from Cinnamon Jewellery

New Copper Ring Designs

I find it quite hard to make rings, or rather, make rings that I like. Quite a lot of them feel far to chunky for me and if they're too intricate they might look gorgeous, but chances are they snag on clothing and such. I prefer my rings to be small and elegant, which I haven't quite managed to my satisfaction before.


Actually my main motivation to make rings lately have been to use one as a prop. You know how it is really difficult to gage the size of jewellery in those detailed close-ups? I've been searching for a prop that will go well in my shots and which gave shoppers a point of reference as to size. Coins and stamps can look neat in shot, but only Brits have a good sense of the size of a penny. So I thought a ring would be just right. While they vary a bit in size, I think they give a good reference.
I have made some sad attempts the last month, none of which I was happy with. They were hard to make and didn't look good in the end, but finally I had a breakthough.

I was playing around and arrived at the design above, which I am so pleased with. Might not be terribly original, but I think they look elegant and remind me of ferns unfurling.
The best part is that they can easily be varied so that each ring ends up being unique.






Now I can make rings to go with the earrings and I have the prop that I needed. Now to figure out how to place them in the shot without them stealing the attention :o)

Hook Sizes and Oxidising

Normal size ear hooks

I know, sounds boring right? But I've discovered that when I design tiny dangle earrings, I always imagine them hanging right under the earlobe, and then I make the hook compare and they’re miles lower than what I expected and wanted. Bigger hoops can be gorgeous of course, but I want to be able to choose.

I decided to try and take them right back, See how small I could make ‘fish hooks’ and still have them hold the earring securely.

Compared to the new small ones

The bronze coloured one is as small as I could possibly get to fit on my own ear. I was concerned they might be easier to unhook by mistake, but actually, since they fit so snugly they feel a lot more secure than large swinging hoops.

I don’t know if my lobes are average size – it’s just not the thing I have been noticing before (but now I will ;oD ) so I decided to make my next batch of hooks, just slightly bigger than the smallest that worked for me.

Here they are, ready for the oxidising process along with some of my new wire designs.

Bright copper before oxidising

I don’t use Liver of Sulfur but an alternative called Platinol. It works superfast and is much less smelly.

After dipping in Platinol

After a bit of steel wool cleaning, I let the pieces tumble for an hour. My partner has made me a tumbling machine out of wood and old printer parts He is so handy that way :o)

After polish