Nature? But they're all at it

As a jewellery designer amongst thousands I think we're all looking for some way to stand out. Marketing people are constantly urging us to tell our story and list our USPs (unique selling points).

Being fairly modest by nature and rather down to earth I struggle sometimes to see what is so brilliantly unique about my brand (still not comfortable with that word...)

I take a lot of my inspiration from nature - but looking around it seems like that is definitely nothing unique. So how do you stand out? Should I choose something more clever like rubber soles for inspiration or dirty linen?

There are many fantastically talented jewellers out there that take their inspiration from nature - and I think that is simply because nature is one of the most profound elements of many people's lives. Nature is a constant source of wonder, delight and peace. And fortunately it strikes a cord with a lot of jewellery buyers as well so it is a match made in heaven. :oD
I will stay by my inspiration as walking in woodland is one of my most favourite things in the world. I guess paired with my other inspirations - stories and myths - and my style of execution something unique comes out of the mix after all.

The Frog King - Loved drawing that expression on her face :o)

After so many art teachers having berated me for not finding my style - I am finally learning to just express what I myself like and let the style grow out of that - why didn't they tell me it could be that easy?

Lost Wax Casting Results

Just wanted to share two of the final pieces that I made as a result of the casting in the previous post.

I love the cute little earrings and I am very pleased with how the necklace turned out. I had a piece of braided wire too short to make a ring out of and thought; why not make it a bar for the necklace? So it has been soldered in every joint and the little loose ends folded over to form hoops for the chain.

There is 10 grams of silver in that pendant without the chain, so unless I want to sell it as "white metal" I need to get it hallmarked. 
I have been dithering about that for a while, but I think it might be time to get my own mark. I now have 3 necklaces that exceed the 7.78 grams which is the limit here in the UK for non hallmarked silver.

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Lost Wax Casting

Learning new stuff is one of my favourite things to do. I have been taking a course in silversmithing at Sheffield College to try a few of the things I can easily do (Yet!) in my home studio, such as casting.

Lost wax casting simplified is basically to carve a design in wax. Make an investment mould around the wax - a bit like plaster of paris. Then stick the mould in the kiln to burn away the was - hence the lost wax. That leaves you with a mould to pour your molten metal into.

Turns out you can actually cheat - you can use any item that burns away in the kiln instead of wax, so what I did is use some of my growing collection of dried pods and fir cones.

They have to be attached to a tree of wax called a sprue - this is the channel that the metal will flow into. Here's my first attempt.

Once the pods and wax was burned away in the kiln I was ready for the centrifugal casting machine!

Once the lid is closed the little arm inside with the balancing rod will spin around really fast forcing the metal into every corner of the mould.

 The silver was added to the white crucible and heated up till it was a round shiny ball. Time to slam the lid.

Once the silver has cooled a little the mould is grabbed with tongs and plunged into a bucket where all the investment starts to dissolve and you can fish around for your lump of silver in there.

This is what it looked like fresh out of the bucket. There is still gooey investment stuck to it and the silver is black from firescale and oxidation. I removed the goo and plunged it in the acid bath to clean the scale off.

It took a few goes, but eventually it came out looking like this:

It then has to be tumble polished to reveal the shiny silver:

Now I just have to figure out what to do with all my lovely little pods. I think the poppy seeds are destined to be tiny necklaces - they don't match in size for earrings. The conifer cones on the other hand are perfect for earrings. Tiny little dangles.

Aah. Spring

Spring is here with a glorious display of Crocus and other early bloomers in the Botanical Gardens.
I adore Crocus, especially since by the first sighting of them means my birthday coming up :o)

With it comes also and end of a project for me on the fame design side, which means April will be reserved for jewellery for me.
I'm looking so much forward to it. I have been longing to play and design new pieces.
Here's a little one I got going this weekend, inspired by the blooms across the road.

Time for a Liein?

Phew. Last orders go out today and then I'm done jewelling this year. It has been a fantastic year and I do hope all those parcels find the right homes and that the recipients will be pleased. I have never been so busy before. Post has gone to Wales, Canada, Australia, Baltimore, Skipton, Kiel and many other places. Didn't know there was an Oxford in NY. Now I do.
Last of my own Christmas presents are also done. It was great fun to make.

I get the keys to my new house today as well, so the studio will be packed away now and set up anew at the start of January. So looking forward to arranging my new space :o)

A very Merry Christmas to you all and a Fantastic New Year.

Featured!

My lovely team on Etsy - CraftBritannia - has written a lovely feature on me on the blog. Check it out :o)

Thank you all :o)

Playing with new aquamarine designs

One off design with a pair of aquamarine drops I had saved.

I've recently splurged on some aquamarine chips, rondelles and flowers. I adore aquamarine, but it can be rather expensive.
New beads are exciting, though. I can play around with designs, first on paper then in quick mockups of the actual pieces so that I can see if is works off the paper. This is rather similar to how I work in game design actually. They come together quickly and then I make more polished pairs out of the chosen designs.
Aquamarine looks good combined with sterling silver, but the colours really pop when combined with copper.
Here are some of those first mockups:

I liked the shape of number 1, but felt that the chips were too large for the size of earring I like to go for. I think they started to look a bit clumsy the more I looked at them. Using only three chips like in 4 and adding some more copper gave me a nice balance of the colours, but I don't know, I think the chips still look too large.
2 & 5 was attempts in making hoops that were the right size for the gemstones, but I'm not a fan of big earrings, so didn't fall in love with them.
Which do you prefer?

In the end I decided on number 3. I like the vertical design and swirl detail on the head pin. I also liked the idea of caging the stone from number 4 so came up with a different design incorporating that idea:

I also played around with handmade silver components and the beads cut to a flower shape. I think they turned out very cute and feminine, so I need to make a few more components, so I can put this one in the shop. I love playing with new designs. :o)

How I love treasuries

'Sea Green ' by KellysKeepsakes

Five Vintage Sea Green Books VintageSoup $32.5	Stained Mason Jars In Ocean ... willowfairedec... $18	Bib Statement Necklace - Gla... shiara $18	50s Green Dress . Floral Ple... snootieseconds $149.99
Romantic and Feminine Solid ... IlluminatedPer... $30	Agate Bobby Pins Sea Green a... BellaMiaDesign $18	Ocean Photograph Aqua blue T... KalstekPhotogr... $30	ceramic heart shaped leaves ... yaelastudio $15
Sea-Green Silver Posts with ... NanfanJeweller... $20	Teal chandelier photograph, ... Raceytay $15	Large flat round sea green a... LightcityLife $20	Hand Dyed Silk Scarf - Fawn... ZMFelt $17
Nature Photograph - Meet the... EyePoetryPhoto... $30	Sea Green Mid Century Modern... pippamarxstudi... $35	Art on Etsy Green Pebbles co... LouiseArtStudi... $25	Sea green ceramic bowl KathyGCeramics $22

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Sunday Confession - Natural Props

I have a confession. I am addicted to collecting seed pods. It borders on the obsessive to the point where I can't walk past a front garden without scouting for potential loot and whenever I come back from a walk I leave a trail of black seeds in my wake.
In particular it is poppy seed pods. They are so fascinating. The variety of shapes are amazing. I was hooked from the day my dad showed me how to remove the 'hat' and pour out all the seeds.

And the colours. Purple, mauve, green, mint, terracotta, cream. Some are like little balls and some look like lanterns.
Of course I do have a use for them (if not for all 1000 of them). I electroform the best candidates - at least I will when I figure out how to make it safe with cats in the house.
And they make wonderful props for me jewellery shots. Having a few in shot not only looks nice, but also helps the camera find the right white balance - which means truer colours in my pictures.

On the Other Side

This weekend has been full of fun at the Folksy Summer School. I had a blast, said hello to lots of crafters and picked up a few tips along the way.

 As they always do nearly every speaker said: Remember to take good photographs. I agree it is so important when you sell online. The customer needs to know exactly what they get and you need to supply the feel of the piece since they cannot touch it before they buy. This is a tricky thing to do, so I went back home to practise some more.

One thing I have noticed both in myself and others is that we like to turn a piece over in the hand, but quite a few sellers neglect to show pictures of the back of the pieces. Are you one of those who turn the item over even though you know that side will never be seen by anyone but the wearer?

I'd like to make the back just as interesting although I haven't done that much in the past.Especially since I like when people play with their jewellery, warm it in their hands or absent-mindedly turn a ring while they think. Another thing to improve upon :o)