A Splash Of Colour And Some Twirly Studs

I've been playing with my enamel colours again and creating my own "blends". It's fun sitting at the table with my different colours and mixing them up to make new ones. Enamels don't really mix to make new colours but you can achieve some really pretty speckly effects. Using the same colour groups work better than mixing colours opposite each other on the colour wheel. I found this out when I mixed some purple and lavender enamels with a bright green hoping I'd get a nice purple/green mix but it just looked grey when it was fired. If you looked closely you could see the individual colours but the overall effect was dull but luckily the beauty of enamelling is you can fix it with another layer (within reason!) What I have learned with mixing colours is if it looks dull in the pot it will still look dull when it's fired........... :D

The hoops above are enamelled in a mix of different greens with some transparent turquoise layered on top on the bottom section.

These were originally a really dull orangey-grey (one of my not so great mixes) so I revived them with some more opaque and transparent oranges and a sprinkling of cream and lighter orange on top. They make me think of marmalade.

This pair were victims of the purple/lavender/green horror mix so I brightened them up with more green opaques and a budgerigar green transparent. I love the effect sprinkling opaque enamel on top of transparent gives you, it reminds me of lichen.

I finished off a few simple stud earrings in copper and silver this week too. I used thin strips of metal and coiled them with round nose pliers like you would make a spiral to form cute twirls. I soldered the ends then after sanding one side flat I soldered them to a base, tidied them up then added posts and oxidized them.

The copper pair remind me of chelsea buns!

Using Beads As Cabochons

I finished these etched silver and green pearl earrings recently and took the opportunity yesterday when the sun came out to take a few photos. I used some of the silver I etched recently using nail art stamps and decided to try bezel setting some pearl beads I've had for absolutely years. Yes I did say beads! I bought the beads years ago from "somewhere" (can't remember). They were described as button pearls and they were shaped kind of like cabochons with a slight dome on one side and a flat base on the other and obviously had holes. Some of them were very flat on one side and very domed on the other which is what gave me the idea to use them as cabs.

This photo of a few of the beads was taken under a day light bulb so the colours are a bit off but they are all lovely icy pastel shades of pink, green, apricot, pale blue, purple and grey which look great contrasted with oxidized copper and silver. I sorted through them and removed the ones whose holes were too high to work but as you can see once they are sanded a bit on the bottom the holes will be low enough for the bezel to cover up giving me a lot of very nice pearls to add to my jewellery. I couldn't believe the price of pearl cabs when I looked so I'm really glad I kept hold of these. The only downside is they aren't all exactly the same size and height like cabs but are near enough for it not to matter. Saying that a lot of the cabs I buy are slightly different sizes and heights too!

I'm really proud of these earrings and think I am slowly getting a bit more adventurous! I am still conquering my fear of soldering on the "fiddly bits" - hanging loops, jump rings, etc. I soldered the loops on this pair before I soldered on the bezels to make life easier. My max flame butane torch did start playing up and wouldn't light again after I turned it off after the first soldering. I'd just filled it too so I have no idea what is wrong with it. I managed with my mini butane torch after swearing at the max flame quite a bit.

••• A Completely Different Subject •••

Am I the only person who watches the Strictly results show on Sunday nights and didn't realize it wasn't live? I started to get a bit suspicious after noticing members of the audience in exactly the same seats wearing exactly the same clothes on both nights and thought it was a bit odd..... also I started to look closely at the celebrity dancers' hair and make up to see if it was a bit different on the Sunday night and they always looked exactly the same as they did on Saturday nights. So I Googled it earlier today and found out the Sunday night shows are recorded after the phone lines are closed and the votes are in on Saturday nights. 

Funny what you think about......... :D

Etched Silver and Copper Wirework Earrings

I managed to catch up with myself last week after a couple of biggish findings orders recently that kept me busy for two whole days and made a few pairs of earrings. I used some copper and silver I'd etched and ventured into wire work territory that I don't do a lot of these days. Just simple bead loops but it was fun getting my beads out again and choosing colours and the quickness of making them was a nice change!

I bought these czech glass beads a while ago from Lima Beads and I love the colours. They have a large selection of czech beads but I couldn't see the kiwi green colour anymore sadly.

I also used some of the sterling silver sheet I'd etched using nail art stamps. The etched designs are small so I was a bit restricted and kept it pretty simple.....

The shape of this pair with the garnet cabochons reminds me of little handbags (kind of). It's the first pair I've made with garnets and I love the colour combination with the oxidized silver. I put a piece of foil behind the cabs as the silver will continue to oxidize and will eventually go black. The foil keeps the area behind the cabs bright and also reflects the light making the garnets appear even redder.

I am back at night school again for my 2nd year of silver jewellery classes. It's nice as seven of us from last year have come back plus four new people have started. We've been learning to cast using delft clay and cuttlefish bone. I didn't fancy the delft clay method so I had a go at casting some of my scrap silver using the cuttlefish bone method last Tuesday....... more of which I shall blog about soon!

Handmade Bangles - A Version In Sterling Silver

I love making bangles and have so far just made them using copper wire. These, much to my surprise, have proved really popular and I must now be the copper bangle making expert of old Eastbourne town!

I had a recent commission for a cuff bangle which was to be a Father of the bride present. The theme of the wedding was amethyst so the customer wanted two small amethyst cabs set at each end of the copper cuff.

I used 1.5mm gauge copper sheet for the cuff which I textured with a hammer, shaped then set the 4mm amethyst cabs. Making the bezels was fiddly as the cabs are so small and I did keep my fingers crossed slightly when soldering the bezels to the bangle but it worked out fine and my customer was pleased. I now have plans to use more of the 1.5mm sheet to make more bangles.

So of course my mind eventually started wandering and thinking about using sterling silver. I have various gauges of silver wire and did think of using 1.6mm but when I tried it with copper the bangle was a bit too easy to bend out of shape even after work hardening and tumbling so I decided to go for 1.8mm which worked much better and forms a nice slim but sturdy bangle.

I think I will try 2mm wire next time as the weight should still come under 7.78g so I wouldn't need to hallmark the bangles. Strangely I found soldering the thinner gauges of wire much harder than the thicker 2.6mm and 3.25mm copper I'm used to using! There isn't much tension in the wire to hold the join together and I ended up holding the two ends together with my pliers to stop them moving as the wire heated up when I was soldering.
The silver bangles make a lovely jingling sound when you wear them and as it's my birthday soon I think I will treat myself with a set :D

Etching Silver Using Nail Art Stamps

So my love/hate relationship with etching sterling silver continues. I've tried a few times now and always end up with different results most of them not that great to be honest. I've tried connecting the silver and a piece of copper to a 9v battery and also heating the ferric nitrate. Sometimes the results are good sometimes not so good. I currently have an etched piece of silver sheet waiting to be reticulated and rid it of the mess that is the etched "pattern". 

I now know that using stamps and Stayz On ink just doesn't work with silver - the time needed to etch using ferric nitrate is much longer than etching copper and the ink starts to wear away after about an hour. This results in the pattern being patchy as the resist is eaten away and the silver ends up quite lumpy and course looking. I have yet to try using pnp paper. I don't know why but it all seems a bit of a faff to do. I don't have a laser printer so would need to find somewhere or someone to do the printing for me. The transferring of the pattern to the silver looks tricky to do too. It would by far be the most sensible way to go though so maybe I will get over my reluctance and just do it one day.

Nail varnish has been the most successful resist I've used so far so thinking about it a while ago I pondered on how to get designs in nail varnish onto silver. I'm not blessed in the drawing department so apart from doing dots, attempting to draw patterns freehand in varnish was not even considered! I did remember a project in Art Jewelry magazine from a while ago where the designer Dana Evans etched some silver using nail art stamps.  At the time I didn't really get it, the process looked complicated and I hadn't done any etching at that point so it didn't really grab me that much. But now it seemed a great way to get some patterns on silver so I researched nail art stamps and bought the stuff I needed.

This photo shows the metal plate etched with various designs, a nail art stamper (top right), a scraper and a WH Smith clubcard that I never use! I used the card instead of the scraper as I found it easier. I bought the nail art plate from Amazon - it's a Cheeky brand plate. The stamper and scraper came from ebay. Don't do what I did and order one of the cheap pattern plates on ebay as they are poor quality copies of the brand versions, the etching is shallow and the edges are very sharp and will shred your fingers if you're not careful. I still have the scars on my thumb. I spent a couple of hours one morning driving myself mad trying to get the stamper to pick up the design from the cheap plate which just didn't work as the pattern isn't deep enough. I thought I was destined to be a nail art failure! That was until I bought a genuine design plate and when I tried using it with the stamper it was so easy. I  didn't think the ebay seller of the faulty plate would want it returned with remnants of my blood on it (quite a lot of blood) but I did leave relevant feedback for a shoddy product which made me feel better.

So, how does it work? It's really simple - you apply nail varnish along one side of your chosen design (the one-coat varnishes are recommended or you could use an old varnish that has thickened), use the metal scraper or plastic card to spread the varnish over the entire design then press the stamper onto the design. The stamper picks up the pattern in varnish and then you stamp your metal (or if you're normal your nail).

I practiced on a bit of paper first and also swapped the nail varnish as the green one started peeling off the metal for some reason. You have to work quickly and have a supply of cotton pads/buds and nail varnish remover ready to clean everything after each use. It's a bit fiddly but I did get quicker as I got used to it. If you mess it up you just remove the nail varnish and start again. There are lots of videos on YouTube demonstrating the technique by people who have lovely nails unlike me :D You can't make metalwork jewellery and have lovely nails......

Stamped and ready for etching. I will admit I didn't think the nail varnish would hold up, it seemed pretty thin but after 4 long hours of being immersed in ferric nitrate the silver came out pretty well. I think my ferric nitrate may be on it's last legs as it is very cloudy and sludgy looking now. It might be time to replace it and find out from the council where I need to take the old stuff for it to be disposed of safely.

 

The silver after I'd removed the nail varnish and cleaned it with steel wool. You can click the images for a larger version for a better look.

It's still got a pink tinge from the nail varnish but that will disappear with the heat from my torch once I start using the silver. It etched pretty well and cleanly so I am pleased with it. 

The obvious drawback is the small size of the designs - they are about 17mm wide. I bought the "jumbo" size design plates but as they are meant for use on nails they aren't going to be very big. I think a bit of careful thought when it comes to how you are going to use the silver will mean you can make the most out of what you have. Which all sounds a bit cryptic! I like making small things so I'm happy with them :D

A Horrible Feeling - Having My Debit Card Cloned

Image : Community Friend/Flickr 

I found out yesterday that someone had recently cloned my debit card and was using it to top up their mobile phones. What a horrible feeling! It's the first time it's ever happened to me and I felt really angry that someone could do something so despicable. I also felt slightly panicky at the thought of my account being emptied before my eyes.

I only found out when I had a phone call from Cookson Gold saying payment had been declined for an order I'd just placed. I tried to pay again and it was declined again so I checked my account online and saw the five payments taken out without my knowledge. Just small amounts that they must have hoped I wouldn't notice but I think the bank had put a stop to any more debit payments as it must have flagged up as suspicious at this point. It happened once before but that time it was me on a bit of a spending spree and the hold put on my account was lifted after I made a phone call :D

I rang the bank and eventually, after battling with an automated "thing" that didn't recognize my voice, then speaking to a real person, who put me through to another real person who asked if I banked with them -  "yes, obviously" (otherwise why would I be ringing you?) I was put through to someone who checked it wasn't me making the payments to EE T Mobile and O2. I was feeling a little bit frustrated at this point although I understand why they have to double check.

Things were sorted eventually and my card was cancelled and the money refunded within a couple of hours so apart from being without a debit card for a few days until the new one arrives everything is ok now. Thank you the nice man from the fraud department. I do feel a bit lost without my bit of bendy plastic though.......

Now I'm just trying to figure out how it happened. Having my card cloned at a cash point is the most likely explanation but I haven't used one for at least a couple of weeks plus I would've thought they would take larger amounts of money out of the account rather than topping up their phones for £10 and £20 at a time. In shops I usually put the card in the machine myself although I'm not that vigilant at covering up the keyboard when I type in my pin. I'm thinking that it may have been from an online payment where the card number and security code are given but paying online is supposed to be safe. I am baffled but it has made me think that I need to be a bit more vigilant from now on.

Craft Storage - It's A Beautiful Thing

I recently decided to revamp the storage boxes I keep my small jewellery making tools and supplies in. If you are anything like me and struggle to make jewellery in a room that is meant for other uses - the dining room and kitchen in other words - instead of having one of those wonderful workrooms/studios/sheds where you can spread things out, you probably get how important having enough storage space is. The dining room table was only used rarely anyway before I started taking over and now isn't used to eat off at all, just for cats to sit on and things to get dumped on to be put away "later".

This is what I had previously...... 

Perfectly good reinforced cardboard drawers but they were starting to get a bit tatty and they just weren't big enough! As you can see I have stuff everywhere, little bits of stuff and big bits of stuff that does start to get untidy and annoying after a while. Bear in mind the photo was taken when I'd tidied up and not when I was in the middle of making something. Then it would be a mass of tools, sand paper, files and bits of metal and metal dust everywhere!

I can't just spread out as it's a through room to the kitchen so I don't have a door to shut and hide the mess from people. I've already aquired one of the kitchen cupboards for my soldering and enamelling tools and supplies plus a cupboard in the sideboard for "stuff" so I definitely needed to sort my worktable space and invest in more nice drawers :D

I found the wooden six drawer boxes on ebay. They are similar to the Ikea drawers but better quality as they are 100% wood and not part hardboard. I also bought a different shaped six drawer Ikea box also on ebay.

After a quick sand I got my beloved stamps and Stayz On ink out and decorated the drawers.

The boxes were then stained and oiled with Danish Oil. I could've left them plain pine I suppose but I think they look so much better and more expensive when they are stained.

I did manage to mess up one of the stamps........... bottom row 2nd from the right....................

And here is the end result, everything moved over to the new boxes but I do still need to do a bit more sorting out. The brown three drawer thing on top that is full of cabs and bezel wire will be moved eventually and I rediscovered all those "useful" bits of metal and wire you keep, some of them from three years ago, that I didn't want to throw away but didn't know what to do with at the time and shoved into a drawer/bag/little pot that I now wonder what on earth I was thinking and know exactly what to do with. Throw gleefully into the bin.

Oh my God look at all those beautiful drawers I can put stuff in.

I need to stop pretending to be an artist and get rid of the paintbrushes though.................