A fundraising event for the family of Tammy Boorer, one of our Made It Online Handmade Market community members, is being held from 8pm on Wednesday 13th February 2013. Tammy and her unborn baby were killed in a car accident last month, leaving behind her husband (who is still in hospital in a critical condition) and her two young children.
To help Tammy’s family, MadeIt sellers will be listing fundraising items in their MadeIt shops, and each individual MadeIt seller will then donate the proceeds from the sale of their handmade items directly to the Boorer family support fund which is held by the family’s church, the Ipswich Presbyterian. The MadeIt admin team will be donating their sales commission from each piece also.
You can help this young family by shopping for fundraising items – just go to the MadeIt website and search for “madeit with love”. If you would like to make a direct deposit to help the Boorer family instead or as well, you can also donate using the following bank details:
Account Name: Central Presbyterian Church Ipswich
BSB: 034189
Account: 196363
Ref: Boorer Family
I have listed this flower pendant which I made with love for Tammy and her family.
Please take a moment over the next few days to purchase a beautiful handmade item to do what we can to help the Boorer family. If you have any questions, or need any further information, please feel free to contact me.
For Tammy and her baby – who have returned to the light.
The truth is I came across Flipside because I was looking for somewhere to learn to ride my unicycle. (Yes, I have one, and I had tried to ride it on and off, and hadn’t quite gotten it together.) I was looking online (as you do) and found this fabulous circus space, just around the corner from where I live!
Flipside is a not-for-profit, community based organisation who provide an extensive circus program with an exciting range of circus activities geared around empowering children.
Its primary goal is providing a fun, non-competitive and safe environment for young people to build their strength, fitness, coordination and self-confidence through learning basic circus skills.
I enrolled my son straight away. We love our weekly fun at Flipside, all our lovely trainers are so kind, gentle and patient with the children, and it’s marvellous to watch the little ones blossoming and gaining confidence each week. Even the littlies get to go on the trapeze, the tissu, the tightrope and the tramp – just like the bigger kids. There are heaps of different activites each time, and we both get so much out of it (if you’re taking your little one, grown-ups can join in too!)
On 9 December, Flipside Circus held their annual Flipside Fiesta – a fun fundraising day for all their circus families. I was very happy to support Flipside with a Silver Forge raffle prize donation – the winner of the prize received a custom handcrafted ring, made by yours truly. More on that later!
The unicycle? Well, I still haven’t managed to master that just yet, but Flipside do run classes for adults, so if I can schedule my family around it, that might be my next adventure!! 🙂
Czech Glass beads (also known as Bohemian Glass or Druk beads) were created in Bohemia as early as 250 BC. Handmade glass beads have been found in graves excavated from the 10th century. In the 13th century, glass factories were opened in the northern mountains. In the 16th century, a cottage industry of glassmakers providing glass beads to the larger jewelry factories began in the Bohemian cities of Jablonec, Stanovsko and Bedrichov.
In the 19th century, no doubt spurred on by the industrial revolution, manufacturers developed special molds and machines to produce pressed-glass beads. Czech bead-making suffered setbacks because of the two World Wars, the Great Depression and Communist rule. Today, the industry has been revived, and Czech bead makers are again among the world leaders in bead manufacturing and exports.
Czech glass beads are available in a variety of colors and finishes. They come in opaque and solids, transparent, metallic and two-tone.
How are these beads are made today? Well, glass cane rods are heated to a molten level and put into a pressing machine. The hot glass is then pressed into molds. A needle is inserted at the same time to produce the thread hole of the bead. After the pressed glass is molded it slowly cools. At this point, the beads are connected by excess glass around the edges. The pressed glass beads are placed into a tumbling cycle that will break off the excess glass. The beads will then be sent through another tumbling process that will smooth out imperfections and polish the beads.
I love working with Czech Glass beads, not only because of the never-ending array of beautiful colours, shapes, sizes and opacities, but because of their fabulous history! I also love that they are glass, which as a natural substance has an elegance and timelessness about it.
At the moment, I’m having to restrain myself from buying a stack more Czech Glass beads to add to my already sizeable stash… willpower!!
Which is your favourite of the Czech glass beads in these pictures? Do you wish The Silver Forge had other colours available? (Encouragement to fulfill my shopping dreams will always be appreciated! 🙂 )
Congratulations to Maegan, who won The Silver Forge $50 Gift Certificate giveaway on Etsy Stalker. Maegan has chosen the Sterling Silver Zigzag Aztec Pendant and Earrings Set, which will be on their way to her in Fahler, Alberta, Canada shortly!
One of my favs in this style. Enjoy! Thanks so much again to everyone who entered. Stay tuned for another Silver Forge giveaway coming soon!
There’s no doubt that the work done by Ruthie at The Silver Forge is eye-catching and beautifully done. Swirling in silver, these jellyfish earrings are filled with gentle, graceful movement.
But take a step back. Ruthie creates all of her own components, everything from bezel settings to ear wires. And let’s take things back even a step further: she starts by “throwing” her own silver, a procedure which takes it from pellet to sheet or wire through a process of heating, pouring, and molding.
I love the way Ruthie pairs the silver with such varied and interesting elements. From the clear topaz beads in the earrings above, we go to bright blue titanium as a contrast to the gorgeously textured silver in this pendant meant to evoke the scale of a sea creature.
In this pendant, a rich piece of unakite has been nestled into a setting echoing the roundness of the stone. The off-center placement is accented with still more circles of silver to create a cohesive, compelling whole.
Read on to learn more about Ruthie’s inspiration and process!
Curator V: You’ve studied goldsmithing extensively. How did that come about? When did you know you wanted to make jewelry?
I have loved silver jewellery ever since I was a child. I remember being mesmerized by the collection of huge silver and gemstone rings my best friend’s mum had, and I certainly did my fair share of buying beautiful pieces! Around 2005, I stumbled across a short evening course in silver jewellery making being held at a local college. It took place in the Industrial Arts area, so we were working amongst some huge unrefined equipment! As soon as I walked in, I knew I’d found my niche. (I can still remember the lovely oily smell of that room.)
I kept trying to find other courses, but it wasn’t until I moved to Brisbane that I found a dedicated goldsmithing school, which I have been attending since 2008. Last year I completed intensive vocational certification, which covered many aspects of smithing from art and technical design drawing to lost wax casting and tool making, all of which helped improve my skills and knowledge immensely.
Curator V: You make all of your own component pieces. What made you decide to do that?
There are many pre-manufactured ‘jewellery findings’ available, such as earring hooks, gemstone bezels etc. however for me, the true nature of ‘handmade’ is that everything is crafted completely by hand from start to finish. It’s part of keeping the art alive. The only commercial components I use are the neoprene chokers I supply with pendants, which are more for people who don’t already have a favourite choker or chain.
Curator V: In your About page, you say “Each piece starts life as a throw of silver”. Can you explain what that means?
Once it’s been dug out of the ground and refined, silver is usually provided in pellets. These are heated to melting point in a crucible and poured into a mould, creating either a plate or a bar of silver. These can then be rolled into progressively thinner flat plates or extruded into wire. This heating, pouring and moulding process is called a ‘throw’.
Curator V: You’ve recently added some druzy agate rings to your shop. What about working with that stone appeals to you?
Druzy agate is a great stone to work with – it’s unique, unusual, and every piece is guaranteed to be different! I love the large, colourful cabochons (smooth cut stones). The idea that they come from a hollow geode that water has seeped through for thousands of years to create tiny sparkly crystals is fascinating to me!
Curator V: How would you describe the woman you design for?
She’s funky, stylish, interesting; likes one of a kind statement pieces; has great taste, and is aged between 17 and 97. That’s my lovely customers so far! I also think she’s attracted to a fusion of modern with old world charm.
Curator V: What can we expect from The Silver Forge in the future?
My mind is so full of designs I can scarcely begin to make them all! In the works right now are more amazing druzy rings and pendants, a new range of gorgeous domed pieces, and a new line of earrings. Then there’s the Valentine’s Day collection!
If you’d like to keep up to date with what’s happening at The Silver Forge, you can follow my blog and/or my Facebook page .
Ruthie is offering a $50 Gift Certificate as her giveaway prize! To enter, visit The Silver Forge, then come back here and leave a comment with your favorite item. One winner to be chosen at random next Sunday, January 27th.
Thanks so much for having me, Violet! There were one hundred and six entries into the giveaway. Congratulations to Maeghan for winning! Be sure to pop over to EtsyStalker to keep up with the fabulous goodies Violet finds next.
Reading – it’s probably my number one favourite thing to do. Ever. Who doesn’t love to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea and a good book? I read morning, noon and night. It’s a miracle that I get anything else done in a day, really!!! Anyway, at the moment, I’m devouring reading “Twenty Chickens for a Saddle” by Robyn Scott. It is a memoir of Robyn’s life as a child, growing up in Botswana, Africa.
As well as many entertaining and amusing anecdotes about her family (swimming in crocodile infested rivers? Being home-schooled in a most unorthodox fashion by their mother? Running an egg selling business, using rescued ‘past their use by date’ battery hens, to fund a new saddle?), Robyn manages to impart – in a way that is completely engaging and without overloading you -a great deal of information about a number of potentially politically touchy subjects, including the AIDS epidemic, and the scary and dangerous beliefs that some of the African people have about HIV.
I haven’t even finished the book yet (plans for that later today!) but I just had to let you know that I was excited enough to tweet about it yesterday, and was surprised and thrilled to receive a tweet from Robyn in reply, letting me know about a great organisation she helped found, Mothers For All.
Mothers For All are non-profit, supporting women in Botswana and South Africa who care for children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. Mothers For All has this to say:
“Every mother hopes, should something happen to her, someone will be there to both care for and love her children as she did. But in sub-Saharan Africa millions of mothers have little or no means of ensuring this. Of the 15 million children under 18 years who have been orphaned as a result of AIDS worldwide, 12 million live in sub-Saharan Africa.” (figures from 2009).
I think this probably resonates with all of us – I can’t think of anything more awful than not being there for my children, and not knowing that they would be safe and cared for if I were to die. So, what started as a gentle book read has morphed into a worthy cause to support. Like me, perhaps you could take a few minutes to read the website, and perhaps make a donation or purchase one of the lovely bead pieces, handmade by the mothers of the project.
Perhaps you could become an activist for Mothers For All, or simply use whatever social media you’re comfortable with to promote this very worthy cause!
The culmination of our year’s worth of Silversmith training was a weekend session in which we were expected to create a complex piece which we had previously designed. We had to hand in a rendering, an art drawing, a technical drawing with notes and a set of procedural notes before creating the piece over the space of 15 hours.
I designed this dome lidded ring featuring a grey cat’s eye moonstone cabochon, which can be worn either with the lid on or off. I received a mark of 92.2% for this piece. I’m pleased with it!
The term “drusy” comes from the word “druse”, which refers to a rock surface (usually a cavity) covered with tiny individual crystals, such as are found inside geodes or in larger pockets of mineral deposits.
Drusy crystals take hundreds or even thousands of years to form. They form as molten rock begins to cool with trapped gases inside. The gases cause gaps in the rock. As ground water carrying dissolved silica is forced into a porous area of the rock for century after century, tiny crystals form on the surfaces or in cavities of the rock, forming a blanket of crystals.
These rocks are split open to reveal the crystals within. Cabochons are then cut from the surface of the rock capturing the drusy elements.
The most commonly found drusy is quartz (agate or chalcedony), but many other species can exist in this form.
Naturally colored quartz drusy is found almost exclusively in muted colors such as white, grey, tan and cream. Many quartz pieces, though, are dyed black or other vivid colors such as purple, red, green and blue, and some are coated with titanium or other metallic vapor which creates various iridescent finishes. You can read more about gemstone treatments here.
I love working with drusy, because as well as being incredibly beautiful, no piece is ever the same!
Some of the pieces shown here are available for sale in my online shop. I am currently only working with natural stones, which I am happy to custom-make into rings or pendants similar to the ones shown here if you would like one. Do contact me for a quote, won’t you!!
The oldest surviving structure in Queensland is right here in Brisbane, in the City. It is a windmill, built by convicts from the penal settlement at Moreton Bay.
There is an interesting story behind this structure. I think many a convict would have rued the building of it; not only would it have been hard slog to create it, but it was, in part, powered by a treadmill trodden by convicts as punishment!
The Moreton Bay Song, a traditional Australian song from the pen of convict, Frank McNamara, was written in celebration of the death of Captain Patrick Logan, former commander of the Moreton Bay convict settlement, who oversaw this windmill. I remember singing the song in choir in primary school. Little did I know that one day I would be living in the area and seeing this fantastic old building!
So, a thought for those who came before us, and their hardships and trials – especially those pioneers, both intentional and through circumstance, who shaped our country into the great place it is to live today!!
I finally finished making a pendant from the last piece of cuttlefish casting I had from our casting workshop earlier this year.
It’s a bit of a departure from my usual style, but the casting just seemed to need some softness with it!
My teacher gave me a couple of suggestions for how to finish it off – thanks Sue! I love the nature of silversmithing, there’s always some new way to look at things and something new to be learned!!
