Some years ago, my gorgeous husband came home from a work trip to Hong Kong with this beautiful piece of jade for me. Yes, I love him!
I created an elaborate design for the stone, and built that during my goldsmithing classes. Part of the component creation included making some chenier – which is hollow tubing, to go through the middle of the jade, which was cut in a donut shape. That was fun!
At the end of the day decided I didn’t like what I had made, so removed a good portion of the framework and left a simpler way to wear the jade. Sometimes, you have to modify your original idea to make the piece work!
That long hanging thing in the middle of this picture? That’s my flex drive. The first flexible shaft was invented by the famous Scottish engineer James Hall Nasmyth (1808-1890), who is best known for his later development of the steam hammer.
The motor is this part the top, which, through a long spiral shaft, drives the little piece at the end. If you’re thinking ‘dentist’, you’re absolutely right! These are used by dentists, too. They’re like a tiny drill at the end of a long hose.
There are endless variations of bits you can use with your flex drive.
My favourites are a particular diamond burr, kindly given to me by the lovely Bill from my Goldsmithing class (I use it all the time!) and my slotted mandrels (for emery paper – that’s one you see on the flex drive head in the picture above this one). I have so many other very useful attachments for this great device! I use my flex drive on just about every piece I make. Thanks, Mr Nasmyth!
The earring giveaway for June was a pair of snow white Czech glass earrings. The lucky winner was Alison, and these earrings went winging across the ocean to Hampshire, England.
At The Goldsmith’s School where I did my training, after learning to set a stone, I was taught how to create a hollow ball or sphere.
There is some danger involved – once you have cut out two circles, domed them to be exactly half of the diameter that you require, you solder the two halves together, and because there is a hollow space in the middle of the ball that you are closing, the risk is that the ball explodes as you are soldering it. This hasn’t happened to me, but I always wear my protective glasses just in case!
This ring was not born from my own idea, as I borrowed the concept from a beautiful piece I bought years ago from a jeweller who had a stand at the Brunswick Street Markets – I have seen this notion replicated in many places however, and it is a simple smithing concept. I try not to look at other people’s work these days, as I would hate to accidentally plagiarise someone’s original creation! There is nothing new under the sun they say, but I like ideas to grow organically inside my own imagination. And I do have plenty of them!
Iridescent Butterfly (image credit Echidna Art and Cards)
Assist A Sista is a Gold Coast based group of community volunteers who work together to help survivors of domestic violence to rebuild and repair by bringing hope and restoring faith.
Domestic violence affects nearly 500,000 Australian women per year. Although women are the majority, men can also be subjected to domestic violence. It does not discriminate; affecting every community regardless of class, culture or background, young or old.
Domestic violence is the misuse of power to gain control over another person. No one deserves to live in fear of domestic violence – especially not children. Assist A Sista strives to empower victims, with the aim of breaking the cycle and enabling victims and their children have a fresh start; a comfortable home with all the basics, whilst they continue to heal.
Assist A Sista provide support by bridging the gap, where government support falls short:, by meeting immediate crisis needs, by providing specific “Wish List” Items requested by survivors of domestic violence, and by creating “Assista Havens” for the women (and sometimes men) and their children, once they have exited a refuge and are commencing their journey towards a safe new life in a new home.
If you can help Assist A Sista, either with cash or a donation of household goods, head to their website, or if you’d like to help by making a purchase from The Silver Forge, head to my shop – 10% of this month’s proceeds will be donated to this very worthy cause!
Continuing my flashbacks to the first pieces I ever made, the next step I took at The Goldsmith’s School was to learn to set a stone. A round or oval shaped cabochon is the simplest to set (no corners to contend with!) and I chose one of my favourites, peridot.
I have written about the stone setting process previously here and here – and as you can probably tell, it is one of my favourite ways to create!
I’ve gotten faster and better at setting stones of course, but these earrings have stood the test of time – although I would design the ear hooks differently another time! I still love peridot, too – it and garnet are some of the few gemstones that are not treated in any way.
Lapis Lazuli has been mined in Afghanistan for over 6,000 years.
(image credit Philippe Giabbanelli)
Lapis is the Latin word for ‘stone’, and lazuli comes from the Latin ‘lazulum’ which was derived the name of the stone in Persian. The name of the stone came to be associated with its color – the word azure comes from lapis lazuli.
(image credit Parent Géry)
Lapis was long ground up to make the pigment ultramarine, which was widely used during the Renaissance in frescoes and oil painting (this method was replaced in the 19th century with a synthetic compound.)
(image credit Walters Art Museum)
Because of its amazing blue colouring, Lapis has been prized; carved and worn throughout antiquity, in pieces like this Roman Imperial Eagle. I saw quite a lot of it in precious pieces in museums while travelling in Egypt.
Lapis is believed to be good for communications and good judgement, for enhancing memory, and to attract success.
Lapis is gorgeous – and I have these pieces in my gemstone collection just waiting to be made into something fabulous!
Well, it was a lovely month last month, and thank you all so much for your support! I’m pleased to say the winners of the gift vouchers were Basile and Jane. Jane chose these pieces from my shop, and they went out to her in the mail the other day.
The winners of the newsletter earring giveaway were Eliane and Annie. They both get to choose their own pair of earrings from my Czech glass collection.
Because it is The Silver Forge’s anniversary month, the giveaway for May will be not one but two pairs of earrings, of the winner’s own choice! Just make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter, that’s all you have to do.
The winner of the newsletter earring giveaway for March was Wendy. The prize was a pair of these faceted black onyx earrings.
The April giveaway will be a pair of pale green Czech glass flower earrings. Just make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter, and you’re in with a chance! If you can’t wait, and you want some of these earrings right now, you can find them here.
