In My Jeweller’s Workshop II

Following on from my previous post in which you’ll find the first batch of workshop shots, and bringing us up to the minute, I’m visiting my workshop space in space and time. You can sometimes catch me posting more of these snaps on my Instagram page and my FaceBook page – I’d love to see you there!

24 Sep 2014

This was obviously a busy time for rings – I see a ruby zoisite, an orange titanium coated drusy, a faceted black onyx, a malachite, a piece of labradorite, a brown drusy and a howlite ring all in the creative stages. And some of my domed pieces, too!

10 Oct 2014

Here, I’ve come along further with some of those previous pieces, and added this rest of the faceted onyx set and green mojave turquoise ring to the mix. That is my pair of nylon jaw flat nose parallel pliers on the right – fabulous for holding components that are too tiny to be held with fingers while I saw or file or emery, without leaving marks on the metal! Also, a little batch of jellyfish earrings in the making on my soldering block.

6 Nov 2014

The storage expansion continues.. and while it has been there for a while, I draw your attention to my tree stump, kindly provided by a neighbour. It is extremely useful as an ‘anvil’ base, and I’m pleased that even though a tree had to be chopped down, I could salvage a piece of it for a good purpose!

9 Nov 2014

Bead obsessed, much?

21 Nov 2014

Amongst that mass of tools, I see this pendant on my bench peg, and I am still working on that crazy creation underneath!

8 Feb 2015

A couple of repair jobs in the front, some pairs of earrings, a shattuckite pendant and this mojave green ring are all works in progress here! It’s so satisfying to have a number of jobs on the go at once – there is a fair amount of downtime while you’re waiting for things to cool and pickle after soldering.

4 Mar 2015

I quite often have things on my bench waiting for inspiration or the right time to strike – some seaglass is in the process here! Also a bunch of forget-me-nots, which I will post more about another time.

1 Apr 2015

Beads for the beginnings of my Ceramic collection are on my bench this day, as well as a number of stones waiting to be set – including this rhodochrosite pendant! The forget-me-nots are all on my soldering block. Stay tuned.

Epilepsy Australia

A Wish Made (photo credit My Little Pixels)

Epilepsy Australia is the National Coalition of Australian Epilepsy Associations working together to advance the cause of people living with epilepsy and other seizures disorders in Australia.

Their vision is to achieve a quality of life for all those living with epilepsy and other seizure disorders no less than that expected by the majority of Australians.

Epilepsy is a disorder of brain function that takes the form of recurring convulsive or non-convulsive seizures. Epilepsy is not just one condition; rather it is a diverse family of disorders comprising many seizure types. 10% of the population are at risk of experiencing a seizure during their lifetime, while 3-4% will go on to be diagnosed with epilepsy.

Would you know what to do if you saw someone having a seizure? A goal of Epilepsy Australia is for every household in Australia to be seizure aware – find out more here.

I will be donating 10% of the proceeds of all The Silver Forge sales for this month to this worthy cause! Pop to my shop and see what you can do to help!

Flashback – Silver Textured Overlay Pendant

At the Goldsmith’s School I studied at, the second piece that all students created was a pendant. We were asked to come up with a couple of designs, bearing in mind that we would have to cut the pieces out of sheet metal with a jeweller’s saw. Good to see I’ve had the spiral theme going for a long time!

After cutting out the circle for the base layer of the pendant, I stippled it by hammering with a stippling tool (a steel rod with a design carved into one end) all over the metal. Then I cut out the top layer, and soldered it and a a simple cup hook bail on (with some assistance from the teachers!)

I was always very taken with how, out of a room full of people given the same basic brief, so many very different pieces come to life. I’m still pretty fond of this piece, although I don’t wear it very often – perhaps I should get it out!

Flashback – Plain Sterling Silver Ring

When I started attending the Goldsmith’s School in Brisbane back in 2005, the first piece that everyone made was a plain half round ring. This is known in the trade as a ‘wedder’ (as it is a basic wedding ring.) The ‘half round’ refers to the profile of the ring.

It is possible to use a rolling mill and roll wire to be half round, which is the easy way to make one of these rings; we started with a thicker, flat piece of metal, shaped it into a ring, then filed and emeried until it was half round – it’s a good way to learn those basic techniques, and also to get an understanding of the complexities of silversmithing.

I made this ring to give to my son at the time – I don’t think it would even fit onto his pinkie finger these days!

it’s the silver forge’s third anniversary!

I’m amazed to find that three years have passed since I opened The Silver Forge. I finally found what I want to be when I grow up! To be able to send my creations out into the wide world for others to enjoy makes the already zen experience of silversmithing just perfect.

A great big thank you to everyone who visits this website, browses, emails me, buys things; everyone who likes my FaceBook page, likes my posts, comments on them, shares them; everyone who follows me on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media; everyone who subscribes to my newsletter, new release update email, and blog updates; everyone who comes to me with their custom piece requests; everyone who makes donations to my worthy causes, and for all the other forms of love and support you’ve shown; I appreciate each and every one of you ~ thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

I love the challenge of creating custom pieces for my lovely clients; and in between times I love to make new creations for my online shop. I even get time to build the occasional piece for myself!) I am also proud to have supported a number of worthy causes this year – I try to help spread a bit of peace and love in our crazy world, and sometimes the best way to do that is to support others who are making a difference.

As a way of saying thank you to all you lovely people for your ongoing support, I am offering 40% off all drusy pieces until the end of May. Just use coupon code DRUSY40 at the checkout.

As part of the celebrations, I am also giving away two pairs of Czech glass earrings to two lucky winners. All you have to do is to be signed up to receive my monthly newsletter ~ and you can do that here if you’re not already subscribed!

I hope you all have a most excellent month, full of joy and wonder. Thanks again to you all!!

My Jeweller’s Workshop

23 Jul 2012

For a while now, I’ve been taking random pictures of my workspace. Sometimes I post these on my Instagram page, and sometimes on my FaceBook page; but I thought it was time I posted them here for you to see. Look how clean my workspace was only a few months after I first got my jeweller’s bench set up! Look at that nice new engraving ball.

2 Jul 2013

A year later, and I’ve achieved the more lived in look. All clean work in progress mess of course! I spy the beginnings of the Elementals collection.

24 Jan 2014

As time goes on, storage becomes more of an issue, as you can see by the stacks of boxes full of Czech glass.

28 Feb 2014

Here you can see my jump ring winder… and I think those are parts of this bracelet and ring combination piece.

03 May 2014

That’s a wax stick for stone setting you see there amongst the tools and bits and pieces. I was working on this chrysocolla pendant amongst other things here!

15 May 2014

More joy, and more pieces in the works.. including this peacock blue round drusy ring, and this stormy blue oval one. That’s my ring sizing equipment in the top left hand corner.

19 Sep 2014

Besser brick is not very exciting, but I brighten up my space with a fabulous piece painted by a three year old, and I love my beautiful Granny’s landscape oil painting of the cliffs at Fairlight – it is calming and inspirational. And yes, I do drink a lot of tea!

WOCAN – Supporting Nepali Women

Seeds of Change (photo credit Chris Grieve)

Earlier this year, my sister became a Board member of the international non-profit Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN), which is dedicated to supporting women’s empowerment in rural communities in developing countries. A particular area of work is Nepal where many women and their families have been devastated by the recent earthquake.

WOCAN is a women-led international membership network of women and men professionals that provides expertise to assist agriculture and natural resource management organizations strengthen women’s leadership and mainstream gender into their internal structures, programs, projects and policies.

One of WOCAN’s core associates, who lives in Nepal, has travelled to one of the project areas and discovered people urgently need food, tarps and blankets. They have the contacts and capability to get aid to where it is needed.

WOCAN has set up a relief fund – please consider donating – it’s easy through PayPal. I will also be donating 10% of all The Silver Forge proceeds for this month to this worthy cause. Please head to my online shop now and see if you can help out there, too!

Gataker’s Artspace – New Earrings In Stock

It’s always a joy packaging up some Silver Forge earrings to send up to the lovely Gatakers Artspace in Maryborough. Gatakers is a community artspace which displays the work of local and regional artists and craftspeople ~ they are at 311 Kent Street, Maryborough. If you’re in the area, stop by, enjoy the gallery, and find my pieces in Gatakers shop. Thanks to the great staff there!

Regency Plume Agate and Turquoise Cabochon

The cloud-like gemstone cabochon shown here is 22mm long. It is available to be handcrafted into a custom made ring or pendant for you.

The top of this stone is Regency Plume Agate, which has been applied to composite turquoise base.

Desert Flower Foundation

Red Desert Flower (photo credit to Lily Shih)

I first heard about Waris Dirie when I read her autobiography, ‘Desert Flower’ (published in 1997 by Harper Collins).

Waris was born in 1965 into a nomad family living in the Somali desert near the border to Ethiopia. At the age of five, she was forced to undergo the inhuman procedure of female genital mutilation. This horrible tradition is still practiced in many countries around the world today – by both by Muslims and Christians.

At the age of 13, after being forced to marry a man who was old enough to be her grandfather, Waris fled her homeland. After a daring escape and many tribulations, she arrived in London and initially found employment as a housemaid and later at a McDonald’s.

At the age of 18 she was discovered by one of Britain’s leading fashion photographers, who thought she would be the perfect model. She quickly became an international celebrity. In 1996 the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, appointed Waris a United Nations Special Ambassador for the elimination of female genital mutilation. In 2009 Waris started the Desert Flower Foundation.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death.

According to World Health Organisation more than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut in the 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where female genital mutilation is concentrated. You can read more about FGM here on their website.

The Desert Flower Foundation protects little girls in Africa from female genital mutilation with the Desert Flower Adoption Program.

I will be donating 10% of all The Silver Forge proceeds for this month to this worthy cause. Please head to my online shop now and see if you can help out.