There are many pieces of equipment that are essential to the creative silversmithing process, and one that gets used in practically every piece is the jeweller’s saw. From cutting through fine chain links, to carving out an entire pendant, the saw is a very useful piece of equipment!
One of the first things I learned when I started smithing was how to saw – first straight lines, then curves, then around corners. There is an art to sawing! Jeweller’s saw blades come in many sizes, the tooth count varying depending on the job you need to do.
Saw blades are replaced when they become blunt or more often when they break – which happens all the time. Inserting the blade correctly, holding the saw upright, not applying pressure and letting the blade do the work will all help. “Doh! Another one!” is still a frequent cry around the workshop though!
Saws can also be used for piercing. First a small hole is drilled, the saw blade is fed through the hole, and then tightened into the saw.
I have two saws, my old faithful that I’ve had from day one and my newer Green Lion Studios saw, which has a deeper frame and can be used for larger cuts. I have different sizes of sawblades in each one, and they are both some of my favourite tools!
Don’t forget, if you’re in Brisbane on Friday 3 May (today or tomorrow, depending on when you’re reading this!!), head over between 4.00 and 7.00pm to the Twilight Market being held by the Creche & Kindergarten Northside Family Day Care Educators Association at ‘The Community Place’ on Teevan Street, Stafford. As there are three children in our Northside Family Day Care community who are hearing impared, the market is being held to raise funds for Hear and Say. One of these children goes to Carmen’s Family Day Care with my son, so this is close to our hearts!
The aim of Hear and Say is to help deaf children to hear, listen and speak so they can attend a regular school, have wider career choices and can more fully participate in the hearing community. Hear and Say interfaces state-of-the-art hearing technology (digital hearing aids and implantable technology such as cochlear implants) with the Auditory-Verbal Therapy approach.
I am setting up a Silver Forge stall at the twilight market, and will be donating 10% of all sales made during the market to this very worthy cause. There will be food stalls, art and craft, a playground, face painting and much more. Come and have sausage sizzle for dinner, let the kids race around, and be home in time for bedtime and a nice cup of tea! Make sure you stop by the stall and say hello – I’d love to see you there!
Shattuckite is a mix of azurite, chrysocolla, malachite, and sometimes copper (cuperite) in quartz. It was first discovered in 1915 in the copper mines of Bisbee, Arizona, specifically the Shattuck Mine (hence the name).
Shattuckite is reputed to assist with reconciliation and renewal. Shattuckite is also used to channel information. It is said to calm the mind and create harmony.
Shattuckite is believed to be helpful in healing diabetes, assisting with calcium absorption problems, thyroid issues, mites and other infestations, and tonsillitis.
You can have a little piece of this fabulous stone to wear for your very own!
I have some shattuckite in my gemstone collection. If you find a stone that appeals to you and you’d like to have it set in a ring or a pendant, let me know.
For a long time, I have been coveting a doming block. For Christmas this year, my lovely husband gave me a beautiful set, including a 80mm square block and 12 punches.
Love a man who knows what you REALLY want – thank you sweetheart!!
Also known as a dapping block, and made from stainless steel, this doming block makes it easy to turn flat sheets of silver into beautifully curved domes.
This great tool makes it possible to create everything from a slight curve to a full semi-circle:
which means that I can make spheres, too.
I’ve only just touched the tip of the iceberg. The possibilities are endless! Check out my current domed pieces – and stay tuned for more fabulous creations.
Malachite – gorgeous! I love the endless variations on that swirly green theme. Malachite has a high copper content, which is what gives it the fabulous green colouring. It often results from the weathering of copper ores.
Malachite was used as a mineral pigment in green paints from ancient times until about 1800, when a synthetic form of the colour widely replaced it. Large quantities are mined in the Urals in Russia, and Malachite is found worldwide, including here in Australia at Broken Hill, New South Wales. It is often found in the company of Azurite.
Malachite is believed to be a protector of children. It is said to protect travellers, and to protect the wearer from accidents. Malachite has been used to aid success in business and protect against undesirable business associations. It is believed to be a stone of balance in relationships.
You can have a little piece of this fabulous stone to wear for your very own, set in a ring or pendant.
I have some pieces of malachite in my gemstone collection and I’m always happy to try to source something particular for you if you have a special dream in mind!
‘Conflict’ or ‘blood’ diamonds out of Africa; De Beer’s monopoly of the diamond market and their cunning ‘diamond engagement ring’ marketing strategy (in which they convinced the world through advertising that a diamond ring was necessary to show your undying love); and now a huge cache of industrial diamonds in Russia, it’s a strange old diamond studded world! Being a girl of simple tastes, I’d always thought that diamonds were over-priced and under-whelming, and a lot of the information I gathered while researching this post goes some way to supporting my feelings. Don’t get me wrong, a bit of sparkle is lovely, and the many colours that diamonds come in are very pretty!
I think in part it’s the total extravagance that diamonds sometimes represent that can be a little bit dismaying: one of the excessively sparkling celebrities that comes to mind is the lovely, diamond studded Elizabeth Taylor, with whom I share a birthday. Who didn’t love her, despite her over-abundance of diamonds and husbands! Go, my fellow Pisces!
Photo: Hello Magazine
And don’t forget those famously large diamonds, and the dark myths and legends attached to them:
Cullianan Diamonds – Largest gem quality diamond ever found, now cut and set into the Crown Jewels. Photo: www.dial-a-diamond.co.za
The Hope Diamond – Most famous diamond in the world. Supposedly cursed, but it isn’t really! Photo: mineralsciences.si.edu
Koh-i-Noor Diamond – once the largest diamond in the world, much fought over, now rests in Queen Elizabeth’s crown. Photo: www.kohinoordiamond.org
When you look at a diamond using a loupe, unless it’s a very good quality diamond, mostly you will see inclusions from black specks to large black lines, and the sparkle is taken off them a little by that, too. Add that to a pre-existing aversion to faceted stones generally, and you start to see why diamonds just weren’t my best friend. Raw diamonds are, in general, nicer than their fancy cousins IMHO. But that’s just me.
Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Photo source: www.dailyfilmdose.com
However, I have to say that my opinion of diamonds has changed since my beautiful Granny, a living treasure herself now at a youthful ninety-seven, bequeathed me the engagement ring that she received from my Grandpa over seventy-four years ago. It is a beautiful diamond ring, and I treasure it dearly, not because of its economic value, but because it is a symbol of a love which sustained for more three-quarters of a century. The ring has the most beautiful sparkle to it when you look at it in the sunlight, and I like to think that that is in part created by the years of happiness generated by its wearer.
Diamonds may not be a girl’s best friend, but this beautiful engagement ring means the world to me, and I am so proud to have it. Thank you, my very dearest Granny, for entrusting to me such a precious gift. And people, if you’re buying any diamonds, please make sure you source conflict free ones, won’t you!
I was very excited yesterday to discover that a treasury I curated had made it to the front page of Etsy Australia! For those who might not know, Etsy is an online handmade marketplace, where thousands of individual sellers host their own shops, and millions of fabulous handcrafted or vintage items can be drooled over (and bought). (My shop can be found here, if you haven’t been already!)
Etsy members can curate online collections of sixteen items each, called a treasury. Selected treasuries are displayed on the front page of Etsy each day. Recently I’ve been making lots of them, in part because a couple of Etsy teams I belong to curate as a means of promotion, but mainly because it’s a great way to window shop and come across marvellous things you would never otherwise have seen! Each of my treasuries has a theme, be it a particular item that the treasury is built around, or something I love, or a colour scheme. It’s very zen and quite addictive!! I find myself thinking in curator mode as I walk around IRL. 🙂
Anyway, enough background, on with the tale! I belatedly discovered that one of my treasuries was chosen to appear on the front page! Very exciting, and quite an accolade! The only sad moment was that I wasn’t online while it was on display, so missed seeing it. 🙁
Never mind, I was very happy, and hope that the lovely sellers whom I chose to feature in it were happy too. I’m hoping another of my curated collections is selected to appear on the front page soon! Now, off to Etsy to do some more dreaming and drooling. 🙂
The end of another month is drawing near, so I wanted to remind you to subscribe now for your emailed monthly copy of The Silver Forge Newsletter (if you haven’t already!)
As well as a page of richness and marvels (ok: some pretty pictures and mildly entertaining items), one lucky subscriber will be drawn each month to win a special something. This month’s giveaway prize is a unique pair of one of my more popular themes, a pair of sterling silver triangle spiral earrings.They’re fresh, interesting and simple enough to be worn every day; and so comfortable you’ll hardly know you’re wearing them until someone comments on their amazingness!!*
You only have until 28th Feb 2013 to sign up in time to win these beauties, so get cracking, won’t you. Good luck!!
*(Disclaimer: amazingness may only be present in the eye of the beholder).
One of the many joys of having a small person around is rediscovering the miracle of Playdoh. I don’t love how you spell it, but I do love to play with it!!
Did you know that Playdoh started life as a wallpaper cleaning product? Thank goodness the company started to go under! They had a surplus of stock, and enterprisingly started selling it as modelling clay. When PlayDoh was first released to the general public in 1956, it came in one colour – ‘off white’. About how you’d expect wallpaper cleaning dough to look, really!
By 1957, you could get red, yellow and blue. You’d be pretty set there, really.. the primary colours could be mixed to give you every colour of the rainbow!! Still, it’s a beautiful thing that today you can buy Playdoh in so many different colours. It comes in Neon, Metallics and Glitter as well… ahhhh!!!
A life sized Playdoh car was built as part of a new car promotion on the streets of London recently. 1.5 tonnes of Playdoh was used. That’s 10,000 pots. Yes, there was a blue Playdoh shortage in England after this!
The joy is about the colours it comes in. Being a colour lover, it just appeals to me so much! It’s also the smell. Cracking a new container of dough.. “Fun to play with, not to eat?” Bah!!! Who hasn’t munched some Playdoh when they were small? And the fleeting moments of stress-free creation… relax; make it, and if it’s no good, squash it! (And if it is good, your small person will squash it anyway!)
You can always make your own if you’re that way inclined, and I have more than once! I have a good recipe: if you’d like it, let me know. But for my money, a couple of dollars for a nice new pot of the real thing is hard to beat. (Although I’m not sure that the above PlayDoh advertising is doing it for me. It’s partially “wow!” and partially “weird and a little creepy.” What do you think?)
Ahhh, my love affair with Pantone continues. It’s one-sided, sure, but who wouldn’t want a never ending set of Pantone storage boxes to make your life complete?
The recent release of the 2013 Pantone ‘Fall’ colours is a bit exciting!! Emerald is the Pantone colour of the year, and I’m loving those more muted but still funky autumn tones. There’s not one I wouldn’t wear!!
I’ve looked through my gemstone collection, and here’s a few suggestions for having your own unique piece made, and being on trend this autumn. Contact me if you love one of these stones and want it for your very own!
