Tag Archives: silver

Sterling silver and titanium chenier hinge pendant set with blue quartz

The brief for our seventh project for the course I’m doing this year was to create a piece using chenier hinge as a feature rather than a function.  (Chenier is hollow tubing, in case you weren’t sure!)

Titanium, Blue Quartz and Sterling Silver Pendant

I designed this pendant so that it could be worn both horizontally and vertically.  The six plates rotate around a centre rod. There were a few challenging moments to my usual sadly limited patience during the construction of this piece. Titanium is an interesting but hard metal to work with.. physically hard rather than mentally!  It’s a dull grey colour, and very hard to cut, file and especially drill.  The gorgeous colour is achieved by heating very carefully, so it has to be riveted on rather than soldered.  I added the titanium mainly because I fell in love with the blue quartz bullet stones!!

Titanium, Blue Quartz and Sterling Silver Pendant 2

Once in a while, my fellow students and I agree, you make something that has many challenging stages in it, and many learning experiences. By the end of the process you are pretty over it – so you pop the piece away for a while, and when eventually you bring it out once more, it usually is much more pleasing than you remember!  This is one of these pieces! 🙂

Big Blue Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

Big Bright Blue Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

I made this ring for Gracie, my son’s girlfriend, to wear to her Year 12 Formal.  She is such a sweetheart, she deserves a whole handful of beautiful rings!  This one will have to suffice for now.

Large Bright Blue Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

She chose the stone, and I set it very simply (as always!) and gave it a high polish.

Large Bright Blue Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

Thanks for the honour, dear Gracie, and have a fantastic night!! 🙂 xx

Sterling Silver and Aquamarine Earrings

Carmen commissioned me to make a pair of earrings for her good friend’s birthday.

Aquamarine and Sterling Silver Earrings

Aquamarine is the ancient birthstone for October, and these milky aquamarines are gorgeous specimens in my opinion!

Aquamarine and Sterling Silver Earrings 

I hope the birthday girl is pleased with them!

Navy Blue Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

Big Navy Blue Drusy Agate Sterling Silver Ring

I made this drusy agate ring for Leesa. I took it down to her yesterday evening, and she was really thrilled! Navy Blue Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

Everyone who saw this stone before I set it coveted it, so definitely a good choice, Leesa!

Navy Blue Drusy Agate and Sterling Silver Ring

It’s so lovely when the person for whom you’ve created a piece loves the work you’ve done.  Leesa is keen to have another one, this time in gold, so stay tuned!! 🙂

Large Hammer Forged Sterling Silver Cuff Ring

I made this silver cuff ring for Sarah.

Sterling Silver Cuff Ring

I love the simplicity of her choice of finish!

Sterling Silver Cuff Ring

 

It was great fun to make, with plenty of forging (that’s the hammering kind 🙂 ).

Howlite and Sterling Silver Ring

Howlite Sterling Silver Ring

At last, a piece that I am going to keep for myself!!

Howlite and Sterling Silver Ring

The stone in this ring is howlite, which is most often seen dyed and passed off as turquoise.  I just like it in its natural creamy white form!

Howlite and Sterling Silver Ring

Surprise, surprise, this ring is huge – the stone is four centimetres long.  I like this ring, it’s really nice to wear, compliments most outfits, and it makes me feel happy!!

Sterling Silver Twisted Chain Bracelet 1

Sterling Silver Twisted Chain Bracelet

My grandmother commissioned me to make this sterling silver twisted chain bracelet after she saw the one I made for myself a while back.  The links join together in a very precise pattern, so it was very zen to make!  There is no catch, the bracelet simply rolls onto your wrist.  It is very comfortable, and feels lovely rolling up and down your arm.

Sterling Silver Twisted Chain Bracelet 1

Each link is individually soldered, so the piece gets hot very quickly and you can only solder a couple of links at a time.  It lived on my workbench, being made in between other things, for many weeks!  Lucky Granny is patient..

Sterling Silver Twisted Chain Bracelet

 

Garnet and Sterling Silver Needle Case

Cylindrical Sterling Silver Box with Garnet Set Lid

Garnet and Sterling Silver Needle Case

Years ago, I made a little round silver box with a garnet on the top of it to keep embroidery needles in as due to a special project I was making, I suddenly had many of them. The joys of being able to make your own silver things!!

Garnet and Sterling Silver Needle Case

In this box I also keep a tiny note (which used to have my needle stuck in it when I had only one needle). It was written to me in green pencil by my son many years ago when he was quite small – it just says, in his best handwriting, “i love you”.

Cuttlefish Casting

As part of the goldmithing course I did in 2012 I attended a weekend casting workshop. We did some lost wax casting (more on that later), and also some cuttlefish casting. Yes, really using cuttlefish! Or more correctly, their little (or not so little) cuttlebones.  I hasten to add no actual cuttlefish were harmed in the making of this jewellery – their life expectancy is around one to two years, they die soon after mating, and you can quite often find their cuttlebones washed up on the beach.

The procedure for cuttlefish casting is to cut the ends off the cuttlebone and cut it in half.  Grind down the two surfaces until they are flush.  Carve a funnel in one end of the two halves, and carve your design just below that.  Bind the sides together to form a mould, smelt your silver and pour it in!

Malachite and Sterling Silver Cuttlefish Cast Pendant

I cuttlefish-cast the bottoms of these two pieces, then set bezels with bails attached into the cast pieces to create pendants. One is set with malachite, the other with paua shell.

Paua Shell and Sterling Silver Cuttlefish Cast Pendant

I had to hand these pieces in as part of my final presentation, and then they were sold from my online shop.

Pharaoh Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish are members of the cephalopod family, like ocotpus, squid and nautilus.  They emit a brown ink to help them evade predators.  This ink, known as sepia, was once prized as a dye. Cuttlefish have green blood, due to haemocyanin, which carries oxygen and contains copper, unlike humans who have iron-containing haemoglobin filled red blood.  Cuttlefish have beaks.  Cuttlefish have chromatophoric cells, which enable them to change the colour of their skin instantaneously.  Aren’t they wonderful!  And coincidentally in keeping with my (unplanned) marine themed year!!! Thanks, little guys!!

Nostalgia – Part Two

 

Banded Agate and Sterling Silver PendantThe second thing I ever made was a pendant, using a banded agate cabochon.  I learned (belately!) one of the very important lessons goldsmithing teaches you, which is not to cut corners; near enough is NOT good enough.  I made the pendant well, and was pleased with the quality and the way it looked, but when I made the bail, I did not take enough time over it and so was never happy with it.  Of course that one element of the piece which was substandard meant that the whole piece was not satisfactory!

Banded Agate and Sterling Silver Pendant

I came very close to getting rid of the piece all together, but at the last minute, my husband helped me look at it through fresh eyes, and I realised that all that it needed to be a quality piece was a well-made bail! (Surprise, surprise…) I removed the old one, designed this new spiral one, and now the pendant is in my shop waiting for a new home!