Wonderful Week of Jewellery with Fran & Sue

We were really looking forward to Fran & Sue’s visit as their previous workshops with us had been such fun to do.  Their wish list included glass fusing, more riveting, a taster session in enameling and lot and lots more !

Here are some of the wonderful things they made

Clicking on the photo above should take you into the album on our FaceBook page which shows each piece in all its glory !

I thought I would show you just a few of the pieces and how they were made.

Sue etched a piece of copper, circles were cut out and Sue domed them then soldered on stud backs to make these…..

…gorgeous earrings

Fran textured one of these pieces of copper and used press forming to make a heart which she riveted with felt to make this ….

…wonderful pendant

Salt Water Etching
Here are a couple of their etching designs and what they became (the designs were stamped then scanned and printed onto PNP paper then ironed onto copper sheet then etched using the salt water etching method

Sue made her etched design into a really nice key ring.

Fran made hers into a lovely brooch, the liver of sulphur really brings out the detail of the etching.

Brooch back with handmade pin.

Do visit our FB page to see more of their lovely work and our website for more information about our jewellery making holidays.

Oak Leaf Brooch – Step by Step – Day 13

Yesterday I used one of the oak leaves (see yesterdays blog) I found on my walk to texture this brooch

Copper & Silver brooch – 3.5 x 2cm – One of a Kind – £17  Oxidized to give it a softer glow and to bring out the detail of the leaf.

And here’s the step by step process of me making it.

I used my rolling mill to transfer the texture of one of the oak leaves onto a piece of copper – the other is textured with masking tape

I made the brooch using 2 pieces of copper because I wanted to stamp the back without spoiling the leaf texture on the front.

Brooch findings ready to be soldered onto the back of the brooch

Fine silver rivets – I taped the two pieces of copper together to keep them in place while I drilled the holes for the rivets

Ready to be riveted

Riveted front

and back

The finished back complete with tiny letter – ” from little acorns…. ”  This is after pickling (without the stainless steel pin – I’ve done that before) and polishing and oxidizing.

Come and learn how to rivet and use a rolling mill for texture on one of our jewellery making workshops – whether you are a complete beginner or want to expand on your existing skills our very small classes ensure almost one to one tuition.

October Make & Show Challenge – This month I have set myself the challenge to make something and post about it everyday – follow my blog for automatic updates.  Some of the jewellery featured is available for sale here  – http://www.lavidalerie.com/BlogJewellery.html

Forget Me Not Too & Oak Leaves

One of our lovely customers Louise asked me recently if I could make my Forget Me Not Long Studs upside down (with the flower at the top) – Yesterday that’s one of the things I did (I apologise for the awful photos)

Forget Me Not Too – £22 inc postage and arriving in a cute aluminium tin

Cute flower cut from silver sheet with a silver ball soldered into the center and then soldered onto a stud back with a long spiral stalk which ends in a tiny ball so it’s not sharp.

I think I make most things in a different way the 2nd time – next time I would make the flower as a stud then solder the stalk on afterwards – they’d look the same but it would be easier to do.  We pack these type of earrings in an aluminium tin (stamped with La Vidalerie) to protect them in the post but they do make a great present too.  These earrings aren’t on the website so the only way you can order them is by email through the contact page.

Last night was pretty stormy with a fantastic free light show over the hills so this morning Choo Choo and I were walking over acorns (a spin on Driving over Lemons but then we’re a lot poorer in the Aveyron ;-).  I collected a few oak leaves ….

And today’s project was to make a brooch using the leaves in some way – stop by tomorrow to see how I got on  – You can follow my blog for automatic updates by email.

October Make & Show Challenge – This month I have set myself the challenge to make something and post about it everyday – follow my blog for automatic updates.  Some of the jewellery featured is available for sale here  – http://www.lavidalerie.com/BlogJewellery.html

To Oxidise Or Not….

I love working in silver and copper and I tend to like my silver bright and shiny and my copper oxidised to make it a little more mellow than it’s colour when it’s bright and new (and I love the way it brings out the details).  Here are a couple of examples of pieces before and after oxidising, let me know what you think.

Riveted Copper Brooches before oxidising

Here are a couple of brooches I made recently, the one in front has a darker base as I chose not to pickle it after soldering the pin on the back, the one at the back has a cute little ceramic bird button riveted to it (http://www.rougepetitcoeur.fr/).

And here they are after oxidising.

 

I thought you might like to see the backs

I wanted to make another riveted copper bangle using 2mm wire and a large heart, when I had made the heart it seemed a little large for the wire so I doubled the wire to make it a little more chunky – here it is before oxidising –

Heart Double Bangle

And after oxidising