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Status: Public
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Entries: 4 (Private: 0)
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Comments: 6
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Start Date: 23.10.2008
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Last Update: 29.10.2009
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Views: 516
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| latest thingumys |
Date Posted: 14.07.2009 at 07:38 - Comments (1) |
My newest stuff 
Wish i had more time to make. I really love the new bracelets, and i'm chuffed with my design. Still need a crystal bible, just to tight to pay the money out for one 
my heffle ump of course. Not bad for a very first attempt at silversmithing. My tutor said i showed the most promise in the class and sympathy for the silver. I think i must have had a dud class in that case, i'm sat here thinking must try harder  Didn't help that she only fobbed me off on 0.5ml silver sheet though. I bought some more silver sheet after my heffle, she gave me 1ml, saying 0.5 has a tendency to look tinny!
Bramble. This didn't sell. I'm unsure why. Maybe it's too muted. Maybe i put too many rocks on. I can't really lower the price from £17 though. I guess it's just missing wow.
Festival This was a bargain for Dread. £12 and full of life. Which reminds me, i need to post off Icarus to her. Ever seen the comedy person won't let go of their money sketch, and it turns into a tug of war? Thats how i feel about Icarus, which is coming after this piccy
Icarus. I never make the same thing twice if i can help it. I may ask Dread's permission for me to make a 2nd one, just for me. My heart and soul is in this bracelet.
Well that's my lot. Spose i'd better get my skates on and get crafting. If anyone thinks £17 is a high price, i guess i'd better justify it by saying each bracelet like this takes about 5 hours to make, then, subtracting the materials, there isn't much left for me. It's a labour of love. |
| halloween, sweets and the ship's cat again. |
Date Posted: 23.10.2008 at 13:52 - Comments (1) |
well i made a few things and tried tecniques with my pliers and i'm rather happy with them all. I think i may need to start and etsy account to try and sell on what i have made. I worry about what to price my stuff at though. The beads and wire can be so expensive, especially when hunting down materials that are ethically sourced: No lead contained so as not to damage kids (no laws on it in england, however america is slightly better. Unfortunately postage is high as always not to mention air miles used), not contributing to damaging the rainforest and polluting the amazon through mining. My hubby would have a fit at that one as he breeds amazonian fish in an attempt to keep species dwindling alive, along with a lot of other fish keepers, so that is something close to my heart. Then theres the coral. I don't use coral at all, even though it is very pretty. So many considerations and i haven't even touched on any human rights issues. To be honest my heart lies with the non humans. We're pretty adept at doing disgusting things to each other, whereas animals and environment are dumb and have no defence. That doesn't mean that i won't be on the lookout for the best ethically sourced materials though. so far it's a learning curve and if i miss things it's ignorance, not cruelty, and so i don't chide myself too much about it. Once known, some things cannot be unknown. But back to the matter in hand anyway. what to charge. I saw earings in a shop for 10 pounds which is weighty but knowing that the cheap stuff comes mass produced from sweatshops and this is bespoke jewellery i understand that it is a reasonable ask. From that i think i should be asking 15 pounds for my less loaded bracelets and up to 25 to 50 pounds for my heavily weighted gemstone ones. I flinch when i say it but i regularly see that price asked for commercial crap.
Anyway i made a gothic bracelet using some pretty beads, seeing as it is halloween soon. Not that i need an excuse. I certainly don't dress like a hippy and have a fetish for clothes that are more usually seen on Amy Lee. Such a shame that the clothing industry hasn't picked up on ethical sourcing. I wish i could sew.
I've called this one Blood Rose. It's a simple one and was just to work out bead balancing and perfecting the findings. In retrospect i would move the large red roses nearer the front by the heart.
This one is called Midwinter Berries and was made specifically so i could practice the spiral wire bending technique. I was really pleased at how well it went. They are pretty even, they aren't too scratched and the vintage porcelain bead i had goes beautifully with the style i chose. If i was to change anything it would be to find beads other than the 2 black flowers either side to go with it. The trumpet shape wasn't ideal for the style in the way it hangs, but i'm just being ever pedantic. If i'm completely happy then i have nothing left to learn and i don't ever want to feel like i have nothing left to learn.
I enjoyed making this next one and although it doesn't look spooky in the slightest it did make me thing of halloween sweeties and trick and treating when i was rummaging through my bead stash, and so i have called it Sweetie Jar. I learned a lot of new swearword combinations when i made this one. The beads are glass and don't take kindly to pliers, cracking under pressure. Lots of pressure admittedly, they aren't stupidly delicate and will hold better than a lot of tensile cheap metals i've seen used in jewellery. I broke and binned 3 beads before i realised just how good i had become at precision bending. My regret is that i think it needs something more to it. I'm just not sure what, but i like adding so many textures normally. Maybe this is my alter ego saying NO, thats enough. It is done.
Now for my favourite piece of the bunch. It's a brooch and funnily enough i don't like brooches, or i thought i didn't. I've called it The Ship's Cat. I had trouble finding the name. It's kind of emo and yet kind of pirate. I love it and i think i'll be keeping this for myself. I have more of the same beads though so may make one other to sell on. It was another attempt at balancing for me, and also trying to get a good theme. I see so many things wrongly listed on ebay by people who think they understand a definition of art style, clothing style etc. I got bored of seeing gothic stuff or dancy stuff listed as emo, and so tried to capture it for myself.
I'm currently working on christmassy stuff now. Lots of star charms and moonstone. A good stone to be playing with considering i'm pregnant apparently. I don't know much about crystals and i'm not a huge believer in their energies (nor do i pooh pooh it either) , but if i have the knowledge then perhaps i can make bespoke jewellery for specific requests. I'm not there yet, but i look forward to learning as i find different stones that catch my eye. (if anyone reads this and knows about crystal energies then fill me in please!)
Hopefully i can borrow my moms camera when she visits next and i can take pics of my snowcapped trinkets  |
| Halloween, sweets and the ship's cat |
Date Posted: 23.10.2008 at 11:55 - Comments (1) |
I was once told that a person who had a hobby was generally boring in an inverse proportion to how much they talked about said hobby to disinterested listeners. I think it's a rather accurate observation, so if anyone has dipped in here and decided to read this then i'll forewarn you, if you don't like jewellery making or have an eye for beads, you're going to find this a rather boring blog. 
I hope to document what i lean here, when i'm playing with my stash, and post pictures to see where i have improved. No doubt i'll cringe at my first pics in a years time but, hopefully, that will mean i have improved upon first tried tecniques.
I finally got a pair of round nosed pliers which have neatened up my work immensly. It's also allowed me to create my own links, findings and embellishments. What i have learned is invaluable, just through having the correct equipment. Were anyone to ask what i thought about wire working previous to getting these pliers, i would have had very little to say. Now i can say that my favoured medium is half hard wire, i would never get plated wire because the plate comes off when working it, even if i wrap the nose in sellotape to cushion the marks. I want to try copper wire first as i think that is the cheapest to buy from what i've seen. I intend to get a couple of different gauges just to experiment with how sturdy they will be vs allowance of movement from the beads, which vary from a 0.5 ml hole to a 2ml hole. I've never bothered checking what the majority of beads are though so it will be an interesting observation to make when i'm looking all pissed off because what i want to go on won't fit.
Back to this blog inna minute cause my stoopid pc is gonna restart. |
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