Oh My Giddy Aunt (or suchlike)!

Wow. Here I am being featured on the Madeit blog...
http://madeitdotcomdotau.blogspot.com/
Hurrah!
I feel so famous right now :)

New Things! New Things!

Sometimes it can be really difficult to sell the things you make...

These are now in the madeit store (click on the link to view the store :)) A couple of resin rings with lux things lining the bottom and another O necklace, this time with a pearl (thankyou Ladyfinger!)

And... it's the day before the Anzac Day long weekend so we're getting very excited that for once I won't be working it and we can spend the weekend together. Well sort of. The boys are off tomorrow for a hair-raising lap in a rally car and some bonding time at the amusement arcade and us girls are free as birds to do whatever we like - hooray!! - then awake early for an Anzac Parade on Sunday and Monday with friends. Blisstastic!!

Have a great long weekend, I know I will!

A Gorgeous Sunday!

A few months ago my Mother-in-law (M-i-l from here on in) told me of some smithing gear needing a new home. Its owner had sadly passed away and now no-one needed the equipment. Would I be interested? Would I ever!! Anyone who knows how expensive tools and supplies can be (aren't all hobbies?!) will appreciate that I was very enthusiastic to supply a loving home and many more years of good use to this equipment. So yesterday, filled with anticipation, M-i-l, my 3 year old daughter and I set off for Kilcoy to collect the equipment and lunch with the lady (the silversmith's daughter) who so very kindly offered it to me.

Now, I must explain a few things about the amazing woman who has passed away. I learnt a little bit about her from her daughter yesterday. Her name was Phyllis and by all accounts was a fabulous clothing designer, potter, painter and silversmith. I was fortunate enough to admire some of her wonderful work as her amazing, huge paintings cover many walls in her daughter's Queenslander, and we ate lunch from a big fired pottery tabletop depicting Neptune and his harpies dragging an unfortunate victim to the bottom of the sea. How amazing! I was surrounded by so much creativity and real art, it was like my head was on a swivel trying to take everything in, and this was only a small slice of Phyllis' life work. Amazing.

Her daughter and our host, Helen is equally talented. She is a weaver and creates the most amazing, luxurious textiles from silk and linen thread on her loom. She also designs sensational garments and displays them in an art gallery in Melbourne. I was lucky enough to see some of her work too - the softest, loveliest fabric I think I've ever touched!

I've come away from our great day in Kilcoy feeling really inspired and lucky to have met these great ladies. I also feel glad that I took my little daughter and showed her the impressive things that creative women can do. She had a ball finding all the hidden pottery in the garden and learning to look closely to find the beauty that exists in detail. And what is also extremely amazing to me is being the recipient of not only some tools of a great artist but also some of her work. Helen has so very, very generously given me pieces of her mother's silver work from the 70's. I've photo-ed some of them for you to see. The scarab ring and necklace were made for Helen by her mother. The scarabs came home with Helen in the late 70's from the London Museum.

So today I'm feeling very grateful, very loved and just itching to get making!

Hint of Things to Come

This last week has been particularly busy, especially with school holidays upon us, but I have managed to find a great, steady metal supplier who sells only 100% recycled Australian silver. This means a lot to me so I'm really excited! Basically, they buy back scrap silver from hobbyists and jewellers, and combine it with the by-product silver that is collected from photograph processing recovery machines and mill it to create a high quality sterling silver. This means no silver from mines anywhere, anyhow! Fantastic! I have placed a nice order so am looking forward to my package in the mail and getting back to the bench.
A few designs are afoot including a beautiful ring set with leather and some more little bricks rings(by popular demand yay!).
That's all for today, but you can look forward to some nice pics of the new pretties very soon!
Have a great day!

Ring Making

I finally dragged my ring mandrel out of the dark depths of it's drawer and put it to good use. Here are some pics of the making of my Little Bricks stacking rings (which are for sale in the madeit store :)

This first pic below shows the metal after it's been cut to size and soldered to form the rough rings. I'm starting to file off the rough bits left over from the solder.

After the filing the ring goes onto the mandrel to be whacked into a perfect round shape. I then used the chisel end of the hammer to give it a good texture (also fantastic for taking out any frustrations!).

Then here it is, round but still a bit too rough.

A good rub over with 2 grades of emery paper and some strategic filing marks to pretty it up. I like texture and this is really evident in my jewellery - things need to feel beautiful as well as look beautiful.

Now to cut out the little brick shapes. I have a sheet that I've already patterned with a chasing tool so I measure and cut my shapes, then file them till they're perfect.

Next I have to solder the little bricks to the shanks... apply the flux, light the torch, a bit of fiddly tweezer work and voila!

A quick dip in the pickle to clean off any impurities, a scrub with a wire brush and there you have the finished product - Little Bricks Stacking or Sharing Rings.