My Favourite Things

hand made beads

A few weeks ago Jewellery Maker TV asked me to write a blog post about some of my favourite things in jewellery making so here goes!

I LOVE making charm bracelets!

There is just something about wearing a bracelet that jingles and moves on your wrist with a satisfying weight. I have been making jewellery for over three years now and I think I have made more charm bracelets than anything else.

amethyst drops

I really enjoy choosing the gems, the colours and sizes that will go together and I usually try to find a range of different metal charms to add or even make my own with either jewel enamel or polymer clay.

Choosing the right chain is important  because you need a good sized link to enable you to put add the charms and to help you space them out to give a balanced look.

faceted shell pearls, shell discs and hand made jewel enamel beads

I have tried a variety of techniques but I think the one I use most often is to use a head pin and then roll it down  and either attach it straight onto the chain or use a jump ring to give a little extra movement. You do need quite a few headpins and I think these with the heart end from Jewellery Maker TV would really add that special touch

http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/product.aspx?c=mraz92&d=rose-gold-flash-copper-findings-kit-approx-100-pcs.

I love this little kit which gives you all you need to get going with a chain, S clasp and some little charms and if you add a few of your favourite gems you'll have a great result.

http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/product.aspx?c=updl98&d=rose-gold-plated-copper-finding-pack-inc-charms-approx-35pcs.

For those who like to embellish their charms I like these silver flash brushed flat charms because you can leave some as they are, stamp some and add detail embossing powder or use alcohol inks in a random pattern to add a bit of colour. That way you would get a range of colour and texture but using all the same charms

http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/product.aspx?c=aaaz52&d=silver-flash-copper-brushed-fancy-charms,-pack-of-(25-pcs)

There is a bit of a craze for having charms that the wearer can re-arrange themselves. I have a pretty summertime one with enamelled beach themed charms and they are all on little lobster clasps. You could easily do this yourself or if you prefer you can add real gemstone ready made charms like this faceted amethyst 

http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/product.aspx?c=nrjd69&d=925-sterling-silver-3.5ct-amethyst-faceted-drop-approx-11x5mm-charm.

This is a stunning moveable sterling silver charm with topaz for a very special bracelet

http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/product.aspx?c=xmkt39&d=925-sterling-silver-star-charm-approx-18mm-inc.-0.50cts-white-topaz.

Here is one of my favourite charm bracelets made using some beautiful peridot rounds with little freshwater pearls. This little beauty went to a good home for someone with an August birthday!

I like to add one finishing touch by popping a "made with love"  or "handmade for you" charm usually on the extender chain or near the clasp

   http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/product.aspx?c=rqtc71&d=antique-gold-pewter--made-with-love--charm-approx-12.5x10mm

Every charm bracelet is different - they can be very personal like this cherry lips made for someone who loves "vamping it up"

                                          OR  a bit of fun like this bumble bee bracelet

OR to match an outfit like this shell pearl coffee and cream

BUT the wholepoint of a charm bracelet is that they feel great to wear!

New Venture

Well this is a bit of a momentous day........



Last week Jewellery Maker TV aired the last of their shows to feature jewel enamel which as my readers will know is my favourite medium to create with. It isn't their fault....Ranger, who make the melt pot,  have had to cease selling it because of an issue with the manufacturer and as the melt pot is really the essential tool for using jewel enamel this makes it hard to feature on a show because new viewers would be wanting to buy the pot.

Making jewellery this way is a slightly niche craft with many of us feeling our way in our designs and learning new techniques often by accident. So we need to gather together in some way which is why a few months ago I created a Facebook group for fellow crafters to share ideas, tips and inspiration and last week I realised  that we should make sure all our collective knowledge isn't lost.

I started gathering images into subject albums on our Facebook pages and that's when I saw that we needed more than just a few pictures with a brief description we needed proper tutorials with creative diary images.


In this modern age I think the best way to do that is to use a blog - so I have launched a team blog with a small group of admins and we will invite guest authors to share.
I love the fact that the blogging world is mostly public because this means anyone with a passing interest can drop in a have a browse.
There are some extremely talented people on the site so it is very exciting wondering what they will come up with.



I have quickly earned that I need to make sure I photograph everything during the making stage as well as the finished product because that is what people need to see....photo tutorials and diaries.

So for any of  my readers who would like to pop over, here is the link
www.jewelenamelgems.blogspot.co.uk

I will still be writing this blog and postimg more of my adventures in creativity and hopefully there will be more advances in skills as I learn from my fellow bloggers

Strawberries and Cream - a Summer Project

Strawberries and Cream - a summer project

As part of a summer challenge for a Facebook jewellery making group I decided to create a fully loaded bracelet and charm pendant representing summer strawberries.

I have two lovely strawberry moulds and numerous leaf moulds which work well and I wanted to create hand made dipped beads in a clotted cream colour.

a home made mould

this is a Martha Stewart mould

To create the berry colour I used  Diamond Clear with two reds - Cosmic Shimmer's Berry Red and Crafty Notions Ruby Red

because it was quite time consuming to create a batch of charms I needed to keep turning down the heat to stop the mix going too orange

the small mould poured 

finished small berries

    I also poured the large strawberry

the finished strawberries

Next I created the leaves using Crafty Notions Peridot and Diamond Clear

Martha Stewart moulds

completed leaves

To make the beads I colour mixed a clotted cream colour using Diamond Clear with a small amount of Ranger's UTEE white and a sprinkle of Cosmic Shimmer's Light Gold

colour mix for beads

I played around with this until I got a slightly lighter colour than I needed - knowing it would darken with the heat

To make hand dipped beads you need a head or eye pin and then dip the finding in repeatedly, building up layers. You need to gently rotate the pin to make a round shape although the slightly imperfect ones have an organic feel. To make sure the colour is consistent I dipped each pin in turn with each layer building rather than making  a complete bead each time. 

just dipping the end of the eye pin into the mix

swirling gently to get a good shape

third dip

all lined up ready for the final dip

completed beads

the completed bracelet elements

the finished pendant elements

Finally I assembled the charm bracelet and created the charm pendant 

a close up of the bracelet

I think this has a real feel of those long summer days!

Using Texture Sheets, Treads and Mats

UTEE jewel enamel is beautiful with a glossy well polished surface on a cabochon especially if you have added a little clear to your mix to give that added depth - it is almost as if you can see into the heart of the cabochon.

But sometimes you want to add texture - perhaps you are struggling with heat polishing or you have used alcohol inks and ended up with lots of bubbles or you just want to include a lovely pattern.

This is where texture mats and sheets come into their own.
There are so many textures on the market but for jewel enamel you need to make sure that the sheet can take the heat and that there is a decent depth to the texture. You rarely get fine detail with a pour although it is always worth trying with a little scrap because you never know what surprising results you can get from the most unlikely looking texture.
Helen Breil who works with polymer clay produces some wonderfully detailed sheets - some are too fine for UTEE but others have deep swirls that will give a great effect

a beautiful Helen Breil texture mat

Karantha who produce brilliant moulds also do a stunning range of texture mats made of very durable red rubber. Again choose carefully to maximise the effect

a Karantha texture sheet

Lisa Pavelka is well known for her textures which look stunning in jewel enamel

      these super textures are from Lisa Pavelka

Have you discovered Ranger's Texture Treads? They are thick black rubber sheets that have a look of being made from car tyres! They are designed especially for UTEE jewel enamel and have very deep texture. Each sheet is split into two - there will be an embossing side and a debossing side - one pattern going in and one going out. So use scrap to try which suits your project best.

you can see quite clearly the two sides of the sheet

Often when you use a texture sheet you will get a matte finish on the raised texture which you can heat polish. If you do decide to polish be very carful - too much heat or too long in one place with the gun and you will lose that lovely surface. Why not highlight the texture with mica powder gently rubbed over the surface with your finger or use gliding wax/gleams rubbed in. Once set you can buff these up to give a great shine.

I really like the way Leonie Pujol uses a texture sheet to pour onto - have a look at this youtube clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOxusGdT9mY

I have written a blog post about pouring onto a texture sheet to create a suncatcher and you will see in detail how to use a cutter to pour into. The choice is yours - pour out and press the cutter into the UTEE or pour directly into the cutter.

click here to go directly to my suncatcher post

A search on Google will get you plenty of images and tutorials plus super blogs about creative people experimenting with UTEE and texture sheets. However not many people will be using this for jewellery which is what I do.

If you are careful you can use rubber stamps ( remember the UTEE is very hot  so perhaps don't use your favourite stamp). I have also successfully used clear stamps to gently impress the surface of a poured bezel.

I think perhaps the simplest but most effective way I have used texture sheets it to create simple pendants which I strung onto seed beads or cord with either a stick on bail or with a large hole.

I use a multi temp soldering iron to melt my holes.