Sunday 22 March 2009

Please help me by answering a simple question.


A sterling silver ring.

2mm wide and stamped with your own message.

Made just for you from scratch , to your own ring size.

These rings are great for stacking or just wearing on their own.

Please help me by honestly answering what you would pay for a handmade ring like this.



Friday 20 March 2009

Blog Carnival -


I really enjoy the Blog Carnival. A monthly topic is discussed by several individual jewellery artists. We all discuss the same topic and you can visit their blogs at the end of this short article.

This month's topic

" What was your biggest mistake or worst workbench disaster? "

I am struggling to think of a huge mistake that I have made. Lots of silly little mistakes, but nothing that couldn't be remedied and hardly ever costly.

I have probably melted the odd earring post, as I have soldered them onto earrings.

(The picture shows a recent acid etched design)

I remember acid etching a design once. The point of the exercise, is to paint a design onto a piece of metal using special paint. You leave the artwork that you desire as clear metal and cover everything else in the paint. The piece is then dropped into acid and the exposed metal is eaten away by the acid. You leave it in the acid for an hour or so until the acid has reached a satisfactory depth.

You then remove the item, wash it, remove the special paint and hey presto your piece is ready for the next stage.

However on one ocassion, I popped the piece into the acid and then promptly went home !!!!!

The next morning I came in and the metal had completely disappeared, leaving the thin membrane of paint behind. DOH !!


Tonya Davidson
Lorrene Davis
Marco Fleseri
Tamra Gentry
Lora Hart
Elaine Luther
Kirsten Skiles
Angela Crispin

Thursday 19 March 2009

Just uploaded this little video showing one of my latest creations. Hope you like it. More photos can be seen here.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22509990

Wednesday 18 March 2009

Repaired Rings - The result




So here are the two rings after they have been repaired.

I am very pleased with how they both turned out. The wedding band required re-sizing up 4 UK sizes, so had to have 4mm worth of new metal inserted.

The half eternity ring required a new sapphire and for the setting which broke to be strengthened.

All in all a pleasing result.



Monday 16 March 2009

Broken rings being repaired.



























A local lady bought two rings in for repair. The wedding band couldn't be removed as over the years her hands had grown in size. It therefore had to be cut off.

It now needs to be repaired and re-sized up 4 UK sizes.

The half eternity ring had simply broken across one of the settings. So a replacement stone is required and the ring needs to be fixed.

Sunday 15 March 2009

Some new pics.


I have been experimenting with a new photo set-up. Basically a new backdrop and a new lighting set-up. It isn't perfect but I think it is a step in the right direction.

I will be taking some more shots and tweaking the set-up over the forthcoming weeks.

It is fun, but quite time consuming as well.

Saturday 14 March 2009

A great UK tool catalogue


My father introduced me to these guys - Squires.

If you are based in the UK it is worth a look. If you are lucky enough to live near Bognor Regis, then I believe they have ashop there.

Their website isn't up and running yet, but you can ask them to send you a catalogue. Mine has just arrived and it is over 400 pages aand packed with all sorts of tools and some model and craft supplies.

Of course my interest lies in jewellery tools and there is a good selection to choose from.

I believe they are also bringing out some catalogues for other crafts, so drop them an e-mail.

Sunday 8 March 2009

Special Offer & Save $20






I am pleased to bring you this special offer for this week only. Available until and including 14th March 2009.