Day 50

Day 50! Blimey! Where is the time going?
Today I've made a tiny leaf necklace to match the tiny leaf earrings. Available from my Etsy shop soon!

Day 49

I've gone a bit ring crazy this week.

This one is made from sterling silver and a freshwater pearl.

Day 48

A ring inspired by chinese paper cut patterns, made from sterling silver and cold enamel.

Day 47

Day 46

So today I thought I'd try a similar piece to yesterday, but, hmmm... not too sure about this one! It doesn't have the 'Hey Presto' magic of yesterday for me, more 'Piff Paff Poof! It looks like a police chalk line around a body wearing dodgy pajamas!

Ah well, can't win 'em all

Oh, its a brooch pin by the way.

Day 45

More fun with the shrinking plastic....
I have a fabulous book called Breaking Bounds which has a series of stunning photo's of dancers. I've used one of the image silhouettes for this piece and given it a bit of hand drawn pattern magic - hey presto,  a pendant full of movement.

Day 44

Today I've made some hoop earrings. They're a bit of  a different style to what I've done previously, but then that is what this blog is supposed to be all about!
I made these out of silver sheet and wire, and then oxidised them to give the silver a black finish.
I do like this kind of hoop earring and think I'll try and explore this idea further in the future, something to match day 30's bangle perhaps.

Day 43

Teeny tiny fragment ring.

Very different from my original plastic ring, this is tiny. The plastic gem has been riveted to the ring shank.

Day 42

A new design using shrinking plastic for day 42. I've set the hand drawn  plastic gem against a silver background this time, and made this pendant. It has that wonderful found object feel to it, and I love the way the silver reflects the light back out through the plastic at you.

Day 41

Another stag piece made today, this time a necklace. made by hand cutting from sterling silver sheet. Soon to be added to my Etsy shop.

Day 40

Today I made a ring entirely from brass wire,  just by wrapping the wire, and forming using pliers.
 Simple design, but effective.

Day 39

Today's wearable item is a small pendant with a botanical theme. It's made from sterling silver. I oxidised the dome to give some depth to the cut out foreground piece.

Day 38

A series of buttons for day 38, all made from sterling silver with cold enamel on the back to give them strength.

Day 37

Something completely different for today's wearable piece, a ring made from book pages and a paper clip. Need something to read on the bus? no problem, you're wearing your book ring.

(No nice books were harmed in the making of this ring)

Day 36

.....and I'm back to plastic,
I can't help myself!

Today's piece is a brooch pin made from plastic and sterling silver. I used an old Victorian brooch design for the drawing, then added a tiny leaf design in sterling silver which acts as a gem and holds the pin to the back.

It has a wonderful ornate feel, but you lose a lot of the detail in the drawing when it shrinks down to this scale, I'll need to think bigger next time.

Day 35

Some little silver Stag stud earrings to go with the brooches. Its the first time I've made these as studs and I'm quite pleased with the way they turned out. I'd always thought the antlers would stick up too far in front of the ear, but I'm glad I gave it a go anyway because they look quite snazzy when you put them on.

Day 34

Today's item is another stag brooch for an order, hand pierced from sterling silver sheet.

Day 33

A 'pieces of my heart' necklace , to go with my rings and earring designs.
This is made from sheet silver, and embellished with patterned wire, and ties at the front to fasten.

Day 32

I had to get back to the business of making pieces that have been ordered today, so no time to experiment this evening. Still, I always enjoy making one of my stag brooches, made by cutting out the shape by hand from sheet silver - tricky round the antlers!

Day 31

Some tiny earrings for today's piece, made from sterling silver.

Day 30

Day 30!! Wow!
30 days, 30 pieces, it feels good! Although some days have been very hard, when I've just got home from work and I know that I'm probably going to be up until 2.00am in the morning making a piece...again, I have wondered 'why the hell am I doing this?

 But it's definitely worth it, I have created more in the past month than I think I managed in 6 months last year,  it's a great idea for anyone who lacks the self discipline to work for themselves every night like I do.

And for today's wearable piece, I've made a bangle. I really like this design and I haven't stopped wearing it since I made it!! I think this may turn into a new theme....

Day 29

I made these leaves out of silver clay a while ago,  I've made them into a pendant for today's wearable piece, and found out that giving them a brushed finish gives a much better result than polishing them, which is what I've always done in the past.

Day 28

I've had to leave the experimenting with plastic for a while, as I need to spend some time making jewellery to sell.

Here are some new Rosemary Wreath earrings,  made by hand piercing the design from sterling silver sheet.

Day 27

A new ring design. I tried a slightly different setting for this ring, and added some colour to the plastic gem.

Day 26

I made necklace for day 26.  Freshwater pearls and a hand drawn florish on plastic held in a silver setting.

Day 25

I'm continuing the theme with today's earrings.
In treating the plastic as though its a found fragment of something much older and more valuable and setting it as a 'gem', I think I'm getting over the hurdle of viewing plastic as a worthless throw away material, which is what I've been battling with whilst making these pieces. I love what I can do with the plastic, but hate what it stands for.  I've always used  more natural and what I view as honest materials in the past like silver and textiles, but I think this plastic might be winning me over!

Day 24

I've only had time to make some little stud earrings today, but I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I made them by drawing onto shrinking plastic (again) and setting in an oxidised silver claw. They match the original ring I made using this technique, and may well pop up in my etsy shop very soon.

Day 23

Surprise!!! A ring , not made out of plastic! This ring was made using hand dyed lace and sterling silver. Its a lot easier to wear than it looks as the lace spans your hand and gives the ring volume but isn't heavy or 'clumpy'.

Day 22

More Plastic!! I'm thinking I might be getting a little predictable now, but here is today's offering, a necklace not for the fainthearted.