New Silver and Copper Bangle

Here are some pictures of my latest bangle, which I finished yesterday. I am really pleased with it, especially as I had originally intended the bowl as a pendant (but couldn't get it to hang the way I wanted). I can always tell it's a good one when the other half goes 'Hm. What is it?'

I have also got photos of Alice's finished box, and the completed Blanket of Doom to upload - to follow shortly!

Changes to my shop

This week I have changed a couple of elements of my etsy store, hopefully for the better!

First, I have retaken all of my 'first pictures' for my items. I struggle with my photography sometimes (as first mentioned in a previous blog post here) - I never feel I quite get it right. My original pictures mainly had black backgrounds, as I thought you would see the silver of the jewellery better - but lighting is hard, and the silver would often end up with a funny glow.

But after one of my photos, which I'd done on a white instead of a black background, got some compliments in one of the etsy forums, I thought I'd try doing my pictures on white background again, and also be a bit braver with my cropping and close ups. I am (at the moment!) pretty pleased with the results, and also with the fact that for the first time they all have the same colour background!

Here are some before and after pictures -

Second, I decided to try and unify my presentation and packaging of my jewellery. I bought some lovely ribbon in shades of ivory, dove grey and pale blue from etsy seller Overspill, and got some more black pillow boxes ready. When it arrived, I got all over-excited and straight away cut it all up into perfect earring-box sized pieces of ribbon, temporarily forgetting that I don't just make earrings. Ooops.

Still, all the earring listings are updated, and I'll just have to order some more ribbon and get on with the necklaces and bracelets another day.... Overall, I am pretty pleased with this weeks work.

Oh - and I also launched my first blog giveaway! Check it out here - closes October 8th.

An Experiment in Oxidisation

Recently I found a forum on etsy about how to oxidise sterling silver with a hard boiled egg. 'Really?' I thought, 'Hmm, maybe I should give that a go.' I am always keen on experiments you can do with household objects!

The sensible thing would, of course, have been to try something small and see what it turned out like - however, I don't usually roll like that (impatience).

So, on Monday I finished a necklace (for me, for once) that I liked but thought was just missing a little something.

'Perfect!' I thought. 'Something that has taken me a while and involves a fair amount of silver. Just the thing to experiment on.'

So when Alice decided to save her afternoon nap yesterday for when we got back home from out trip to the British Library (lunch with a friend and a look at the Magna Carta), it seemed like a good time to try it out.

I got all my ingredients, boiled my egg for about 10 minutes (the problem of impatience again), chopped it up with a big knife very quickly, put it in the box with the necklace and closed the box, also quickly (speed is important, I believe).

I waited for the whole 40 minutes the forum recommended, and opened it up.

Oh.
I don't know what you think, but to me it just looked like I'd left it in a box for a couple of years. Less nicely oxidised and more nastily tarnished. At this point, I began to berate myself for my impatience. Why didn't I try a small pair of earrings first?

However, all was not lost. I dug out my salt and baking powder, put a lining of foil in the plastic container and boiled the kettle (another 'household' method of cleaning jewellery). You put the jewellery on the foil at the bottom, put a bit of both of the above in (2tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt - or in my case, a shake of both containers) and pour the boiling water on. It goes 'FIZZ', and like magic it cleans your silver.

As you can see, it didn't get my necklace back to it's original condition, but it cleaned the chain up a treat and left the flower with more of the effect I was hoping for.

Overall, then, a qualified success. I will have to wear it a bit and see what I think of it. And maybe try something smaller next time!

New lovelies from etsy

These are my two latest etsy purchases. That's the trouble with spending time on etsy - too many lovely things to look at! I am not supposed to be spending money....

This is a cute fabric brooch from Sabeena who makes brooches, bags and cushions, as well as unique paintings.


This is a really gorgeous silver lily pendant from somethingxtraspecial who makes really beautiful silver jewellery.

Do check them both out - you won't regret it!

I Can Read You Like A Book Treasury

I bought into my first BNR treasury today on etsy (Buy and Replace - you buy an item, and it gets replaced with one from your own shop). I hadn't really planned to, I just saw some hair pins that (fingers crossed) will go perfectly with a dress I plan to wear to wedding in September.

Having said that, I do feel slightly glum that it hasn't resulted in a sale. It is going pretty well otherwise! I wonder again if it is my photos, but I just don't know what to do about that. Will have to have a good think.

On the upside, it reminded me to make a treasury I have been thinking about for a while. Called I Can Read You Like A Book - Almost it features gorgeous hand made notebooks and clever things made from books, all from UK-based etsy sellers.

I love books. One wall of our living room is pretty much filled with books. As well as a wall in Alice's room. And one in our bedroom. And there are boxes of my books beyond count in my parent's loft! I really must get up there one day soon and check them out....

Flickr Themed Challenge - Graveyards!

The UK Etsy Challenge has been opened up! It has become the Flickr Themed Challenge Group and it is open to anyone, anywhere in the world, with an online shop or craft blog to promote - so get those thinking hats on, people, because the new challenge is here.

The challenges are pulled out of a hat by the lovely c-urchin from a big pile of suggestions, and this quarters challenge is Graveyards. Yes, really. It even finishes on Sunday 17th October - just in time for Halloween.

Work in progress photos are welcome, but you are only allowed to enter one item into the competition. There is no prize except pride, but it's a fun competition to enter.

And finally - I always like to throw pictures into my blog, so here are two picture of graveyards from my photo library, both coincidentally taken from the battlements of a castle. Funny, that (have I mentioned my castle obsession before?). The first is from the Isle of Wight, and the second is from Jordan - they are not very clear photos, but hey, sometimes you got to work with what you got!

Backlinking - a good idea

I just read about this in an etsy forum post, and it makes a lot of sense - backlinking at the bottom of an item, to help viewers find relevant items. It might be obvious to you, but it has just never occurred to me before!

For example, I make some Swing Earrings with pearls, and list them.

A few days later I make the same style earrings but with turquoise, and list them.


If I put at the bottom of the listing 'I also make these earrings with pearls', and add a link to the earrings directly, then people can check them out directly if they want to without going through 3 other links to find them.

Clever. See an example here

I am off to go through all my listings and backlink where appropriate!

Showcase - Butterflies

I don't know about where you all are, but the sun has gone in today, and the sky is grey grey grey. So I decided to cheer myself up by looking for some lovely stuff on etsy. I was reading a caterpillar book to Alice earlier and they all turn into beautiful pop up butterflies at the end which she loved - so I decided to search for some other beautiful butterflies to cheer all of us up too. These are my favourites:

A gorgeous silver and titanium butterfly locket by anitacurtis


A bright and cheerful felt brooch by lupin

A lovely silver pendant by AliBaliJewellery (I love love her coral pieces)

And some cute and dainty cards by RUBYrecycled

Mmm, lovely. Once I've done all the data entry I am currently supposed to be ploughing through, I might even be able to buy myself one of these lovely things!

Work in Progress - Alice's Silver Box

Work continues on Alice's silver box - all the soldering is done, and now I just need to 'finish it off' - on a project like this, that is at least half the work! There is filing and sanding and polishing, and maybe a bit of hammering to try and harden the gold wire that forms the branch and the spiral (in the photo below) that stops the lid from spinning round and round. And then there is some platinol to paint on and polish off. I've got three and a half weeks to get it finished!

Flickr UK Etsy Challenge

The flickr group UK Etsy Challenge pretty much does what it says on the tin - challenges UK based Etsy sellers to create an item based on a theme. Just for the heck of it, really - and what better reason than that? It is always interesting to see the variety of different objects that are made.

The theme for this quarter (which closes this Sunday, 4 July - so get your skates on!) is Fairgrounds. This is my Helterskelter necklace, made from silver and copper wire, hanging on a leather cord. I love slides, and I am pleased with the way the bands of copper, and the little bit that flicks out at the bottom, really brings to mind (my mind, anyway!) the feeling of whizzing down the slide and whooshing off the end!



These are a couple of examples of other lovely objects that people have made - there are more on the site itself too. I'm not sure why the pictures are so tiny (I am a bit technically incompentent with blogger at the moment, being still a newby), but please follow the links to see them in all their colourful glory!

This is a brilliant crocheted mat by Six Skeins

And this is a gorgeous silver, glass and porcelain pendant by c-urchin

There will be a new theme for the next quarter soon, so if this Sunday is a bit too close a deadline, why not think about joining in the next challenge? The more the merrier!

"Tile" Series - Inspiration and Results

I have just finished the third pendant in my "Tile" series, and as they have all turned out quite differently, despite the same origin, it started me thinking about 'inspiration'. What things inspire you? These pendants were inspired by a couple of things.

First was the exhortation of my first jewellery tutor to think very carefully about what shapes to make my jewellery, and where in the silver to draw the design - because silver is expensive and you want to waste as little as possible!

Second was the beauty of some of the Islamic tiles in the Jameel Gallery at the V&A - and the clever way they fitted together different shapes. The photo above here is from a beautiful house in Fez, Morocco, which shows the intricacy of the tiling and also the shapes that inspired the pendants below:

This is silver and blue enamel, the latest pendant completed and my first attempt at enamelling. I am pleased with how the blue reflects some of the colours in the original tiles I looked at.

This pendant is silver set with an amethyst - the amethyst is a lovely purple colour that really catches the light.

This was my first pendant completed, and the simplest of the three - nonetheless, the sawn out design I think is very effective. It kind of reminds me of a flower, despite being very linear.

What kind of things inspire you?

Photography - the bane of my life.

Oh! I am so frustrated with myself. These are the earrings I finished yesterday evening, and I am so pleased with them - but can I take a photo (or 5) that look good for etsy? No, no, and no again. I tried on a black background, but they just shine too much. The white background shows the silver so much better, but in titchy thumbnail form who would bother to click on them? They look really bland. Does anyone have any advice? Please?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/49499246/strike-silver-earrings if you want to see them in all their etsy non-glory.