JewelStruck Blog

Trends this fall still include dangly or largish earrings, but they are going slowly away from the chandelier style. Color-wise, purple and grey are very popular.

These Amethyst Kiss Earrings fit the bill for the season. They are feminine yet have an industrial feel. The mix of shiny, dark and textured silver adds interest, as do the dark and light amethysts.

When creating earring designs, artisans consider both colour and texture.  In the end, they need to be a good balance of both.

Shopping from artisans ensures that you get a one-of-a-kind design (usually with a story behind it) and quality. Those are things that the Big Box stores can’t provide.

Dawn

http://www.sunshineindustries.ca

You might be interested in:

• Silver – Blue abalone shell and gold star earrings
• Purple Necklace using felt with vintage buttons and green beaded chain
• How to make heat treated Agate Earrings
• Adventures in Medi-Alert style bracelet making
• Amethyst, Pearl and Labradorite earrings in silver

I purchased some silicon mold making compounds to make a mold from the soap carving. The first mold I took from the soap it was a fail. The second one wasn’t bad.

I painted silver clay slip into the mold and let it dry really well. Major fail. The silver clay adhered to the mold. I had forgotten to put a release onto the mold first! Note to self. Spray release into the mold before using. (Olive oil works well). After basically wasting all that silver clay, I decided to try another way.

Next, I made a bracelet by hand. I drew the shape onto a template and used the template to get the basic bracelet shape even. Next, I cut out only the logo part from the silicon mold, and stamped it into the bracelet. So far, so good.

Next, I stamped the back. This ended up crushing the logo on the front. Stamping both sides of wet silver clay is not easy. Silver clay dries very quickly as well, which doesn’t help. I eventually got both to show up, but the stamped letters on the back were a bit crooked. After trying three times, they had to stay that way, as the silver clay was drying rapidly.

To fix the logo on the front, I ended up using a syringe of silver clay to “draw” in the snake on the pedestal, which actually looked better than the original on the mold anyway.

After drying the bracelet thoroughly, I fired it with a torch.

This photo is after brushing the white coating off after firing. You can see the brush marks from the wire brush. At this point, you also file down any rough edges or thick spots. You can also smooth it a bit with sandpapers.

Next, to make the lettering and logo stand out, the bracelet was dipped into liver of sulphur. This makes the entire bracelet blackish in colour.  This is the back after taking it out of the liquid.

After sanding the black patina off with several kinds of sandpaper, the logo and lettering stands out and the bracelet is much more smooth.

TaDA! The finished product. I made two different straps for Dad to wear with different things.

So… now that I’ve done this once, I can do it again MUCH more easily. Special orders are welcome!  Email me at sunshineindustries@shaw.ca to order. Dawn Lawrence Floen is the owner/artisan of Sunshine INdustries.

You might be interested in:

• Halo – Bostwana Agate, Fresh Water Pearls and Gold Bracelet
• Bracelet with Carved Flowers and Diamonds in White Gold
• Creating Focal Components using Polymer Clay for Impulse Bead Buys
• Jewelry Making – New Illusion Necklace Design
• Personalized Jewelry – a definite trend

Handmade jewelry is very popular right now. People turn to handcrafted items in times of financial difficulty because of quality. Handcrafted items tend to last longer. The other reason is because handmade jewelry is more likely to be unique. My philosophy has always been to create one-of-a-kind pieces.  I might make three that are similar, but they’re never exactly the same.  Uniqueness is important to my customers.We want our jewels to be all about us.

Personalized jewelry takes this one step further. It IS all about us.  Using silver clay has opened up the personalized market for me.

Mommy Necklace

This necklace is a good example of personalization – you can change the shape, the icon (a heart in this case), the name and the birthstone.  I made this for a friend who recently had her first child and she loved it.  She cried when she opened it and she hasn’t taken it off.  Bar none, this is the best baby gift I’ve ever given.

Since then, this item has become immensely popular.  I also create Mommy Bracelets using sterling alphabet beads and semi-precious gems for birthstones, and Baby Bling, which is a baby bracelet using resin alphabet beads and Swarovski crystals for birthstones.  They are all popular.

Even my father has me making a personalized piece for him – a medi-alert-type bracelet.  The ideas for personalization are endless.

For your personalized jewelry, visit http://www.sunshineindustries.ca

You might be interested in:

• Personalized Jewelry – The Perfect Gift
• Birthstone Jewelry – The Special One-Of-A-Kind Gift
• How to Buy The Perfect Mother’s Day Gifts for Special Moms in your Life
• The Perfect Valentines Day Gifts
• Earrings – Jewelry Trends : Grey and Purple, HUGE this fall!