JewelStruck Blog

Vintage pendant

Finally I received Vintage items that I’ve so long waited. As soon as I saw those fabulous jewelry findings, I got thrilled to create new jewelry. The very first was a few earrings (I will definitely post photos of collections later) and when I saw this magnificent pendant, I decided to create a simple but beautiful necklace with it. Pendant is Trinity Brass antiqued gold and it is hanging on antiqued brass chain. I attached to chain sparkling Swarovski beads.

It’s so enjoyable to create sparkling vintage jewelry, at least as enjoyable as to wear them! You can find me at – http://www.kultalilja.eu

You might be interested in:

• Vintage Steampunk Necklace Design
• Sunset Wedding – Swarovski Golden Shadow Necklace
• Sparkling Icy Bride
• Brass, Garnet and Black Pearl Necklace
• Purple Necklace using felt with vintage buttons and green beaded chain

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