Stuff I've Made

Since March, I have been trying to focus more of my time into making stuff, whether that be art or just anything. I fell into a bit of a slump after January, as many do, and I don't think I did anything productive in the entirety of February. But I've been getting better at forcing myself to use my down time in a way that brings me more joy. Here are a few of the things I've made since then:

My second cousin taught me how to make these when I was a kid and I recently got back in to making them. They are so relaxing to make but take forever once you start making them wider.

In January, I started a Jewellery Making Course at my local Art Centre. It's been so much fun learning how to make different things, in March I signed on again for 12 more weeks and I can't wait to make more stuff. This ring was the first thing I made. It started as D shaped wire, which I annealed (heating the metal to make it more malleable), bent into shape, soldered the joint together, and then used a flat hammer to texture it. It was loads of fun to make and I got to learn some basic skills to help me in the next things I made.

This star pendant was the next thing I made. I was taught how to do saw piercing to cut this design out. You basically draw your design on, use a drill to pierce a hole, then put the saw blade through that hole so you can cut the design out by hand. I did this on a copper sheet as it's much cheaper than silver.

Then I learnt how to do Enamelling, which is how I got the green colour and glossy finish. I made a matching blue one for my friends Birthday. 

After that I graduated to making Patterned Enamel. The blue side of this pendant is done by doing a base layer of light blue enamel, firing it, and then doing a secondary dark blue layer through a paper stencil to make the pattern. The white side is done by doing a base layer of white, firing it, buffing the surface to make it rough, and then using a pencil to draw on the design. Then you fire it again to seal the design in. The pencil becomes this lovely silvery colour once the surface is smooth again. Enamelling is one of my favourite processes so far.

This bangle is the final thing I made on my first course. It was also the longest process. To make this textured bangle I learnt a process called Reticulation. This process involves heating and scrubbing the top layer of the metal, which causes pure silver to rise to the surface. This silver melts at a lower temperature than the silver alloy, which allows you to heat the metal and move the silver on the surface to create that texture. It was so fun to do, and the repetitive prep of heating and scrubbing was almost therapeutic.

This chain bracelet is the first thing I made when I started the course again. Every time I make something new, it's my favourite thing I've made.

My tutor was teaching us how to make chains but the design and look of the chain was up to me. I first made the bigger links. These links started as silver wire, which I then twisted round a steel rod. Then, I used a saw blade to cut up the links. I filed the rough edges and soldered them closed. Then, I used the same flat hammer I used to texture my ring to texture these links. In the process, they were also flattened slightly. I then made the smaller links out of slightly thinner wire. I did the same process of twisting and sawing, then threaded the textured links through and soldered the rest of the links closed. I absolutely love how it came out, and I love the chain mail look it has. A few of the other people on the course also said they liked it and might make their own, so we might end up having matching bracelets lol.

Can't wait to make more stuff soon! ♡