Sweet x 2

This little bit of two year old sweetness is my little mountain goat. She is quite at home sitting on the table and can often be found climbing anything and everything. She also likes to sit at my bench, and will climb up on my chair the moment I vacate it and pretend to file or sweet up the lemel (metal filings).

Nature's Play

This bit of uncut octahedral Fluortie sweetness was new in the shop yesterday afternoon and sold last night. It is available for order though, and I should have more in stock as soon as I get a chance to make them.

Welcoming Autumn

Already the mornings are cooler and I am welcoming the change of season after a particularly hot Summer. I've always been more of a cardigan and rainy weather girl. (The next change of season will coincide with the birth of our baby.) These coming months I am looking forward to squeezing behind my bench for as long as possible, starting a knitted blanket for the baby and making more time for reading.

Somehow the days and weeks feel even shorter since Cohen started school, and the demands never ending. So I am choosing carefully how to spend my time, and recording the little moments that otherwise get lost in the flurry of the days, and reminding myself not to rush.

Yesterday we welcomed the new season with two picnics. The first, lunch beneath a beautiful tree at a Gem Fair. The second, dinner in our newly finished cubby house.


How did you welcome the change of season?
What are you looking forward to this Autumn?

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I have submitted my application for the Brisbane Finders Keepers market in July. Now to keep my fingers crossed for the next three weeks that I will be accepted. It was such a great experience in November, and I have been hard at work creating new stock and a new display especially for the market. Cross your fingers for me too?

Have you come across Jodi's blog, Practicing Simplicity? It is always a beautiful place to visit, and for the next three months you will find my store as a sponsor, and you might even spot Jodi wearing one of my creations. :)

Doll House Renovation - Ta-dah!

1. The doll house in it's original condition, 2. The thirty year old wall paper and carpet, 3. After scraping and chiseling off the wall paper and carpet,
4. Freshening up the paintwork, 5. New wall paper and 'floorboards' in the first room, 6. The result,
7. Work in progress, 8. The bathroom in progress, 9. Waiting for more floor boards.

On Monday morning I decided to finish the doll house I'd started on six months ago, in order to give it to Emerson for her second birthday... on Thursday. At that stage the dolls house was as you saw it in the fourth image, stripped out and empty, with a fresh coat of white paint but nothing else. So, Monday morning we ran errands to Bunnings for red water based enamel for the roof, Spotlight for scrapbook paper for the walls and a variety shop for their last packet of mini paddle pop sticks for the floorboards.

During Emerson's two hour nap that day I managed to get the first coat of red paint on the roof and windows, two rooms wall papered and one room floored - before running out of paddle pop sticks (there were 250 in the packet!) and having to wake a sleeping toddler to pick up our Prep boy from school. Tuesday I went looking for more mini paddle pop sticks at another two variety stores, but to no avail. Tuesday afternoon I called around and ended up sending my husband on a mission to buy more of said sticks, then spent the evening with scissors and PVA glue in hand, cutting off the rounded ends and laying the 'floor boards' in each room. (I do love that man.) Wednesday was also devoted to paddle pop sticks, the last of which were given a top coat of PVA glue at 10pm Wednesday night. 1,000 mini paddle pop sticks in total, to make up the 'polished wooden floorboards.'

As I said when I first mentioned the dolls house on the blog, before having children I would never have anticipated renovating a dolls house. Nor would I have anticipated running around like a crazy lady and spending every spare moment working on it in order to get it ready for my little girls birthday. But what can I say? There's a certain amount of craziness and a whole lot of love involved in being a parent, and I am willing to embrace that and channel it into something beautiful, handmade and special for my dear little girl.

And thankfully she loves it.

(And secretly, I really enjoyed the whole process.)

* The furniture and accessories were eBay purchases. Her Aunty has brought her a doll house family for her birthday, and we intend to buy and make more furniture and accessories each special occasion for the next little while to fill those empty rooms.

Lost and Found

Saturday afternoon I had that sinking feeling you get when you realise you've lost something. I turned the house and workshop upside down looking for my sketch book, after going to jot down an idea and not being able to find it. I'd thought it was with my library books, having taken it to the library to photocopy a sketch for my itern to practice saw piercing with. I thought perhaps the kids had moved it, as they love to play with and move everything in my workshop. But I couldn't find it. I felt a bit panicky. My sketchbook is full of ideas, notes, measurements, and sketches of upcoming collections. It's meaningful for practical and sentimental reasons, as it contains sketches of completed pieces, custom work and ideas for new pieces. I hadn't realised how much that sketch book meant to me of course, until I couldn't find it. I felt like having a bit of a cry and I must admit I wasn't great company Saturday evening.

Eventually I realised that I hadn't seen my sketch book since that trip to the library, which was two weeks ago. Oh, pregnancy brain. It was too late Saturday to be able to do anything about it and the library was closed on Sunday. I bided my time until Monday morning and held on to the slim hope that someone had found my sketch book and it was waiting for me in lost and found at the library.

As you can imagine, it was a very good start to the week when the librarian I'd told me tale to rounded the corner holding my sketch book. 

I shall now be writing my name and number inside the front cover, just in case...

The Process - from sketch to finished piece

The 'Joy' Pendant and Earrings are the final pieces in the 'Sentimental Collection' and they are now in the shop. For those not familiar with the process of making jewellery, I thought I would run through the various stages of creating these pieces. If you are anything like me, you may enjoy a peek behind the scenes of a jeweler at work.

Initially, there were several designs sketched in my sketchbook as I slowly built on my ideas for a doily inspired collection featuring drilled and punched details. I developed a set of stacking rings, a pendant and necklace, a pair of hoops, and of course the 'Joy' pendant and earrings.

The next step is to start realising these drawings in metal. This means sketching out the designs on sheets of metal and saw them out, filing and shaping them, and then in this case, drilling and punching them. Because I planned on making more than once of each piece, and in order to keep each piece identical and lower production costs, I made 'Masters' for each piece from copper. These masters were then sent away to be professionally moulded and cast in Sterling Silver and 9ct Rose Gold, before being returned to be hand finished.

This is how the castings return. They have the remains of the sprues on them, where the metal was poured in to the moulds, and a slightly rough textured finish. The next step is to saw and file off the sprues, emery (jewellers sandpaper) the surfaces and hand make the findings necessary to complete each piece - such as the ear wires and jump rings. These fittings are then soldered on and the entire piece is polished - first using a goats hair polishing wheel with tripoli compound to remove the scratches remaining from the emery, then a cotton polishing mop with rouge compound to create a high shine finish.

You can see the pieces in the middle have had the sprues removed and have been emeried. They have also been stamped 925 on the reverse - which is the standard mark for Sterling Silver and means that the piece is 92.5% pure Silver. They are now ready to have their ear wires, jump rings and pearl posts soldered on.

Wires, posts and bails in place, the Silver pendants and earrings are ready for another touch of emery before being polishing. First though, I check that the pearl posts are the right length and trim them down to size to fit the half drilled round Freshwater Pearls.

Ta-dah! The finished product. Polished, a satin finish applied with a fine emery, and pearls glued in to position on the posts with a two part epoxy. 

I hope that gave you some insight in to the process of a piece of cast jewellery from start to finish, and that you enjoyed this peek in to the workshop. I'm more than happy to answer any questions you might have. 

If you have ever fancied trying your hand at making your own silver and gold jewellery, there are some great courses out their run through private schools, TAFE's and Universities. For me, nothing beats the satisfaction of designing and creating a piece of jewellery.

New in the shop - Center of the Earth Necklaces

'Center of the Earth' Necklace

New from the workshop, a collection natural Amethyst geode slice necklaces.

Accompany your favourite dress and sparkly shoes with this darling piece! These unique necklaces are the perfect accessory for those wanting unusual jewels with simple, natural beauty. These gorgeous gems also make the perfect gift for someone special in your life. 

Available in three gem widths-

Small: 2.5 - 3 cm, $30

Medium: 3 - 3.5 cm, $35

Large: 4 cm +, $40

The 'Center of the Earth' necklace features polished and drilled slices of natural amethyst crystal, threaded on to a solid Sterling Silver 45 cm cable chain. Each piece is unique. You may or may not get the piece pictured in the photograph.

This necklace comes beautifully gift wrapped in a navy drawstring bag, wrapped in vintage sewing pattern tissue paper and tied with string.

Pinterest-ing

Things of interest with inspiring design, skill, texture, tones and of course, beauty.

1. Maria Kristofersson, 2. Platonic Solids by Benja Harney, 3. Prue Venerables,

4. Ford Forlando, 5. tinctory, 6. Peter Hoogeboom,

7. Cal Lane, 8. Simone Giesen, 9. Marie Chantelot