Week 1 and 2 of Silversmithing College

So I have done my first 2 weeks of Silversmith College and I am having a brilliant time! I am totally engrossed in the process so far and my little head is about to explode with ideas and possibilities!

Week 1 was basics health and safety and we got to have a little play on some copper sheeting to test out making marks and whacking stuff! Good fun! Here is a couple of the pieces I did. I should note that none of my pieces are finished in any way as they are needed for evidence for the qualification at the end of the course.

The pieces have photographed really well and look nice and clean and shiny but trust me when I say they are not clean or polished at all, they are pretty grimy, they haven't even seen a pickle bath to degrease them.

The second week we went onto annealing, pickling, polishing and basic shaping with tools, like half round pliers and using mandrels.

 

It is amazing what you can do with a desk sized polisher!

I might turn this final polished and edged piece into a pendant later, after I have my qualification and no longer need it for evidence of what I have done.

We are on a break now for 3 weeks as the teacher is on holiday so I have time to gather up a toolbox and have a play at home. Next time we are moving onto stirling silver and learning torch soldering and making a finished basic ring. Cant wait! Gem stone setting n stuff like that is to follow.

Enjoy your weekend
Clare

 

New Challenge at IndigoBlu

It must be the 21st, its challenge time over at IndigoBlu! This months challenge is Things with Wings, here is my design team inspirational piece for the challenge.

I decided to alter a deep edged frame from ikea. I was going to fill it full of butterfly's around the edges but after a few placements I decided it looks funny and decided to keep it simple and elegant instead.

Thanks for visiting

Clare

Published, College and Demo Weekend

Hi everyone! 3 things for one post today so bare with me! Firstly I will be demoing for IndigoBlu at the Huntingdon Cadbury's Garden and Leisure centre on the 5th and 6th of October. The full address is

HUNTINGDON GARDEN & LEISURE

Banks End
Wyton
Huntingdon
PE28 2AA

I hope you will stop by and let me know who you are! I will be demoing Kroma crackle, wooden baubles, paint, stamps and flake.

Secondly I have been published whoop whoop! IndigoBlu have a HUGE article in Simply Cards & Papercrafts magazine issue 115. 

They are also sponsoring the subscription gift and if you have a good look through the magazine there is plenty of opportunities to win IndigoBlu goodies too!  Here is my part of the article.

And finally! I am now a college student again! I have enrolled in an adult education course and will be learning silver smithing. I have had my first class and we were all thrown in at the deep end, given a sheet of copper and let loose on tools. The tutor is fabulous and I cant wait for next week to get onto blow torch soldering and then following that making rings. So basically there maybe quite a few posts on my progress and what I have been creating. After rings comes gem stone settings and making my own bezels. Cant wait!

Thanks for visiting!
Clare

Easy Halloween Ornaments For IndigoBlu

Hi everyone! Head on over to IndigoBlu to see my latest Youtube Video!

Since the season is almost upon us I decided to share how I make my Halloween pumpkin ornaments with you all. Here is a snapshot from the video!

Enjoy

Clare

Last Salute to Summer for IndigoBlu

Uhhhh 24C yesterday and 14C with none stop rain today. The weather report for the rest of the week following is cold cold cold and rain and cold and more rain! Blarg. At least its good crafting weather! So as a final salute to Summer here is a heart I decorated for IndigoBlu, pop on over and let me know what you think!

Thanks for Visiting
Clare

ETSY Shop updated and re stocked with trimmings

Hi everyone, just a quick note to let you know that my ETSY shop has been updated and loaded with lots of goodies for your crafty projects. As a follower of my blog if you spend £15 in my shop you can use the coupon code at checkout BLOGGER for a 10% discount off your order! Just don't forget to enter the code when you checkout!

Enjoy

Clare

Anna Dabrowska aka Finnabair Workshop

My oh my what a wonderful weekend I had! Totally shattered afterwards but exhilarated at the same time. I headed off to Snazzy's in Swindon on Friday and went via The Stamp Attic too, but unfortunately Wendy was called away, but I shopped anyway muhahaha! Sad to not have met her though, next time! It was quite a nice drive down took it easy and saw a spectacular accident on the motorway at Watford Gap services where I stopped for a lovely coffee, it was a Costa so always good. The hotel was lovely, a premier inn, comfy bed but I was so excited I didn't sleep a wink. All the attendees that were in the same hotel all met up in the bar and had dinner together which was lovely! I got to meet the lovely Astrid who I have known for years and years and never met in person before which was fabulous, but I forgot to get a photo together! Doh! I was sat the whole weekend with some lovely ladies that were mostly local, and very funny! Also I forgot to get a picture with them!

So the workshop with Anna, we did 4 projects in total. A 12x12 layout, a canvas, journal book covers and 3 journal pages. I only finished 1 journal page so I will show the other 2 once I have finished them. The first project was the 12X12 layout and completed on the Saturday morning! Anna is a wonderful teacher and pushes you just enough to get everything done within the time time scale. I never would have imagined I could do this stuff in the time allotted so I quite pleased myself.

The second project on Saturday afternoon was a canvas layout. Again I didn't think I would complete it in the short amount of time we had but again I was pleasantly surprised!

Then we all headed back to the hotel and had a lovely evening together chatting, drinking and eating! I managed to sleep alittle Saturday night but woke up lots during the night worried that I was going to sleep in and miss the class LOL! Sunday morning brought us one HUGE class kit that was quite intimidating at first but we all got stuck into the journal covers, which are fab, I am hunting for some more of these!

The morning saw us completing the covers and the afternoon was taken up by the journal pages. I only finished 1 journal page so I am not showing the others yet.

I had a totally amazing weekend and am so glad, even though it was pricey that I decided to do it. Anna is an amazing teacher, you get a small fortune in the class kit, unlike some other workshops I have been on, this one was truly worth the money! I would recommend it heartily to everyone.

Thanks for visiting

Clare