Favourite commissions upto April

Here's just a few pics of some of my favourite commissions I did recently:

I know I've blogged about this one before... But it's still a favourite.
Sterling Silver Gents Wedding ring, Roman Numerals reading the wedding date.


A Gear Heart Brooch in sterling silver with hand pierced cogs.
Made this one that the cogs fit snugly into each other
and cannot turn but the effect is amazing when worn!

And then one of my Heart Rings.
I oxidised the sides and polished the edges of this one.

I'm feeling an urge to play with this idea again and bring out some pieces inspired by it...

Sneak peak...naughty naughty

Well I've been hard at work doing commissions for clients and working hard on my latest stock for The Fringe Arts and getting it ready for them. As well as doing work for my degree... Which sadly has been going slower than I want it to.

So without further wait I can present a sneak peak of 3 of the pieces available from Fringe. Showing off the rest would be cheating... tsk tsk go have a look.

So these are the pics. Two pendants and a pair of earrings. I'm quite chuffed with how they came out. There are similar pieces at the shop as well. Hehehe, I know... Naughty

So go have a look folks, let me know what you think and check out my facebook page for the rest of the pics.
But after seeing all the hard work my fellow bloggers and tweeters have put in (Nina, Emma and Theresa) I feel I have to start doing more work... So hopefully next blog will have a few pics of my completed workshop... Let's hold thumbs

dangly dangly earrings...

Here are the latest earrings from the little black heart collection... These are chandelier earrings, the main body is blackened silver and the ends have little razorblades on them....
Now ready for order....

Birthday hearts and shiny stones...

I had another birthday... and with my love of making presents I made one of my little black hearts for her... Suits her, dark en twister girl... my german... it's blackened silver heart with fine silver stitching... Cute...
And then I had time too so I made this ring... It's a gents ring... testing a theory... just how unisex can I make jewelley? Many people like this, think I'm gonna try and do a range like this... I have no idea what the stones are... think the one is blue hawks eye and the other one a pyrate variety... what happens when you find them at a flea market... R2 each, very cheap...


Oh and I've been a bad blogger... I'm trying to do more now that my thesis is done..

screwed in the heart...

Yet another birthday present...

This one is for a friend, Janece, we call her the innocent. But thats only in body.

The soul is as tainted at these hearts...

Le locket si Violin

well finally the pictures of my violin have been taken. Here it is in it's totality. Its wieght is 23 grams without the chain. The violin is made of 925 silver and the strings are made from fine silver. It has been blackened on the inside and brushed to give it an old look. The outside of the piece has been platinum papered to give it a matted, worn look. It swivels open to reveal an inner compartment. I must say this was the most complex piece of jewellery I have ever made, but it was by far one of the easiest. enjoyed it immensly and I actually want to diffuse it and make a range of violin inspired jewellery, that will have to wait for now though. I've had a lot of interest towards this piece and as of yet have quite a few orders for similar pieces, e.g. a guitar brooch.

Madonna Locket

This Locket was another of my 3rd year pieces. It has a twin, where the cameo is of a praying cherub. The cameo's I found while I was shopping at the Cape Town holistic fair and they were originally keyrings. The cameo's are housed in a fine silver setting and the lockets themselves are two oval domes. The inner dome has been stamped with the latin version of the "our Father":

Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur Nomen Tuum;
adveniat Regnum Tuum;
fiat voluntas Tua,
sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a Malo

while the twin is the english translation. The backplate for the cameo was pieced with a small heart and then scratched. The locket is held in place with a hinge and has a bail in the shape of a small heart. The locket was polished adn set after the inside of the piece was oxidised... The oxidisation of the prayer, came out in hues of blue and red and I desided to keep it, it was sealed with clear glass paint and is ready to see the world. The lockets way over 50 grams each and are wonderfully chunky.

After this project though, I found many mistakes and problems during the manufacturing. There are a few things I'd change and design idea's I would like to try and I have to admit, they look simple, but they are the two hardest pieces I have ever made, including my miniature violin (pics to follow but see the previous rhino rendering post) .