zoomgraphik: jewelry

Showing posts with label jewelry. Show all posts

Oxidize Brass- I Can Do That *The next chapter.

30 March 2012

I will try to give you my .02 cents of advice as I am learning new tools, techniques etc…. I think it will be fun to see it from a beginner” point of view” and hope it will help others in the process.

Number #1

I cut some little disk with a disk cutter; Love it, fast and easy.

Then I hammer those little things, I hit it so hard the side was all squish OPSSS…. Better go easy next time, they say to practice before you do a piece and it is true, but I think you are wasting good metal. (I wasted a lot)

My motto, hand made is not perfect, it has character.

Another suggestion, I use a metal punch to make holes in the disk. It work really good BUT, I find it useless, you cannot see inside the disk where you have mark your little dots for the holes. My next purchase is 2 sizes hand punches.

Number #2

Oxidize Brass.

This is more like fume oxidation

I will try different method and let you know my .02 cents.

For this one, I use household Ammonia

Using household ammonia is really quite easy and is an inexpensive way to oxidize brass. I have tried this method on finished pieces that included my gems and it work good.

All you need is a clean glass jar with a lid, a piece of wire or fishing line to suspend your piece and ammonia. It is a little smelly but if you are quick it should be no problem. I use lemon scent and it’s not that bad. At no time should the metal or finished jewellery come in physical contact with the ammonia. It is the fumes that will produce this patina.

First clean your piece of brass with alcohol to remove any oils or dirt so that the patina is consistent throughout the piece. Do not touch the surface that you want patinated.

Pour about 1 inch of Ammonia in a pint or quart size glass jar.

Screw on the lid and wait a couple hours. You can check the piece to see what color you want to stop at. I check every 15 minutes to see what color I wanted…it is a bit brown but it will be up to you to see how deep color you are looking for.

There will not be any ammonia odor to your piece but if you want you can leave it out for a while and very gently buff out any high points for contrast.

That's it! Try it its fun and easy

Before

and After

FishPrincessDesigns

14 March 2012

Her designs are inspired by the beauty of nature. I just love her designs and the colors. WOW!!!!

She especially enjoys designing jewellery for "full-figured" women. She was disappointed so many times by trying on beautiful bracelet or necklace and it is just too small.

She try to make her own creations to be adaptable to all size ranges by including extenders built within her pieces-it not only gives plus sized women the ability to wear her pieces-but it gives everyone flexibility in lengths.

Almost anything she make can be adjusted to your perfect size.

She has always enjoyed some type of crafting and creating. From her childhood ,she being taught by her Aunt Sophie and her beloved grandmother Babcia how to sew.

Her current passion is for designing jewellery and collecting see glass.

You can see in her designs that she loves what she is doing.

Whether you are buying a pair of earrings that you are going to be wearing on your wedding day-to a bracelet you bought just because...

She will love to take a custom order and make what you desire.

You can see more of FishPrincessDesigns here:

http://fishprincessdesigns.blogspot.com/

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/FishPrincessDesigns

http://www.facebook.com/FishPrincessDesigns

http://twitter.com/fishprincess

Also you can follow her on Pinterest

Raige Creations

16 February 2012

Today Artisan Is Raige Creations

Where creating is all the Raige.

Rebecca is Raige , she began her shop to showcase her handmade creations. With much support and encouragements from her family, Raige Creations began and has since expanded to include all kinds of Raige!

In her shop you can find Rebecca's own creations, a collection of crochet accessories, an eclectic mix of Vintage items and antique pieces that Rebecca and Paul have collected over the years.

Raige Creations remains to this day a family owned and operated business with all handmade products proudly made in the USA.

Another member of the family is showing her work. Her name is Bridget ,she makes wire wrapped and custom glass jewellery which includes handmade pendants, bracelets, rings, toe rings, and a few decorative house ware pieces all handcrafted by her , a native of the Caribbean.

Clothing and artworks will soon be part of the Raige, with original designs by Paul, who is a 7th generation West Indian.

You can find more about Raige Creations here:

Blog: www.raigecreations.blogspot.com
ArtFire: www.artfire.com/users/RaigeCreations
Zibbet: www.zibbet.com/RaigeCreations
Vintage on Zibbet: www.zibbet.com/VintageRaige
Etsy: w ww.raigecreations.etsy.com

13 February 2012

Today ,I am showing Canadian Artisans.

Sometime, I forget they are all over Canada and we don't know them. I will show you the one I learn to know over the last year or so and some new one I found .

For some, everything started as a fun craft to do and make money on the side, for others it,s their business . Any good reasons is perfect to work with what we love to do and enjoy it.

Every items in their fabulous collections is designed and made with quality and style in mind.

Judy Cogo is from Ontario