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PitstopX Jewellery Blog
Experimenting
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Penny: Posted on Thursday, December 29, 2011 2:15 PM
The Power of Making is still on at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, it's free to enter, but it closes on the 2 January, so it's the last few days now for you to head over to see it! I went to see it yesterday and loved it, the exhibition is designed to highlight the skills involved in creating items from everyday household items to unusual art works. The focus is very much on how the items were made, which as a maker myself was fascinating. There is everything on show from a dry stone wall, oversized knitted 'Aran Rug', carved wooden masks to a cardboard table, ceramic eye patch and some really fascinating desktop sized 3D modelling machines that can create your own designs in a variety of plastic and other materials... A true showcase of highly skilled craftsmanship from all around the world, both amatuer and professional, with a collection of the highest quality and most fascinating of traditional, but still very relevant and valuable skills, to unusual spins on everyday skills and the growing array of cutting edge techniques, both completely new and adapted from traditional skills. If you get a chance to visit the exhibition, I'd very much recommend it; make sure to look closely at the exhibits and their labels - they take on a whole new life once you look closely and start to think about the process and item on more than a surface level. You may well come out looking at the objects around you in a whole new way and excited about creating your own artworks, whatever your chosen techniques are, or about learning new techniques yourself. I loved the exhibition and found it very inspirational - it's given me an added impetus to continue improving my own skills. |
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Penny: Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2011 9:56 PM
 Although I'm a working jeweller and jewellery making teacher and I've been studying and working in this field for almost 20 years, I still love learning new techniques and working to improve my existing skills. I love adding to my stock of techniques whenever possible, so that when I come up with a design, I have the skills to be able to put it into practice to turn my designs from ideas to real pieces of jewellery. There are a huge range of skills and techniques used within jewellery making, so there is always something new and new teachers and artists to inspire and teach me. With this in mind, over the last few weeks, I've been having a great time... - I am in the process of challenging myself to complete the Level 2 (senior) Art Clay Certificate, (taught by the fabulous Joy Funnell in Hastings) - I did the four day course and completed all my required pieces and they all passed. I am now working on my three independent pieces to send off later this month for marking.
- I went back to Hastings last week for a one day course learning about Joy's specialist Enamelled Accents technique - adding colour to silver clay jewellery with traditional enamels - lots of fun, but definitely needs lots more practice to get a nice even colour and coverage! The image shows one of my pieces from this day.
- A second wax carving day course at the London Jewellery School - lots of fun, i was concentrating on working to create neat joins between pieces of wax, so that as well as carving wax, i can start to add bits together to build up designs if i need to. Wax carving is used to create masters for lost wax casting - a model is made in wax which is then used to create a copy in precious metal.
- This weekend i am attending an Etching course at the London Jewellery School. Unlike wax carving and enamelling, this is something i know the principles of but I've never tried before, so I'm intrigued to see this in practice and see what i can come up with! Looking forward to Saturday!
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Penny: Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2011 9:07 PM
 This bracelet is one of my new teaching projects, but i made this sample as part of my gemstone a week challenge - using Jasper and Marble gemstones strung on a mixture of polyester, cotton and hemp cords, with decorative knotting creating an adjustable closure. I love the patterns within these gemstones, but they aren't a colour i'd normally use, so have sat in my store for a while, waiting for the right project to come along. The colours of the gemstones and the cords work well together for a summery, natural look, and i've had fun mixing around and deciding the best arrangement of bead sizes and knotted sections. This bracelet uses a simple half hitch knot (in the dark brown) and a square knot (in the beige) made in just one direction to create the twisting effect that i think works nicely. This bracelet now forms part of my Knotted and Braided Jewellery Day - next running on August 16th. |
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Penny: Posted on Saturday, July 23, 2011 8:07 AM
 Ok, so i've got a bit behind with my blog posts and my gemstone a week challenge to myself, so here goes for a delayed week 5 of my challenge! This time i decided to use a cute little 8mm round snowflake obsidian cabochon. I matched the mottled colouring of the stone with a mottled texture on the silver to make this pendant. I used paper cutouts made using a craft stamp to add details to the texture as a trial of this method, which worked nicely i think. I think if i did it again however i would use thicker paper to get a more defined shape. This silver pendant uses a ready made bezel cup for the gemstone and a ready made bail attached to the back. I cut a hole the size of the bezel cup in the flat clay, then cut a disc slightly larger than the hole and stuck this over the back to give support to the gemstone area, which worked well. Lots more gemstones and blog updates to come!! |
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Penny: Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2011 9:23 AM
 So this post is a little out of step, but i have finally taken some photos of the cute ring i made in week 2. I wanted to continue the style from the ring I made in week 1, but using a different technique to create the stone setting, so made a textured lace band, and used bezel wire to create the setting for this lovely cloudy blue agate stone. I love the little teardrop shaped stone and was really pleased with the ring, until it had a small mishap and somehow managed to become chipped while I was setting the stone. I still like the ring though, and rather than fixing or recycling it, I cleaned up the damaged area and am going to keep it to wear myself. |
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Penny: Posted on Saturday, June 04, 2011 9:43 PM
 Ok, so I am still doing my gemstone a week challenge, i just haven't photographed them yet. I ordered myself a lighting tent and lights to help me take better photos of my jewellery and i was waiting for it to arrive.... It finally arrived yesterday so i will be getting it set up and taking lots of new photos this week! Just so you know, I made a lovely little silver ring, with a blue agate teardrop shaped cabochon last week, and this week i have turned a gorgeous chunk of Labradorite into a pendant for a necklace. I'll post pictures shortly. In the mean time - I do have a picture of my gigantic new set of shelves that i built last Sunday though.... it turned out rather bigger than expected, but that's just as well, as i've filled it, and it has helped greatly in sorting out some of my jewellery making equipment, beads, books and other bits and pieces!! I also went on a Kumihimo (Japanese braiding) course taught by Jacqui Carey last week in Devon at The Old Kennels - to improve my skills on the Marudai (Japanese braiding stool) - i had a lot of fun, learnt a lot and have tons of new ideas now and a new love of Alpacas.... The Old Kennels is a gorgeous little rural crafting retreat, with fields of Alpacas that they keep for their wool. Photos of my sample braids from this course will follow shortly too, once i've got to grips with my little lighting tent! |
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Penny: Posted on Saturday, May 21, 2011 9:03 PM
 (posting this again as images didn't seem to load first time) Well, here are my efforts from this week.... to start off the challenge i decided to finish off a few half completed stone settings that i'd started during this month..... Number one is a pendant including a toothpaste blue / white Lorimer stone - i love the stone and think it is beautiful despite the chip.... This pendant will eventually hang from a handmade braid that will match the stone in colour. The lovely blue stone made me think of ripples in a pond, which is what inspired this piece. Number two is a sample piece i made when teaching that had to be remade / adjusted / repaired - based on the same ripple design theme as the first piece, this time using a larger oval dark mottled blue Sodalite cabochon. This one has a bit of a problem as the clay inside the bezel (under the stone) moved as it shrank and now the stone won't sit completely flat against the base, which is a shame, but it was still possible to set it securely.  Number three is a ring that i had started last week - I've put a lovely little Labradorite cabochon into this - the photo doesn't really do it justice - it's a gorgeous shimmery mix of blue and green reflections. I love this ring, and have been wearing it half the week :o) The band is textured using a mould i made from some lace and is quite simple, but i like it - i chose the texture especially to complement the delicate colouring and reflections in the stone! I also finished off a pair of earrings that include marquise cut blue Cubic Zirconia stones, and a ring with a round clear Cubic Zirconia... My plan for next week includes a cute teardrop shaped blue agate cabochon.... it's going to make a lovely ring, so look out for it next week :o) |
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Penny: Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2011 1:35 PM
I love coloured gemstones - they can be absolutely beautiful, and I've been adding to my collection for many many years, buying stones whenever i see particularly interesting shapes, colours or patterns. They all then sit in a drawer waiting for the right project or design to come along to turn them into lovely jewellery............ I particularly love coloured stones, more specifically those with patterns, reflections and shapes within the colouring - you can stare at them for ages making pictures from their patterns. A lot of my stones - particularly the larger ones are so beautiful and tactile, that it's hard to work out how to set or encase them so that they can become wearable as jewellery, yet retain their beauty and the tactile shape they have been given, so they stay in the drawer longest and just come out to be admired periodically.  This week, however, I have decided that i am going to challenge myself. I am going to USE (by this i mean turn into a wearable piece of jewellery) one item from my stash of gemstones EVERY WEEK. This is my challenge to myself - i must create a piece of jewellery, using at least one item from my current store of gemstones, every week for the next year. This is 52 new pieces of jewellery. I am not allowed to buy new gemstones to use for these projects. The jewellery they are made into can combine any other of my materials or techniques to create a secure and decorative, wearable showcases for the gemstones. Some may be sterling silver, some fine silver / silverclay, some may be stitchd beadwork or wire wrapping and any other way i can think of to transform them. I may regret this idea later, but for now i am excited, and in the process of making a ring to hold a lovely little labradorite cabochon that was hiding at the bottom of my box...... I will add pictures and updates each week here - if any other jewellers or artists reading this have a similar love of gems, do get in touch and/or join in with my challenge :o) |
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Penny: Posted on Friday, April 01, 2011 8:35 PM
This week has been a week of trying new techniques - I’ve had great fun experimenting with creating embossed metal and bead embroidery panels (which I’ve now used for a Mothers Day card - what perfect timing), and today I spent the day learning enamelling at the London Jewellery School (or re-learning - I did learn it before while at Uni, but never used it since (or even then, beyond making a few samples). It was great to try this again - I remembered practically nothing from doing it before, but I wanted to test the technique out again, in preparation for getting my kiln next month - I am getting the kiln to use mainly for silver clay, but thought I should test out other possible uses too to make the most out of this new investment! I wasn't massively pleased with today's attempts, but I learnt a lot and enjoyed the opportunity to start practicing these techniques, which I will be able to start putting to good use soon I hope. I love the idea of adding colour to my metalwork in new ways, and am looking forward to practicing a lot, ready to unleash the enamel on some of my silver clay pieces over the summer. I particularly liked using the dry enamel with stencils to create layers of patterns and have lots of ideas now for jewellery designs! My pieces from today, from the left are; · Dry enamelling with two base coats, and further layers using stencils on the top · Wet enamelling, topped with dry enamel, patterned with scgraffito (drawing patterns in the enamel with a scriber) and with a silver wire detail embedded in it - unfortunately some of the top layer cracked off - possibly problems with dirt in the enamel or with the application! · Dry enamelling in several layers on a silver base · Dry enamelling, experimenting with stencils and colour shading · Dry enamelling, experimenting with stencils and colour shading also including scgraffito. The stitched metal / bead work was started from a brief workshop I took at last year’s Knitting and Stitching Show, and which I thought I’d start playing with again. The thin metal sheet – either aluminium, or other metals e.g. the cleaned and dissected metal from tubes of tomato paste etc - is easily cut with a scalpel, and embossed with the end of a pen, or large blunt needle (or an actual embossing tool), and can be stitched straight through by hand (probably by machine too, but I don’t like using a sewing machine). The metal can be patinated using various solutions, and I used a selection of size 11 seed beads, bugles, and gold coloured gimp / French wire to add more detail. There is also velvet used with cotton wool padding behind it to create even more texture and colour.    I like the bead stitching, but I think the metalwork (and finishing off the sides – disguising the white wadding used to add depth to the work was a problem) needs a lot more practice and planning. I’m now working on more bead stitching, decorating a small handmade cushion with bead edging and fringes – no images yet, but I’ll post them soon. |
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