JBK now on facebook

Last week I finally set up a facebook business page for Jewellery by Kristine.  It is up and running and I have 31 "likers" already! I love my friends :)   If you have a facebook page and would like to get up to the minute updates from yours truly click on this link and like my page. There is also a tab linking to my etsy store so there is no need to navigate away from facebook to view my store. Noice :)

I've also been in the workshop finishing of new bits and pieces and they have now been listed in my etsy and made it stores .

 There is always so much to do and so many places to be in the lead up to Christmas. So I really must get cracking and make more stuff. 

Sometimes it's hard to get into the right headspace. Most days it comes easy, but this weekend nothing worked for me on Saturday, I kept forgetting to prep surfaces and/or my hands, clay stuck to everything and my mind wasn't co-operating and ideas were not coming easily. Thankfully today I had some success and managed to start on a bunch of new pieces - 11 pairs of earrings, a pendant and two custom pieces - so I will be a busy bee finishing them in the next few days.

I'll keep you posted with pictures in the coming days.

Shaweet!

 xoK

Coming Soon * This is the new stuff *

I got busy on the weekend and finished some new stuff. A few pairs of earrings and pendants.

I tried my new Koi fish stamp and have made a rectangular shaped pendant and earring set.

 

All these pieces are fresh out of the kiln, so still require a bit on finishing... burnishing with a soft brass brush, a bit of elbow grease to smooth and polish, hanging on ear hooks and threading through chains.

With a bit of good time management on my part I should have time this weekend to do a photo shoot and get them up on etsy and made it, ready for those looking for something special for Christmas.

xoK

Shrinkage

When creating a piece from Precious Metal Clay you need to keep in mind the shrinkage which will occur when firing your creation. 

Shrinkage occurs because the organic material in the clay burns off during the firing process to leave the pure silver. I use PMC 3 which shrinks around 10-12% during the firing process.

Don't get me wrong shrinkage is not a bad thing ;)

When a piece with an etched design shrinks the detail becomes finer. So depending on the effect you are looking forward the shrinking can be used to your advantage to create the kind of super fine detail you would otherwise not be able create with a non-shrinking clay. By the way all versions of PMC shrink when fired. The original version in excess of 20%!

This picture shows the cutter I used to cut each shape. As you can see the orignal size is clearly larger than the fired piece. These bits are fresh out of the oven today. 

xoK

The Good Mark * Custom Piece

Recently a friend of mine asked me to make a special piece for his wife. When he described what he was looking for, I had to ask... "Are you sure?". Being of the feminine persuasion I wasn't too sure if said wife would be happy with a pendant created from the mark of a fictional comic character.

It just so happens that husbands wedding ring is a replica of The Phantom's Good Mark ring. Now how could I question that. The woman obviously married him with full knowledge of his obsession with the purple one. So hey, how could she not love it!

A fair chunk of preparation went into creating this piece. I created a mould from creative paper clay.Actually I created two. It could have been more. Once I'd rolled out the PMC in preparation to make the pendant, then I decided which mould I would use. I chose the one which took the least amount of time to make. 

Wham!  Bam! Fabulous pendant!

This is the pendant drying on a dome.

This is it finished and ready to go to a good home.

I love it when a plan comes together.

xoK