Kreativ søndag.....

Planene for denne søndagen var enkle - først en håndballkamp og deretter være kreativ, og da passet det fint at Karianne i sin Smykkelineblogg kom med en liten "kreativ søndag"-utfordring. Tema: Blått.

Begynte på en ring i går - litt sånn uten mål og mening. Tok frem litt sølvtråd (3 mm) og sølvrør, med planer om å trylle det sammen til en ring, en ring som jeg også kunne sette noen stener i.

Etter litt saging, filing og lodding var dette resultatet:

Ringen bærer preg av at jeg er ute av trening og at jeg ikke har "planlagt" arbeidet godt nok. Men jeg har fortsatt et håp om at ringen blir brukbar når jeg er ferdig med den.

Så snart håndballkampen til Lilly (11) er ferdig er jeg igang med neste steg som er å sette i en sten i "røret", og i tråd med dagens tema velger jeg en 4mm blå topaz.

Her er topaz'n på plass. Ikke helt enkelt å få satt den fast. Ved å sette ringen fast langs hele røret, ble det ikke noen plass til å hamre fast stenen. Så jeg valgte å sage av en del av festene som går langs røret. På bildet her ser dere at festene er kortere enn på bildet uten sten. Gambler på at jeg kan file det litt penere underveis.

Litt penere ble det - men har mye å gå på:

 På sidene har jeg satt inn 2 oransje CZ (2mm) og 2 blanke CZ (2.5mm)

 Litt usymetrisk ;) ...og gir meg assosiasjoner til båtlanterner og lyskastere....

Ringen ble brukbar, men langt fra salgbar - hverken designet eller håndverket. Men uten tvil en nyttig øvelse. Jeg kommer til å bruke ringen selv, ihvertfall en stund, før den blir demontert og får et nytt liv.

Så hva har jeg lært av dette? Jo:
- Lær deg å tegne og ta deg tid til tegne arbeidet før du setter igang
- Planlegg arbeidet: viktig slik at du unngår at noen deler er "i veien" når du skal sette en sten
- Ha tålmodighet underveis - skader ikke å legge noe tilsides eller begynne forfra
- Øvelse gjør mester

Alt i alt så er jeg fornøyd med denne kreative søndagen selv om jeg ikke er fornøyd med det kreative resultatet. Men jeg har fått trent litt på ulike teknikker og har blitt bedre kjent med eget utstyr, og sist men ikke minst - jeg har kost meg!

Sterling silver jewellery

Yeah! I've finally managed to capture some pictures of my some of my sterling silver work. Not the best pictures, but it is a start - and it makes me able to show you some of the stuff I am working on.

The first two photos shows a ring that I made about a year ago, right after I took the first course. Actually I'd totally forgotten this ring, untill I got back home after the third course (stonesetting) and I was looking for some jewellery to pierce and set a stone in. So here it is with a tiny, but sparkling cubic zirconia (CZ). The stone is 1,5 mm.

 

Female sterling silver band with CZ

I just love to use these vintage gloves and a vintage book as a background, but I know I have some work to to before I get it right. On this one it is too much gloves......

Same ring as above.

Up to now, all my jewellery (beside a necklace for my nephew for christmas) has been womens jewellery. But now I have made my very first male ring:

Male sterling silver band

I have been playing with my drill on this one ;) The ring has been oxidized, so it is a bit darkened in the holes and on the sides. The inside of the ring is polished and made really comfortable, and on the outside I have given the ring a bit of a shabby chic and worn feeling.

Same ring as above

 The final jewellery I'm going to show you today, is a necklace that I made last fall. I really love this one myself, but I have not know how to get the photos of this one right. And I still got to work with the photos before I can list it on Esty or Epla. I think I got to find a suitable neck.... anyone up for a job as a model?

Sterling silver necklace

The necklace has 3 hammered hearts:

Sterling silver necklace, detail

 I love to be able to be creative and "play" with silver at the moment. What is your favorite creative activity?

Monday Moodboard: Feeling vintage

Inspired by some of our European Street Team members on Etsy, I decided to go with the flow and make my own monday moodboard.

For the moodboard I have picked 4 of my favorite items on Etsy - items that I have discovered in the past few weeks. They all touch me in a special way, give me that special feeling that I would love to be able to recreate in my own work.

I am still learning to make jewellery, and I'm working towards finding my style both in products and in photos.....so the moodboard today is representing a part of my path towards this goal of mine :)

For more monday moodboards, see fleurfatale's blog.

 

1. GypsyLeeLee

2. WilliamDohman

3. edmdesigns 

 4. ThisYearsGirl

Mine onsdagsfavoritter på Epla

Til nå har jeg bare blogget på engelsk, men har i dag tatt den beslutingen at jeg innimellom også skal blogge litt på norsk - og onsdagene vil jeg reservere til å vise noen av mine favoritter på Epla.no.
So far I have written my blogs in English, but I have today decided that I from time to time will blog in Norwegian - and wednesdays will be reserved to show some of my favorites from Epla.no in Norwegian ;)

4 favoritter vil bli presentert hver gang - alltid på onsdager, men ikke nødvendigvis hver onsdag.

Så....*trommevirvel*..... her er dagens favoritter eller forelskelser som det heter på Epla:

Atinakjolen "Snøhjerte"

 

Blått glasssmykke med sorte striper

Veske med blomster 

Keramikksmykke

Sånn, det var noen av mine favoritter. Ta en titt du også, klikk på linken under bildene og surf deg inn i dybden blandt Eplas godbiter - kanskje du finner noen nye favoritter du også.... God Epla-jakt!

Stone setting

Last weekend I went to Oslo for another jewellery course - this time I was going to learn how to set stones in jewellery.

Some of the tools needed

I was not sure if this was the right thing for me, as I am not into all these sparkling "bling-bling" jewellery, I am more found of odd bits and pieces like a stone or glass from the beach or steampunk-ish findings. But I do have a need to learn as much as possible about jewellery making (I'm addicted...), and I wanted to meet other people in the same situation - so I decieded to go for it!

Wow, am I glad I did! Not only did I learn to set stones and turn an ordinary jewellery into something extraordinary, I also met some amazing people whom I am looking forward to get to know better.

And the best of it all; I think I am about to fall in love with those tiny sparkling gemstones!

My first try. All stones are CZ, from 1.5 mm up to 6 mm. I did struggle alot with the large ones in the tubes ;)

Amber - difficult to set without damaging the stone

Rose quartz cone in the middle and tiny CZ's in the front

One of the other students in deep concentration....

The course ended on Sunday - and I think I have been dreaming about setting stones every night this week..... Both stones and tools has been ordered, so I'll soon be able to play with this at home :)

Waiting for a new place to stay

I have grown out of the limited space that I have available for my "production", and for years I have wished for a garage/barn with loads of space for me and my crafting business.

imagine the boat being replaced by a garage

In 2010 we finally managed to start the building project,  we deceided to go for a prebuild model from Grimstad Garasjene.

the first day of building

later the same day

- and later that week  the garage was completed - or at least completed enough for us to use it for our cars this winter....just in time before this loooong and cold winter started.

the garage with our house in the background

The ground floor is for our cars, motorcycle, machines, equipment etc

my soon to be studio :)

.... and 'tam-ta-da' the "loft" is all mine. I am planning to have my sewing machines, fabric and everything needed for that part of my business in the part with window facing towards our house. And in the other half of the loft I will have my metalsmith studio.

my metalsmith "corner"

As soon as possible this year, that is whenever the ice and snow has left us and it is possible to start digging in the soil again, we will build a bridge over to the loft.

Building the bridge will be the first step this year towards the completion of the loft.

 If the year turn out as planned, I will be able to start to decorate and move my stuff before the next winter sets in.

To blog or not to blog

I have kept this blog, but it seem like I never get aroud to post any new stuff - so the question is: Close it, or keep it and hope for better time, energy or whatever I need to keep the blog alive?

I have the same "problem" when it comes to my Etsy-shop, Epla-shop and Flickr-account - I keep them barely alive, but I fail when it comes to being able to add new products and new photos on a regular basis.....it is not that I don't produce new products - I do! The problem is to get the products out on the internet ;)

Well, I am an optimistic person - and I always believe that I am going to change sooner or later, so I am going to keep this blog, my shops on Etsy and Epla and my flickr account. I might not be the most active person on these sites - but I will be hanging around, and from time to time I'll be adding something new ;)

Today I was able to photograph nearly all the products I've been making lately; earrings, bracelets, bookmarks, rings and necklaces - and all 300 photos has been edited. So, the first 3 steps towards selling my product are completed (1: make the item, 2: photo of the item, 3: edit the photo), only the final step missing - make the item available to your customers!

The optimistic part of me tells me that I will start on the final step tomorrow - so only time will tell if I'll manage it this time ;)