and finally... { working 925 }

...my last workshop piece is this copper & silver brooch.

Since I only had one class to work on this (the last week - I miss it already) I did as much preparation as I could before I went. So I cut the silver piece (the copper component is from testing out textures with the rolling mill before I made my wing) & smoothed all my edges.
Then in class I made the brooch components, soldered them on, drilled & hammered my (copper) rivets & made the pin. I did the final finishing (sanding the front) after I got home.

I am hoping to get the necessary tools for both soldering & riveting - I'm fairly confident with the riveting, but soldering will be a matter of practice makes perfect (I had a lot of help with all the soldering I did during the course).

project 1, project 2 & project 3 from the workshops

over the mountains { working 925 }

My third project from silversmithing class is a small pendant, completed in one evening class.

The textured part is an off-cut from the middle layer of my wing pendant - it just looked like mountains to me (although my brother says it looks like sound-waves, which is pretty cool). So I simply cut a suitably sized piece for the back, sanded that, soldered the 'mountains' to the front, then filed/sanded the edges (also rounding the corners). A small hole, plus a jump ring & it's ready to wear.

I love both pendants I've completed, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this one - being very light & simple - might get more wear.

project 1  & project 2 from the workshops

on the wing { working 925 }

As promised, my second completed sterling piece.

The design went through some changes during it's development & I'm rather pleased with the outcome. Above you can see my paper mock-up, followed by one in heavier card (which was a really good idea - it led to a huge improvement in the shape of the middle layer), silver with cutting guidelines & the pieces before riveting.

The layers are held together with a rivet & there is a tube bail soldered onto the back.

project 1 from the workshops

recently...

I finished my first piece from the silver course - a simple silver ring. I measured, cut, annealed, shaped, soldered, pickled, sanded & polished my oval silver wire. Originally I was going to give it a brushed finish, but I've decided I like it shiny (plus I spent ages making it shiny, I don't want to undo all my hard work, lol). It's not perfect, but I'm really happy with it anyway.

Currently I'm working on some design ideas for my next piece - we're going to learn to rivet :)

I've also been enjoying the beginnings of some warmer weather - warm enough for sandals even. Although it will be cold again for the next few days - the joys of spring.

& been baking again - Sticky Gooey Lemon Brownies this time (a Pinterest find). Although given the lack of chocolate, we've decided to call them Lemon Blondies. They were pretty popular - let's just say I didn't need to find a very big container to store them in!

working 925 {or, what I got for my birthday}

'twas my birthday last week & my lovely family was very good to me yet again. My big present (& the one I knew I was getting) is a seven week introductory silversmithing course, run by/at the Jam Factory. The first class was this week & although I don't have anything to photograph yet, it was good fun.

My sneaky family did sneak in a couple of surprises too - a lovely notebook from ShePinTea & a beautiful dish by Creativewithclay. Plus of course another awesome card, drawn by my brothers :)