http://creative-connections.ning.com/photo/albums/hollowbourne-craftfest-stall
I had a "stall" at the creative crafts fair this weekend which provides another link to my shop.
I cannot get the link to work at the moment(my link works if you copy and paste and you can get to the others from there) but there were lots of other sellers there with beaded jewellery, pottery,papercrafts, fabric crafts etc. I didn't sell anything but its all extra publicity.
BUY EARLY FOR CHRISTMAS!?So I am posting some pictures of my workshop and works in the making to show that my brooches are hand made by me from metal rather than bought in items. I do buy the brooch catches to keep the price down as I prefer a brooch to have a safty catch, and they would take ages to make...
welcome to the entrance of my shed, it is impossible to work outside without our cat Spot joining in...
This is my bench, relatively tidy here, I'm not the tidyest of people when working.
Spot likes to sit in the middle of things,the green box is there to stop him curling up in my polishing area which he will do given half a chance, I suspect jewellers rouge probably ins't good for cats. The crock pot behind is what I use to warm my sulphuric acid, I use it as a double boiler so there is just a small beaker in a large pot of water, then I can use the water as an initial rinse. I do not have running water in my shed yet. So any thing that needs washing either has to be taken in the house or has water poured over it in to a drain outside.....
So this is how I make my work
The first picture is arranging the patterns for what I am making on the brass, this was a special order for someone last year. I dont like to waste too much metal.
Next they need to drawn round....Not a precise science, variations creep in at this point
Then I saw them out by hand
File off any sharp edges
If the brooch is flat then I paint on the resist as it takes a while to dry , If its cold I use a wine warming plate which we used to use when we made wine years ago.
In this batch the customer wanted the chicken to be domed slightly so this is me hammering it on a round doming stake
Then flattening the comb and tail feathers
The finished hammered chicken, at this point I would give it a bit of a sand to even the surface up a bit.
The flat ones are dry now and I have signed the backs,some are signed M. Honeybourne some M.Hollowell, most these days end up with Hollowbourne on them. The numbers are a date system , I have stopped doing this as people thought it was an edition number.
Then the surface design I want unetched is drawn on with permanent marker or a nail varnish pen.Or painted on with resist.Then they are dropped in the etch, I have a wonderful contraption my dad made to slop the etch back and forth.
This fox has been in the etch once then recoated in resist to he can be etched again to give depth. At this point he could have a fur pattern scratched into the resist. This one is plain.
A bit of a gap here, when I got absorbed in what I was doing and forget to take photos, what is missing is , cleaning all the resist and etchant off the etched pieces. Filing the edges again as they can get roughed up in the etch, sanding the surfaces if necessary. Then polishing on a mop (or two). Soldering on the brooch catch. Cleaning flux remains off , a final hand polish, a degease clean and lacquering....
And hese are the finished articles....
Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions etc
From my long legged bird brooch...................
