Birds, drawings and enamelling

It has been quite a while since my last post as I've been busy in my new, mind numbing and totaly un craft related job. Only having two days off a week restricts the time I can spend on my own work condsiderably.

I bought a kiln after christmas and at last I am  getting round to playing with it.

paragon sc2 kiln

 I find with any new piece of equipment I spend a lot of time looking at it before I get up the nerve to use it.....The more expensive the item is the longer the contemplation time.

First I spent a period of time reading up all I could find on enamelling in the local library and on the internet, then I watched various enamellers demonstrating on U tube, then a few weeks later finally I got around to buying some enamels. 

I think choosing what colours to buy is the hardest part as the information on the British web sites that sell enamel is very poor, colour samples are either non existant or very  inconstistant , in the end I went to WG Ball as it is only a couple of miles from where I live and bought 6 basic colours. black ,white, grass green,yellow ,red and dark blue, and a clear flux.

Then I went back to the library and reborrowed the books as I'd forgotten what they said!

Testing time................................................

One half of the test piece has clear flux underneath, the other is just enamel. The base is a 1p piece.
O.K tests are boring.
The next question of course is "what of all the ideas floating around in my head to make first?"
 During the quiet bits at work I've been doodling birds 

 

which lead to some drawings................

 

..

and finally 

Ta Da!

to some finished? enamel bird pendants

Black bird pendant

With the black bird, the beak seemed to go matt with handling over the next week so I refired it then the centre of the eye went matt.............I think I might try firing it again to see what happens. 

Green and yellow bird.pendant

These are both enamelled on very thick copper (1.5mm) so I have not counter enamelled the backs, The colours are all applied over a clear flux base. I'm quite pleased with these, I like the speckly nature of the enamel colours, and the bulginess of the bead eyes. I left the feet off as I thought they would be more comfotable to wear without.

 At  the moment I am subjecting them to wearing tests to try and ascertain their durability before putting thetm up for sale, any feedback would be appreciated.

Merry Christmas

                                            I wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year.........................

Online Christmas Craft Fair or Chistmas Craft Fest

This week there is a world wide online Chritmas craft fair taking place at
http://creative-connections.ning.com/page/craftfest-home
I'm taking part along with lots of other craftspeople and this blog is to show some of the range of diverse  designers  and craftspeople who will be taking part.

Even if you are reading this after this weekend you can still check out these peoples work if you follow the links.

So in no particular order...................................


 Kokokelli

http://www.kokokelli.co.uk

 The Velveteen Cat

kants Crio

http://www.folksy.com/shops/TheVelveteenCat


Sci Art Images

Nofkants Curios

http://www.folksy.com/shops/NOfkantsCurios


 Lorraine Dowdle

http://www.lorrainedowdlecreations.com/category_64/LDC-Beads-to-own.htm

Wildflower designs

http://felt.co.nz/shop/wildflower

Mystic Moon

https://marketplace.asos.com/seller/mysticmoon/collection

Kims Colourway

https://www.facebook.com/kimscolourway

Buggalug Bubbles

http://www.folksy.com/shops/BuggalugBubbles

Waterlily Designs

http://www.waterlilycards.co.uk

Karenza Paperie

http://www.karenzapaperie.co.uk

long legged birds...brooch to muser

From my long legged bird brooch...................























comes this multicoloured muser plushie, courtesy of Kathryn Muse from Metro Atlanta USA. This is the wonderful thing about online selling you make contacts with people all around the world that you will never meet but your lives cross for a brief time.


She is a member of Etsy's "Ugly cute" team who inspired by another member has started making plushies to go on sale in her shop based on other members creations.So far she has done a Ninja juice box,a fairy, a day of the dead head,some one eyed monster things,a wriggly octopus,and a turtle. And now one of my birdys.








Here is the link to her shop, please go visit
http://www.etsy.com/shop/kathrynmuse

it works if you copy and paste, sorry havn't worked out how to get a link to work yet!

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

cat face inspiration

Lots of spare time on my hands the last week or so,so I've been messing about with a new copy of Corel Photo Paint....


This is the starting point, my entry for the Folksy Maker Faire competition, not sure why it is so fuzzy.
Anyway taking a section of I did this lot of messing about.....













You can see the pictures much better if you click on them.

I love the colours in this, it looks like a silver cat which has been oxidised in coloured rain.
















This one reminds my of myriads of fires, lovely warm colours
















This just makes me think I wish I had the patience to do scraperboard, but its a bit naff in reality(scraperboard that is)... sorry to anyone reading this that does scraperboard, it just reminds me of those kits you got when young.













This one should sound like "TING", or perhaps just rustle like some christmas tinsel.
















I really like this , I have always liked black and white etchings and this reminds me of one.
















Ok this one screams "bath soap" at me, is this because I know subconsciously that the pattern a a sponge one? No, I think its the coloured background, sort of old soap colour.It's sort of old lady bathroomy, brass taps faded purple towels. It also reminds me of the view through a bathroom window.
Just smell that lavender..........










Now this one is supposed to be tiles, I blanked out the background as I didn't like the grid effect,close up it is a bit reminiscent of a roman mosaic, but the colours are too metallic.














This one is here because I liked the swirly fur pattern a bit like the swirls on my curly dog brooch. Its a reminder to self to try for this effect in real metal.














This one is also about the fur pattern, the trouble is it would take longer to draw....but the zig zags are nice.















This one made me laugh out loud, jackrabbit cat?

















And finally this one was just cute, like those fish eye lense cat photos you see. Asking to be used as the basis for a brooch, or maybe a pendant even? The ears are quite rounded with no sharp bits unlike a lot of the brooches. Watch for more variations on this theme....





This was the final product, inspired by this messing around,it was hell to photograph as it is so reflective,I kept getting shots with my hands and clouds etc in them . If it sells I'll do another with ears more like the sphere effect one above. The ears were smaller in this as it was "designed" in the shed the next day with out the above picture in front of me. I think I prefer the ears above, he does look a bit sad though.
I've also done a jolly pig-dog in this stylee.