In with the new

I had a bit of a play this week, trying out a few new techniques and I got a light tent. A lot of people have commented that I needed to improve my photos. So I got a cheap £25 set from Amazon that included 2 lights as well. This does make the difference, unless you're photographing tiaras. For some reason, tiaras look really flat if you use the light tent.

The reason I was re-photographing my tiaras was that I intend to have my own bridal tiara and jewellery website soon. I've been building it on Weebly this week. So watch this space for more news.

I've made 2 bracelets, 2 pairs of earrings and 1 necklace this week. The first bracelet was my attempt to do something for men. When I saw the black and white jasper, I knew this would work, and the chain gives it a more rocker feel. I even managed to persuade my husband to model it.





I then decided to go to the other extreme and do something very pink. And I mean, very pink.

 

My main piece of work though was slightly inspired by a spiragraph. I wanted to do something different with Howlite skulls, and came up with this. I won't lie, this took me a while. I made a coil and used 3 types of wire. I am very pleased with the result and I did make some earrings to go with it.

 

In other news, Jewellery Maker Tv, have showed my blue flower wirework sodalite and white quartzite necklace on their Wall of Fame. Not only that they used it to promote their jig. They said "These beautiful flowers have been made by Angela. Angela Finch. Thank you Angela, we're using your work as a classic example of how to use the jig. And look how regular and how beautifully sized these flowers are. Look at how symmetrical they are. Look how the designs the same to that flower, to that flower. You can get really beautiful designed uniformed sized flowers on an incrediable design like this. Just Gorgeous. Thank you Angela for sending it in."

 

Tiaras and Wirework

It's been a busy week, and I feel that I've been productive.

Yes, I'm now supporting this great charity. It makes dream weddings happen for those with terminal illnesses. A very worthwhile charity, and if my tiaras can help make that happen all the better.

I've made 2 tiaras this week. The first was made because I  wanted to use the roses I've had in my stash for a while and I was very pleased with the result. It looks quite impressive, as you can see.

The 2nd was prompted by a question from a potential customer. Do I do simple headbands? So, I rose to the challenge, and the result is very pretty. I've decided to offer it in any colour that a bride could want, another bespoke headband/tiara. I think it might also work for a prom, or any posh night out.

 

My next challenge was to make a wirework necklace. Previous blogs have shown my first attempts at wire wrapping, and I wanted to learn how to use my jig. I chose flowers because I thought it would look pretty. It was a learning curve, never use 0.6mm wire to do connectors because the item just falls apart. Below is the result, and I've already had a customer express interest in buying it.

 

 

That's all for this week, except we really enjoyed the snow here, it was very pretty.



Happy New Year

Happy New Year everybody. I hope 2013 is all that you hope it will be. I've been busy:

• I've opened a Folksy shop. Don't worry, I am not duplicating my one of kind item listings.
• attended a webinar on tax for the self-employed by HMRC. Definately recommend it for others new to self employment.

For Christmas I made some jewellery, surprise, for my Mum. Now I would upload a picture but Blogger isn't letting me at the moment. So watch this space.

I got 2 really good jewellery making books from my sister, that I can recommend.

  The book on the right has sparked off lots of ideas for tiaras and other hair accessories. Whereas the other book is like a beginners guide to wirework, and thats something I want to investigate further. Now that I've mastered Macrame, this will be my next task.



I've put some new items in my Etsy shop, including my first gizmo wire piece, and a green macrame necklace. These are well worth a look.

Illness and Macrame

Well, it's been a while. I've had a horrible virus that makes half of my face in nearly constant pain, still got it but it’s getting less.

I had a big order of 8 Macrame bracelets this month. Luckily, I find Macrame therapeutic and it helps take my mind off the pain. The blue colours were very popular, and they turned out really well. Now all I have to do is work out how to do my accounts.

 While being ill I’ve been watching a lot of ‘Jewellery Maker TV’ DVDs. This has spurred me on to have a go at my first wirework project, ‘The Tree of Life’. It’s easier than it looks, and I was quite pleased with the result. I used quartz chips for the leaves, I was trying to go for a Gondor style look. Only problem was that some of the colour came off the wire, so I need some nylon covered pliers before I attempt to sell this design. On the bright side, it means that this necklace is mine, and I’ve already had positive comments about it.

 
Merry Christmas everyone, and I hope Father Christmas brings you all you want.