Fremantle Arts Centre Bazaar

The Bazaar was on this weekend and what a great weekend we had. It's so much fun to do although it's a really hectic weekend. Huge crowds - apparently they got around 9000 through the gates over the 2.5 days! They certainly do a great job of promotion. I shared with two friends - here's a few pictures I took after we had just finished setting up on Friday afternoon.
Really pleased too that on Sunday evening when it was over there was a lot less stock to take home again! This year I had more metalwork and chainmaille among my stock than in previous years and thankfully these pieces got a great reaction.

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Practise Display.

I've got the Fremantle Bazaar coming up this weekend and I've laid out all my stock in the dining room as a kind of mock up display.
I'm sharing a stall with Jane & Petra so we'll have our 3 lots of stock over 2 trestle tables so I imagine our set up will be a lot different on the day but I did this mostly to visualise how much I actually have made and how much room my new busts will take up on the table and to get an idea of how to place them.
I'm sure it can always be improved upon but I was quite pleased with the result. Pin It

I can't believe it's been over two months since I posted.
I've been busy making jewellery for the Fremantle Arts Centre Bazaar.
I took some time out to make a flyer to put on our stall to promote West Australian Artisans who have Etsy stores and also to give the Etsy site a bit of exposure here in Western Australia.

I wish I had more graphic design skills but as I'm lacking in that department I kept it fairly simple. Pin It

Brass & Rubber Pendant

A customer enquired about getting a pendant in the same style as my Brass & Rubber Earrings.
So today I got out the sheet metal and the saw and made one up.

While I had all my tools and mess spread throughout the house I also made up another pendant in keeping with the same style. One pendant didn't justify the mess I made - but two does!

I was pretty happy with this one. It's saw cut brushed brass with a die cut circle, accented with a black eyelet, a rubber ring & Sterling Jump rings. I love geometrics & circles - This one has a bit of a retro feel to it!
Now to clean up my mess............ Pin It

Press!

My sister's shop has had a bit of press exposure locally but it's also pretty cool that I and some of the other artists that supply her have been mentioned in both articles......
If you're local to Perth do check out her shop - lot's of jewellery and also some really neat gifty type knick knacks and home wares. Pin It

Freo Bazaar - Woo Hoo, I'm in!

Very excited that I'm going to be at The Fremantle Arts Centre Bazaar again this year.
I'll be sharing a stall again with Jane & Petra. I'll be concentrating on my metalwork and chainmaille, Jane does beautiful jewellery with semi precious & crystals & pearls and Petra does some amazing work with mostly pearls and some semi precious. Petra's been doing felting too so I expect she'll have some of that on the stall as well.

We're pretty chuffed to be accepted for the 3rd year in a row. They had over 100 applicants for just 57 stalls and of that 57, they selected 25 new exhibitors and just 32 previous exhibitors.

It's one of the best local Art/Craft shows around. Applications have to be juried by a committee and all the work has to be made by local Artisans here in Western Australia - absolutely no imports goods are allowed. Definitely worth a look if you're in the Fremantle area in the first weekend in December as the quality and variety of crafts is very high. Pin It

Step By Step Chainmaille Rings

For the first couple of years of my chainmaille creating, I purchased pre made rings. I've been cutting my own rings now for a while so I thought I'd post a few pictures of how I coil & cut the rings from wire.

I love coiling the wire around the mandrel in an old hand drill - The drill belonged to my late Dad- in-Law and I always think of him when I'm coiling wire. He was such a great person and a talented handyman so I love that I'm able to use one of his old tools. My set up is attached to the meals area table with a small vice and I cut the rings on the kitchen bench. One day I hope to have a dedicated space to do all this..........

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Perth Etsy Meet Up

Yesterday, some of the people that have Etsy shops here in Perth got together for a meet up. We had a lovely afternoon, with "show & tell", lots of chat about our work, and we threw around ideas for promoting ourselves & Etsy.

A great afternoon and lovely to meet everyone.

I've now updated my list of links in my sidebar to add their Etsy Shops - please visit them - there's some awesome talent here in Little Old Perth.

I didn't take my camera but luckily others thought of it - check out Amanda's blog for some photos. Pin It

Spring is sprung - well nearly......

Over at the Beading forum in the metal & wirework section we are having a pendant swap. The theme was "Spring".
I decided to try metal etching again but my attempts didn't work out on my first try, so I abandoned that project.
My second try was this pendant ...my thinking was "Spring Showers" and I remembered the kid's poem we used to chant, but after finishing it I was told the mailing address of my swap partner and she lives in North Queensland. Well somehow I think that this pendant is not appropriate ... I figure they would be happy with rain up there - not sure if they're in drought or not but thought I'd better err on the side of caution....The pendant would probably be better of staying here in Perth where we've had a week of torrential rain. I wish it would go away so I can get some washing dry!
Luckily I've been able to rework my first attempt and will post a pic. of that once the swaps complete. Pin It

Front page on Etsy

I've been pretty busy making stock for "Behind The Monkey" - the local store that carries my jewellery. Pleased to say my jewellery has been selling very well.
Unfortunately, I haven't had time to make any jewellery for my Etsy or Mint'd online shops so they are looking a tad empty.
One of the Etsy Dust (Down Under Street Team) featured Aussies in her recent treasury on Etsy including my mixed metal pendant. It made the front page today and wow! what great exposure that was - it sold while I was at work today.
I must get cracking this weekend and restock my shops! Pin It

YOJ - Weeks 25 & 26

Playing catch up on the Year Of Jewellery this week. Top pair of earrings is Sterling Corrugated Squares. I really love making this stuff - it's so much fun and has been getting a good reaction and happily a few sales down at my sister's shop.

Bottom pair are a simple die cut brass pair teamed with black rubber and black rivets. Pin It

Week 24 - Copper & Brass Earrings

I've been making lots of jewellery lately. The four pairs of earrings above are part of the stock that's gone down to my sister's shop mentioned in my previous post.
I've used my disc cutter to cut the discs but the earrings took ages to finish as I handpolished them all. I must start using my dremel for the polishing, but that would mean heading out into the shed and at least if I'm handpolishing it's not as messy and I can stay inside near the heater and watch TV as I go. Pin It

Behind The Monkey

I can't believe it's a whole month since I last posted. The older you get the quicker the time seems to pass ;(
I have been busy with jewellery. I've been getting stock together for a new Retail store - Behind the Monkey. I'm excited for two reasons - one because I've got 30 pieces of my chainmaille and corrugated metal jewellery in the shop but also because it's my sister's shop and of course I'm thrilled for her.
Here's a sneak preview of the front of the shop - the windows are covered over because it's not opening until tomorrow. She's stocking jewellery - she's an accomplished jewellery maker herself as well as gift lines, original art work and a few homewares.
Perth people - Come check out the shop - she's at 479 Beaufort Street in Highgate. Opening 07/07/07 - that has to be good numerology!! Pin It

YOJ Week 23 - Rubber & Copper

This week I've been doing more chainmaille - and I've experimented with some larger rubber rings. I've teamed them with copper in the cuff and copper and sterling in the earrings. The cuff is about 3cm wide (just over 1 ") The cuff has no clasp - I just gently stretch it to go over my hand. I like the industrial look that the rubber rings give the jewellery. Pin It

Year of Jewellery Week 22 - Chainmaille Cuff

Playing catch up now. But it's been productive. I've finished a UFO that's been sitting around for ages. I started this 4cm (1. 1/2") chainmaille cuff in copper & sterling about a year ago. I'd purchased the rings, then ran out - as you do! As they were in SWG gauge and we're metric here in Oz, so I couldn't make more rings to match. I finally got round to re ordering more rings and finished this last night. The old rings have aged to a nice patina and the new rings are bright and shiny. I can't decide whether to oxidise the lot, or clean it all up - so it's all nice and shiny.
As I ponder on this I'm leaving it for the time being as I quite like the tri-colour look for now!

Oh I have yet to add a safety chain - this weighs 86grams (about 3oz). I don't want to lose this one as it's a replacement for my sterling cuff that my daughter lost at a nightclub........but that's a whole other story!! Pin It

Year of Jewellery Week 21

Well I'm behind on the YOJ, but well, never mind!

Used one of my newer tools again for Week 21's offerings. I'm really addicted to tools ;)
I got an Industrial tube wringer and it corrugates thin metal sheet. It wasn't designed for that but some bright spark started using it for metal instead of toothpaste tubes. Who'd 'av thought it?! I already posted the silver earrings at the front on the YOJ blog but I've made the copper one's since then. I had lots of fun with this and hope to do some more.

These pieces are going into a new shop opening locally in a couple of weeks called "Behind the Monkey". For local Perthites keep an eye out for it in Beaufort Street - it will feature some of the work of local artisans. Very cool...... Pin It

In memory of Thelma 1916-2007

It's been a sad week - my mum in law passed away on 26th May.
A lovely lady and I feel privileged to have been part of her life and been with her on the start of her new journey....
Thelma was a fantastic mum, nanna and mum- in- law, she would do anything for us or any or her loved ones - Thelma was caring, loving and generous and would always put her loved ones before herself. She was one of those rare people that was loved by everyone that knew her. Much loved and sadly missed.
I didn't mention that she made a fantastic apple pie. Whenever we had a family get together it was always taken for granted that "Thelma will bring the apple pie" She generously shared her recipe with me but even though I followed the recipe to the letter it wasn't a patch on Thelma's. I guess that the love she put into it was the magic ingredient that made it so special :) Pin It

YOJ - Week 20 Bow Necklace

Not on theme again this week and I'm late as well. I had a play with the jewellery saw again this week. I really enjoy cutting out shapes from sheet metal and this week I went with a ribbon bow.
This is Mark 2. With the first one, I soldered a tube on the back and was going hang it on neoprene as I like the effect of the unseen bails. Unfortunately the soldering annealed the brass and made it too soft. Then when I was polishing it up I bent it. I managed to bend it back with out it being noticable but decided to work harden it with my rawhide mallet on the bench block to prevent it happening again.
What a pain! The tube on the back was getting in the way so I had it half off and half on the bench block. Then the edge of the bench block left a nice mark in the metal. That's when I gave up on that one and decided to start again!
This time round I took the easy way out suspended it from chain through a hole either side of the bow.
I'm pretty over ribbons and bows at the moment though ;) Pin It

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by Esta Sketch.

Rules Of Tagging!
1.List seven random facts/habits about yourself
2.Choose another seven bloggers to tag and list their names in your blog
3.Leave your seven tagged bloggers comments to notify them of their tagging and to direct them to your blog for tag instructions.

If I've tagged you and you don't want to do it - no worries. No obligation - you're allowed to break the "tag chain"

Ok Here goes..........

1. I'm left handed but do everything except writing and holding a fork the same as a righthanded person. Eating spaghetti with a spoon and fork is tricky because I want to hold them both in the same hand.
   
2. I can't cut cheese right through to the chopping block........I get most of the way through then twist my hand that's holding the knife, so the last bit of cheese breaks off. This is a family thing apparently - didn't realise I did it until a family member pointed it out - they do it too.
3. I regret the name we called our dog. We called him "nipper" because he's a little nipper ie: small/cute but people think he bites and got his name that way. I 've promised myself to give any pets we have in the future a more positive name with no negative connotations.
4. I don't eat seafood. I'm not allergic - just don't like it. People really can't understand that :)
5. I love tools - especially jewellery making tools. As soon as I get a new one - I'm deciding which one I must have next!!
   
6. I won't put my head under the water when I swim. Actually it has to be about 100 degrees in the shade for me to swim so it generally isn't an issue!
7. I wish I was as interesting as everyone else that has been tagged. I'm may have to come back and find some other people to tag as most of the people I was going to tag have already been tagged. But if you are reading this and want to join in - leave a comment and I'll tag you!!

I've tagged Feli, OrangeStarfish,
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Van Gogh Earring - YOJ Week 19

Well I've been busy making jewellery this week but not on theme. I'm still messing around with the Japanese weave chainmaille. I decided to have a go with some stainless steel rings I bought ages ago.
Stainless Steel is a whole different ball game from sterling. It is tough! My pliers kept slipping, my wrists ached, and generally, I decided it is not going to be my material of choice. So back in the drawer all those Stainless Steel jumprings go....
The result from my efforts was one earring, and no it's not going to get a mate. I may convert it into a pendant one of these days though. Pin It

YOJ - Week 18 Japanese Maille

This week's Year of Jewellery theme was Myths & Gods. I spent the whole week thinking about it but the creative Gods deserted me and I had to settle for a creation that was off theme. I'd been meaning to try some Japanese weave chainmaille ever since I got the Dylon Whyte Chainmaille book which was months ago. I used Sterling and teensy rubber rings for the earrings above. I love the industrial looking combo of metal & rubber - not that my little flowers turned out too industrial looking...........but well, you get the idea. :)

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Fishin' YOJ Week 17

Back to chainmaille for this weeks piece of jewellery. Although my fish hasn't been caught - he's just swimming past the net. The Bracelet is Sterling & Copper Euro 4 in 1 weave with the fish charm wired on, as are the Freshwater pearl studs. Pin It

Ripples, Depths & Shallows.

Week 16 of the YOJ is Ripples Depths & Shallows. I had a creative block with this one plus I was in a hurry to get it finished before I go away for a long weekend. I'm heading off to sunny Queensland (across the other side of the country!) for a flying visit to help celebrate my niece's 21st Birthday.
I wanted to try some etching but that will have to wait. Instead, I hammered some pre cut sterling oval discs, lightly domed them, put the holes in (I've got some cool hole-making pliers that make that job easy) and joined them with jumprings to make this bracelet. As luck would have it - it fits me perfectly!
It was a first for me as I used Liver of Sulphur for the first time to oxidise the piece to represent the depths & shallows. Wow, was this fun or what! I had dabbled with oxidising metal with an egg but this was so quick in comparison! I was chucking every bit of scrap metal I could find in to the LOS to blacken it just so i could scrub it back with the steel wool. Yes, I need to get a life - I know! Pin It

Seafoam & Rolling Waves YOJ Week15

Week 15 of the YOJ is Drifting, Seafoam & Rolling waves. I decided to ignore the Drifting and concentrate on the rolling waves and the seafoam.
I had these fabulous amazonite rondelles which were the perfect colour to represent seafoam. I put them in clusters hanging from the pendant. I couldn't work out how to represent waves at first . I would have loved to texture the metal to get that feel but in the end decided that I would saw the pendant in half in a wavy pattern. I'm happy, the little seafoam rondelles dance around from the bottom of the pendant just like ........well...... seafoam!

Next week's theme is " Ripples, Depths and Shallows" so I'm already thinking texture.........What did I do with that etching fluid?! Pin It

Year Of Jewellery

This is my first contribution into the YOJ (year of jewellery)

I was following the theme " April Showers". For me, part of the appeal in participating in the year of jewellery was to challange myself by keeping to the theme where possible.
After thinking about it for a while I had a clear idea what I wanted to do. I decided to try a product ITS because I wanted to transfer text on to metal. It did occur to me that most of the projects on the manufacturer's site included photos, but not actual text being transferred to the metal surface ......but did that deter me?......No!
What did deter me was that after following the instructions to the letter (no pun intended!!) my lettering looked awful! The text adhered to the metal just fine but with a misty looking surround that was not uniform or attractive.
I ended up sanding the whole lot off. I'm not bagging the product though - I'll do some more experimenting - I'm sure it works fine with photos etc though, which I think is what it's mainly intended for.

A glass of wine and a lot of thought later I decided I'd get my text on the metal if it was the last thing I did! And I did.......well sort of........
I printed the text out on acetate and overlayed it on the sheet metal instead of using the transfer product.

I have mixed feelings about this - I'm disappointed the transfer medium didn't do what I wanted it to do, but at the same time I'm pretty pleased with my problem solving abilities to achieve the result that is the same as what I had in mind at the beginning even though the methods were not what I set out to do.

I know you metal smith people are thinking " why didn't you just etch the text on to the metal?" Well, I was getting around to that - but not just yet - that's why I had bought the acetate - to experiment some more with etching......Stay tuned :) Pin It

Bush Floor Pendant

There was a Bead & Gem show here in Perth this weekend and one of the exibitors makes furniture etc from recycled hardwood. He then uses his offcuts to make beads and makes them in all sorts of irregular shapes & sizes.
It's very eco friendly as he uses wood from the forest floor or from discarded timbers.
This pendant was one of a few I picked out .
It was screaming out to me to be teamed with some metal but I intentionally kept it simple so as not to detract from the beauty of the wood grain. I handsawed the the two metal shapes (nickel silver) to the shape of the wood's profile and textured it for interest. Then gave it a good polish. I love the contrast of the wood with the hard edged metal. I'm thrilled how this turned out. Pin It

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New Copper & Carnelian piece

Haven't posted for a week - been catching up on that ironing and housework.
Did manage to fiind time to have a little play though. This time with copper and I teamed it with a little sterling silver and some gorgeous natural carnelian. I just love carnelian :) Pin It

I can't put down the jewellery saw!

It was my day off today and I had heaps of washing, ironing, housework etc to do.
Did I do it? ..............Well of course not - I did this instead :)

Brass with Sterling Silver accents on neoprene rubber.


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Dove's Mark 1 & Mark 2

Well I've still been playing with my saw. Here in Australia at the moment in jewellery there is a lot of animal silhouette shapes. Lots of swallow necklaces as well as Bambi style deers, cut from various materials such as perspex or wood or a mirror finish material. I think they'd all be laser cut.
This has inspired me to try my own shapes so I thought I'd try a dove.
I started with a dove stencil as my outline and I transferred it to brass sheet and saw cut it.
I soldered a loop on the back and suspended it from a neoprene necklace. I thought it looked pretty cool. I've been wearing it and had lots of compliments but it had a few sharp, pointy edges so I figured it wasn't marketable in it's present form. I guess I don't want my customers to stab themselves with my otherwise peaceful dove. So this one's a keeper - I promise I'll try not to stab myself.

So I set about redesigning the dove to be suitable for wearing as jewellery. This was no mean feat as I can't draw to save my life. After just about using a whole pad of paper and wearing out my eraser I managed to draw the Dove Mark 2.
Not too many differences but lots of soft edges and no sharp pointy bits....

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Been Absent for a while

Well this is my first post in a while.
I've been having heaps of fun lately with my jeweller's saw.
When I did my silversmith course a couple of years ago I hated the saw piercing side of things.
Well I've picked up the saw again and suprise, suprise I'm really enjoying it. I'm finding it so relaxing.
Here's a couple of my recent creations.

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Happy Australia Day!!

Well it's Australia Day today and it's a long weekend.
Here in Perth it's a hot, hot, hot, 39 degrees - that's celsius. I think it's around 102 in farenheight.
We're off to the neighbours for a Bar B Q this evening, to celebrate but I've been holed up all day inside with the aircon going at full bore.

Yesterday the postman bought me my new Koil Kutter - what perfect timing, so I can play this weekend. Now I'll be able to cut my own jumprings for my chainmaille.

I got the thing set up this arvo (with the help of my husband) and have cut my first rings.
I'm so excited - I can't wait to do some more in different sizes but these were the first........

Yes I know, it doesn't take a lot to get me excited - some new jewellery tools will always do it! Pin It

More Mixed Metals......

Happy New Year. I haven't blogged for a while as I've been away on holidays to Melbourne. What a fantastic place that is!
Had a custom order to do when I got back so while I had the tools out I decided to have a play with some brass sheet I had bought just before Christmas.
I cut, filed, sanded, hammered and gave it a corrugated finish by manipulating it with my pliers.
I hand polished it to a nice high shine and this is the result. I've added some sterling chain and an oval disc and I'm really happy with the result :)

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