jewelry techniques

February 15, 2018 By Karin M

Enamel – a fun way to add Color and Interest to Jewelry

One of the main reasons I love creating jewelry so much is that there are so many fun techniques to explore! I mentioned in my last post that I attended a weekend enameling workshop last Fall. Oh, the possibilities are absolutely endless! Sure, adding fun, colorful elements in the form of beads and other findings is nice. But to be able to create your own custom designs and bring new ideas to life in ways you never thought possible? It’s the cat’s meow, as far as I’m concerned!

So, what exactly is enamel?

Enamel is essentially finely ground glass powder that is applied to a base metal, most commonly copper or fine silver. The powder is melted and adhered to the base metal by applying heat. This can be achieved with a kiln, or as it is in my case, with a torch. Torch firing is as instant gratification as it gets! The drawbacks being that you can only fire one piece at at time, as well as having size constraints. You will not be able to fire an enamel bowl with a torch!

Are there different techniques?

The three main techniques are:

Torch/kiln fired
Sgraffito
Cloisonne

Currently I am mainly focused on torch fired enamel, but look forward to including some sgraffito pieces into my designs very soon!

Here are some brief explanations and examples of each technique to give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

Torch fired enamel:

As the name implies, the enamel is melted onto the surface of the base metal by means of a very hot torch. I have used my Little Torch, but prefer my MAPP torch overall. You can also use a butane torch, but you won’t get very far with the small one! Vitreous enamel powder melts from around 1400 – 1600 degrees Fahrenheit.

The firing goes through several distinct phases:

sugar
orange peel
final, smooth

Each stage is named after the appearance the enamel powder takes on while firing. With enameling it is important to apply a coat of counter enamel to the backside of the fired piece to prevent the front from eventually cracking. Found out the hard way that this is indeed true!

Insert not so happy face… Oh well, I knew better and tempted fate anyway!

Designs can be changed by layering subsequent colors and elements like glass chips and strings into the previously fired surface and re-firing them. Endless design possibilities.

I am currently placing my pieces on special trivets perched on a tripod with a wire screen, but they can also be placed on a mandrel like beads and dipped into enamel powder throughout firing. I am currently not set up to try to fire this way, but sure do want to try!

Here are some examples of pieces I have created so far!

I love combining rustic copper elements with the vibrant enamel colors.

For now I have been playing around with many familiar shapes, adding color to some of the designs that sported other textures. I am also creating the same or very similar designs with different base metals and varying colors.

Like this slightly lighter version of the moon pieces above!

Sgraffito

This technique requires the application of a liquid porcelain base layer front and back. Designs are then scratched into the front before various translucent enamel colors are applied. One of my absolute favorite artists employing this technique is Anne Havel. Not only does she have an amazing eye for combining simple shapes and colors, but her settings are just stunning. It wasn’t easy to pick just one example of her work, but you can find many more on Pinterest.

Just so gorgeous! Do be sure to check out more of her work, you won’t regret it.

Angela Gerhard is another enamel jewelry artist to check out! Do swing by her site!

I will write a more in depth post once I get started and learn more about this technique.

Cloisonne

The third technique is cloisonne which you will probably know from Faberge eggs. This technique dates back to ancient times and is the most complicated and involved of all enameling techniques. It is essentially an inlay process that requires great skill and patience. In ancient times gemstones were used as well as ground glass powder that is painstakingly packed in defined patterns. Cloisonne is seen in decorative objects as well as jewelry.

You can delve into the history, technique as well as famous examples here.

And that is my brief intro to vitreous glass enameling for you! I hope you’ll stop by my shop to see what’s new. I try to add new pieces regularly. If you see a design you like, but would like to have it in a different color, just give me a shout!

Thank you for supporting handmade!

Have a great day!

Karin

December 7, 2016 By Karin M

Mixed metal mania

Just fresh off a wonderful jewelry show (do take a moment to check out Mythic Silver) and up to my eyeballs in Christmas orders, I wanted to pop in today to give you a small glimpse of what has occupied my time lately.

If you have read this post, you know that I am veering more and more towards the metal smithing spectrum of jewelry making. More specifically I absolutely adore anything created from mixed metals.
The look that is achieved by combining my three favorite materials, copper, silver and jeweler’s brass, is timeless and yields endless possibilities. My hunch that this might be popular with my customers was confirmed at my last event. Over and over I heard “I love mixed metals”. So do I my friends, so do I.
Why? Well, for one thing, they have been around for a long time. The combination of metals, especially the kind that sports a patina, is one that is equally at home with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, the outfit you wear to the office and your lbd. Speaking of patina, let me show you an example of patina that knocks it out of the park in my eyes.

The effect on this pendant is, well, a cross between an accident and sheer luck. Don’t you just love the way it gives the background a painted effect?

Most recently, I have fallen into a bit of a rabbit hole creating several new pieces in the “married” metals technique. One day it just dawned on me that I should be able to solder two different metals together to create an entire new sheet. And by golly, once I got the hang of that, there was no going back. Here are some examples of what I have cobbled together using this technique so far.

Well, I am off to create some more goodies. Love this time of year! There is nothing more exciting to me than the knowledge that many of the creations that come from my heart and were made with my hands will be someone’s special gift come Christmas morning or for Hanukkah. Thank you all for being so incredibly supportive, for putting the wind into my creative sails!

Karin

March 31, 2016 By Karin M

Why I love my disc cutter

Few things are more exciting than getting new tools – that is if you are as obsessed with creating jewelry as I am:)

But some of those tools can be a little pricey. So if you are sitting on the fence about whether or not it makes sense for you to buy one of your own, let me tell you why I decided to purchase my disc cutter and why I now cannot imagine my shop without it.

I had discovered the usefulness of ordinary copper washers as jewelry components a while back, but if you know me, I like nothing less than running out of a certain size component whilst being in creative mode, as detailed here. And copper washers, I have found, can be difficult to come by.

Not every hardware store carries them and then they are frequently sold as assortments – speak, you get some in the size you need and want and a whole bunch you don’t. Ordering through jewelry supply companies was cost prohibitive for me. Besides, buying all of these ready-made components goes against my make-everything-yourself-if-possible grain. And I prefer US copper.

At one point I purchased a little disc cutter from a local craft store on impulse. Don’t do that. It was $$$ not well spent and had to be returned on the double.

After researching my options, I decided on taking the middle road and ordered the Pepe Tools disc cutter from Contenti. Would I have loved the Swanstrom one? You bet. But budgetary constraints are a bit of a factor. If you are up for a solid investment and have the funds, l’d say go for the Swanstrom.

So, why do I love this tool so much? One word: versatility.

Here a summary of some of the benefits of using a disc cutter:

– consistency
– allows creation of professional quality components like discs, washers, bead caps etc.
-can create a number of different shapes
-time saver
-saves money by letting you create many different items from more reasonably priced sheet metal
-requires no special training

Not only does it allow me to consistently produce high quality discs in gauges up to 18 for non-ferrous metals and 22 for stainless steel (if using a mallet or hammer), but also lets me cut my own washers. I use the smaller dies for cutting holes into pendants, take advantage of various size holes to add interest to components, such as these in my mixed metal bracelet. Certain diameters also match up with copper tubing, which makes it a very useful tool for riveting.

Here are a few examples of discs I cut:

And other shapes…

If you plan it just right you can accomplish two things at once, create a fun cuff and cut circles to use for other projects, as I did here.

My half moon designs like this bracelet,

result in little leaf shapes that I have chosen to use as tags for my bracelets and necklaces. But bigger leaf shapes can be filed and stamped and used as organic elements in their own right, as I did in this fun bracelet:

I’ll leave you with one more example of bracelets I couldn’t have created without my trusty disc cutter.

Do you have a disc cutter? Have you been wondering if it’s a worthwhile investment? Are you using one to create unusual shapes? I sure would be interested in knowing if you like yours as much as I do mine!

Karin

*disclaimer: I was not reimbursed in any way for the statements made in this post and all opinions expressed are my own.

June 23, 2015 By Karin M

Fold forming – a new (to me) technique

One of the things that drew me to jewelry making, and continues to keep me hooked, is the fact that I can make good use of the many different types of crafting techniques I have learned through the years. So far I have made good use of loom and basket weaving, cutting, sewing techniques, even knitting and embroidery to some extent. But nothing beats learning something completely new!

My latest fascination? Fold forming – a new (to me) technique. When I first encountered jewelry created this way, I was smitten. I feel an instant connection with the organic flowing designs that create the illusion that the metal isn’t metal, but fabric, leather, even bark or leaves. The texturing techniques I wrote about here not so long ago are perfect for embellishing fold formed jewelry pieces!

While it certainly looks like a technique that has been around for ages, it turns out to be a relatively new invention by Charles Lewton-Brain, a master goldsmith born in Great Britain, raised in Tasmania then trained in Germany, the US and Canada, who pioneered fold forming in the 80’s. Fold forming essentially combines the traditional Japanese art of origami with metal smithing techniques.

At the time this new way of forming metal was considered the first significant new development in metal smithing since ancient times, an accomplishment that was officially recognized in 1990 by Paul Craddock, head of the British Museum Research Lab! You can read a more detailed description here and here.

So what exactly is “fold forming”? Well, in a nut shell it involves a combination of folding, hammering, annealing, more hammering and texturing, annealing, hammering, filing, pickling, polishing, antiquing and some more polishing.

While it seems a bit of a labor intensive process, it is oh so worth it! I generally have a basic design, a direction, if you will, in mind at the start The fun part is to let the metal “tell” you what it wants to do or be. It is so satisfying to see a piece slowly evolve as you continue to work on it. And the end result somehow always seems to turn out even better than you envisioned it! No two pieces ever turn out the same way, which only adds more charm and uniqueness to this type of jewelry.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know I love to gush on about copper. It is an ideal material for this technique. The antiquing process adds an extra dimension to fold formed pieces that makes this a real winner.

Here are some of the pieces I have created using this technique so far:

I have so many more ideas how I would like to incorporate fold forming techniques into my jewelry creations, but here is a little teaser for you!

This necklace took me much longer than I have ever worked on a piece, because I kept changing out little details. Not until I was able to add the small fold formed pieces, did the necklace finally “hit its stride”. What do you think? Isn’t that lamp work bead, another gorgeous creation by my friend, amazing?

Find these and my other pieces created using fold forming in my Etsy Shop!

I would love to know what you think about this technique!

Karin

May 11, 2015 By Karin M

Stamp your little heart out!

Have you seen the cool stamped jewelry that is all the rage lately? I love the look and figured it would be fun to add writing to some of my jewelry. So I figured it would be worth to give it a shot – I am always eager to learn a new technique.

Getting stamping straight and even and equally deep is not for the impatient. Argh. Practice, practice, practice… folks that is the only way – you have to stamp your little heart out!

I had previously bought some inexpensive aluminum and brass stamping blanks at my local craft store to get used to stamping on metal. But I have to admit it was a bit frustrating. And I wasn’t exactly in love with the font on the stamps, pretty plain.

It seemed no matter how meticulously I lined up my stamps, even with the help of tape, the letters still looked wonky. Looking for something to practice on, I spied some copper washers and decided to practice various letters on them. I wrote about my love for copper washers here and here.

Diligently hammering away, stamping the letters in circles, I realized that this would be the perfect way to give the copper washers all kinds of different textures! So I began to experiment with various letters, first the W, then an O, S, V etc.

Here are the very basic tools needed:

stamping hammer
letter stamp set
copper washers
not shown here: a bench block or anvil

Here are some of the designs I created from various letters in this simple upper case stamp set:

Pretty cool, huh? You can fill in as much space as you like, I decided I liked the entire washer textured the best.

Here are the washers lined up with their respective letters:

Now, I love my plain hammered textures as much as the next gal, but being able to introduce new textures into my designs just gets the creative gears going!

I decided to use my trusty hole punch tool and turned them into an interesting bracelet.

The patina really adds a whole new dimension to the textures and gives them a pleasing aged look as well as added depth. And because I want the various textures to “do the talking”, I opted to keep this a pure metal bracelet.

Not that beads don’t add that little something extra!

The textured surface of the copper washer, the patina and sparkling crystal beads are such a pleasing contrast. Here is a slightly different view of the same bracelet…

So what do you think? I am a big fan of using tools for more than one specific purpose. I can’t wait do some more experimenting and creating with this technique!

While this technique would be much too tedious to be used on a larger piece, it is absolutely perfect for smaller pieces like these!

Is there a technique or a little trick you have discovered that has opened new possibilities? Or have you bought a piece of jewelry and wondered about the various techniques used to create it?

Share your thoughts! I love hearing your comments and stories!

jewelry techniques

Enamel – a fun way to add Color and Interest to Jewelry

Are there different techniques?

The three main techniques are:

Torch fired enamel:

Sgraffito

Cloisonne

Karin

Like this:

Mixed metal mania

Karin

Like this:

Why I love my disc cutter

Karin

Like this:

Fold forming – a new (to me) technique

Karin

Like this:

Stamp your little heart out!

Karin

Disclaimer: I have not received any form of compensation for statements made in this post and all opinions stated are my own!

Like this:

jewelry techniques

Are there different techniques?

The three main techniques are:

Torch fired enamel:

Sgraffito

Cloisonne

Karin

Share this:

Like this:

Karin

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Like this:

Karin

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Like this:

Karin

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Karin

Disclaimer: I have not received any form of compensation for statements made in this post and all opinions stated are my own!

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