The JOY of making for friends :)

Q: What's better than making silver jewellery?

A: Making silver jewellery for loved ones

True story! 

One of my dearest and most utterly fabulous friends has just got married. It was a beautiful and sunny day, the venue decked out in a host of vibrant daffodils and ranunculus. The bride was breathtaking in an elegant gown and pin curled hair. The moment she walked in the room brought a tear to my eye. The groom had a big green van and was presented with a welcome to the family sausage hanging device! Everyone joined in a rousing rendition of 'Fly Me to the Moon'. Guests enjoyed games on the lawn after the ceremony, a gourmet picnic dinner and a whole lot of dancing :) 

And I need to obtain the recipe for the chocolate mousse!

But the best bit?

I made a wedding band for my friend :) 

I even got the size right! ;)

I haven't got pictures of the actual ring, which is currently enjoying all the surprises of being on honeymoon and newly married life. Perhaps the bride or her super talented photographer sister will oblige us with a couple of pictures in due course...?!

Meanwhile I can share a couple of pictures of the prototype which is very similar - a fine hammered d wire band...

I can't recommend making something so special highly enough. Made with love. A joy and a privilege!

SSx

ps. See here for the crazy fun times we had on the hen do! ;)

pps. Any of you guys have any silversmith love stories to share?! 

The Bench of Opportunity

As the air turns chill and crisp, the leaves slide from green into yellow, red orange and brown (then fall off!) new life begins in classrooms everywhere. New scholarly life with new pencil cases, new ideas and in my case a very special new item. It is my pleasure to introduce and share the love of my very own new jewellery bench.

The bench is an amazing surprise that my wonderful husband, Mr Silversmith, organised for my birthday. On that weekend we headed off to Paris and enjoyed strolling along the boulevards, eating some wonderful French food and taking in the scenery. When we got back I was invited to accompany Mr S to our shed on the auspices of procuring some ice cream. Slightly baffled by this formal request (particularly as it was rather late and we had already eaten heartily) I consented. When I opened the door, this beautiful lovingly beribboned object was awaiting me...

Readers, I was lost for words! The picture says it all though. Mr S and I have spruced our shed up a little - clearing out some of ye olde detritus so there's more room and given it a splash of paint. We've installed a little heater so that I can make good use of it in the winter.

I christened the bench a couple of weeks ago in preparation for my new term of classes and had such a lovely and exciting couple of hours. I listened to some music, burned a candle and huddled over my work and a cup of tea. Perfection! 

I am so looking forward to kitting my studio out with tools and spending lots of time with my new bench, using new ideas and making new things :)

S.S. x

ps. and, as if that wasn't exciting enough, the new season has heralded a wonderful shiny pair of new boots! Yippee...!

Keeping it simple - sewing with *four* needles

Review. Overlocking Made Easy Workshop (September 2012), The Make Lounge, London.

This all started with one massive box. A box full of excitement and promise. A very large Christmas present from my parents, which left me completely flummoxed. What on earth could it be? Large square and heavy. Not lively enough to be either a puppy or a pony ;)

Come the hour of unveiling when the shiny paper is torn away it was revealed to be... an overlocker!

That's right folks, one of those super sewing machines with not one, but 4 needles! Something very handy for making wonderfully strong seams or even rolling hems, but which requires rather a lot of threading, and a tad more understanding of its' ways than I was privy...

 

And so, I am sorry to say, my beautiful new toy sat in its box. For month on month, staring reproachfully at me from the corner of my kitchen. Its plight, and my guilt unaided by my priority of the metal arts. But, I knew a time would come when all this would change!

Not only would it change, but I'd get another fun workshop opportunity and mother-daughter bonding day into the bargain. Hurray!

So, this Saturday gone, Mama Silversmith and myself hopped on a train in the glorious sunshine, enjoyed watching the countryside roll by and headed down to London town for the 'Overlocking Made Easy' course at The Make Lounge. The tutor, Fiona Clarke, was absolutely fabulous - really friendly and very relaxed, which is a must when dealing with 8 overlocker beginners wrangling with needle and thread left, right and centre. The workshop was, as its name suggests, kept very simple. Whilst it imparted some invaluable practical knowledge about using the machine, the goal of getting to grips was very manageable and incredibly focused. The point was to learn how to thread the needles (tick!), what the settings were for and how to employ them / test them (tick!) and how to undertake a couple of the basic stitches and uses (tick!). Although we weren't making a finished item it was compulsive and enjoyable just sitting and playing.

Everything we needed was ready to hand! We worked with three fabric samples - a cotton, a stretch fabric and a lightweight organza. Using these we put together worksheets with our finished stitches and notes on which settings were used.

When we finished I was very happy with my foray into overlocking and felt rather excited about possibilities of making with it in the future. We were both so inspired by it that we headed straight off to Islington's rather lovely teeny sewing shop Ray Stitch to drool over fabrics, haberdashery and patterns!

Hammer & Pickle ratings:

Value - 5/5: Very well worth it if you have access to or own an overlocker but are bamboozled by the mammoth technical guide and like to be shown how to by a real life, very friendly, person.

Vibes - 5/5: Good vibes on a sunny saturday afternoon in Islington where people have come together to craft and there's tea and biccies on hand (it's the small things).

Pickle rating - 2/5: I was very lucky and obviously paying more attention than usual - managed to get through the majority of samples smoothly. Almost threaded one part incorrectly, but this was spotted almost instantly by the beady eye of Fiona :). Mama Silversmith had one or two more serious tanglings, which is a risk, but worth encountering since there's an expert on hand to set things right! 

Oh, the fun we shall have! Anyone know of any good starter overlocker projects?!

One White House and Two Silver Rings!

Review. Silver Ring Making Day (led by Francesca Biggar), January 2010, WhiteHouse Arts, Cambridge

Thinking back to this particular Saturday over two years ago is this very moment giving me a fluttery happy feeling inside! I vividly recall calling J at the end of my day, arranging to meet at the Green Dragon and enthusing, possibly somewhat dementedly, about what an exciting time I’d had, what I’d learned and what I’d made. Warning: this is not going to be an objective review!

Following my aforementioned printmaking misadventure I stumbled across a local venue running a range of art courses. A large white building, passed many a time with no notion of all of the fun that could be had inside. Located opposite a towpath on the river Cam. I had been running past it, literally, for years. All of that was about to change. Something shiny had caught my eye – silver jewellery making.

With no room on the regular evening courses, I leapt at the chance to try my hand at a one-day workshop in ring making. This one day completely changed me. I was confronted with all sorts of very industrial tools – saws, hammers, blowtorches! My father might happily inform anyone who cared to listen how reluctant I had been to any of his approaches towards teaching me some practical skills with similar implements. But… when the end result meant getting to own and wear shiny silver hand made jewellery, it was a different story altogether.

The studio was big, light, airy and well stocked with a multitude of those mysterious tools. The group were friendly, tea and biscuits were at arms reach in the studio and the owner of the house, Caroline had kindly cooked soup which we enjoyed together at lunch time. The lovely tutor, Francesca, organized the day really well. She gave great instructions that even complete newcomers such as myself could take on board and managed to get round to help out with queries or wobbles. 

There was a great sense of completion for everyone as we all managed to make at least one, if not two (!) rings. Mine were simple bands, one using square wire with a leaf texture and one hammered d shaped wire. Sizing was unpredictable to say the least. (I insisted on wearing the hammered one thereafter despite its gapingly large size and managed to lose it for several weeks in the interior of my parents car. Eventually my insistence about the price of silver and its sentimental value encouraged my brother to fish it out (thanks John!)). But  - the main thing - they were discernibly rings, they were wearable, they were shiny and polished. They were the best thing since sliced bread as far as I was concerned.

There would be more silversmithing!

Hammer and Pickle ratings:

Value – 5/5 Hammers: The workshop was amazing value for the level of tuition and amount of equipment provided. Rings are a good starting point budget wise due to their size. The price of silver has rocketed up significantly in the last couple of years though and overall it is an expensive hobby (oops!).

Vibes - 5/5 Hammers: Lovely! Friendly, informal, focussed enough to ignore the tea and biscuits. Most of the time.

Pickle rating – 2/5 Pickles: Despite my enthusiasm, this wasn’t the easiest craft I’ve tried to master. That’s probably what I like about it – the challenge. I don’t clearly remember my pickles, but do remember needing Francesca’s help a good few times. And, on this day I did inflict my worst jeweller’s injury to date – I cut my hand with the piercing saw. Something to avoid. This really stung.