A Sable Silver'd: A Ship Shape Stone Setting

Hello all :)

The sun is shining here in Cambridge and I'm in particularly high spirits. The weekend started with myself and Mr S baking an amazing and glorious chocolate creation (see here!) courtesy of the one and only Nigel Slater. I tweeted about this and to my great excitement got a reply from Mr Slater himself :)

Following this initial success I have just spent an immensely pleasurable hour on the phone to a very dear friend who is getting married in a couple of months, and for whom I have just offered some wedding related silversmithing services. Whether or not they are taken up, this has given me a warm glow and delicious little moment of excitement!

As I'm on a roll I thought it was about time to get back on to actual honest to goodness jewellery blogging! We're on a journey back in time and taking a peek at my very first ever attempt at stone setting.


Being a glutton for punishment I chose to ignore kindly advice suggesting that the simplest way to start might be a round cabochon (what a fool I was!) and headed straight into the more tricky waters of a tear drop shaped stone. You might have gathered by now that I am not the speediest jeweller out there. I'm not holding back on sharing new things out of shyness, I'm a perfectionist, I take my time and make sure that what I'm doing with my expensive metals works out right. This was no exception!


I decided to go for shapes that I found soft, tactile and pleasing, choosing a chunky round wire to make the band. The stone would be elevated and rounded and something about the setting makes me think - ship shape! When I was making the bezel there was a moment when it looked very much like a tiny silver avocado which was quite amusing. Might have to revisit that idea someday.

I can't pretend that I am a natural to stone setting. It's rather a technical skill and I'm not disposed to calling myself a technical person.

Nonetheless, I got there in the end and am really rather pleased with how it turned out. As stone setting is a great way to add colour to metal work and there are some very beautiful gems out there I have and will persevere!

Signing off so that I can continue basking in the loveliness - seeing a friend for afternoon tea and then tomorrow... I'm doing an enamelling workshop at London Jewellery School!!! Very excited. Will of course be reporting back with a hammer and pickle review with the full low down. More opportunities for infusing some colour into my work. Woop!

What are you guys up to this weekend? Any workshops? Any projects? Hope the sun is shining!

SSx

A Sable Silver'd: Sweet Little Bunny Pendant...

It's been quite the couple of weeks at Silversmith HQ with some major ups and downs, of which I will definitely be sharing more soon! But for now, a little tale about how a local market on a bitterly cold day lead to a love of piercework (sawing silver).

I work in central Cambridge and can stroll past beautiful college buildings during my lunch break within seconds. However, having grown up in the area, this all whizzes by unnoticed most days as I dash out for lunch or a last minute chore.

One day when I was taking the time to enjoy my enviable environs I decided to venture into the Cambridge Art and Craft Market. The day was wintry and the stalls were few. Amongst them was a young girl, surely freezing her fingers off, selling a colourful array of jewellery - I had to take a peek.

To my delight I found this little beauty...

Orange and bird themed! Hurray! So, this little friend (I called the bird Nigel) came with me on one of my early jewellery classes at White House Arts. My tutor suggested making a silver version, to learn the piercework technique, which seemed like a good idea, were it not for my compulsion not to plagiarise, copy or pilfer the works of others. I'm very morally upstanding in that way ;)

But, the seed had been sown and I pondered how to make my own little lovely pendant. From birds to... bunnies...

I have a great affection for my bunny, although unlike Nigel, he didn't get named. A number of people asked if this is the work of an excellent local jeweller who specialises in sawing metal - The Hairy Growler. I take this as a great compliment! But do confirm that it's my own, because as you know that's  very important.

Anyone else had a great flash of inspiration when they've taken things more slowly, or when venturing out to a wintry market stall?

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.