November Themed Competition

[Wallace]

lovely entries, and support pictures.

Of all the techniques I have learned so far, I think soldering is my favourite. Seconded by stone setting.. But going back to basics, on the settings. I have put together a some offcuts using sweat soldering and but joints. Texturing the flat wings using a brilliant Fretz Goldsmiths' hammer (that is a thing of beauty). This is a continuation of my wings stage.. will probably get over it after the festive season ahead!

I like when you cannot see the solder on a piece. In my earlier practice days, I have spent many an hour tidying up, before learning that less solder will work. Start with hard and go through to easy at the last stage. Hard solder pits the least and is great to work with. The wings are textured and there is only a polish on them, same with the connecting stem and stone mounts. Again I have had to scale back on setting of stone things due to on going numbness and tingling since trapping a nerve, but happy with the result.This almost seemed too easy to make as it all flowed (no pun intended) how I wanted it to go. Having the little smith torch has been such a bonus as it is so light weight, Cookies would benefit greatly from selling this wee beastie for sure.

So then, here is my piece. Good Luck on the entries everyone. Love everything posted, you are such an amazingly artistic load of peeps.

Attachment 5381

[sue cybersilver]

Hi, my favourite technique is etching. The more I experiment with it, the more intricate my designs get, and I really want to see how far I can take it. I love it

[Wallace]

you seem very accomplished Sue, a very lovely piece indeed. Welcome to Cookies btw, I see you haven't given us a formal chance to welcome you.

[Sandra]

Oh love the texture on those wings Wallace! And the etching is beautiful - did you freehand the design with etch resist pens? I'm playing with etching right now too and love it but not quite as good just yet....

[MeadMoon]

Beautiful wings, Wallace, and I love the way that you've used the gems.

That hare is gorgeous, Sue. The etching is much cleaner that I've ever managed to get. Do you have a website?

[medusa]

yet more lovely entries this month! wish I was in my work shop instead of trying to avoid working in the office!

[sue cybersilver]

Hi, thank you for the comments. I have only just started using the forum Wallace, so thank you for the welcome

[Wallace]

Hi, thank you for the comments. I have only just started using the forum Wallace, so thank you for the welcome

not wanting to hog the wrong thread, but glad to have you about. Hope you can share some of your etching experience, your FB page is full of fab work.

Thanks for the lovely comments peeps xx

[LydiaNiz]

lovely work!

[Icarleug]

Hello everyone!

I am here with a surprise entry from me. Well, at least I am surprised.
Actually I looked at the thread in the beginning of the month and thought it was a perfect challenge for me to make an entry.

My favorite technique is filigree. I love the delicate scrolls, the intricate patterns and the complexity of the finished piece.
Consisting of a lot of elements it is a challenge to the mind as well as the eye and coordination.

A bit about my entry, and the surprise part:
This is a heart pendant, 25 mm high and 25 mm wide made of sterling silver. Everything is soldered with hard silver solder.
The frame is made of 1 mm round wire, flattened in a pasta roller. The filigree wire was drawn from 1 mm round wire down to .35 mm and three strands were wound together and then flattened (by the same pasta roller).
I also soldered a jump ring out of the frame material (the flattened wire) so the heart could be worn in a necklace.

And... ...it actually is my first ever piece of jewelry (I don't count the scrap copper ones)!
Yep, I am quite proud that I managed to pull it out of the hat, though there was a bit of swearing sometimes (mostly when things went *sploonge* and ended up all out of place in my workspace). The sketch was... not looking like the finished piece... I was also quite nervous when soldering (first time on silver), and probably made every mistake I could except melting it into a puddle (turns out small torches isn't really good for big pieces, so I had to get a bigger one).
All in all I spent a good 20 hours or so on it, so I am quite relieved that it turned out nice, though I see a lot of things that I could improve.
Now on to something challenging.

Oh, and pictures of course!



/Andreas