July Themed Competition 2013

[Ada]

Thank you Carole; if I can develop a smidgen of the skill shown by people like you and George I'll be delighted.

I didn't have an end product in mind when I made this as it just evolved along the way, so it has been waiting for a few weeks for a "destination". I have decided to make it the lid of a jewellery box, essentially for my earrings. That will give me a few more challenges!

[nammie]

Tardy as ever but this time I'm blaming technical issues.

I'm not sure where these little guys originate but my guess is that its somewhere tropical. I did try to photograph them au naturel in a tree but they just wouldn't stay still!

They are anodised aluminium, coloured, sealed, cut and domed slightly. They wings are rivetted on with Reflections silver wire to match the ear wires and little feet (which I may have sworn a couple of times as I soldered, sorry Mum)



Nammie

[caroleallen]

They're cute. Do you solder next to the aluminium?

[karens]

Thanks for the kind comments Kim, George and Carole. And yes, its definitely a banana leaf!

Love the butterfly Ada and the birds are very cute too Nammie.

Karen

[nammie]

Hi Carole,

No soldering done near the aluminum. I soldered the toes on to the rest of the foot and bent them into shape. They got their toenails trimmed before a spell in the tumbler. Once they are ready the loop at the top of the leg goes through a hole in the body. Hope that makes sense!

Nammie

[Dennis]

The shiny legs lift the whole thing though and no pinpricks due to pointy needles.

[mikethejeweller]

Some nice entries this month, I love the anodised birds, never tried this technique before, may be worth investigating

[nammie]

I have to say I enjoy working with aluminium although I get some very funny looks at the silversmithing evening class when I produce a kilo of wire and they mistake it for silver! it has its limitations but being able to add colour makes up for them. plus it forced me to persevere with rivets.

Dennis, I did consider legless birds but decided they definitely needed their little tootsies!

Nammie

[Dennis]

Dennis, I did consider legless birds Nammie

Well just don't wear them on pub nights. ;-)

[Jenny M]

Hello Everyone,

I would like to introduce myself - my name is Jenny Morrison and I will be running the forum competition and any queries that you have regarding the forum competition moving forward. Apologies for the delay in announcing the winner of the July themed competition, this is due to the summer holidays and staff changes.

Thank you everyone for all of the entries we have received this month. We have really enjoyed everyone’s interpretation of the ‘Tropical’ theme and the judging this month has been extremely close.

Congratulations to Tom McDowell, we absolutely adore your tropical tree frog brooch! We love the quirky design and how well it fits the tropical theme in both its use of bright colour and subject matter. Please email jennifer.morrison@cooksongold.com to claim your £100 shopping spree.

We’ve just launched our new competition - we look forward to seeing your design entries!