Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Fine Silver + Topaz Pendat (Wirework + Metalsmithing + Art Clay) | Go to post ➜
Hello! ♥
Been a very very long while as life is super busy, but I just had time to make a quick pendant. First one in fine silver, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out though it broke halfway and ended up a bit different from what I'd planned. Posting some process shots since I don't think I'll have time to take proper pics anytime soon..
Bits and pieces - The frame for the stone was made from Art Clay Silver (which fires to 999 fine silver). Wire pieces, soldered and put through a rolling mill.
Soldering on the bezel & bottom pieces - the top bit broke off so I made do without
Added a bail and sulphurised it
Polished the piece and set the stone (Topaz) - I'm not totally happy with the length so I might saw off a bit.
All in all it was a pretty good practice piece, I wanted to try bezel setting a faceted fancy stone as well as try soldering fired Art Clay - which was harder than expected, sintered silver doesn't take solder well at all and needs a bit of filing to get a solid surface to solder to. I'm not happy with the workmanship on some parts, I think I got a little sloppy and could have planned it all out a bit better. Hopefully I'll have time to try again soon :) Cheers until then!
♥ Jasmyn
Labels: handmade, making of, metal clay, sodacrush, tutorial, wire wrapped
7:14 AM
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Fine Silver + Topaz Pendat (Wirework + Metalsmithing + Art Clay) | Go to post ➜
Hello! ♥
Been a very very long while as life is super busy, but I just had time to make a quick pendant. First one in fine silver, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out though it broke halfway and ended up a bit different from what I'd planned. Posting some process shots since I don't think I'll have time to take proper pics anytime soon..
♥ Jasmyn
Been a very very long while as life is super busy, but I just had time to make a quick pendant. First one in fine silver, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out though it broke halfway and ended up a bit different from what I'd planned. Posting some process shots since I don't think I'll have time to take proper pics anytime soon..
Bits and pieces - The frame for the stone was made from Art Clay Silver (which fires to 999 fine silver). Wire pieces, soldered and put through a rolling mill.
Soldering on the bezel & bottom pieces - the top bit broke off so I made do without
Added a bail and sulphurised it
Polished the piece and set the stone (Topaz) - I'm not totally happy with the length so I might saw off a bit.
All in all it was a pretty good practice piece, I wanted to try bezel setting a faceted fancy stone as well as try soldering fired Art Clay - which was harder than expected, sintered silver doesn't take solder well at all and needs a bit of filing to get a solid surface to solder to. I'm not happy with the workmanship on some parts, I think I got a little sloppy and could have planned it all out a bit better. Hopefully I'll have time to try again soon :) Cheers until then!
Labels: handmade, making of, metal clay, sodacrush, tutorial, wire wrapped
7:14 AM
Friday, February 15, 2013
Pendants~ | Go to post ➜
Hello ♥
Chinese New Year was last weekend and it was terribly hectic, and school is heating up too OTL so I'm sorry, this is a spam post of everything I've been up to for the last few weeks. Warning: pic heavy post coming up!
So I made these two pendants (one red jade, the other with Swarovskis). No detail or making shots because I'm not particularly fond of either and they were so frustrating. Although - I really, really love the colours in the yellow one. I found this colour of Swarovski called 'sunflower' - I have never fallen in love with a colour that fast in my life, it's so lovely ♥♥♥ (it's the bright yellow diamond shaped drops.) Bonus shot of my pretty jewel box :) I bought a tumbler so I put all of them in for a spin and they come out so lovely and bright ♥
And then the next pendant - Nausikaa. I wanted to try out mini bezels (the small round one is 8mm) and it was tricky to solder and set, but I really love this piece! Especially since it's the first one to benefit from the new tumbler so you can really see the smooth chocolaty colour of oxidised copper ♥ Oh, and I used balled wire ends for the first time. It's really frustrating trying to get them equal so the piece will be symmetrical. OTL
And below is the making of. I realise most of my process shots start off with the base frame.. actually by that time, hours and hours could have gone into making just the frame alone OTL. This stone has such lovely flash, only it has a black mark in the centre so it's not so perfect. I think it looks cute though, like a beauty mark ;)
And the next one, Laodike. Super challenging, reversible pendant. Because I really love the flash on the back of the stone too much, it's blue and gold ♥ And also, experimenting with hammered+textured wire. Not sure if I like this look or the round wire with balled ends like the necklace above, hmm.
And here is the making of - not so detailed because I was grumpy and also got so caught up making it I forgot to take pics. But if you notice, the stone looks really different from the top right to the closeup pic. Cough. It was a smooth cab originally, but with small pits in the surface. And after I tossed it in the tumbler the cracks and pits got worse, so I gave up trying to polish it smooth and sanded it down to a matte texture instead. I was in a really bad mood the whole day making this because everything was going wrong and wronger, but suddenly I fell in love with the stone after I'd sanded it. OTL Matte/rough stones have a totally different look from polished ones, they seem like they're glowing and look so touchable okay I admit I spent way longer holding the stone than was necessary - it's an unhealthy obsession. And I feel so bad for thinking such things, but I want more roughed up stones like this so some of the nice ones shall be sacrificed soon...
Whew~ Okay that's all the new stuff for now, but here are some last shots of things - sketches of new designs (I want to make medallions, been thinking and thinking of how - because I'm utterly terrible at symmetry, I think having to make 4-6 identical little things is absolute torture.) And also, some pretty packaging for stuff I'm sending out tomorrow. I'm still in love with paper doilies + chiffon ribbon ♥
Til next time! :)
♥JasmynLabels: handmade, labradorite, making of, packaging, pendant, sodacrush, wire wrapped
10:34 AM
Friday, February 15, 2013
Pendants~ | Go to post ➜
Hello ♥
Chinese New Year was last weekend and it was terribly hectic, and school is heating up too OTL so I'm sorry, this is a spam post of everything I've been up to for the last few weeks. Warning: pic heavy post coming up!
So I made these two pendants (one red jade, the other with Swarovskis). No detail or making shots because I'm not particularly fond of either and they were so frustrating. Although - I really, really love the colours in the yellow one. I found this colour of Swarovski called 'sunflower' - I have never fallen in love with a colour that fast in my life, it's so lovely ♥♥♥ (it's the bright yellow diamond shaped drops.) Bonus shot of my pretty jewel box :) I bought a tumbler so I put all of them in for a spin and they come out so lovely and bright ♥
And then the next pendant - Nausikaa. I wanted to try out mini bezels (the small round one is 8mm) and it was tricky to solder and set, but I really love this piece! Especially since it's the first one to benefit from the new tumbler so you can really see the smooth chocolaty colour of oxidised copper ♥ Oh, and I used balled wire ends for the first time. It's really frustrating trying to get them equal so the piece will be symmetrical. OTL
And below is the making of. I realise most of my process shots start off with the base frame.. actually by that time, hours and hours could have gone into making just the frame alone OTL. This stone has such lovely flash, only it has a black mark in the centre so it's not so perfect. I think it looks cute though, like a beauty mark ;)
And the next one, Laodike. Super challenging, reversible pendant. Because I really love the flash on the back of the stone too much, it's blue and gold ♥ And also, experimenting with hammered+textured wire. Not sure if I like this look or the round wire with balled ends like the necklace above, hmm.
And here is the making of - not so detailed because I was grumpy and also got so caught up making it I forgot to take pics. But if you notice, the stone looks really different from the top right to the closeup pic. Cough. It was a smooth cab originally, but with small pits in the surface. And after I tossed it in the tumbler the cracks and pits got worse, so I gave up trying to polish it smooth and sanded it down to a matte texture instead. I was in a really bad mood the whole day making this because everything was going wrong and wronger, but suddenly I fell in love with the stone after I'd sanded it. OTL Matte/rough stones have a totally different look from polished ones, they seem like they're glowing and look so touchable okay I admit I spent way longer holding the stone than was necessary - it's an unhealthy obsession. And I feel so bad for thinking such things, but I want more roughed up stones like this so some of the nice ones shall be sacrificed soon...
Whew~ Okay that's all the new stuff for now, but here are some last shots of things - sketches of new designs (I want to make medallions, been thinking and thinking of how - because I'm utterly terrible at symmetry, I think having to make 4-6 identical little things is absolute torture.) And also, some pretty packaging for stuff I'm sending out tomorrow. I'm still in love with paper doilies + chiffon ribbon ♥
Til next time! :)
♥Jasmyn
Chinese New Year was last weekend and it was terribly hectic, and school is heating up too OTL so I'm sorry, this is a spam post of everything I've been up to for the last few weeks. Warning: pic heavy post coming up!
So I made these two pendants (one red jade, the other with Swarovskis). No detail or making shots because I'm not particularly fond of either and they were so frustrating. Although - I really, really love the colours in the yellow one. I found this colour of Swarovski called 'sunflower' - I have never fallen in love with a colour that fast in my life, it's so lovely ♥♥♥ (it's the bright yellow diamond shaped drops.) Bonus shot of my pretty jewel box :) I bought a tumbler so I put all of them in for a spin and they come out so lovely and bright ♥
And then the next pendant - Nausikaa. I wanted to try out mini bezels (the small round one is 8mm) and it was tricky to solder and set, but I really love this piece! Especially since it's the first one to benefit from the new tumbler so you can really see the smooth chocolaty colour of oxidised copper ♥ Oh, and I used balled wire ends for the first time. It's really frustrating trying to get them equal so the piece will be symmetrical. OTL
And below is the making of. I realise most of my process shots start off with the base frame.. actually by that time, hours and hours could have gone into making just the frame alone OTL. This stone has such lovely flash, only it has a black mark in the centre so it's not so perfect. I think it looks cute though, like a beauty mark ;)
And the next one, Laodike. Super challenging, reversible pendant. Because I really love the flash on the back of the stone too much, it's blue and gold ♥ And also, experimenting with hammered+textured wire. Not sure if I like this look or the round wire with balled ends like the necklace above, hmm.
And here is the making of - not so detailed because I was grumpy and also got so caught up making it I forgot to take pics. But if you notice, the stone looks really different from the top right to the closeup pic. Cough. It was a smooth cab originally, but with small pits in the surface. And after I tossed it in the tumbler the cracks and pits got worse, so I gave up trying to polish it smooth and sanded it down to a matte texture instead. I was in a really bad mood the whole day making this because everything was going wrong and wronger, but suddenly I fell in love with the stone after I'd sanded it. OTL Matte/rough stones have a totally different look from polished ones, they seem like they're glowing and look so touchable okay I admit I spent way longer holding the stone than was necessary - it's an unhealthy obsession. And I feel so bad for thinking such things, but I want more roughed up stones like this so some of the nice ones shall be sacrificed soon...
Whew~ Okay that's all the new stuff for now, but here are some last shots of things - sketches of new designs (I want to make medallions, been thinking and thinking of how - because I'm utterly terrible at symmetry, I think having to make 4-6 identical little things is absolute torture.) And also, some pretty packaging for stuff I'm sending out tomorrow. I'm still in love with paper doilies + chiffon ribbon ♥
♥Jasmyn
Labels: handmade, labradorite, making of, packaging, pendant, sodacrush, wire wrapped
10:34 AM
Monday, January 28, 2013
Lanhua Pendant - Making of | Go to post ➜
Hello ♥
I try my best to blog about what I make BEFORE posting them on DA, it helps to clear my mind. And to distract me from the fact that I really should be working on the slowly growing pile of schoolwork that's being neglected. Anyway, this is the latest piece made, Lanhua:
It's a name chosen by my mother, it's a chinese name for flowers like orchids. And here are the working shots -
Somehow, things always get complicated when I try to plan. The original frame didn't work out so I changed it, and halfway through I decided to use a teardrop stone instead. (More painful bezel setting practice, huehue. It's such a failure.) I think I might buy bezel wire soon. Rolling it out from round wire, it's hard to get straight and even and thin bezels.
This piece was made to learn how to do the swirl designs, my mother calls them 'tadpole ends'. And it was inspired by lanterns. Chinese New Year is coming, there are lots and lots of lovely lanterns all over the place with cute little tassels below ♥ But in my dorm lobby there are giant pineapples instead OTL. Anyway. I get so excited looking at the decorations, putting up lanterns and peonies in my house ♥ And then I found a string of rutilated quartz I bought a long time ago, the black slashes against white stone remind me of calligraphy and ink paintings. (I wanted to use a rutilated/dendritic quartz or carnelian for the focal stone, but I don't have either so it's back to clearing the labradorite stash.) I think it would have looked nice with a red stone, red is a lucky colour for this time of the year~
And also, I'm trying to make neater open back bezels and frames-
I think I did quite well on this :) Doesn't hurt that the stone has lovely flash behind! I'm really happy with the swirls and the tassel, I think they look really pretty, so I want to make more pieces like this. If only the darn chains weren't so hard to photograph! And, wondering about how it would look in silver -
Blue stones really do look much brighter in silver. Copper is warm and lovely, but silver is so ethereal ♥. (The problem is, I don't want to indulge in making silver things unless I'm going to to sell them because I spend too much money. But I don't want to sell them because they are too precious. But I want to buy silver.) I think probably I will hoard them for a little while yet, before opening shop.
♥ JasmynLabels: handmade, making of, sodacrush, wire wrapped
8:21 PM
Monday, January 28, 2013
Lanhua Pendant - Making of | Go to post ➜
Hello ♥
I try my best to blog about what I make BEFORE posting them on DA, it helps to clear my mind. And to distract me from the fact that I really should be working on the slowly growing pile of schoolwork that's being neglected. Anyway, this is the latest piece made, Lanhua:
It's a name chosen by my mother, it's a chinese name for flowers like orchids. And here are the working shots -
Somehow, things always get complicated when I try to plan. The original frame didn't work out so I changed it, and halfway through I decided to use a teardrop stone instead. (More painful bezel setting practice, huehue. It's such a failure.) I think I might buy bezel wire soon. Rolling it out from round wire, it's hard to get straight and even and thin bezels.
This piece was made to learn how to do the swirl designs, my mother calls them 'tadpole ends'. And it was inspired by lanterns. Chinese New Year is coming, there are lots and lots of lovely lanterns all over the place with cute little tassels below ♥ But in my dorm lobby there are giant pineapples instead OTL. Anyway. I get so excited looking at the decorations, putting up lanterns and peonies in my house ♥ And then I found a string of rutilated quartz I bought a long time ago, the black slashes against white stone remind me of calligraphy and ink paintings. (I wanted to use a rutilated/dendritic quartz or carnelian for the focal stone, but I don't have either so it's back to clearing the labradorite stash.) I think it would have looked nice with a red stone, red is a lucky colour for this time of the year~
And also, I'm trying to make neater open back bezels and frames-
I think I did quite well on this :) Doesn't hurt that the stone has lovely flash behind! I'm really happy with the swirls and the tassel, I think they look really pretty, so I want to make more pieces like this. If only the darn chains weren't so hard to photograph! And, wondering about how it would look in silver -
Blue stones really do look much brighter in silver. Copper is warm and lovely, but silver is so ethereal ♥. (The problem is, I don't want to indulge in making silver things unless I'm going to to sell them because I spend too much money. But I don't want to sell them because they are too precious. But I want to buy silver.) I think probably I will hoard them for a little while yet, before opening shop.
♥ Jasmyn
I try my best to blog about what I make BEFORE posting them on DA, it helps to clear my mind. And to distract me from the fact that I really should be working on the slowly growing pile of schoolwork that's being neglected. Anyway, this is the latest piece made, Lanhua:
Somehow, things always get complicated when I try to plan. The original frame didn't work out so I changed it, and halfway through I decided to use a teardrop stone instead. (More painful bezel setting practice, huehue. It's such a failure.) I think I might buy bezel wire soon. Rolling it out from round wire, it's hard to get straight and even and thin bezels.
This piece was made to learn how to do the swirl designs, my mother calls them 'tadpole ends'. And it was inspired by lanterns. Chinese New Year is coming, there are lots and lots of lovely lanterns all over the place with cute little tassels below ♥ But in my dorm lobby there are giant pineapples instead OTL. Anyway. I get so excited looking at the decorations, putting up lanterns and peonies in my house ♥ And then I found a string of rutilated quartz I bought a long time ago, the black slashes against white stone remind me of calligraphy and ink paintings. (I wanted to use a rutilated/dendritic quartz or carnelian for the focal stone, but I don't have either so it's back to clearing the labradorite stash.) I think it would have looked nice with a red stone, red is a lucky colour for this time of the year~
And also, I'm trying to make neater open back bezels and frames-
I think I did quite well on this :) Doesn't hurt that the stone has lovely flash behind! I'm really happy with the swirls and the tassel, I think they look really pretty, so I want to make more pieces like this. If only the darn chains weren't so hard to photograph! And, wondering about how it would look in silver -
Blue stones really do look much brighter in silver. Copper is warm and lovely, but silver is so ethereal ♥. (The problem is, I don't want to indulge in making silver things unless I'm going to to sell them because I spend too much money. But I don't want to sell them because they are too precious. But I want to buy silver.) I think probably I will hoard them for a little while yet, before opening shop.
♥ Jasmyn
Labels: handmade, making of, sodacrush, wire wrapped
8:21 PM
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Laika pendant - making of | Go to post ➜
Hello ♥
Here are some process shots of the pendant I made this weekend, Laika -
The making-of went surprisingly easy, I had no sketch or plan, just trying to learn new things with each new piece I make. So this piece was made to learn how to do the flattened curved metal pieces at the side. (Stupidly enough, it first occurred to me to cut them out of sheet, which was a huge waste of time.) And also, to work on my bezel setting skills. I am bad at it, it is hard to make the rims for non-circular stones, and they are always somehow a little loose after setting.
I've actually been picking out stones from my collection which aren't the most impressive, because I feel like I'm still practising and not very good yet. The one used in this piece was a slightly lopsided oval, chipped on one end - both flaws that can be hidden with a bezel. Labradorites with this colour flash somehow don't have one "stunning" angle where the flash is strong, instead it has little clouds of colour all over the stone from every angle, and is infuriatingly hard to photograph. In bright natural light, it looks almost translucent dark grey and there is very little colour.. but indoors at my workbench (as you can see in the pics above) it has an almost black colour with flashes of bright blue. A mysterious look and lovely colour, I've been looking all over for smaller accent stones that match this brilliant blue and finally found some pretty cat's eye stones that came close enough :)
The one thing I'm annoyed by now that it's done is the fact that the cat's eye on the piece itself has a diagonal flash, while the ones on the endpiece both have a horizontal flash. I don't even know why I'm so annoyed. Maybe because I really like symmetry and so having just a small anomaly like that frustrates me. Should have checked the stone instead of just picking the first one off the strand! =/ That, and it's also diagonal in the opposite direction of the inclusions in the main stone. OTL
(It's really obvious, I can't un-see it after noticing.)
But I'm still happy with how it turned out, and finally got some copper chain so I could finish the whole necklace, clasp and all. Although making the endpiece isn't half as fun as making the pendant, but when the whole thing is complete it does look much lovelier.. Here's another clasp I made for the piece in the previous post:
With the little matching stone at the end it really seems more complete :)
♥Jasmyn
Labels: handmade, labradorite, making of, sodacrush, wire wrapped
1:03 AM
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Laika pendant - making of | Go to post ➜
Hello ♥
Here are some process shots of the pendant I made this weekend, Laika -
The making-of went surprisingly easy, I had no sketch or plan, just trying to learn new things with each new piece I make. So this piece was made to learn how to do the flattened curved metal pieces at the side. (Stupidly enough, it first occurred to me to cut them out of sheet, which was a huge waste of time.) And also, to work on my bezel setting skills. I am bad at it, it is hard to make the rims for non-circular stones, and they are always somehow a little loose after setting.
I've actually been picking out stones from my collection which aren't the most impressive, because I feel like I'm still practising and not very good yet. The one used in this piece was a slightly lopsided oval, chipped on one end - both flaws that can be hidden with a bezel. Labradorites with this colour flash somehow don't have one "stunning" angle where the flash is strong, instead it has little clouds of colour all over the stone from every angle, and is infuriatingly hard to photograph. In bright natural light, it looks almost translucent dark grey and there is very little colour.. but indoors at my workbench (as you can see in the pics above) it has an almost black colour with flashes of bright blue. A mysterious look and lovely colour, I've been looking all over for smaller accent stones that match this brilliant blue and finally found some pretty cat's eye stones that came close enough :)
The one thing I'm annoyed by now that it's done is the fact that the cat's eye on the piece itself has a diagonal flash, while the ones on the endpiece both have a horizontal flash. I don't even know why I'm so annoyed. Maybe because I really like symmetry and so having just a small anomaly like that frustrates me. Should have checked the stone instead of just picking the first one off the strand! =/ That, and it's also diagonal in the opposite direction of the inclusions in the main stone. OTL
(It's really obvious, I can't un-see it after noticing.)
But I'm still happy with how it turned out, and finally got some copper chain so I could finish the whole necklace, clasp and all. Although making the endpiece isn't half as fun as making the pendant, but when the whole thing is complete it does look much lovelier.. Here's another clasp I made for the piece in the previous post:
With the little matching stone at the end it really seems more complete :)
♥Jasmyn
Here are some process shots of the pendant I made this weekend, Laika -
The making-of went surprisingly easy, I had no sketch or plan, just trying to learn new things with each new piece I make. So this piece was made to learn how to do the flattened curved metal pieces at the side. (Stupidly enough, it first occurred to me to cut them out of sheet, which was a huge waste of time.) And also, to work on my bezel setting skills. I am bad at it, it is hard to make the rims for non-circular stones, and they are always somehow a little loose after setting.
I've actually been picking out stones from my collection which aren't the most impressive, because I feel like I'm still practising and not very good yet. The one used in this piece was a slightly lopsided oval, chipped on one end - both flaws that can be hidden with a bezel. Labradorites with this colour flash somehow don't have one "stunning" angle where the flash is strong, instead it has little clouds of colour all over the stone from every angle, and is infuriatingly hard to photograph. In bright natural light, it looks almost translucent dark grey and there is very little colour.. but indoors at my workbench (as you can see in the pics above) it has an almost black colour with flashes of bright blue. A mysterious look and lovely colour, I've been looking all over for smaller accent stones that match this brilliant blue and finally found some pretty cat's eye stones that came close enough :)
The one thing I'm annoyed by now that it's done is the fact that the cat's eye on the piece itself has a diagonal flash, while the ones on the endpiece both have a horizontal flash. I don't even know why I'm so annoyed. Maybe because I really like symmetry and so having just a small anomaly like that frustrates me. Should have checked the stone instead of just picking the first one off the strand! =/ That, and it's also diagonal in the opposite direction of the inclusions in the main stone. OTL
(It's really obvious, I can't un-see it after noticing.)
But I'm still happy with how it turned out, and finally got some copper chain so I could finish the whole necklace, clasp and all. Although making the endpiece isn't half as fun as making the pendant, but when the whole thing is complete it does look much lovelier.. Here's another clasp I made for the piece in the previous post:
With the little matching stone at the end it really seems more complete :)
♥Jasmyn
Labels: handmade, labradorite, making of, sodacrush, wire wrapped
1:03 AM
Monday, January 21, 2013
Wire Wrapped Pendants + Labradorite | Go to post ➜
Hello! ♥
School has started and I'm really busy, kind of sorting things out but wanting to go home and make things all the time - it's very ironic that during the holidays I waste my life rotting in front of the computer, and only when I actually have work to do does the jewelry-making bug bite.
Ahh well. Made this one for my sister -
(I don't think it's so nice but she likes it.) And I made several terrible mistakes with this, decided to solder the frame after setting the stones and wasn't careful, so the smoky quartz briolette cracked and went clear, and the labradorite probably got more brittle because when I dropped it later it chipped. I get really angsty whenever a stone breaks, especially when it's a labradorite like this lovely one -
And I hadn't even started working/designing yet, it just arrived in the mail yesterday and I was just polishing the oil off it and it came apart in my fingers OTL Probably the internal fracture was already at breaking point. Because they have so much individuality you can't just find another one to replace it - and I'm so attached to the bright blue flash of this one, I'll probably try and design something asymmetrical just for it.
It is a sad fact that I design many many things and never get round to making them, though. This is one of the few that was actually completed -
I really, really love this stone ♥ It's even more lovely in real life, with a darker gold flash and some tiny bits of bright blue and green near the cloudlike inclusion on the left. And here are some progress shots -
It was made more with soldering practise in mind, so the base frames are more complex - maybe ~20 solder joins, all done with the same solder (unlike silver, copper solder only comes in one melting temp.) The labradorite was set in an open backed bezel, which was the simultaneous source of much pride and frustration - these stones usually have amazing flash across the flat surface of the cabochon back, and this one in particular had a gold-green-blue flash ♥ So the open-back design allows you to see the stone from behind -
One day I will design something meant to show the flat side of the cabochon instead of always hiding it behind. And I'm sorry this post has been 90% rambling about labradorite, but while we're on the subject, the new batch I ordered arrived yesterday and just looking at them makes me to happy ♥
Hopefully I have time to make more things (instead of just doodling designs in class all the time and throwing them away) :D
♥Jasmyn
Labels: handmade, labradorite, necklace, pendant, sodacrush, wire wrapped
11:56 PM
Monday, January 21, 2013
Wire Wrapped Pendants + Labradorite | Go to post ➜
Hello! ♥
School has started and I'm really busy, kind of sorting things out but wanting to go home and make things all the time - it's very ironic that during the holidays I waste my life rotting in front of the computer, and only when I actually have work to do does the jewelry-making bug bite. Ahh well. Made this one for my sister -
(I don't think it's so nice but she likes it.) And I made several terrible mistakes with this, decided to solder the frame after setting the stones and wasn't careful, so the smoky quartz briolette cracked and went clear, and the labradorite probably got more brittle because when I dropped it later it chipped. I get really angsty whenever a stone breaks, especially when it's a labradorite like this lovely one -
And I hadn't even started working/designing yet, it just arrived in the mail yesterday and I was just polishing the oil off it and it came apart in my fingers OTL Probably the internal fracture was already at breaking point. Because they have so much individuality you can't just find another one to replace it - and I'm so attached to the bright blue flash of this one, I'll probably try and design something asymmetrical just for it. It is a sad fact that I design many many things and never get round to making them, though. This is one of the few that was actually completed -
I really, really love this stone ♥ It's even more lovely in real life, with a darker gold flash and some tiny bits of bright blue and green near the cloudlike inclusion on the left. And here are some progress shots -
It was made more with soldering practise in mind, so the base frames are more complex - maybe ~20 solder joins, all done with the same solder (unlike silver, copper solder only comes in one melting temp.) The labradorite was set in an open backed bezel, which was the simultaneous source of much pride and frustration - these stones usually have amazing flash across the flat surface of the cabochon back, and this one in particular had a gold-green-blue flash ♥ So the open-back design allows you to see the stone from behind -
One day I will design something meant to show the flat side of the cabochon instead of always hiding it behind. And I'm sorry this post has been 90% rambling about labradorite, but while we're on the subject, the new batch I ordered arrived yesterday and just looking at them makes me to happy ♥
Hopefully I have time to make more things (instead of just doodling designs in class all the time and throwing them away) :D
♥Jasmyn
School has started and I'm really busy, kind of sorting things out but wanting to go home and make things all the time - it's very ironic that during the holidays I waste my life rotting in front of the computer, and only when I actually have work to do does the jewelry-making bug bite. Ahh well. Made this one for my sister -
(I don't think it's so nice but she likes it.) And I made several terrible mistakes with this, decided to solder the frame after setting the stones and wasn't careful, so the smoky quartz briolette cracked and went clear, and the labradorite probably got more brittle because when I dropped it later it chipped. I get really angsty whenever a stone breaks, especially when it's a labradorite like this lovely one -
And I hadn't even started working/designing yet, it just arrived in the mail yesterday and I was just polishing the oil off it and it came apart in my fingers OTL Probably the internal fracture was already at breaking point. Because they have so much individuality you can't just find another one to replace it - and I'm so attached to the bright blue flash of this one, I'll probably try and design something asymmetrical just for it. It is a sad fact that I design many many things and never get round to making them, though. This is one of the few that was actually completed -
I really, really love this stone ♥ It's even more lovely in real life, with a darker gold flash and some tiny bits of bright blue and green near the cloudlike inclusion on the left. And here are some progress shots -
It was made more with soldering practise in mind, so the base frames are more complex - maybe ~20 solder joins, all done with the same solder (unlike silver, copper solder only comes in one melting temp.) The labradorite was set in an open backed bezel, which was the simultaneous source of much pride and frustration - these stones usually have amazing flash across the flat surface of the cabochon back, and this one in particular had a gold-green-blue flash ♥ So the open-back design allows you to see the stone from behind -
One day I will design something meant to show the flat side of the cabochon instead of always hiding it behind. And I'm sorry this post has been 90% rambling about labradorite, but while we're on the subject, the new batch I ordered arrived yesterday and just looking at them makes me to happy ♥
Hopefully I have time to make more things (instead of just doodling designs in class all the time and throwing them away) :D
♥Jasmyn
Labels: handmade, labradorite, necklace, pendant, sodacrush, wire wrapped
11:56 PM
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Merry Christmas + Happy New Year! | Go to post ➜
Hello!
I hope everyone has been having a lovely holiday! :D I have been so so busy, catching up on the backlog of commissions and stuff from the school term (and school starts again in a couple of weeks, gosh.)
Here are some christmas things - macaroon tree, handmade gift tags, presents, nails ♥
And this is a darling little thing I made for myself during the stressful exam weeks, I really really wish I could make more of this style, but it's really time-consuming and I have so much work to finish before school starts. It's really beautiful and fulfilling (to me). But it's not really something that I can make to sell, and although it's a bit selfish sometimes I just want to make things only for myself. So it stresses me out when people want them because they are too precious to me, aha.Or, I feel like I should be working instead of indulging in selfish things and wasting money and time making things when I don't intend to sell them.
The loveliest thing so far this holidays was actually going to the aquarium (S.E.A Aquarium in Sentosa) although I live here and it's a terribly touristy place but oh, the aquarium was so utterly amazing, I was in there for hours mesmerized by the animals. Manta rays + jellyfish ♥ Planning to visit again this month ^_^
I hope 2013 brings everyone much love and happiness! ♥
♥Jasmyn Labels: DIY, handmade, wire wrapped
7:05 PM
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Merry Christmas + Happy New Year! | Go to post ➜
Hello!
I hope everyone has been having a lovely holiday! :D I have been so so busy, catching up on the backlog of commissions and stuff from the school term (and school starts again in a couple of weeks, gosh.)
Here are some christmas things - macaroon tree, handmade gift tags, presents, nails ♥
And this is a darling little thing I made for myself during the stressful exam weeks, I really really wish I could make more of this style, but it's really time-consuming and I have so much work to finish before school starts. It's really beautiful and fulfilling (to me). But it's not really something that I can make to sell, and although it's a bit selfish sometimes I just want to make things only for myself. So it stresses me out when people want them because they are too precious to me, aha.Or, I feel like I should be working instead of indulging in selfish things and wasting money and time making things when I don't intend to sell them.
The loveliest thing so far this holidays was actually going to the aquarium (S.E.A Aquarium in Sentosa) although I live here and it's a terribly touristy place but oh, the aquarium was so utterly amazing, I was in there for hours mesmerized by the animals. Manta rays + jellyfish ♥ Planning to visit again this month ^_^
I hope 2013 brings everyone much love and happiness! ♥
♥Jasmyn
I hope everyone has been having a lovely holiday! :D I have been so so busy, catching up on the backlog of commissions and stuff from the school term (and school starts again in a couple of weeks, gosh.)
The loveliest thing so far this holidays was actually going to the aquarium (S.E.A Aquarium in Sentosa) although I live here and it's a terribly touristy place but oh, the aquarium was so utterly amazing, I was in there for hours mesmerized by the animals. Manta rays + jellyfish ♥ Planning to visit again this month ^_^
I hope 2013 brings everyone much love and happiness! ♥
♥Jasmyn
Labels: DIY, handmade, wire wrapped
7:05 PM
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Etsy Shops now open! | Go to post ➜
Hello! ♥
I'm glad to announce I'm finally off hiatus and both my Etsy shops are now open!
Sodacrush: [link]
ValkyrieCouture: [link]
And all of these new designs are for sale (Click image to go to the Etsy listing):
Fullviews of the cover photos for this collection, you can see over on FB: [link]
Because I've been on hiatus for a long, long time, I have a lot of things to say so feel free to tl;dr-
I think from now on I might do collections this way instead of dumping every single picture of the item onto FB, I'll make up a set of cover pictures for every new collection. :) Although I love doing jewelry along a certain theme, I'm also wondering if it's a good idea to make 5-6 items on a certain theme when there won't be demand or interest in it. But we'll see how that goes :)
I've also (finally) gotten around to doing my my profile page on DeviantArt, so... I'm really happy with how it looks now. :D
After being buried in books for so long, it's really, really nice to
fiddle around with... everything, really, from jewelry to html. Speaking of html.. I'm currently still using the classic blogger html editor because I'm a bit of a control freak and like things exactly where I want them to be. Tried out the Template Designer and spent a few hours swearing at the ..gadgets and things before I gave up and reinstalled the old code. Ugh. It's pretty much the same situation over on DA, the system of widgets and dragging things around isn't bad, but I still think everything looks much prettier when it's customized. Not that I'm anywhere near proficient at html, I only realized today that the "follow" button on my blog hasn't been working. It's fixed now~ :D
I'm so glad school's over! Exams were tough~ I'm not even going to think about school until next semester. Unfortunately I've already been told that certain exam scripts are ready to be collected from school, so I could actually get my results now...but I really don't want to.
Anyway - as for commissions, I'm working through them already! Please be patient
with me, I have something like 15 people on the list.. I feel like I'm gasping for breath catching up with commissions until I have no time for making any new designs or even restocking my shop! ~whew~ (Not complaining, though. It's a mad rush but I love it at the same time.) Yes, commissions are still open for now. I go back to school in August, so there's a long while yet. :D Here's one of the commissions I just finished:
A lovely set in silver&black, for a wedding. Best wishes to the happy couple! If you're interested in a commission, drop me an email at sodacrush@gmail.com.
Also,
I'm probably going to do my next giveaway soon, either as a kiriban or
blog giveaway, right now the votes for both are really close.. if it stays
this way I might, uhm, do 2 giveaways? With one prize to the person who catches the pageview kiriban, and another prize to a random winner from the list of people who enter the blog giveaway. So yup, exciting things coming up. :D
♥JasmynLabels: available, commission, filigree, handmade, necklace, pendant, sold, ValkyrieCouture
5:02 AM
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Etsy Shops now open! | Go to post ➜
Hello! ♥
I'm glad to announce I'm finally off hiatus and both my Etsy shops are now open!
Sodacrush: [link]
ValkyrieCouture: [link]
And all of these new designs are for sale (Click image to go to the Etsy listing):
Fullviews of the cover photos for this collection, you can see over on FB: [link]
Because I've been on hiatus for a long, long time, I have a lot of things to say so feel free to tl;dr-
I think from now on I might do collections this way instead of dumping every single picture of the item onto FB, I'll make up a set of cover pictures for every new collection. :) Although I love doing jewelry along a certain theme, I'm also wondering if it's a good idea to make 5-6 items on a certain theme when there won't be demand or interest in it. But we'll see how that goes :)
I've also (finally) gotten around to doing my my profile page on DeviantArt, so... I'm really happy with how it looks now. :D After being buried in books for so long, it's really, really nice to fiddle around with... everything, really, from jewelry to html. Speaking of html.. I'm currently still using the classic blogger html editor because I'm a bit of a control freak and like things exactly where I want them to be. Tried out the Template Designer and spent a few hours swearing at the ..gadgets and things before I gave up and reinstalled the old code. Ugh. It's pretty much the same situation over on DA, the system of widgets and dragging things around isn't bad, but I still think everything looks much prettier when it's customized. Not that I'm anywhere near proficient at html, I only realized today that the "follow" button on my blog hasn't been working. It's fixed now~ :D
I'm so glad school's over! Exams were tough~ I'm not even going to think about school until next semester. Unfortunately I've already been told that certain exam scripts are ready to be collected from school, so I could actually get my results now...but I really don't want to.
Anyway - as for commissions, I'm working through them already! Please be patient with me, I have something like 15 people on the list.. I feel like I'm gasping for breath catching up with commissions until I have no time for making any new designs or even restocking my shop! ~whew~ (Not complaining, though. It's a mad rush but I love it at the same time.) Yes, commissions are still open for now. I go back to school in August, so there's a long while yet. :D Here's one of the commissions I just finished:
A lovely set in silver&black, for a wedding. Best wishes to the happy couple! If you're interested in a commission, drop me an email at sodacrush@gmail.com.
Also, I'm probably going to do my next giveaway soon, either as a kiriban or blog giveaway, right now the votes for both are really close.. if it stays this way I might, uhm, do 2 giveaways? With one prize to the person who catches the pageview kiriban, and another prize to a random winner from the list of people who enter the blog giveaway. So yup, exciting things coming up. :D
♥Jasmyn
I'm glad to announce I'm finally off hiatus and both my Etsy shops are now open!
Sodacrush: [link]
ValkyrieCouture: [link]
And all of these new designs are for sale (Click image to go to the Etsy listing):
Fullviews of the cover photos for this collection, you can see over on FB: [link]
Because I've been on hiatus for a long, long time, I have a lot of things to say so feel free to tl;dr-
I think from now on I might do collections this way instead of dumping every single picture of the item onto FB, I'll make up a set of cover pictures for every new collection. :) Although I love doing jewelry along a certain theme, I'm also wondering if it's a good idea to make 5-6 items on a certain theme when there won't be demand or interest in it. But we'll see how that goes :)
I've also (finally) gotten around to doing my my profile page on DeviantArt, so... I'm really happy with how it looks now. :D After being buried in books for so long, it's really, really nice to fiddle around with... everything, really, from jewelry to html. Speaking of html.. I'm currently still using the classic blogger html editor because I'm a bit of a control freak and like things exactly where I want them to be. Tried out the Template Designer and spent a few hours swearing at the ..gadgets and things before I gave up and reinstalled the old code. Ugh. It's pretty much the same situation over on DA, the system of widgets and dragging things around isn't bad, but I still think everything looks much prettier when it's customized. Not that I'm anywhere near proficient at html, I only realized today that the "follow" button on my blog hasn't been working. It's fixed now~ :D
I'm so glad school's over! Exams were tough~ I'm not even going to think about school until next semester. Unfortunately I've already been told that certain exam scripts are ready to be collected from school, so I could actually get my results now...but I really don't want to.
Anyway - as for commissions, I'm working through them already! Please be patient with me, I have something like 15 people on the list.. I feel like I'm gasping for breath catching up with commissions until I have no time for making any new designs or even restocking my shop! ~whew~ (Not complaining, though. It's a mad rush but I love it at the same time.) Yes, commissions are still open for now. I go back to school in August, so there's a long while yet. :D Here's one of the commissions I just finished:
A lovely set in silver&black, for a wedding. Best wishes to the happy couple! If you're interested in a commission, drop me an email at sodacrush@gmail.com.
Also, I'm probably going to do my next giveaway soon, either as a kiriban or blog giveaway, right now the votes for both are really close.. if it stays this way I might, uhm, do 2 giveaways? With one prize to the person who catches the pageview kiriban, and another prize to a random winner from the list of people who enter the blog giveaway. So yup, exciting things coming up. :D
♥Jasmyn
Labels: available, commission, filigree, handmade, necklace, pendant, sold, ValkyrieCouture
5:02 AM
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Workspace + Steampunk Key Necklaces | Go to post ➜
So I get questions about -studio space- and suchlike, and I never know how to reply because I barely have a desk, let alone a studio. Context: Singaporean house. I'm 19 and I don't even have my own room. Anyway. This is what my table looks like on a normal day...
Yes. This probably explains why I may or may not be flunking school this semester. And yes, that is my keyboard shoved out of the way behind the pile of pliers. So no, I have absolutely no system for organising and storing things. Mostly they end up staying in the bag/box they came in. And accumulating in dangerous piles under the table.
...To make up for that hellish mess of a picture, here are some new steampunk keys I made today :) I had a packet of beautiful blue Swarovskis lying around, and so they ended up with a blue-gold colour scheme and a sort of supernova theme.
I work with music on all the time, mostly fantastically trashy boybands or soaring instrumentals, depending on my mood. Although I listen to really anything, so the songs/lyrics that went into these are:
It's like an explosion everytime I hold you;
I wasn't joking when I told you
You take my breath away;
You're a supernova.
-Space Bound, Eminem
The Keys to the vaults of heaven
May be heavy or lighter than air
...
We've got to find the keys
The nights have been growing darker
They're darker now than sin
We'll open the vaults of heaven
The treasures are there within
-Vaults of Heaven, Andrew Lloyd Webber
...these are the ones that stuck in my head, anyway.
♥JasmynLabels: handmade, necklace, sodacrush, WIP, wire wrapped
9:19 AM
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Workspace + Steampunk Key Necklaces | Go to post ➜
So I get questions about -studio space- and suchlike, and I never know how to reply because I barely have a desk, let alone a studio. Context: Singaporean house. I'm 19 and I don't even have my own room. Anyway. This is what my table looks like on a normal day...
Yes. This probably explains why I may or may not be flunking school this semester. And yes, that is my keyboard shoved out of the way behind the pile of pliers. So no, I have absolutely no system for organising and storing things. Mostly they end up staying in the bag/box they came in. And accumulating in dangerous piles under the table.
...To make up for that hellish mess of a picture, here are some new steampunk keys I made today :) I had a packet of beautiful blue Swarovskis lying around, and so they ended up with a blue-gold colour scheme and a sort of supernova theme.
I work with music on all the time, mostly fantastically trashy boybands or soaring instrumentals, depending on my mood. Although I listen to really anything, so the songs/lyrics that went into these are:
It's like an explosion everytime I hold you;
I wasn't joking when I told you
You take my breath away;
You're a supernova.
-Space Bound, Eminem
The Keys to the vaults of heaven
May be heavy or lighter than air
...
We've got to find the keys
The nights have been growing darker
They're darker now than sin
We'll open the vaults of heaven
The treasures are there within
-Vaults of Heaven, Andrew Lloyd Webber
...these are the ones that stuck in my head, anyway.
♥Jasmyn
Yes. This probably explains why I may or may not be flunking school this semester. And yes, that is my keyboard shoved out of the way behind the pile of pliers. So no, I have absolutely no system for organising and storing things. Mostly they end up staying in the bag/box they came in. And accumulating in dangerous piles under the table....To make up for that hellish mess of a picture, here are some new steampunk keys I made today :) I had a packet of beautiful blue Swarovskis lying around, and so they ended up with a blue-gold colour scheme and a sort of supernova theme.
I work with music on all the time, mostly fantastically trashy boybands or soaring instrumentals, depending on my mood. Although I listen to really anything, so the songs/lyrics that went into these are:
It's like an explosion everytime I hold you;
I wasn't joking when I told you
You take my breath away;
You're a supernova.
-Space Bound, Eminem
The Keys to the vaults of heaven
May be heavy or lighter than air
...
We've got to find the keys
The nights have been growing darker
They're darker now than sin
We'll open the vaults of heaven
The treasures are there within
-Vaults of Heaven, Andrew Lloyd Webber
...these are the ones that stuck in my head, anyway.
♥Jasmyn
Labels: handmade, necklace, sodacrush, WIP, wire wrapped
9:19 AM
Friday, April 1, 2011
Motivational inspirational matchbox handmade diy gift | Go to post ➜
MOTIVATIONAL MATCHBOXES.
(in 10 easy steps!)
Pretty, no? :D This is a really quick walk through of how to make these simple matchbox gifts for a friend! All you need is some imagination, and lots of love ♥
1. Start with a plain matchbox. (I made my own using this template)
2. Take a sheet of decorative paper. You can use scrapbook paper, but I decided to go simple and use a grid lined paper from a notebook.
3. Trace out the shape of your matchbox tray.
4. For this, I decided I wanted a pop-up 'STAR' to be part of the quote, so I cut two small pieces of craft foam, smaller than my sticker.
5. Mark out the placement of the quote with pencil.
6. Ink with pen, let dry. Erase pencil marks.
7. Double-sided tape, stack up and stick foam cut-outs.
8. Place sticker to complete 3D effect!
9. Cut out quote.
10. Trim to fit matchbox tray. Glue into tray.
For the cover, I just glued a strip of grid paper around the cover and put a matching star sticker on it :)
And there you have it! Quick, simple, and something meaningful that will definitely brighten up anyone's day. You can put in quotes that mean something to you and your loved one, or even tiny trinkets or mementos of a special trip.
♥JasmynLabels: DIY, handmade, matchbox, motivational, tutorial
9:21 AM
Friday, April 1, 2011
Motivational inspirational matchbox handmade diy gift | Go to post ➜
MOTIVATIONAL MATCHBOXES.
(in 10 easy steps!)
(in 10 easy steps!)
Pretty, no? :D This is a really quick walk through of how to make these simple matchbox gifts for a friend! All you need is some imagination, and lots of love ♥
1. Start with a plain matchbox. (I made my own using this template)
2. Take a sheet of decorative paper. You can use scrapbook paper, but I decided to go simple and use a grid lined paper from a notebook.
3. Trace out the shape of your matchbox tray.
4. For this, I decided I wanted a pop-up 'STAR' to be part of the quote, so I cut two small pieces of craft foam, smaller than my sticker.
5. Mark out the placement of the quote with pencil.
6. Ink with pen, let dry. Erase pencil marks.
7. Double-sided tape, stack up and stick foam cut-outs.
8. Place sticker to complete 3D effect!
9. Cut out quote.
10. Trim to fit matchbox tray. Glue into tray.
For the cover, I just glued a strip of grid paper around the cover and put a matching star sticker on it :)And there you have it! Quick, simple, and something meaningful that will definitely brighten up anyone's day. You can put in quotes that mean something to you and your loved one, or even tiny trinkets or mementos of a special trip.
♥Jasmyn
Labels: DIY, handmade, matchbox, motivational, tutorial
9:21 AM
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About ★
Currently on HIATUS but leaving this blog up for those who are still looking at old tutorials/process shots :) Will be back one day maybe!
About ★
Currently on HIATUS but leaving this blog up for those who are still looking at old tutorials/process shots :) Will be back one day maybe!