Textured Earrings Giveaway

Time for another giveaway!

Follow this link to my latest Facebook giveaway: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=665007290242708&set=a.199556913454417.49815.128806170529492&type=1&theatre

 

THERE ARE 4 VARIATIONS TO CHOOSE FROM:

1.       Textured Flower Stud Earrings

2.       Textured Heart Hoop Earrings

3.       Textured Heart Earwire Earrings

4.       Textured Star Stud Earrings

 

Giveaway terms and conditions:

·         Please ‘Like’ my Facebook page (or be an existing ‘liker’)

·         Please comment below my Facebook post and tell me which is your favourite pair of earrings (‘share’ with your friends if you would be kind to but this is NOT part of the terms of this giveaway)

·         This giveaway is open to all my Facebook ‘likers’ – worldwide

·         I will put all entrants’ names into a hat and draw one winner on SUNDAY 20^TH JULY 2014 – check back on my Facebook page to see if you have been lucky to win your favourite

Pebbles and balls

Recently I have been exploring the technique of adding balls (or as I like to call them 'pebbles'!) to my jewellery designs.

I started by adding little silver balls to wire as in these Ethnic Heart Earrings:

The process of soldering the balls to the hammered wire was quite a challenge and in the end they became fixed by a mixture of soldering and fusing.  I do like the final look but realised that controlling the heat of my torch was very important to whether the balls or the wire ending up fusing together.  This technique will need more practice!

Following on from the soldering/fusing idea, I then added pebbles to a ring as in these Pebble Trio Ring:

 

And more pebbles added to this Labradorite Pendant (love this gemstone!):

 

 

On to the next challenge... I wanted to create a frame of pebbles around a gemstone.  Using labradorite again, I created this Pebble Frame Ring.  NB. The cabochon in the photo is not yet set as I decided to wait until I know the final size of the ring:

 

 

And my most recent 'pebble' adventure was to hammer the balls before adding them to a jewellery piece.  In this Aqua Chalcedony Pebble Framed Bangle, I used two different sized pebbles to create the frame around the bead:

 

 



Textured silver

I love bright smooth shiny silver ... however ... I also love textured silver which changes the way the light catches the metal. When I started learning metalworking techniques, my husband produced an old set of stamps and punches that were handmade by his grandfather...

Using one of these stamps, I can create the random pattern of my Rustic Disc collection of jewellery...

And recently I have been using another of the stamps to create the light texture on my Mini Flower jewellery...

... and my Textured Drop pendant and earrings..

Thank you Grandpa for adding a new dimension to my jewellery making!

Latest giveaway from K S Jewellery Designs

This morning I announced my latest giveaway on my Facebook page...

Would you like to win one of my Mini Flower Earrings?  Please read the terms and conditions below.
 
There are 4 variations to choose from:

1.      Mini Flower Stud Earrings (oxidised)

2.      Mini Flower Dangly Earrings (oxidised)
3.      Mini Flower Stud Earrings (shiny)
4.      Mini Flower Dangly Earrings (shiny)

Giveaway terms and conditions:

·         Please ‘Like’ my Facebook page (or be an existing ‘liker’)
·         Please comment below my Facebook post about my giveaway and tell me which is your favourite pair of earrings (‘share’ with your friends if you would be kind to but this is NOT part of the terms of this giveaway)
·         This giveaway is open to all my ‘likers’ – worldwide
·         I will put all entrants’ names into a hat and draw one winner on 9th May 2014 – check back then to see if you have been lucky to win your favourite

Playing about with wire - my favourite pastime

Recently I have been enjoying mixing wirework and metalwork techniques often referring back to some of my previous wirework designs.  Here is the outcome of playing with some wire and re-visiting the idea of wire blossoms.

Garnet Mini Blossoms Sterling Silver Earrings

And here are some wire blossoms I made out of wirework back in 2010...

  



Rings, rings and more rings...

I love wearing rings so it's probably not a surprise to hear that I love making rings too.  Over the last few months I have made lots of rings and thought I would share a few here on my blog...

STACKING RINGS

 

Kyanite gemstone ring between two gently textured rings

Amethyst cabochon within a textured circle

Opal triplet cabochon within a textured circle (oxidised for detail) - so many colours in this cabochon!

 

 

SPINNER RINGS

 

 

My first ever spinner ring (thanks to a very informative video by the wonderful Soham Harrison)

Hugs and Kisses Ring - this was a custom order for a lovely friend who is helping me to stretch my metalworking skills and develop new designs

 

 

GEMSTONE RINGS

Gorgeous labradorite - setting beads with corners is quite challenging but I was happy with the result

I love kyanite and this teardrop bead is so beautiful

Rustic Discs Collection

Over the past couple of weeks I have been creating jewellery based around the same theme.  I am naming this jewellery collection 'Rustic Discs'.

The first pieces I made with this theme were a pair of stud earrings that came about as an idea for a birthday present for my mother-in-law...

I cut out some little sterling silver discs with my trusty disc cutter and experimented with some textured stamps that my husband passed onto me that had belonged to his grandfather.  I decided I really liked the random texture created by one of the stamps and the marks it left on the metal.  I soldered on little misshaped balls (deliberately squashed and battered a bit) and earposts and put them in my tumbler.  This is when a little bit of magic seemed to happen because when the came out after an hour or so, the texture had taken on an extra sparkle (bottom photo).  I chose to oxidise them for my mother-in-law (top photo) and this gave the texture an interesting depth.

Following the earrings, I made a little Rustic Disc Pendant creating another texture on the larger disc...

 

A few days later, I created a necklace and another pendant.  I love the way the light catches on the texture and the doming of the discs seems to help the light to bounce around...

The necklace sold really quickly and I offered to make the customer a co-ordinating pair of earrings.  Like me, she doesn't really wear stud earrings (I have wonky holes!), so I offered to create a pair of earrings with earwires...



Another addition to my collection is a stacking ring which can be worn alone or alongside other rings...

I am currently pondering a Rustic Disc bracelet or bangle... watch this space!  In the meantime, if you would like to see further details about any of the jewellery in my Rustic Disc collection, you can find them in my website shop, my Etsy shop or my Folksy shop.

K S Jewellery Designs Giveaway - Leaf Drop Pendant

To celebrate having 600 likers of my Facebook page, I decided to hold another giveaway giving entrants a chance to win one of these three Leaf Drop Pendants.

Head over to my Facebook page here to enter before 31st March 2014:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=604659752944129&set=a.199556913454417.49815.128806170529492&type=1&theater