SALE 25% OFF Ready To Ship Items

I'm having a BIG sale in my website shop of 25% off most of my 'ready to ship' items.  These can be purchased and delivered before Christmas.

Last posting to UK is Friday 20th December.
Last posting to USA/Canada and Europe is tomorrow, Friday 13th December.

A couple of rings

This week I have mainly been busy with custom Christmas orders however in between I have finished a couple of rings...

If you like your rings to be a bit more substantial then this wide band London blue topaz ring might be the ring for you. Available as a 'made to order' item (£55).  NB. The ring in the photo is also for sale and is 'ready to send'... it is UK size O or US size 7.

London Blue Topaz Sterling Silver Ring

 

This rainbow moonstone ring is quite a 'statement' ring and features a beautiful teardrop cabochon with lots of colour flashes.  It is also is available as a 'made to order' item (£45). HOWEVER the ring in the photo is also for sale and is 'ready to send'... it is UK size M1/2 or US size 6.25.

Rainbow Moonstone Sterling Silver Teardrop Ring



Obsession with flowers

For five years as a wirework jewellery maker, I endeavoured to find lots of different ways to include flowers into my designs.  This obsession has carried through to my metalwork jewellery.

Peridot Sterling Silver Rustic Flower Stud Earrings

My flower designs are invariably simplistic and certainly not anatomically correct, however, the shapes and curves within flowers call out to me.  A few years ago my garden was blooming with lots of different flowers I had grown from seed now I make them instead!

A collection of my recent flower jewellery with flowers hand sawn from sterling silver sheet

Free Tutorial - Hammered Hearts

I've been having an up and down week in the world of K S Jewellery Designs... long story! However, here's something good just for you... you can get my new wirework tutorial for FREE!

I have just finished writing a new mini wirework tutorial entitled 'Hammered Hearts' following a request from a customer for instructions on my design. I have put it up for sale in my website shop for £2.00... HOWEVER... for a limited time only (until 15th November 2013) I will e-mail it FREE to anyone who contacts me via my website www.ksjewellerydesigns.co.uk (using the 'contact me' link).

 

 

Texture and shade

My house has been smelling of rotten eggs recently! My kids keep moaning at me!  I have been exploring texture and shade in my jewellery pieces by adding embellishments to silver sheet or hammering it with different implements and I have found the best way to show off these textures is by oxidising.  Normally I'm a lover of bright and shiny silver but for some reason I'm being drawn to the dark side!

Sterling Silver Embellished Flower Triangle Earrings

Sterling Silver Little Leaves Earrings

Both pairs of earrings are listed in my website shop, my Etsy shop and my Folksy shop.

Dark and mysterious...

I have been exploring texture and shade with these dark and mysterious flower earrings.  Pink amethyst coin beads sit below petals made from sterling silver sheet which I have sawn, shaped and textured by hand.  The earrings have been oxidised and lightly sanded to highlight the details.

Pink Amethyst Sterling Silver Flower Earrings

 



The earrings have just been listed in my website shop: http://ksjewellerydesigns.co.uk/ourshop/prod_2928089-Pink-Amethyst-Sterling-Silver-Flower-Earrings.html

Don't forget you can use the code 'blog10' until 31st Oct

to get 10% off all purchases in my Website shop

Giveaway from K S Jewellery Designs

It's been a while but I thought it was time for a giveaway and you could win your favourite from my Embellished Disc Drop Earrings.  The giveaway is on my Facebook page and please read the terms and conditions below.

Amethyst (brushed finish), Carnelian (oxidised finish) or Citrine (shiny finish)

 

Giveaway terms and conditions:

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

·         Please comment below the Facebook post about my giveaway and tell me which is your favourite pair of Embellished Disc Drop 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 at 8pm (GMT) on 31^st October 2013 – check back to my Facebook page then to see if you have been lucky to win your favourite



Gemstone Flower Earrings

I am offering these 'made to order' earrings in a range of gemstones (rhodolite garnet, garnet, amethyst, pink amethyst, iolite, swiss blue topaz and peridot). 

NB. Don't forget you can use the discount code: 'blog10' in my website shop to get 10% off until 31st October
 

Rhodolite Garnet Sterling Silver Flower Earrings

 

Choice of gemstones

(garnet, pink amethyst, iolite, amethyst, Swiss blue topaz, peridot)

 

Website: http://ksjewellerydesigns.co.uk/ourshop/prod_2896042-Gemstone-Sterling-Silver-Flower-Earrings-RANGE-OF-COLOURS.html

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/165863762/gemstone-sterling-silver-flower-earrings

Folksy: http://folksy.com/items/4656862-Gemstone-Sterling-Silver-Flower-Earrings-RANGE-OF-COLOURS-Handmade-Metalwork

Launch of my website

Exciting news from K S Jewellery Designs... I have just launched my website: http://ksjewellerydesigns.co.uk/ - please take a look, all feedback gratefully received.

Also... all Blogpost customers get 10% off all purchases (including wirework tutorials) - use this code at Checkout: blog10 (valid to 31st October)

Gemstone Rings

Recently I have been challenging myself to make rings using different techniques... 

My latest creation features a bezel set square faceted cushion cabochon.  It was really satisfying filing down the back plate to the bezel and making the join seamless (it felt a bit like magic!).

Amethyst Sterling Silver Gemstone Ring

 

I have also been making rings using a basket set faceted stone.  This is really fiddly but I found using my new ball burrs and stonesetting burrs really helped the stone sit in the setting.

Peridot Sterling Silver Gemstone Ring

 

Following a demonstration by Soham Harrison on YouTube (he is SO good!), I made another ring using a claw setting.  Again the burrs really helped and I have also bought a small table top vice which held the ring whilst I set the stone.

Citrine Sterling Silver Gemstone Ring

 

All these rings are available in my online shops (Etsy and Folksy).

Gemstone Bangle (another variation)

Another gemstone bangle... surprise, surprise, a flower design!

Amethyst Daisy Sterling Silver Bangle (£40/$64)

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/162033079/amethyst-daisy-sterling-silver-bangle?ref=shop_home_feat
Folksy: http://folksy.com/items/4449297-Amethyst-Daisy-Sterling-Silver-Bangle-Gemstone-Bracelet-Handmade-Metalwork

Gemstone Bangles

Sterling Silver Gemstone Bangles (Carnelian, Amazonite, Amethyst) 

 

At the beginning of the summer I made a bezel setting for a rainbow moonstone.  The stone was roughly square and I hadn't made a square bezel before.  Having made it, I looked at it and pondered what to turn it into... a pendant?... a ring?  Then last week I decided to make it the feature of a bangle.  I used to make bangles a long time ago with 'coiled jewels' (http://ksjewellerydesigns.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/sale-coiled-jewel-bangles.html) so decided to use a similar decorative clasp.

 Rainbow Moonstone Sterling Silver Bangle

 

I have just listed the 3 bangles above in my online shops (Etsy & Folksy).  The rainbow moonstone one is mine but I have just bought some more of these lovely stones so will be making another one very soon.

 

Rhodolite Garnet Dappled Circle Ring

Rhodolite Garnet Sterling Silver Dappled Circle Ring

Hellooooo...... I'm back from holiday and trying to get back into a jewellery making frame of mind. Here is a Rhodolite Garnet Dappled Circle Ring I made a couple of months back. I'm planning to make some more of these with different gemstones.... any suggestions?

Framed Flower Pendants

Regular followers of my blog will know how I love including flower designs in my jewellery and keep returning to this theme over and over again!  Over the years I have also created a lot of 'framed' jewellery.  I think originally I included a frame to add strength to a piece but I have grown to love the feeling of encircling shapes.  For me, it feels like a frame can 'complete' the design.  So... following those loves and principles, it seemed only natural to frame one of my flower designs.

I have started a 'Framed Flower' range of pendants and here are the first three I have created with variations of number of petals, double petals and different textures/finishes:

If you would like to see more photos and details about each pendant, please follow these links to my online shops:
Etsy: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KSJewelleryDesigns
Folksy: http://folksy.com/shops/KSJewelleryDesigns

I want a rolling mill

I want a rolling mill! However, I'm going to have to make a lot more sales until I can afford one!

The metal for these earrings was textured through the rolling mil at my silversmithing class using a material leaf (thanks Becky!). Then I cut out leaf shapes with a handsaw and soldered on stems/earwires.

 

 

Sterling Silver Textured Leaf Earrings

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/156607244/sterling-silver-textured-leaf-earrings
Folksy: http://folksy.com/items/4413965-Sterling-Silver-Textured-Leaf-Earrings-LEAVES-Handmade-Metalwork-Jewellery

See more

An urge to make some earrings

Yesterday I had an urge to make some earrings as I haven't made some for quite a while, mainly because I have struggled in the past with my new metalworking techniques to make a matching pair. This time I was very systematic with my approach to these earrings and tried to think each process through and where any non-matching problems might occur. I am pleased to say I think I've succeeded to make a matching pair of earrings. Hooray!

 

Amethyst Sterling Silver Teardrop Earrings

Just listed in my online shops:
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/156523437/amethyst-sterling-silver-earrings
Folksy: http://folksy.com/items/4413268-TEARDROPS-Amethyst-Sterling-Silver-Earrings-Handmade-Metalwork-Jewellery

First ever ring

Every week when I attend my jewellery class, I have tried to challenge myself to learn a new technique or to learn how to use a new tool.  For the last three weeks I have mainly been working on a ring project and here is the result:

Labradorite Sterling Silver Double Band Ring

 

I made this completely from scratch and I know it is far from perfect (this is the best angle!) but I feel quite proud of the end product.  I wanted a challenge and I certainly gave myself a challenge, however I learnt so much during the process, mainly about controlling the heat of the torch so that previous soldered joints do not open up again.  Oh, that was so frustrating!  I was able to refill most of these with lower melting point solder but I couldn't manage to do that for the thin band around the outside of the bezel (see bottom left).  I had to leave it faulty, and those who know me well will know I am quite a perfectionist, so that is quite hard for me to admit.  I made this ring for me, so I will have to consider it a kind of 'war wound' and still love it in spite of its imperfections.

 

Lessons learnt, I was surprised how satisfying I found making a ring.  So much so, that I have just had delivered a ring mandrel (with sizing) so will probably be offering rings for sale some time in the future - watch this space!

Little Flower Pendant

And another flower design - this time a sweet little sterling silver flower sits on a wire leaf shape frame.

 

Sterling Silver Little Flower Pendant

Link to Etsy listing: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/153563464/sterling-silver-flower-pendant-necklace?ref=shop_home_feat

Carnelain Six Petal Flower Pendant

Another flower pendant (surprise, surprise).  I am enjoying finding different ways to incorporate flower designs into my jewellery.  And there's more to come - watch this space!

Carnelian Sterling Silver Six Petal Flower Pendant

 

Now listed in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/153545122/carnelian-sterling-silver-flower-pendant?ref=shop_home_feat

Silver Clay Pendants

 

Just listed in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KSJewelleryDesigns?ref=si_shop, little silver clay pendants, sweet and cute!

Labradorite Fleur de Lis Pendant

At my silversmithing class I have been learning how to (and how not to!) make a bezel for cabochon. It's certainly been a learning experience in how to place the flux in the right place so that the solder actually joins the bezel wire not just runs to one side of the gap and also how to use my torch correctly so I don't burn a hole in the bezel wire!  It was very satisfying when it went right but I need more practice until I feel proficient at this technique. 

I also had fun learning how to use the different sanding and polishing attachments for my husband's handheld Dremel. At one stage it felt like I took one step forward and then two steps back as I used the attachment that removed excess solder and then promptly realised that I had then accidentally added some more scratches that then need to be removed.

Labradorite Sterling Silver Fleur de Lis Pendant

This pendant is my version of a Fleur de Lis design.  It didn't look like this in my sketchbook however it seemed to 'grow' into this shape as I made it and added different elements.  Although I do feel quite precious about this pendant as it was my first major metalwork project that took much longer than it needed to, I have decided I can't keep everything I make and have put it up for sale in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/153049264/labradorite-sterling-silver-pendant?ref=shop_home_active.  Hopefully, it will find a home with someone who loves it.

Abstract Daisy Pendant

I bought a disc cutter last week (one of my many new tools!) and, as a result, my love affair with circles can continue in a different dimension with perfectly formed, beautifully round circles (oh, joy!).  My sketchbook is currently being filled with 'circle' designs (circles within circles... circles on circles...  circles laid on top of another shape... you get the idea!). 

 

My Abstract Daisy Pendant below uses a circle as the base for the pendant and I explored soldering shapes onto the surface.  I like the contrast in textures of the matt finish for the background and the shiny finish of the 'petals'



 

 

Pink Amethyst Sterling Silver Abstract Daisy Pendant

 

 

This pendant is now listed for sale in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/151150379/pink-amethyst-sterling-silver-pendant?ref=shop_home_active but unfortunately I seem to be unable to upload new products to my Folksy shop at the moment, so Etsy is currently the only place to view/buy my latest creations.  I am in the process of creating/designing my own website (ksjewellerydesigns.co.uk) so hope to get that up and running as soon as possible.

Amethyst Flower Textured Disc Earrings

Amethyst Flower Textured Fine Silver Disc Earrings

 

I have been making textured disc earrings from silver clay for a while now but I was so excited to now be able to add a gemstone by soldering. I would love to say I made the bezel settings around the amethyst cabochons but I can't... they are ready-made fine silver bezel cups. The gemstones were a perfect fit, how fortunate was that?!  These earrings are now listed in my Etsy shop (and soon to be in my Folksy shop but I seem to have a problem uploading the details, grrr...)

 

 

I have been learning how to create and solder my own bezel settings and am in the middle of a project at my jewellery course. Fingers crossed it will be worthy to share here on my blog when it's finished!

Silver Flower Earrings x 2

These two pairs of flower earrings are my version of a project in Joe Silvera's book, 'Soldering Made Simple' that I bought to help me with my soldering. The ones in the book had posts but I changed the design to these long earwires which I soldered to the back of the flowers.

Sterling Silver Flower Earrings (pointed petals)

Sterling Silver Flower Earrings (rounded petals)

Bell Flower Earrings

Sterling Silver Bell Flower Earrings

I really enjoyed making these earrings and have been wearing them every day since. They have lots of movement as the bell flowers and dangles are not fixed to the earwires.

I cut the flowers out from sterling silver sheet and then spent ages filing, sanding and polishing and for a final polish, I put them in my tumbler. Now they are really smooth and shiny.

I shall definitely be making more of these.

Sawing, piercing and soldering - the jouney so far

Thank you so much to all those fellow jewellery makers who commented on my last blog and encouraged me to go in a new direction with my jewellery making.  Since my last blog post, I decided to take the plunge and bought a whole load of new jewellery tools to enter into the world of sawing, piercing and soldering (and I discovered that along with that comes filing, sanding, more sanding, more sanding and finally polishing!).

I have taken on everyone's advice and spent a long time watching different online tutorials, bought a wonderful book called 'Soldering Made Simple' recommended by Tracy of Cinnamon Jewellery (thanks Tracy) and also followed some guidance from my husband.  He is not necessarily 'artistically minded' but he has experience of soldering metal and he always encourages me to 'just have a go' and learn from my mistakes.  So I am!

I thought I would show you some of my attempts so far:

Petal Trio Pendant

This was my second attempt at piercing and sawing - the first attempt had too many angles and I am realising my limitations at the moment with dexterity with the saw.  Curves seem much easier to negotiate and I have only broken three saw blades so far!  I am also pleased with my first attempt at a hidden bail. Whether or not my method is the correct way to do this I'm not sure but the bail held strong and looks okay when you turn the pendant over.

Textured Circles Pendant

 

This pendant turned out completely different from my planned piece which was supposed to be a rectangular pendant with hammered circles 'sweat soldered' on to the surface.  Making this was definitely a learning experience as everything was going smoothly until I tried to solder on the middle circle and then foolishly re-heat it to move into the correct place.  Too much heat resulted in the silver circle starting to melt and the surface of the pendant starting to become textured.  I have since found out this is called 'reticulation'.  Once I realised there was no going back to my original design, I then went on and reheated the whole pendant to add more texture.  I quite like the result.  It is 'interesting' (as my husband described it!).  I might play around with texturing silver this way another time but I know I need to focus on my soldering skills at the moment.



 

Hand sawn flowers

 

These flowers took ages to create and did make me wonder why I didn't just make them out of silver clay.  The main time was spent filing and sanding however I do like the way a flat piece of boring silver can be changed with work and I also had a go with my new dapping block to shape the flowers.  I am going to turn these into earrings by adding little balls to the centres and soldering earwires to the back.  This is similar to a project in the book I mentioned above by Joe Silvera who explains things really clearly, step-by-step and I like the way he repeats important technical information during the different stages of a project.

 

So what next?.... Having had a go by myself, I have realised I still need guidance in a more one-to-one setting, so I have just enrolled onto a local silversmithing course for one morning a week for 11 weeks.  I am so excited as I think this will be a perfect way for me to learn new techniques and practise them at home ready for the following week's lesson.  I am really looking forward to it.