Pretty button rings

I haven't posted about my favourite topic in a while... you know, rings?

I recently attended a wireworks ring class at Shiney Rocks in Bristol. I haven't done much wire work before so this was a good way of perfecting my technique while also getting some new inspiration.

We got to make six rings of two different types: button rings or cluster rings.

I have made cluster rings before, at the London Jewellery School, but the method we used here was slightly different which is interesting.

I have loved making the button rings and I'm definitely going to make more of those!

Many of us have loads of unwanted buttons hanging around. Buttons that came as spares to jackets, coats, shirts, etc. or buttons we've inherited from someone or buttons we bought for a specific project that never materialised... This is a great way to recycle or "upcycle" those unwanted buttons. And I think they'll be a great seller at craft fairs.

If you were considering getting rid of your buttons, please think of me. I promise that for any load of buttons you send/give me, I'll make you a ring in return. Send me a message if you're interested.

After the class, I used the techniques learnt to make a couple of very different rings. I've even entered the bottom one, with the sew-on Swarovski crystal in a competition, so fingers crossed!

My cocktail rings are in a shop!

I am so excited to tell you that my cocktail rings are actually on sale in a real shop!

You can go and buy one of these gorgeous little beauties from Sugarlesque, a boutique on the top floor of Kingly Court, off Carnaby street in London. 

They'll make a gorgeous Xmas present for someone you love. There are ten different colourways, each in three different sizes, so you're bound to find something you like.

Watch it though, the boutique is only open until the end of this month so if you want to get your hands on one of my rings, you'd better hurry!

How to keep yourself entertained when there's nothing on telly...

In my opinion, summer TV schedules really are awful. The good thing though is that not catching up on my favourite TV series frees up an awful lot of time which I can put to good use... crafting mainly! Now most of last week has been spent tidying up and decluttering my house but I still found time to make a few things along the way.

I bought this "Toho Elegant Jewellery Kit" from Magpie Jewellery a little while ago. It comes with pretty much everything you need and has very detailed and graphic instructions, I loved it as soon as I opened it!

The drawings are so clear, I got the whole ring completed in no time and this despite the fact I was slightly impaired after having burnt myself whilst cooking that evening. I love the result, it's super cute. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll be able to wear it as I'm quite sensitive to metals and the sieve the beads are threaded onto looks like something that could trigger a reaction.

I've also carried on working on building up my stock of cocktail rings so here are the latest additions to my collection:

Perfecting the art of the cluster ring

Some designers and independent retailers have shown interest in my cocktail rings recently so I've been working hard at building a collection that I could leave in a shop.

Cluster rings are always striking and people always compliment me on them when I wear one. I have learnt two methods to make cluster rings and have been practicing and perfecting the art of using both.

The first method consists in threading beads onto a wire ring shank. Here are my latest creations using this method:

The second method consists in wire wrapping beads onto a ring base with a loop. Swarovski Elements ring bases are my absolute favourite. Here's a little collection in blue and lovely white flowers bouquet:

I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of those in the next few weeks and who knows, maybe in a shop near you really soon!

Wire bangle

I'm sorry I didn't post for the past couple of weeks, it wasn't for lack of inspiration, I have been very busy making things, from a knitted wrapover cardigan to plenty of sample rings... But I've not been very good at photographing them and time has been in short supply to write all about it.

A few weeks ago, I ordered a Gold Plated Spiral Cuff kit from Magpie Jewellery after spotting it in a magazine. I thought it looked like a lovely easy project that I could make in a couple of hours or less...

I couldn't have been more wrong! First of all, the "kit" was a bit disappointing, consisting of a length of gold plated copper wire, a length of enamelled colour wire and a couple of A4 photocopied sheets for instructions. Not a single image with the instructions! I'm quite crafty and found it difficult to understand what I was meant to do without any illustrations, I can't imagine what it would be like for a complete beginner!

Once I'd finally figured out how to manipulate the wire so the spirals would look more or less smooth, I made a start on the whole thing, still thinking it would take a couple of hours to complete. I ended up spending a whole day on it! The gold spirals didn't take so long to make but attaching each with the enamelled wire just took forever. Admittedly, I seem to have made a whole lot more spirals than the picture on the website suggests... But having finished the thing, I can't help but think it would have been really flimsy with less spirals. It still feels quite fragile to me as it is now. It is really pretty however...

I'd love to make more, I'm sure I could sell these. But I'd really need to find a way to work faster if I want to make it profitable. And I need to find a way to protect my poor little fingers, because after a whole day working with wire, they were in shreds!

Whilst I'm here anyway, here's a little preview of more polymer clay rose rings I've been working on :-)

Polymer clay roses and crystal balls

In the spirit of acquiring as many jewellery skills as possible, I have found myself experimenting some more last week, this time with polymer clay and with the making of crystal balls.

Knowing how to work with polymer clay has multiple advantages. Firstly, you can make really beautiful things out of polymer clay, from millefiori beads to roses, the possibilities are endless. It's a really versatile material, really easy to work with and you only need 30 minutes in a low temperature oven to harden it. Add a layer of varnish for a glossy finish and hey presto, you've made something gorgeous! Secondly, polymer clay is really cheap and makes a good practice run for those things one would like to make out of silver clay, which is obviously more costly! 

For my first experiment, I have tried my hands at making polymer clay roses. It's actually a lot simpler than one would think: all you need is a number of pea size balls of polymer clay in the colour (or colour mix) of your choice. You then flatten the balls into little discs (they don't have to be perfect, in fact, the more irregular, the more natural the rose will look) and then you start rolling the discs around one another, curling the top edge for a more natural look. Once the rose is the size you want it to be, cut off the excess clay at the bottom, make a hole with a toothpick for threading and voilà, your rose is ready to bake! 

I made two attempts, the first one is the darker one, the second, the lighter one. Once they were baked and varnished, I threaded them onto a wire ring shank to see how that would look. It doesn't show on the picture but the darker one has too much clay left at the bottom so it sticks out a little too high for a ring. But the second one looks quite convincing and with its lovely nude colour, it's very much on trend!

My only regret with both roses is that you can see the imprint of my fingerprints on the petals. I'd hoped it would become less visible once they were baked and varnished but not so. Next time I think I'll put latex gloves on to see if that reduces the marks.

Whilst researching polymer clay, I came across a tutorial on how to make a crystal ball pendant. So there was my second experiment for the week! I had some Swarovski bicones lying around that I hadn't put to good use yet so I figured, why not? I made one ball in each of the colours I had available and yes, you guessed it, I threaded one onto a wire ring shank to see how that would look! I love the result, it makes a great cocktail ring and I'll definitely be making a load of them to go in my Christmas market stall box. 

Cocktail rings and more

Last week I went back to the London Jewellery School for an evening taster class in cocktail ring making. A couple of years back, I'd learnt how to make cluster rings using ring findings but I still wanted to do this class because it uses wire wrapping to create the ring shank.

There was a lovely bunch of ladies on the class that night and Helen Stay, our tutor, was brilliant! We all managed to make at least four rings in the course of the evening, so it definitely was a great use of our time! I would recommend this class to anyone who fancies making a bit of jewellery. Because they're so quick to make and the raw materials are relatively cheap, these type of rings will also make a great addition to my Christmas market stall project.

I had some opened clay left from my Metal Clay course and conscious that it might dry out and go to waste if I didn't make use of it soon, I decided to try my hand at making another ring, but all on my own this time.

I had a number of ideas in mind but eventually I settled on something pretty simple, an open ring with some artificial rubies set in the open ends. Basically, I just made a sausage, wrapped it around a ring mandrel and then set a couple of stones in the ends.

Because of the shape of the ring, smoothing the clay once it was dry was the hardest part, I was so scared of breaking it! I then fired the ring with a little butane torch, and in the process found out my oven timer doesn't do seconds so I made a mental note of buying a digital timer for next time.

Once the ring was cool, I burnished then polished it (again no mean feat with that shape!) et voilà! My first metal clay ring made all on my own! Ok, it's not as perfect as I would have liked but hey, it's mine and it's a first!

Metal Clay intensive - day 4

A day late but as I went straight from yesterday's metal clay class to supervising a lampshade making class at the Make Lounge, I couldn't post yesterday's work any earlier!

So day 4 was all about making rings, my favourite piece of jewellery ever. It was challenging, making a ring shank without breaking it is really quite an acquired skill! Also gaging how much the ring will shrink is tricky and unless you use special equipment, I guess there is no foolproof method.

There were three different types of rings on the programme but Emma, the tutor, was kind enough to take us through a fourth project.

We made, from left to right, a nested ring (one ring split in two parts that can be worn individually or together), a garden ring, a stone set ring on a wire shank and a pearl ring (the extra curricular project).

Here's a little close-up of each:

I'm really chuffed with those, especially the leaf and the pearl rings, they just look stunning! I don't think I'll ever buy a ring again, I'll make my own from now on!