Come and see our etchings!

Last week during my school's Arts Festival, the Biology department (where I work) and the Art department got together so that our pupils could do some etching from cells.  The results were superb.  Here's how they did it:

Firstly they selected a pre-prepared microscope slide and did some drawings:

Then, they scratched their design onto an etching plate.  This is a piece of steel covered in black stop-out varnish:

These where then immersed in nitric acid.  The acid 'eats away' the metal in the places where the varnish has been scratched off:

 Then we inked the plates (very messy) and used them to create prints:

 Here are some of the fabulous prints that our pupils created:

The pupils had a brilliant time and their inner artists were definitely brought out.  Using slides as a basis for the prints focussed their minds and allowed them to explore the world in microscopic detail.  Time off-timetable to do things like this is priceless.  It allows us to see our pupils in a different light and lets our minds wander, allowing our brains to recuperate during such a frenetic term.  Our stress levels definitely dropped and we all learnt something new.

I can't wait until Arts Festival part II in the summer term

Bead hoarder - moi?

I saw this and had to post it.  My boyfriend keeps telling me to stop buying beads and use up the one I already have, but he doesn't understand - it doesn't work like that.

I also had to post these:

 

 

Biology is Art

In October, my school is running a two day arts festival where we are all stop 'normal' lessons and get involved in arty stuff.  As you can imagine, this is right up my street, so, together with another biology teacher and an art teacher, we are planning to combine biology with art.

First off, the students are going to select microscope slides and make some drawing of cells.  They are then going to etch the cells onto metal plates.  This is something that I have been wanting to learn for ages and Lizzy (the art teacher) is brilliant at it.  Lastly, we are going to make pendants with metal clay and use the etchings to create a texture in the clay.

Sometime next week, we plan to have a go and see what they turn out like, so I will post some photos.  I love cross-curricular teaching and I love that my school allows us to be free to experiment.  It is nice for the kids to see us out of our boxes and for them to be out of their's too.

Craft fairs

I have been running my Etsy shop since March and not much has been happening.  The Etsy market seems to be saturated with people selling jewellery and it is difficult to get noticed.  I have over 250 likees on my Facebook page and they seem to like what I make but I'm still not getting many sales.

I am not sure that the photographs of my jewellery do it justice and so I am thinking about trying a few craft fairs so that people can see what my jewellery is really like.

I am going to visit a local craft fair next weekend to get an idea of stall size, cost and what else is on sale.

I am really interested to hear from people who have tried craft fairs and what degree of success they had.

Jewellery experimentation

I have just finished teaching my first metal clay lesson.  It was a one-to one lesson with my friend Fleur (so nothing too taxing) and she made a leaf with metal clay paste.  I think she made a lovely pendant:

 

We also did some Kumihimo bracelets, collage pendants and some shrink plastic earrings.  We have had a fab two days of jewellery experimentation.

Art Clay Certification Level 1

Well, after 3 days of really hard work, I have passed my Art Clay Certification Level 1 at the London Jewellery School.  I have to say, this course is not for the faint-hearted and there were times when I really didn't think I was going to pass, but thankfully, our tutor, Julia Rai was very patient and encouraging.  Her high level of experience meant that she could warn us of the many pitfalls of each piece, in the hope that we would not make the same mistakes.  I did, of course make the same mistakes at times and also found a few of my own!

Day one involved doing a lot of preparation.  We started by applying the paste to the leaf for the leaf pendant, which turned out to be my favourite piece.  We also prepared the cork clay balls for the lacy ball earrings, made the casual daily ring and syringed the lines for the leaf motif pendant (see photos below).

  

Day two was a wee bit stressy. Lots of projects on the go, a very tight time schedule and art clay that dries in seconds in the heat!  Julia really wanted us to have all the projects finished and in the kiln by the end of the day, but despite the fact that I went in an hour early and left an hour late, I still had to finish off the syringe-decorated ring and the syringed pearl ring.  The syringed pearl ring was really tricky and kept getting cracks and falling off the mandrel.  I could have happily chucked it out of the window!  In one day we prepared the daily casual ring for the kiln, syringed the lacy ball earrings, filled in the sides of the leaf motif pendant and made the twig brooch and two rings.

Day three was the final day of the course and all seven pieces had to be completed and assessed.  So again, I went in early to finish off the syringe-decorated ring and the syringed pearl ring.  The rest of the day was spent polishing the fired items, setting stones and attaching findings etc.  Each piece is assessed on preparation, technique, pre-firing refinements, finishing techniques and overall appearance.  If a piece fails, you have to repeat it at home and send it off for assessment.  Fortunately all of my pieces passed and a couple got better marks than I was expecting (see below for the finished pieces)

 

 

 

My favourite item is the leaf pendant and I will definitely be making more of these in the future.  I also really enjoyed applying the texture to the leaf brooch and syringing the lines for the leaf motif pendant. 

In order to do the certificate, you have to have completed a beginners course first, but I would say that you also need to have practiced a bit too as the pace is so fast.  I can't believe how many techniques we have learnt in just three days.  Julia is a fab teacher and I have leant so much from her.  I really want to get myself a kiln and get practicing - but which colour though, pink or purple?

Art in Action

Art in Action

Yipee, we're going to Art in Action this weekend.  Not many people have heard of it, which is such a shame as it is a fantastic day/days out for people who love all things creative. 

Art in Action is a four day event where artists and craftspeople openly demonstrate their skills and discuss their work.  There are workshops that you can book and have a go and an excellent marketplace, so bring some cash (some stalls take credit card, but others don’t).  All the work showcased is the best of British craftpersonship.  Disciplines include painting, sculpture, glass, woodwork, textiles, ceramics, metalwork and jewellery and there are 400 demonstrating artists, designer makers, teachers, musicians and performers. 

Art in Action runs from Thursday 19th of July to Sunday 22nd of July inclusive from 10.00am - 5.30pm each day and takes place at Waterperry House, Waterperry, Near Wheatley, Oxford, OX33 1JZ.

Daily programme for 2012

I went last year for the first time and now I can't wait to go again!

Update:
Well done to all the organisers of Art in Action for sorting out the car parking problems.  
My faves this year are:
Penny Williams - really cute animal jewellery (I bought two pieces from her)
Sharon McSwiney - really cute animal jewellery (I really want the hare brooch)
The Earring Cafe - gorgeous lampwork beads in lovely juicy colours 
Jo Downs - fused glass.  I love her Cornish pilchard range 
Graham Muir - glass artist.  He makes beautiful waveforms
Layne Rowe - his glass blowing demonstration was amazing

Course Review - Jewellery Business Day at London Jewellery School

Course Review – Jewellery Business Day at London Jewellery School

The course took place from 10am – 5pm at London Jewellery School in Hatton Gardens on Wednesday 11^th June and the tutor was Emma Ashworth.  The class consisted of four of us from quite different creative backgrounds.

The course covered the following:

Marketing

Press releases

IT, websites and social networking

Photography

Budgeting

Pricing and selling your jewellery

Getting into galleries and shops

Packaging

Legal requirements

Insurance

Obviously this is quite a lot of content to cover in a day, so the teaching was quite pacy but class notes were provided.  The day started with the usual health and safety notices and then Emma asked us all what sort of jewellery we make and the sorts of places where we would like to sell it.  She referred to this throughout the day so the advice that she gave was tailored to each of us.

Emma is an excellent, enthusiastic teacher.  She has loads of experience of running her own business and has lots of friends in the industry too, so if she hasn’t had experience of something, she knows someone who has.

I felt that the course was really good value for money and has definitely given me food for thought.  I has also given me the confidence to explore avenues that previously I had not considered, like craft fairs.

The rest of the staff were really friendly and there is a nice relaxed atmosphere is the studios.  There are lots of places to get food from Monday – Friday although most places are closed at the weekend, so bring a packed lunch if you are there at the weekend.

Today, I have been on the Teaching Jewellery Making, but I will post about that soon.

Über Busy Week

Creatively, it has not really been a very interesting week as I have been so busy at school.  People who don't teach really have no idea how crazily busy the end of term is. 

Two pretty cool things have happened this week though.  Firstly, one of my customers blogged about me (click here to read what she wrote). Secondly, I have got nearly 200 likes on my Facebook page, look:

So exciting!!  There will be a free gift for my 200th 'liker'

Beaded Wrap Bracelet Tutorial

If you love the bracelet that Spencer gave to Louise on Made in Chelsea, but can't afford a real Chan Luu, why not make one yourself?

They are really easy to do, and this great You-Tube tutorial will show you everything you need to know.

To make one like Louise's, go for turquoise beads with dark brown leather.  Natural coloured gemstones and silver or gold are bang on trend this summer.

For a great choice of leather cord in lovely summery colours, visit Beads Unlimited.

The best thing about it is you don't need expensive equipment, just leather cord, thread, needle, beads, a button and a clip board and clips.

I'm going to make some soon.  I'll post photos as soon as I have.

Update:
At last, I have had time to do some jewellery making.  The first one is my take on Louise's bracelet.  It is a two-wrap bracelet using faux turquoise beads and dark brown leather.

The following pictures show a five-wrap version of the bracelet using Miyuki cubes.  To make it easier, I joined all the cubes together in a long strip, using brick stitch, before attaching it between the two leather cords.

Once you get started it is quite easy to do and it is very satisfying seeing it getting longer and longer.  I hope you'll be inspired to give it a go.

Kismet Bracelet Tutorial

Hi,

I was having a little browse around my favourite bead shops and I stumbled upon a tutorial on how to make a lovely Swarovski bicone Kismet bracelet (see below) on Fire Mountain Gems and Beads page.

 Just click here for the tutorial.

I can't wait to have a go at making these.

Diamond Jubilee Street Party

My latest Etsy treasury features everything you need to throw a diamond jubilee street party English-style

Hope you like it,
Sam x

Homage to Brian

My latest Etsy treasury is an homage to Brian, my lovely blue campervan:

 I hope you like it,
Sam x

Mellow Yellow

My latest Etsy treasury

Hope you like it,
Sam x