Ring a Month 2019 - June

Here is my ring for the Ring A Month 2019 challenge.

The theme for this month was...

Once Upon a Time. 

With such an open theme it should of been easy to think of something to make but my mind was a bit blank on it. Eventually I settled on Somewhere Over the Rainbow as my theme. 

I started out with a part made ring shank that I'd made earlier in the month as a demo. 

For the rainbow I made a solid semi circle...

...and a couple of textured sides. The printed design on the back of my business card is so handy for cutting things like this 😉

Once dry I joined the pieces and carved it into an arch shape. I could of cut out more of the arch shape in the wet clay stage but I wanted to try to line up with the texture as accurately as I could so decided to go with this method. 

Then I refined it. 

My original plan had been to have the arc of the rainbow the way up it is in the picture above on the top of the ring, but as I was working I realised I preferred the look of it the other way up 😀 What the heck -  go with the flow 😉

To add the rainbow colours I decided to set 2mm stones onto each side of the rainbow. First I drilled out each setting ready...

Then I attached it to the ring band.... and of course added some birds!!! 😀

I also added a couple of other things!! 

Every rainbow needs a pot of gold at the end of it...

...and a little silver stone at the other end???....read on... 😂

With the stones all set it was ready for the kiln.

After firing and polishing I added the 24k gold into the pot with keum boo method. Then I patinated and repolished it :D 

I was going to add some blue patina onto the birds but having tried it I preferred them silver. 

So my Somewhere Over the Rainbow turned into...

Somewhere Over a Down Under Rainbow!!! 😉
😂😉😂

But what about that silver stone I hear you ask...

...well every metal clayer needs an unlimited stash of silver clay at the other end of their rainbow don't they??!! 😄😄

And for those of you who are wondering - the leprechauns ran away after putting the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!!! 😉

Until next time...

Have fun!!

Joy x

Making Masks

 I've been very busy on the mask front over the last few months. I've taught various mask making workshops in the USA and in the UK.

This is the latest mask pendant I've finished. It is called Sentinella di Venezia. I actually started this one ages ago, and there it sat waiting, waiting, waiting... until inspiration hit and I found the time to bring it into life! :)

These are a few of the other mask pendants I've made recently.

This one is called Essenza di Venezia. You can see how this mask was made in my step by step online workshop with CraftCast. 

 The next mask pendant is called Fireocity, more of a devilish little friend! :)

And this one is called Shuki Iru. 

 

These masks will all be going in my website shop soon.

Meanwhile if you make jewellery and fancy having a go at making your very own unique silver and enamel mask pendant you'll find details of my workshops on my website, and I am now selling mask moulds for the basic face shape as well!! :)

Have fun!

Joy x

Modern Medieval Earrings

So, yesterday I showed you some colourful things!

These are my new design, a range I am calling Modern Medieval.

Here is a WIP shot of the pieces made in fine silver clay waiting to be fired in the kiln at 820C.

  

As they fire for an hour or so the binders which were added the the powdered silver burn away, the pieces shrink a little and I am left with pure fine silver. 

Here they are fresh out of the kiln (cooled first of course!) :)

At this point the silver looks white and the next stage is to polish them up to nice and shiney, and then enamel them.

Until finally we have lovely earrings!!

One pair just had to be rainbow!! 

 

 

The lovely red and black of these have a real Gothic feel.

 

And this pair have 24k gold dots around the edges, and wonderful green and blue enamel. I called these Pretty as a Peacock!

 

These earrings are now up for sale on my website and also in my Etsy shop.

I am really happy with this new style and Im working on matching pendants and also lockets.

I'd love to know what you think of them!

Thanks for reading...

and have fun!

Joy x

Long Time - No Blog!

I've been a really bad blogger!

I kept thinking 'I must blog' but somehow never got around to it - it has been a hectic year!

And yes, it is a year!! Today I decided to go get started again, and guess what, then I saw it was exactly a year since I last posted!!

To be fair it is not totally all my fault, blogger seems so unresponsive that just posting this today has become a major struggle and I have had to change browser to do it.

Still, enough of the excuses. I shall now be blogging again!! YAY!!!

So here is a bit of colour to start with - 

I'll tell you about these in my next post ;) 

 

Meanwhile...

have fun!

Joy x

Weekly Critter Challenge 2/52 - Rainbow Jalien

 

When I started the critter challenge I have to say I mostly had earthly creatures in mind, but then I decided to make an alien this week, and well... there you go, these things happen! Weird, eh? ;-)

 

I also decided that if I was going to keep making aliens (will I, won't I?) then I had better decide on a name for them, so this is my first Jalien. Why Jaliens? Well really I was thinking Joy's aliens. I went through several permutations and this was the option I liked best. When picking a new name for something it is always good to spend a little time on google, just to check your name does not mean something dreadful, maybe in another language. As far as I could tell the word Jalien only exists as a surname, but maybe you will tell me differently!

 

OK, back to the pendant. It is made using the new formula Art Clay Silver, which I really like. It is great for making tiny snakes and things like that as it holds the moisture much better and the fired silver polishes up to a lovely shine.

 

I was aiming for a cute alien, but people keep telling me this little chap looks creepy. Oh well, maybe my next Jalien will be cuter! 

 

 

I set a 3mm CZ which was fired in place, and then enamelled him, rainbow of course!!!

 

You can see that he is quite small.

 

 

As I was aiming for a unisex pendant (the wearer not the alien!), I made the back quite plain, but set a 2mm CZ for a little sparkle.

 

 

Writing a poem about an alien seemed quite tricky so I went with a haiku as they are quite short!

 

Something amazing
Traveller through space and time
A Jalien

 

Many thanks to Creative Glass for giving me some of the new formula Art Clay Silver to test!

 

Joy x

 

 

September Four A Month - Colourful Carnival Masks

 

Here are my Four A Month Challenge pieces for September. Four Colourful Carnival Mask pendants. They are all made in fine silver using Art Clay Silver and have Enamelled Accents. I have already posted two of these masks before, but my intention was always to make four new masks for a FAM entry so here they all are.

 

I am really enjoying making these masks now. They have come a long journey since the first one  I made (that I still use on my website, cards etc) back in 2009.

 

The first of the four is my little alien mask. OK, so maybe not so much of a traditional carnival mask but he is fun! I called him VMA - why? Well - because he is a Venetian Mask Alien!! :)

 

This little fella didn't hang around long and zoomed off to a new home on his first outing to a craft fair! I think I shall make more little aliens!

 

The next one I have called Cosmic Rainbow as she also seems to have something a little space age about her to me, but someone else who saw her could see a sort of 1920s flapper style in her. That is what I so love about this type of jewellery - we all see different things in it!

 

 

The next two masks I have blogged about before so I will just remind you of their names and you can look back on the blog if you want to read more about them.

 

This one is Japanese Mystery...

 

 

... and this one is Arcbaleno all Moda.

 

 

I shall be teaching a workshop on making these masks in June next year up in the beautiful North Yorkshire Moors.

 

I have also just taught this for the first time to two wonderful students and I shall be posting photos of the masks they made really soon!!

 

Have fun!

 

Joy x

Bird a Month 10/12 - Peacock Splendour

 

OK, I am on catch up now :) Long time no blog, (bad blogger - wrist slapped!) and I have challenges to get up to date with!!

 

So first of all my Bird a Month Challenge. Here is my piece for last month, I've called it Peacock Splendour (for obvious reasons!).

 

It is a fine silver pendant made using Art Clay Silver and has Enamelled Accents and an aquamarine cz stone.

 

This is one of two pieces I have recently made using QuikArt Ultralite templates from Metal Clay Supply in the USA. These templates are designed to allow you to save clay but I ended up using them a different way to create texture plates and I am quite pleased with the outcome. I post more about how I used them in the future.

 

Below is another piece made the same way. I have called this one Rainbow Zing as it is so bright and colourful :) 

 

Next I will get my Four a Month Challenge back up to date, and then I can make my pieces for this month!

 

Still, I guess it is better to be too busy than bored!! ;)

 

Have fun!

 

Joy

Bird a Month 9/12 - On Rainbow Shores

 

And now for something a bit different!! Bird a Month for September - well 4 birds actually :)

 

I am quite enjoying playing with small sculptures. The seashells and starfish on this are fine silver made using Art Clay Silver and enamelled. The birds are made using Goldie Bronze.

 

The overall size of the sculpture is 165mm x 85mm x100mm, The enamelled seashells are 4mm - 7mm in diameter and the bronze birds are about 40mm long.

 

I had fun making this! Each little seashell has a small pin in the back to fix it into the wood.  

 

Watch out for the second mask coming tomorrow!!

 

Joy x

Arcobaleno alla Moda

 

Here she is... finished!! What a difference a bit of colour makes :) I do hope that you like her. She is called Arcobaleno alla Moda because she is a fashionable rainbow!

 

 

The reverse is simply decorated with a few little sparklies.

 

You can see from the photo below she is quite small.

 

This is the first of two workshop examples I am making - now it is back to finishing the second mask.

 

Watch this space for more photos in the next day or two;-)

 

Joy x 

Challenging Times!

 

Just in the nick of time here are my challenge pieces for August! My Four A Month pieces are called Enamelling Fun (for obvious reasons!!). Bright and colourful, I have enjoyed making these.

 

The first one is called Japanese Sunset. This is a piece I have had in the back of my mind for a long time and I was pleased with the result when I finally made it! OK, so here is a bit of cheating as this is also my Bird A Month for August. Apologises, I have tried not to be sneaky like this but this month got a bit busy!

 

The next piece is called Rainbow Sprite's Flower. A while ago someone called me a Rainbow Sprite, (thank you Terry Kovalcik!) and, well I do like my colours and I was wearing my rainbow waistcoat! I kind of liked the name so I thought I would use it for this piece.

 

The next one I called Serenity. It is a simple pendant with peaceful green and blue songbirds.

 

Finally I have called this one Summer Blackbird. This is the third piece I have made with a blackbird on, each one different. This time I thought I would add a few bright colourful flowers and a bright shining sun to the pendant.

 

I do realise that with everyone I have had going on my blog has been a bit neglected this past month. Sorry for that.

 

I have lots of things to tell you and pieces to post so blogging is about to become a lot more frequent!!

 

This weekend I shall be at the RAFA Shoreham Airshow in the Craft Marquee. Do come along and say hello. It is always a great show :)

 

Have fun!

 

Joy

Bird a Month 6/12 - Twit Twoo

Twit Twoo!! My cute little solid silver owl sculpture is my Bird a Month for June. I am very excited about this one as my step by step tutorial for making him is the the newest issue of Metal Clay Artist Magazine which is just coming out. It is the third anniversary edition of MCAM Vol 3 Issue 3 and it includes some wonderful projects including Lesley Messam and Gordon Uyehara, and a great article about Wanaree Tanner who is producing some fantastic work at the moment! 

Even better - I also have a feature piece in it about undertaking challenges!! If you do not already subscribe you can buy an issue via the website and here in the UK it will be available in W H Smith soon :) 

Above is another piece I have made for the Guild of Enamellers exhibition in Whitby in July - I have called him Tropical Tree Frog :)

I just seem to keep enamelling rainbows at the moment and the set below, Swirling Rainbows, are also for the exhibition.

Tomorrow I shall be at the Riverdell Country Fair at Burwash in East Sussex. It should be a great day.

Maybe I will see you there?