Metal Forming

Here's another project from my fourth semester at George Brown. I made this pendant in Metal Forming B. I utilized two different metal forming techniques to make it, the first being the Plunkett fold. The bottom part was die formed with the use of hammers and a die that I made specifically for this purpose.

This project stood out from the others for me, because I found the class to be much more relaxed than the others I had, and I think that helped me to work much more confidently and ultimately make fewer mistakes. I also haven't had much experience with metal forming, so this really opened my eyes to the plasticity and memory of certain metals.

New Item Promotion

Starting with my next listing on Etsy, I'm going to offer free shipping for the first week after I have any new item listed (this won't apply to most re-listed items). Hopefully, this will succeed at keep people interested and coming back to my shop on a regular basis. Stay tuned for a new barn swallow resin brooch coming soon. The barn swallow brooch design has been quite popular in the past, so I'm going to be bringing it back in both brooch and belt buckle form.

Koi Belt Buckle

I thought I was trough with making resin belt buckles, until I finished this particular buckle the other night. It turned out just great. I just ordered a bunch more metal findings, so I can start making more of them again.

Ring Reconstruction

I had planned to share more of my school experiences on here shortly after leaving GBC, but just kept procrastinating. Finally, I’m here. I plan to talk about at least a couple of other projects that stood out for me.

This particular ring was not something I made initially, but something I made better in repair class by reconstructing the bezel and polishing the band.

In the “before” photo you can see how poorly the bezel around the stone was made and how banged up the ring was.

The “After” picture shows what the ring looks like now. The bezel is even and the finish is a high polish. I also opened up the back of the setting so the stone shines much more brightly. I'm quite proud of this ring because of the contrast between the before and after.

Find Me on Facebook!

You can now become a "fan" of Alene Couture Jewellery & Accessories on Facebook by clicking here.

Photos

My photo link has been updated. To see a slideshow of my work, please click here. I also updated my online shop a couple of weeks ago and then again today with some beadwork.

The Work of Robert K. Chen

I thought it would be interesting to share some of the work of at least one of my classmates from George Brown College. Robert Chen is a graduate of the Jewellery Arts Program at GBC, a program that differs from the one that I took in that it runs a year longer and students have the opportunity to focus on perfecting their design skills as well as their technical skills. The award-winning rings to the left are an example of some of Rob's work.

"My Formula is: 1", a composition of three rings in bronze, sterling silver, and 22k yellow gold, which have been highlighted with colour using a specialized car paint application, won Best in Show for 4th annual Zilberschmuck Art - Jewellery National Juried Exhibition of Canadian Fine Jewellery and Metalwork. For this Exhibition, Canadian jewellers and metalsmiths both professional and jewellery arts students were invited to interpret the term “FORMULA”. This word motivated Rob to make Mercedes-Benz F1 race car inspired rings, the materials referencing firsts, second, and third place winners of Formula 1 racing.

My Etsy Treasury

If you've ever been to etsy.com you would have noticed that there's always a colourful collection of items on the front page. These items are chosen from a bunch of lists that people who frequent the site make called Treasuries. I made a Treasury the other day featuring a few of my favourite Canadian Etsy artists, including a couple from Hamilton and this morning it made it to the front page of the site! It's no longer there, but you can view my treasury here until it expires in about one more day.

Warbler Brooch

It has been way too long since my last (new) addition to my online shop. I finally added this brooch this past Sunday.

I carved the main body of the bird for a class project in Model Making I. I added the branch at a later date and then had it cast in sterling silver. I also set a small stone in it for added interest and sparkle.

Fourth Semester

My full-time career at George Brown has come to an end. The college was kind enough to give us a week of free time in the studio to work on our own personal projects, so over the next week I will be back and fourth between home and school working on a few small things. On Monday, I will be cleaning out my bench and hopefully getting back all of my projects from the past year. I look forward to sharing photos and experiences of a few things that I've done.

Third Semeseter

Once again I have found myself way too focused on school work over the last few months to think about any projects outside of my assigned work. Since I don’t have many new things to first talk about, I would like to take this opportunity to share this older piece, it was a one-off "experiment" (from sometime in 2006). It’s a brooch that was cast from epoxy resin. It features a 4mm purple cubic zirconia suspended in the clear material, as well as imitation gold leaf. I wasn't sure how I felt about this piece at first, but it has grown on me over time and now I love it. I’m thinking about continuing this idea in a smaller, more polished form (this one is 45mm in diameter and the finding on the back is a cheap craft store finding) and in different 2D shapes.

This is one school project that I managed to get a photo of from this semester that really shows the contrast of the things I find myself working on in my free time and the thing I have to work on at school. Correctly fitting the gemstone to the setting and evenly spacing the silver components is of utmost importance. I find gemsetting to be very challenging, and was surprised with myself for doing as well as I did on this 4 claw construction and setting.

I hope to share more photos of my school work once the year is over, and my projects are returned to me. Please also take note of the new link to the left that shows photos of the majority of the work that I've done over the last three years.

Makers' Market

This past Saturday, along with my sister Jill, I registered a table at Christ's Church Cathedral in Hamilton to sell some of my jewellery and Jill's marbled clutch purses. Makers' Market is an "Outdoor Art & Organic Food Market" which showcases artists from this area. There was some locally grown, organic fruits and veggies available and a few vendors selling vintage items. Unfortunately I wasn't able to bring as much jewellery as I would have liked to, but I did manage to sell a couple of my smaller resin pins. This was a really good opportunity to show off my work to a new audience. I was given some advice about what people would like to see from me in the future, and of course the whole experience of running a table at a craft show in invaluable. I can't wait until the next one! It will be on September 15th. Christ's Church Cathedral is on 252 James St. N. right next to the armory. It's a huge courtyard... you can't miss it!

First Year Projects

Over the past year, I haven't had much chance to post any of the projects that I made during my full-time studies at GBC. We mainly made and polished practice pieces in copper and brass to get a feel for the jewellery making process with less expensive materials, but nearer to the end of the year we were able to work with sterling silver as well as 10 karat gold (something that most first years don't get to do apparently!). I also had my first experience with stone setting.

The first image to the left is a sterling silver brooch that has leaves slowly emerging from the background. The second is a synthetic amethyst cabochon, set in sterling silver. Unfortunately I used the wrong tool and the area around the stone isn't as neat and smooth as it should be.

Copy Editor's "Delete" Badge

This is a custom piece that I recently made. It's a brooch made out of silver clay. I made it by first carving a stamp into a piece of linoleum, pressing that image into some clay, and then further refining it and carving in the centre symbol with a metal scribe. I'm quite please with this method and was honestly a little bit surprised at how well the brooch turned out.

Intersession Week

Two weeks back, I had a week off from school. Of course I managed to spend just as much time on campus as I do when my regular classes are in session. I spent a lot of time catching up on work and I also took a mind opening workshop on acrylic plastic taught by the internationally recognized jeweller, Adam Paxon.

The workshop consisted of a little bit of demonstration and a lot of experimentation. Adam taught us about the properties of acrylic and the way it can be shaped and manipulated into interesting forms. I have only ever seen acrylic (in jewellery) as 2D shapes cut out from the material. The idea that it can be bent, stretched, and laminated to create beautiful works of art really excites me and I can't wait to work with it again. The image to the left is an example of some of Adam's work.

Since I don't have much of my own stuff happening right now, I thought I'd show off a few of my favourite items from etsy.com that have been posted by other sellers.

a) nervoussytem's radiolaria lines pendant (white)
I love plastic and can't help but be impressed by everything that the creators of this shop have done. They laser cut polystyrene plastic into interesting shapes. "The pattern displays shifts in direction and scale, creating a sense of movement and tension. These complex forms recall those of radiolarians, plant cells and even the familiar honey comb." This shop also has another similar necklace made up of ellipses in black, but there's something about the crispness of this white piece that appeals to me.

b) ninetailfox's Everybody has to work Sterling Silver Giraffe Ring
This definitely isn't any conventional ring. It rises approximately 1 inch above the wearer's hand, and may not be the most comfortable thing to wear, but it's just too much fun to pass up. I know that if I was having a hard day at work, this giraffe sitting on my finger would cheer me up... after all, "Everyone has work, apparently even giraffes." And the best part, he's wearing a tie.

c) showpony's Bugs - blue purse
This seemingly innocent looking pattern of birds and flowers has a surprise, when you open the folds of the fabric there are bugs and spiders creeping underneath! Many people may also be interested to know that shadowpony uses organic, fair-trade and natural products wherever possible in her shop.

Well, I made it through my first semester at school. I learned a lot and am happy to say that my skills at things like soldering, sawing, and finishing have improved quite a bit (although I still have a long way to go). The work was always very challenging and there was never a shortage of it. There were times when things got very stressful and I thought that I wasn't doing very well, but I made it through with all B's! (including some B pluses, and minuses). I also made a lot of good friends, which was a nice added bonus. Semester 2 starts for me next week, hopefully I can use some of my free time this week and work on some creative pieces at home.

GARAGE-LESS SALE

With my busy school schedule, I've had very little time to sit down and make anything that wasn't related to some sort of assignment over the last couple of months. It's probably pretty obvious that I haven't had much time to update this blog either (see the date of my last entry), but the event that I'll be taking part in this Sunday in Hamilton seemed like too much fun to pass up so I will be there with a few of my own creations. Just as it sounds, this night will be a garage-sale without the garage. It will consist of many vendors selling things like old records, band merch, books, clothing, crafts just to name a few things. All the other info you need is to the left.

I'm very excited to say that I will be returning to school this fall (in just over a month) to study jewellery making full-time at George Brown College in Toronto. It will be nice to get to work on a real jeweller's bench again and have access to so many good tools and equipment. I'm also very excited to hear that I'll be able to work with other precious metals aside from silver during my time there. This is definitely the step that will kick-start my career as a jeweller.

Sales Outside of Etsy

Although Etsy is has a great set up to its shops and it's a great way to market my work, I've also been selling a lot outside of my shop there (or at least "a lot" in relation to what I thought I'd be selling). I've done a couple of custom buckles (two of which were talked about in previous posts) and I've also sold one of the more creative buckle that I've come up with. Hopefully the trend of selling 1-2 every couple of weeks continues for a little while... but to be completely honest, I'm going to be happy to move on to other mediums. Resin is quite toxic, and although I use a mask to filter out the fumes... it still makes me nervous to work with it... especially as often as I have been.