From Sage Leaf to Silver Necklace

Sage has long been burned to purify and cleanse a space. The ancients burned dried sprigs of sage in temples and during religious rituals. The Greeks and Romans wrote that the smoke imparted wisdom and mental acuity. In the tenth century, Arab physicians said that sage brought about immortality, or at the very least, a long and healthy life. In England, seventeenth-century servants of the royal family scattered a blend of sage and lavender on the floors at court to help disguise the aroma of day to day life.

At home, I always have a plant on hand ready to save the day when a sore throat attacks....One of my favorite herbs, Sage (salvia officinalis) has had a long history of use to treat sore throats and coughs; often by gargling a tea made from its leaves.  

The sage leaf  used to make this piece was picked from my own organic herb garden and not that I'm expecting a silver sage leaf to protect me from a sore throat, ward off evil spirits or impart me with immortality any time soon, it does make a lovely unique necklace. 

Innocent Oils Pure Himalayan Crystal Body Spray || Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database | Environmental Working Group

 Innocent Oils Pure Himalayan Crystal Body Spray || Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database | Environmental Working Group

Could it be the most sustainable bracelet in the World?

Recycled fine Silver buttons and Hemp Cord.
Hemp from the most sustainable plant known to man, many times stronger and softer than cotton and recycled fine silver buttons made from PMC.

What better than to combine my passions and put them into a bracelet? ...probably the most sustainable, eco-friendly bracelet on the planet, in my opinion.

I am passionate about living sustainably and considerately, most reflected in my day job as owner of Innocent Oils and certainly a high priority when it comes to the jewellery I make.

Silver often comes from strip mining, a labor intensive and dangerous job in itself, besides the fact that supplies of this precious metal are dwindling and it goes through a number of toxin inducing processes which further pollute the environment before you get to enjoy wearing the finished article.
For this reason I prefer not to involve strong chemical processes where possible when creating my jewellery.

So you can imagine my joy when working with Silver Art Clay. Made from recycled fine silver, a non-toxic binder and water, producing a clay like substance which when fired ends up as 99% pure silver.
Note: .925 Sterling silver is 92.5% silver the rest made up of an alloy such as copper to give it strength. This alloy goes black when soldered thus pickling is required to clean the surface.

Sterling Silver necklace with hammered heart and Ankh

This necklace sits comfortably around the neck looking delicate and beautiful, whilst remaining robust enough to be worn and enjoyed daily for many years to come.

If you would like this or a similar necklace please drop me a line. I would love to hear from you.
lizziejart@hotmail.co.uk or tweet me @lizziejart

Fine silver and sparky precious stones!

In my post on Jan 19th I was showing the process of making the fine silver disk with inlaid precious stones and Keum-Bo 24K Gold, as below.

Since then I have been wearing the pendant on a black silk neck cord. More recently though, I've fast been running out of neck space!

Not wanting to end up resembling the A Team's B.A. Baraccus I decided to re-use the pendant on one of my hand-wired sterling silver Signature Bracelets instead.

It now sits comfortably on my wrist where I can enjoy the ruby and peridot stones as they capture the light beautifully.

If you would like a similar pendant do drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you.
I am also currently looking for retail stockists and galleries to exhibit my work, so if you are or you know an independant jewellery store please get in touch. lizziejart@hotmail.co.uk
Twitter @lizziejart

Why I love my hands...

I love my hands because they are creative hands. Hands that doodle and draw, paint, cut, colour and more...

I love my hands because they hold the small hands of my children. Walking along or simply sitting, we link fingers and we are one.

I love my hands because they hold up the book I am reading and turn its pages. Books are my escape, my little sanctuary from the everyday humdrum.

I love my hands because they hold my camera up to my eye and press the shutter to capture what it sees. Seeing the world in detail is a delight - and to capture that image forever is a thing that brings me great joy.

I love my hands because my nails are growing strong. Which tells me that I am in good health - and after being in only so-so health for so long - that makes me very, very happy.

A Square Peg in a Round Hole

I have been working on a bespoke piece based around the idea of a 'square peg in a round hole', for an 18th birthday in Jan.

The birthstone for Jan is Garnet, so I have used a 5mm square cut garnet as the focal point of the piece, with 24ct Keum-boo gold added as a highlight.

The first picture below is the piece at 'green stage', this means the silver art clay has dried but can still be worked as if a ceramic article rather than as a hard metal piece.


I have now fired the piece ready for the addition of the 24ct Keum-Boo highlight.
Keum-boo is not gold leaf, it is a much thicker gold foil which can be cut, torn, cutter punched etc, and applied to the silver using heat.
I wil attach the gold to the silver using a butane torch and an Agate Burnishing tool to give a smooth finish and a strong bond with the silver, but others may use different tools for the same effect.


Here is the finished piece...for a square peg in a round hole. With love and my best wishes


Notes: This piece was for an 18 year old young woman, with an eye for stylish high fashion and unique creative art.
Since a child she has always felt different to her peers with her take on life and a razor sharp creative spark.

I wanted to create a unique piece of wearable jewellery to be enjoyed for many years. Something that would symbolise the wearer, without shouting out its meaning.
The traditional key or 18 hanging around her neck would simply not have 'cut the mustard' so to speak, I hope this does...

Namaste
Helen 'Lizze' James x

Twitter: LizzieJArt

Keum-Boo explained by Wikipeadia

From Dull Clay to Sparking Silver

I thought I would blog the process of how silver clay ends up up as a wearable piece of silver jewellery. What I am going to illustrate is the part of working with silver clay that I find the most fascinating and exciting. Turning something that starts off so brittle and delicate and ends up as a shiny solid pendant.


The picture above is a disk about 1" in diameter in what is known as its 'green state'. This is where the silver clay has been left to dry and is ready for firing. It has a dusty grey look and feels rather delicate to handle. At this stage it can be filed, sanded, drilled, carved, and pretty much anything you can do with regular clay.
Before this stage while the clay was moist, I stamped it and made holes in which I set 3x small Ruby's, 1 x Garnet and 1 x Peridot ready to be fired into the piece.
Its not perfect I know, but this was my first attempt so things can only get better with time.

After firing with a torch the piece takes on its metallic feel with a dull white surface that looks and feels dusty. This is not a dust, it is silver particles not laying in a uniform pattern to reflect the light so it looks dull.

The picture below shows the difference it makes to the areas that have been burnished to lay the silver particles flat with the back of a stainless steel spoon. An agate burnishing tool is most useful at this stage but mine was at the bottom of the tools box when I was at this stage so needs must and I grabbed a spoon to use instead. It has a long way to go yet so I have time to dig out the burnishing tools for additional shine.
The area with the bright shine around the edge of the disk shows where I have just rubbed the back of the spoon across the surface to burnish it.



This next picture shows the back of the disk, and you can see the indentations from the Teflon sheet I used to roll the clay out onto. You can also see the holes I made for the gem stones, and the bail made from a piece of fine silver attached with clay paste onto the pendant.



Finally you can see that now the shine is beginning to appear and the disk is looking more like a piece of silver jewellery almost ready to be worn.



I fired it once more to raise the rough surface again in order to apply an area of 22Kt Gold Keum-Boo then burnished again to set the gold in place.
It is nearly ready to wear now, I just need to give it a polish with a good cloth to further smooth off any scratches and it will be ready to enjoy.


I hope you have enjoyed reading this post, and I hope it inspires you to give silver art clay a go for yourself.

Follow my thoughts and ramblings on Twitter @Lizziejart

Getting to grips with Silver Clay

I have always enjoyed ceramics but have always disappointed that the pieces I made would be so fragile it was hard to keep them safe from little hands.
Having recently discovered the pleasures of crafting handmade silver jewellery, it came as a joy and inspiration to learn about the wonders of silver clay also known as precious metal clay or PMC. For me this was like the ultimate combination of my favorite things. I get to work initially as if with ceramic, then following firing the techniques change to some silver smithing techniques I have been attempting to get the hang of.

I cant tell you how addictive working with silver clay is, the possibilities are vast. As a relatively new product to the market many traditional jewellers remain rather wary of using PMC. However, it is gaining in popularity with artisans and home crafters, especially as it is such a pleasant non toxic product to craft with.

What is Silver Clay?

First developed in Japan Art Clay Silver is made of finely powdered pure silver, water, and binders. When heated to 800-850 degrees C., the organic binders burn off, leaving a pure silver piece.


Precious Metal Clay, PMC, is an exciting material developed and patented in the 1990s by Mitsubishi Materials of Japan. Microscopic particles of silver are mixed with a moist binder to create a material that has the feel and working properties of modeling clay.
Using simple tools, objects are easily given shape, texture, and character. After air-drying, the objects are heated to temperatures approaching the melting point of the metal. The binders burn off safely leaving the fine silver particles to fuse together to make a dense, fully metallic object.
Once fired the piece can be polished, soldered, enameled, and enjoyed like any other silver item. It may then also be stamped .999 or hallmarked traditionally as fine silver.

As I explained earlier I have only been using Silver Clay for a month or so, but as I am sure you too will find out it really is a joy to work with, and I can see this becoming a long term interest as I learn more about it and explore its possibilities in the coming months and years.

Lizzie J Art Hand wrapped silver signature bangles

Quickly establishing itself as my favourite design, this hand wrapped bangle has captured the eye of many friends and next table coffee drinkers who have noticed it.


The simple beauty of this design is that it begins life as a length of cold silver wire, lifeless and waiting to be transformed.
Through careful bending, wrapping, and finishing detail, this wire soon takes on its own life, becoming a delightfully comfortable and unique article of jewellery.

It's my greatest wish that it may become an heirloom cherished item, passed from one generation to the next with love and many a happy memory.



These bangles are custom made to ensure a perfect fit for comfort and daily wear.

Designed to be barely felt on the wrist, always enjoyed by the owner.



For all enquiries email: Lizziejart@hotmail.co.uk
Lizzie J Art FaceBook Page