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

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

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

Tethered heart necklace

Ive been bending n twisting again with a little sterling silver and here is what I came up with.
16" necklace with 2cm hammered silver heart, hand wired dangle and swarovski crystal bead.

love n light,
x