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