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.

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

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.