Category Archives: Jewellery

Quality Time

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Life was bliss for three weeks. No rushing, no nagging, no disturbance, just peace and quiet and dealing with an extremely hot summer. It was the best three weeks off I’ve had in a while because I didn’t have to share my time with anyone else. It was just me and it felt awesome. I took the goldsmith course which was an amazing experience as well. Especially when the person teaching -a professional goldsmith- tells you that you have the skill set, patience, creativity and the exceptional natural ability to do this kind of work. I was flattered because she was not the kind of person to give compliments. I’m sure she must have noticed my passion for designing and making jewellery.

The friend who passed away about a month ago, used to be a goldsmith as well. Her ex-partner gave all her tools to me when he heard I was going to take this course. I didn’t use them yet as they were in a small flight case and I had to go through all her stuff first and clean it. It took me three days to sort it, clean it and give it some extra TLC. I had to sand down the inside of the flight case as there was glue stuck allover. After sanding it down I painted it white and cleaned all the aluminium edging and corners on the outside. It looks so much better now, it’s ready to be used. All I need to add over time, is a proper desk, gas torch and tank, hoses, saw, hammer and ring mandrel.

I’ve bought a Garmin vivosport activity tracking device a while ago and have been keeping an eye on stress levels since. They were extremely high, especially in May and June this year and although I didn’t feel stressed most of the time, it was telling me that I really had to slow down and try to reduce this. These past three weeks levels had dropped significantly which was a real eye-opener. I’ve started working again so I’m curious to see what will happen this month. The fact that temperatures were extremely high and I was forced to take things slow must have contributed to lower stress levels as well. I’ve been craving for some serious long spells of rain and thunderstorms for weeks now!

I’ve met up with friends for dinner and really enjoyed their company as I hadn’t been able to see most of them for at least six months, some for over a year. We had lots of stories to share! I’ve updated my jewellery business website and added more pictures in the portfolio section. And I’ve been playing with electroforming but that didn’t go well, I was expecting better results. I’ll have to look into things and see what is causing issues. I think I might have contaminated the bath as I was experimenting with fabric on gemstones. Because of the heat my conductive paint dried waaaaay too fast and I’m guessing it didn’t seal parts completely, also the liquid rubber I’ve used was a new technique.

I’ll try to fix it this weekend. Going back to work was kind of hard because it was 32C at the start of this week and 29C in my office space, too hot to focus on things that need to be done. Today I’m working from home and have some extra time to get chores done and write a blog in between. Still there’s too much on my plate, I can’t seem to focus because of the weather and not sleeping very well. Summer is great but these temperatures are driving me nuts. Last week the government announced an official drought and shortage of water, because of this trees and plants are dying, use of tap water is still fine and not restricted (yet). Thunderstorms and rain is expected tomorrow, we’ll see…

First things first, let’s get some work done ;)

Copper Issue

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I’ve been trying new techniques and new materials for my jewellery lately but I seem to be stuck at the moment as I’m trying to find a solution for some problems I ran into. The idea that is on my mind is a cool one but in order to get it done I need to try things that -to me- are scary in a way. Each tool I use that needs a combination of speed and something sharp in order to do what it’s supposed to do I feel utterly uncomfortable with. Tools like a circular saw or a Dremel metal drill bit, a high speed cutter, or even the fast rotating Dremel carbon steel brushes/abrasive buffs I’ve used for polishing. Yes I’ve used them all but I was and am hesitant to do so because I know myself well enough ;)

I can be extremely preoccupied, thinking too many thoughts at once or trying to do several things at the same time. If I’m in such a mood I turn into a living disaster the moment I’d use my cordless Dremel or any other tool. Trust me I’ve done it before ending up cutting myself or letting the tool slip or worse. I guess it also has to do with getting older and getting more aware of lingering dangerous situations. The first time I’ve used a circular saw was in 2000 (17 years ago) when I had just moved into my new apartment where I was renovating the kitchen all by myself. I had lent the saw from a friend who lived nearby and since there was no-one around to help me I had to figure it out myself.

I’ve renovated the kitchen cabinets with a new kitchen worktop and had to make a hole to fit the sink in plus I made four more triangular shelves of the leftover bit. The worktop had a round edge profile which I wanted at the front of the shelves. So I had to fit it in the corner which was not exactly in a 90° angle as the walls didn’t have a flat surface, there were bumps in the plaster everywhere. But I’ve managed. Yes I was scared to use that tool as I had never used it before and had no idea how fast it would be or how it would behave whilst going through the wood. Would it be a smooth experience, would it go fast, would it slip away. etc., etc. Would I be careful enough to handle it?

I’ve fixed so many things over the years without hesitation, piping throughout the apartment, several old Vaillant geysers MAG 125/7.1 TZ which needed cleaning and fixing, gas heaters and so forth. Apart from renovations I’ve also always redecorated each apartment I’ve moved into myself, so I guess I could say I’m quite the DIY gal ;) Still these speedy power tools, make me feel uncomfortable the moment I have to use one which results in postponing what needs to be done in order to get to the next step of the design process. For this particular idea I have used copper piping which I have cut into rings with all different widths. Subsequently the rings need to be attached to each other.

The cutting is done by hand so there was no fear factor involved just yet but as I want to attach them to each other I will have to drill holes in each ring. I’ll also have to smoothen the edges because the cutter has left it very sharp. I recently cut myself when I took one of the rings to measure my wire wrapping design. I’ll use my Dremel to drill the holes with a very thin drill bit and perhaps to smoothen the edges of the rings as well. I still need to look into that particular part (mark the word ‘still’ ;) ) as I have been ‘busy’ looking for alternative solutions. Copper piping also gets really hot, I’ve noticed the first time I made a hole and I f… up my drill, I’m prepared this time: I’ve bought 3 spare drills :shock:

In my mind -whilst thinking about solutions- I was adding the additional horror value in case something would go wrong. I’ve read too many stories about broken cutting disks and hot flying fragments at colossal speed and the damage they can do (yes I wear safety glasses but still). I think I can retrace this reaction to a childhood memory where I’m sitting at my mum’s sewing machine -eight years old- sewing a nightdress when at some point the needle breaks. I felt it hit my cheeck at the time, only a few centimeters from my left eye. Ever since, ‘velocity’, ‘sharp-edged’, ‘high speed’ and ‘rotating’ used in one sentence causes me to try and find a workaround that is less scary to me.

See how I move around in circles? :roll: I think it’s time to get out of my comfort zone and ‘just do it’… The pillar drills is set and waiting to be used for weeks now. Guess I’ll be reporting back soon :cool: