Wednesday, 4 February 2009

A leaf from start to finish

A work-in-progress gallery of a new pendant I've been working on.

Perhaps not overly fitting given the weather lately but when venturing outside I've found a few small crop of green shoots pushing through the snow, and some buds, just waiting, on a plant . . .



This is the pendant after it's been soldered. Not particularly attractive but the shape I'm trying to achieve is emerging. The small 'veins' were not easy to solder.



Fool that I am, I decided on soldering another 'vein' in. I think it looks more balanced, perversely, and more natural and authentic with an odd number.



How the pendant looks after it's been pickled out, the dark oxidisation from soldering lifted away by the acidic pickle solution.



A couple of rings have been attached (for hanging on a chain necklace) and excess solder has been, carefully, filed away. I tumble polished the leaf to give it a bright shine and then lightly hammered it to impart some leafy-looking texture.

13 comments:

SteamPunkGlass said...

That's great to see the progression, although I'd probably stop in horror where it goes all blackened thinking I'd done it wrong! Love the result!

Silver Moss Jewellery said...

Thank you! Yes, it can be slightly unnerving when your nice piece of silver suddenly looks burnt and dull. The pendant here is actually an example of post-soldered silver that doesn't look too bad!

Susannah said...

This is so so pretty!

Silver Moss Jewellery said...

Thank you! I need to make some more now, see how they all come out differently . . .

Kim McBirnie said...

That is really beautiful - you are very talented.I've always wanted to have a go at jewellry making - but think I'll stay away from hot things as I tend to get distracted (The times I've sewn myself to things, too many to count!)
Kim xx

Silver Moss Jewellery said...

Thank you, Kim. I've only burned myself to the extent I ended up blistered once. *rushes away to touch lots of pieces of wood*
But I'm always ultra careful and am still a bit nervous of the torch! I have a fire extinguisher on standby.

My tutor has been smithing since the sixties and he still managed to burn his wrist badly a while back.

Sewing machines strike me as a bit dangerous too, you know . . . That fast needle!

Julia Guthrie said...

Hey, you won my bookmark giveaway!! :)Congratulations & thanks so much for taking part!
If you want to email your address to this email... jewelz_star@hotmail.com
I will get that posted off asap :)

Julia xx

Silver Moss Jewellery said...

Am very happy! Thank you!

Karen said...

Hello!
Thanks for stopping by at my blog. Thought I'd pop over here and say hello :)
I love your leaf pendant, its beautiful.
x

April Jarocka said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Love your posts, especially your thoughts about slowness. So true! This little leave is just beautiful. I love the simplicity. Always wanted to have a go at silversmithing. Is it hard? Maybe one day....

Silver Moss Jewellery said...

Thank you, Karen, for coming by and saying hello!

Silver Moss Jewellery said...

Hi April, thanks for leaving a comment. Silversmithing is kind of hard, I have to say. It gets easier with practice but very rarely do I find it easy!

But it is absorbing and can be satisfying and I'd recommend anyone to give it a go.

Fabric Nation said...

This is lovely, really nice to see the progress. Silver always looks so lovely.