A Tale of Two Soldering Blocks

I have a new soldering block.

My old soldering block, pictured below on the left, has seen me through a lot. In fact, it's as good as the only block I've ever used when I've soldered away from the class environment. And it had got to the stage where to find a small patch of level surface involved balancing the block on its side and really wasn't ideal, to put it mildly.




I've always used powder flux and when this is heated it becomes molten. Then it hardens to an almost glass-like quality, as you might be able to see in the photograph. It also becomes sticky and hardens rapidly as soon as the heat is removed, and can quite easily hold the work being soldered onto the soldering block. This is, to put it mildly, far from ideal when you've finished the soldering part.

Eventually I was given the handy hint of reheating the area very slightly, just enough to make the flux molten again, and then lift the work off without any resistance. But until then I used to pull until the silver came free, and it normally came free with a small piece of the soldering block.

So my old block is a mixture of miniature valleys of missing block and mountains of glass-like flux. It's still usable and will be used, but for delicate, more precise work, having a smooth soldering surface feels like the most extravagant indulgence and I'm still enjoying the clean and smooth expanses, and doing my best not to create any more landforms than I'm sure I inevitably will, however careful I am.

Do leave a comment or get in touch if you've any hints to share about dealing with soldering blocks - I've love to read them.

Jeweller Interview with Little Cherry Hill

Last year I started doing interviews with fellow jewellery makers and here's another one now, this time with Little Cherry Hill Artisan Jewellery.

Emma, who is Little Cherry Hill, creates wonderful work, carefully detailed and intricately finished, often set with gemstones and always made with great skill.

When I first discovered Little Cherry Hill I fell in love with the silver and the gemstones, and the sheer imagination and variety Emma shows when crafting her designs.

I hope you enjoy looking through Emma's jewellery and reading about how she makes her art.



When and how did you start making jewellery?
I started metal smithing in Oct 2009 – my first child was a year old and I was making some stamped disc pendants with her name and birthdate etc on them. It was when it came to hanging them on a chain that I realised a simple closed jump ring wasn’t going to secure the pendant very well – at least not well enough for long term wear (which is kind of the purpose of such jewellery, no?) So I started researching how to solder a jump ring and, well, the rest is history!


How did you think of your shop name and does it have a story behind it?
My brand name began when I started teaching myself to sew. It’s personal to me and it’s a part of my last name, so it was easy for me to remember – it has stuck with me throughout all my ventures.


Where do your design ideas come from and what is the process that sees them through to the finished product?
My design ideas are purely from the top of my head. Sometimes I work around a stone, sometimes it just pops into my head and I go from there. It doesn’t always work out – but that’s part of the process.


Where do you create your jewellery; do you have your own studio or use a kitchen table? Does your physical space affect how you work and what you create?
I create my jewellery in the garage of our home. It’s a great place for metal smithing as I don’t have to worry about dropping things or making a mess as the floor is concrete. But it’s not an insulated space – which does affect my work at times as it gets way too hot to be soldering or enamelling. So during the Summer I can tend not to venture to my bench for weeks at a time.





How do you motivate yourself to keep on creating?
Motivation or my ‘creative mojo’ as I like to call it, comes and goes as it pleases. This of course makes it difficult to build my little business and even harder to build my skill set. I am extremely critical of myself and my work, which makes it even harder to get the motivation to work at my bench.


What is your favourite piece of jewellery to make?
My favourite jewellery to make would be pendants – probably because you can go larger when making them, say compared to the size of earrings or rings. And I absolutely love large statement pieces.


What jewellery making tools could you just not do without, and what tool/item is on your wish list?
The tool I could not do without the most would be my Flex-shaft. So many little drill bits and finishing/sanding tools can be equipped into this wonderful contraption that mean less wear and tear on our precious hands – always a good thing! One tool on my wishlist that I hope to get early 2015, would be a Delft Clay sandcasting kit. This is something I really want to teach myself to do.


What is your favourite part of making and selling jewellery?
My favourite part of making a piece of jewellery is the finished product. Seeing it all come together and work out from imagination to reality is really fun. The part I love about selling would be somebody choosing to spend their hard earned savings on a piece that I made with my two hands from scratch – especially given there is so much to choose from on Etsy, so many beautiful pieces. When someone chooses to wear something I’ve made it’s a little thumbs up to the work that I do and I thrive on that.





Do you take your own photos, and if so do you have any photography hints?
Yes, I have always taken my own photos. Photography is something I enjoy as a hobby alongside metal smithing. I would recommend using natural light always, flash is awful and I never, ever use it, ever. Not for anything. Take your photographs in a neutral setting with minimal distraction and near a window out of direct sunlight.


When did you start your blog and how much input have you had in its design? How do you maintain and update it?
I started my jewellery blog when I began learning to make jewellery. I wanted to connect with others in the same field and also document what I was learning/doing. I try to design everything myself when and where I can. If I need help to see a vision through I try to go to other Etsians. At the moment I don’t update it much – I haven’t the time right now. But I do check in as much as I can.


Which social media platform do you find the most enjoyable and helpful, and how do you use it?
At the moment my favourite social media is Instagram. I love photography and looking others pictures. I use Instagram to connect with others and to share my favourite things and a little from my life and mostly my work process.


How do you hope your jewellery making will evolve over time? How do you see your shop changing?
I hope my jewellery will evolve as I teach myself new skills. At this point in my life my children take up much of my time, so new skills and making new jewellery as quite stretched out over time. I do hope one day to build my little business up to something more than a hobby, but right now I just enjoy what time I can get at my bench.





Thanks so very much for the interview, Emma, it was fascinating finding out more about your work.
All photographs in this post ©Little Cherry Hill Artisan Jewellery


If you want to find more of Emma's beautiful work then click through on these links -

Etsy - Little Cherry Hill at Etsy

Facebook - Little Cherry Hill on Facebook

Blog - Little Cherry Hill's Blog

Pinterest - Little Cherry Hill on Pinterest

Jewelled Web - April 2016 - Link Love

The sea in the spring...

Easter was very early this year and perhaps that's why the weather seemed a little colder than normal. Okay, Good Friday was sunny and bright and quite beautiful, but the following days had a sting of cold in the air, rain and strong winds. The occasional blast of sunlight was noticed and enjoyed though.

This Jewelled Web comes closer than normal on the heels of my previous one but I still hope you find something of interest - after all, the web turns up gems pretty much every day of the year...



~jewellery links~


Much of the jewellery I make - and that I own - is pretty small and delicate so I loved the finds in this post about tiny necklaces.


I've never added a patina to my silver but I must try to do so, and sooner than later. I've bookmarked this, this and this in preparation. Next is to invest in some chemicals (or eggs). Any hints welcome in the comments!

Aluminium as an alternative to silver? I love this and this.

Fusing rather than soldering is a fascinating topic (video) ... as is soldering with an iron rather than a torch.

Bored Panda is as addictive as ever and it does jewellery! Carved silver bookmarks that tell a story and tiny scenes set in resin rings.



~non-jewellery links~


How to build a minimal wardrobe - lots of links.

A fascinating library to explore online.

More Bored Panda ... Norway in the winter and a Nap Bar in Dubai (hands up who needs one of those lounge-chairs at home?).

Decorating in black and white.

How to have a holiday in an owl.

I'm not on Instagram. I do think about going on Instagram. Then it seems that lots of people want to leave Instagram 'cos of an algorithm. This might explain it a little. I hope.

Such a beautiful quilt. If I only I could sew...

A steampunk elephant, from start to finish.



~My Own Personal Book Club ~

I've been reading...

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman - sad and beautiful all at once. A writer always worth reading. If you loved the film Practical Magic, based on one of her novels, then you'll love this.

The Watchers by Neil Spring - spooky and eerie and a little bit odd... The same writer wrote the book that Harry Price - Ghost Hunter (on UK TV over Christmas) was based on.



(affiliate links included in the books listed - please check details here.)



The clocks have just gone forward and the evenings are lighter, so spring must be on its way now, surely. Hope you have a good April.