Rivets rock!

I am so happy about rivets. I have not yet perfected the process - probably a riveting hammer would help - but I have been able to make some pretty awesome things already.

Riveted rings

The ring on the left is 14 gauge bronze wire with a copper rivet. The ring on the right is 14 gauge copper wire with a copper disc, silver bead cap and copper rivet.

I tried to make a ring with a bowl-like disc, but it went all wrong. The rivet bent in both cases. I don't know if it was because I didn't cut the rivet short enough or because, due to the bowl shape, I couldn't get right down in the bowl with the hammer. I'm not sure a riveting hammer would help here because they are still large, even on the pointed end.

Hmm...

Playing around

I got some new toys over Christmas. Namely, a disc cutter and dapping set. Which means I can do stuff like this:

Please excuse the poor quality of the photo, which was taken in the evening with my phone. Hey, at least I'm updating my blog.

These are made out of brass, copper and sterling silver. Some things I'd like to improve on:

1. The edges of the discs are a little rough. Probably because I have a bargain basement disc cutter. I should have filed the edges more.
2. How to not mark up the rest of the sheet metal when using the disc cutter. Also probably because bargain basement. I want one of those Pepe ones but they are nearly $100.
3. Get coils tighter. Was also an issue with my pendant yesterday. It's completely due to my patience, or rather lack of.
4. How does one get the dome perfectly even in the dapping block? Is that even possible? You can't tell from this side, but I'm having trouble with my bead caps looking uneven.

Crystal copper woven wrap

My current project:

Copper wire and an old chandelier crystal. A conglomeration of several wraps I've seen. For a first go, not too bad so far...

And now for the finished version...

It was a lot more work than I thought it would be. The weaving was pretty simple but took a lot of time, despite using 24g wire. I wish I would have had something nicer than an old chandelier crystal to work with. Still, I suppose you can label this 'upcycling' and therefore a win.

Some recent pieces

Hi there and welcome to my jewelry blog, version 2.0. With just over a year logged at my new job, I'm hoping to have more time to invest in jewelry creation. My goal is to make at least one piece a week and get it uploaded to the blog. Sadly enough, my biggest enemy is not my lack of time management skills or my lazy a*#, but the weather. My usual photo set-up requires - at the very least - light and no rain, and here I am in the north of Holland. In January. Right, mini photo studio to the rescue.

In the meantime, to kick things off, I'll upload a few of my recent creations.

Copper and pink pearls

It's funny how things don't always turn out the way you plan. This was supposed to be a messy whirlwind layering of copper wire and pearls but when I got down to it, it demanded to be more structured. *Shrugs*. It's a statement piece at any rate.

Copper pendant

I like the swirls and the simplicity. I think it kinda looks like a Celtic cross. I must have been subliminally letting all the Arthurian fiction affect my creativity.

Mookaite and copper pendant

It looks a lot harder than it was, thanks to the fantastically detailed instructions from studioheath.com. I am quite happy with this first attempt. Copper is so malleable, unlike certain other metals (I'm looking at you, bronze).

Woven copper pendant

The lovely tutorial from Nicole Hanna enabled me to make this pendant. The beads are Czech glass. I think it's a little on the skinny side, so I'm looking forward to messing around with the design in the future.