Here’s a CAD of my final pieces, these are the high end ones by the way:

The black frame is silver but oxidised, whilst the coloured tags inside are made from anodised aluminium.

I also plan on making the affordable editions, where the aluminium tags will be substituted with paper.  More practical for things like images.  It’ll also allow for the consumer to change the tags to whatever they wish.

All I can do right now is keep myself busy with other projects, whilst I’m waiting for my metal to be laser cut and marked.  Good thing too, I need to get pieces ready for the final exhibition.

I thought I had previously written a post about this competition but can’t seem to fish it out.  Basically a piece of jewellery has been designed and we’re judged on how accurate our making is in accordance to the techinical drawing.  Measurements and appearance need to be done to the tee (correct spelling?), well, give or take half a millimetre in measurement.

Note to self: don’t go near a gem shop again.

Gemstones I purchased.

These gemstones weren’t purchased all together; I have bought them over the years. Gosh, that just made me sound old.   However, on Tuesday I brought quite a bit so the kind gemstone lady gave me one for free.  Yay to freebies.

Here’s a tip on how to clean your jewellery (I’ve only tested it with silver):

1. Glass jar
2. Fill half way with warm water
3. Add a stripe of aluminium foil
4. Then add one teaspoon of salt
5. Put jewellery pieces in jar
6. Leave for a few minutes, although it works instantly
7. For any stubborn tarnishes just repeat the whole process

Ta-da, your home made jewellery cleaner: free of potent, offensive scent.  Don’t be an idiot like me and waste your money during these tough times.    Much thanks goes to katlnhats.

I don’t personally think I’ve done well.  All the contestants will be judged on the piece they made to the design, it’s all very meticulous: from the size of the piece; wire; metal sheet.  To put it simple, every detail matters.  My piece, for one, is bigger than the technical drawing.  Secondly I only realised this morning that I had, in fact, misinterpreted the drawing and have made it wrong.  A few things didn’t look perfect but starting the piece all over again wasn’t going to be an option.

Even though it’s not my best work I can say I’ve given it my all.  I wish the other guys all the best. 

‘Twas a good evening, it’s strange seeing my stuff on display, with my name next to each piece. Had to call for time off work just to finish my pieces for this but I’m making up for lost work time on Saturday.

A lot of people arrived, I really didn’t expect that many to turn up. Great atmosphere though and there was an amazing pianist. Who – not that it’s relevant – gave me a smile. There was a self-serving catering and free wine, orange juice and all that jazz. I would have pictures but trying to go above everyone else to take them would have been too much hassle, and even then I’d have probably got the back of their heads, hah. Being a short cake sucks sometimes.

Speaking of photos I’ll probably take them tomorrow since it’s my shift of greeting visitors. If that fails then I’ll try on Friday where I’m at uni. from 12pm until 2pm. If all fails then I’m sure the uni. will take pictures.

As for me…well I won’t have any jewellery bits to talk about until later this year when I start the higher level. Don’t know what things I’ll blabber about but I’ll find something.

Oh yes, and much thanks goes to Roger Moore who neatened up the setting, I was over the moon about my brooch. Although I can’t seem to get the finish perfect. Thank you!

[edit on 12.06 @ 15:55] No pictures available as cameras are prohibited. [/edit]

Just to get straight to the point, I got my brooch – you know, the fine jewellery one that I kept keeping excited about? – on Saturday. My manager took the “unfinished” brooch, from the setter and I wasn’t even told about it.

Prior getting the stones setted, the brooch was finished perfectly and made to my satisfaction. *Gets off high horse* On Saturday my excitement vanished – I hid it well though amazingly. The stones look beautiful but, to me, the way they were set didn’t look very well done. I didn’t say anything because I don’t know how to set stones or how the end product should look. I also dismissed my negative opinions as me being high maintenance about my work. I went to polish the brooch and found that one edge had been bent out of shape. I was told it was because of the schla…German-sounding-word that I don’t know how to spell, or pronounce for that matter. I also found all sorts of markings on my piece which is what I tried to avoid when making it.

Today, I went into uni. to show my lecturer and she said that the setting hadn’t been done well. Another lecturer clarified that as well. With advise I was told to go see a different stone setter to see if he could neaten up the settings – pave and bevel setting. New stone setter said he could. It’ll cost me £20 and I’ll have it by tomorrow.

I am absolutely gutted, especially since that was by far the best work I’d done; and one that I was most proud of. As you can see (figuratively speaking…) I have no pictures. That’s how sad I was about it. I only have myself to blame, as I should really check people’s other repairs/work before I give them mine.

This post has won an Annie Award for being the most pointless.

[edit @23:03] Oh and many thanks goes to Bali for supplying the stones. Now, if only I remembered the names of the gemstones. Let’s see…

• Pink sapphire
• Green emerald
• Tourmaline (greens and orange/yellows)

Gah, I can’t remember the others – that’ll bug me until no end. I’ll go find them out, my manager will know.

Thanks should also go out to Alan, who is going to set my stone despite have tons of other repairs to do. A final special thank you goes to my manager, Andrew for sponsoring the stones (if it weren’t for him the brooch would still be bare, heh). Thank you all very much!

Okay, this is beginning to sound like an award speech. Annie out. [/edit]

It’s fun! Using the big cameras (yes, I know, I have the terminology down! ) are a lot of fun, although at first glance they look daunting and heavy. The pictures I took from them were bad so I opted for my digital point and click camera. Now, what would a post like this be without pictures? Here’s a few out of the hundreds I took of my makings .

The first photo (below) is one I took with the SLR camera. The problem with SLR cameras are that they pick up every single, intricate detail – even dust or bad polishing/cleaning. We’ll pretend everything’s perfect though .

That seems to be the only decent one I took from the SLR so now I’ll swiftly move on with pictures taken from my digital camera. By the way, I will eventually get the stones set. I just need some contacts first . Anyway…

The picture above is of my hair slide, which I made for my final project. It’s made of real silver . The stone in the centre of the flower is a green aventurine cabochon.

The picture above shows my not so impressive engraving skills – it’s a key fob. I’m just glad we didn’t have to engrave in silver, although, I’m going to be cheeky and silver-plate the copper .

The silvery goodness above is the other thing I made for my 1st year final project. Again, it’s a brooch – my third overall. I guess you know what inspired my design ;P.

Huh, just realised that if you look carefully you can see my blurred hands and the top I’m wearing, hah.

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