Precious Metal Clay

I decided that for father's day I would make my Husband some Cufflinks with our three Son's Fingerprints on. Now fitting three prints onto a small square piece of Precious Metal Clay (PMC) is no easy task! I could only fit partial prints but at least it looks like each Cufflink has been touched in some way by each of our little ones! These cufflinks were also a test of my newly acquired Soldering skills!

I have also been painting Leaves from our garden with PMC Paste and absolutely love the result. After a little experimentation (ok - disasters!!) I did manage to produce a few pieces I really love. I discovered that the best result came from a really thick, well veined Leaf.

This Leaf (above) was an early attempt. It looks ok but is quite sharp at the edges and I probably didn't make it thick enough.

I was really pleased with this one (above). The detail is great and I managed to smooth the edges nicely. It is a perfect replica of the original Leaf - only in Silver!

French Knitting Masterclass with Teri Howes

I have been on a couple of Teri's Courses before to learn how to Crochet with Wire - so when I heard Teri was doing a French Knitting Class I was in!

(Photo  above Courtesy of Teri Howes)

My only previous experience of French Knitting was one of those Child's Learn to Knit (with Wool) Kits many years ago now! 


But even if you haven't had any experience at all this class is fine for a complete beginner.

The class covered all aspects of French-Knitting with Pure Silver for the purpose of jewellery making!

We learnt how to use the wooden spool and a Crochet Hook to work the stitches. It only took a few rows to get the hang of the technique.

We were then confident enough to add beads to our knit - this was achieved by placing them in the middle of the spool or by threading them onto our wire and working them in.

The shape of the knit can also be manipulated by stretching it as with Viking Weave.

Below is my finished Bracelet!

Get in touch with Teri Howes if you are interested in any of her classes.

Better still - if you pop along to one of the Cockpit Arts Open Studios  this summer, you can meet Teri in person along with lots of other Designer-Makers and get to see behind the scenes. 

You can also buy stuff directly from the designers themselves!!

Competition Winner!

Congratulations

to 

Tina Gilmore! 

Your name was first out of the hat.

 Thank you to everyone else who entered. I really appreciate your visit to my blog! 

I have been fiddling about with the layout of my blog. I managed to add a third column after consulting several tutorials. Finally after numerous failures and much frustration I found one that worked for me at Simple Blogger Tutorials. I have also picked up useful tips from Craft Blog Uk. So if you are looking to improve the look of your own blog please check out these sites.

It's a slow process for me though - I am not educated in the mysterious language of HTML! I'll just have to keep picking away at it until I get the result I was looking for!

Bold as Brass Competition

Well the Viking Weave Bracelet in Brass is finally finished and I thought I would have a giveaway!

If you would like to win the above Bracelet then just leave a comment below and I'll enter you into the draw - closing date Tuesday 11th May. The only qualification is that you are a follower of my blog - so if you're not already please click the Follow button now! x

I'm a big fan of Moo Cards and was excited to receive a new batch of Mini Cards to go with my Viking Weave Jewellery:

I chose one image for my cards but you can have up to a 100 different ones I think!

I look forward to reading your comments!