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Here’s my latest design, some smiley, googly-eyed pearl hoop earrings!
This was a design I had in mind for a while, but it took me a while to make it! These earrings are handmade from sterling silver and the process to make them was quite involved. You can watch some of the process here:
Before I did anything, I designed the piece, here’s a sketch I used to plan the project out.
The first stage of making was to take some sterling silver stock gauge (thick square silver wire) and I rolled it into a sheet of silver using rolling mills.
Then I engraved the back of the sheet with a pattern of smiley faces to create a ‘print effect’
The third step was to cut out the hoop shapes using my saw, and then cleaning them up by filing and sanding the earrings.
After that, I soldered on some earring posts and posts for the pearls to sit on.
I did some more engraving at this stage, carefully adding the smile to the front of each hoop.
After all that soldering and engraving, I polished the earrings in a tumbler with some steel shot.
I used liver of sulphur patina to highlight the smiley face details, polishing them back again so that it only stayed in the engraved parts of the earrings.
The final step was to glue the pearls onto the posts and add the dots to the eyes using a cold enamel technique. Then they were finished!
Here’s the finished product! How lovely are these little cuties? If you love them, you can get them here.
Here’s a shot showing the front and back details of the hoop earrings 
I love designing things that make me smile.
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I used to draw cartoons… can you tell that has influenced my jewellery designs?
My past life involved writing a thesis about how designs for the future could be communicated as webcomics. I don’t write them any more as I take a break from the academic world, but my interest in cartoons has definitely influenced my jewellery designs!
This lovely smiley rainbow necklace is an example of how cartoon styles have infiltrated my jewellery practice! This fine silver pendant was sculpted from precious metal clay (PMC), using sculpting tools and some jewellery stamps to create the eyes and mouth! This gorgeous cartoon flower pendant comes on a rainbow beaded necklace finished with sterling silver hardware.
I love how this pendant shows the human touch, it contains evidence of being made by a person, details you won’t see on a mass produced piece of jewellery!
I hope this piece finds a life with a fellow comics lover, here’s a cartoon you can wear!
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Here are some lovely little leaf earrings!
This is an older design, but it is still wonderful! This pair of earrings features two hand-poured resin leaf charms, one blue, the other orange that are fixed to sterling silver threader earrings that are different lengths. This mismatched pair of leaf earrings is quite delightful!
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A necklace with two sides to match your mood!
I don’t think there’s anyone out there who is happy all the time (I’m certainly not!) so I thought it would be fun to design a reversible necklace that reflected the fact that our moods change!
Here’s the happy side of the pendant 
And here’s the grumpy side. This sterling silver necklace is a love heart that features two hand-carved faces. One side is a smiley cartoon face, while the other is grumpy, so you can choose which side to display to send a message to the world about your mood.
Here are some pics that show both sides of the pendant and the delicate chain it is on. It is finished with a patina and scratch finish to give it a unique, aged look, as though it’s an ancient medallion used for years to show people how you’re feeling.
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I love getting the hammer out to make interesting earrings!
Some people are earrings people, they manage to complete a look with a gorgeous pair of earrings every time! I don’t always top off my look with a glam pair of earrings, but I sure do love making them.
This first pair is really special! These sterling silver hammered threader earrings are a one off pair that came together really organically. Using a pair of pliers, I transformed some silver wire into an organic pair of threader earrings. Once they were in a shape I liked, I hammered the curved fronts of the earrings to finish them off.
The second pair of hammered earrings I’m introducing in this post are a little less glam and more appropriate as everyday stud earrings! These sterling silver studs are hammered at the front and sit flat against the ear lobe.
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Sometimes having an experimental approach to jewellery can yield the best results! Keep reading this post to find out about how I created these mushroom earrings!
Are you a hot and sexy single? So are these earrings!
Do you like your accessories to be a bit offbeat? Why not get these winking star earrings?!
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I swear, this winking love heart pendant has got to be lucky!
I can’t help but think that jewellery can make you feel lucky and protected, but always for different reasons. Sometimes I reach for a piece given to me by a loved one when I feel like I need some extra love. Other times I reach for a special design that reminds me to feel powerful. It doesn’t really matter what it is, almost all of my jewellery makes me feel strong and supported and a little bit lucky!
When I make jewellery, I try to give each piece with those same properties, channeling my love and luck into each one-off design that I manufacture in my solo jewellery practice! I love to do this using cheeky expressions and faces that remind you to not take things so seriously and to believe in yourself, to take life as it comes with a little bit of a wink. I think you can see this a lot in this lovely love heart pendant that features a carved winking face.
This pendant was made by hand from fine silver precious metal clay, a glorious material that shows all the marks of hand-making!
This lovely love heart hangs from a hand-beaded necklace featuring glowy glass seed beads in an array of colours. Each end of the necklace is secured with a sterling silver jump ring and parrot clasp.
Detail shot showing the glowing seed beads and the sterling silver hardware. Here are some more views of this gorgeous, lucky charm necklace that I hope brings you confidence and joy!
Here’s the back view of the pendant. 
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Here’s a lovely ring for your next cocktail hour… this star ring packs a visual punch!
I love creating using precious metal clay, it is such a unique material that shows lots of handmade details on its surface! This ring was handmade using precious metal clay and sterling silver to create a spectacular, galactic cocktail ring.
I made the star part of this ring by rolling out some PMC and cutting it into a star shape, I then added a pattern using various metal stamps in different shapes including triangles, flowers diamonds. When I was happy with the design, I set the star aside to dry, and then i fired it to burn off all the clay, leaving a star made of pure fine silver!
It took a while to work out a design for the band on this ring. I eventually settled on a split shank design made from two pieces of sterling silver wire. They were soldered together at the back and then soldered to the star. This split shank design makes the ring feel more comfortable to wear, as thick ring bands can squash the finger and restrict your movement, they can also be harder to put on and take off.
The final part of making this ring was the finishing polish! This ring was polished using a tumbling technique that is very cool. The ring was placed into a container with steel beads, soap and water, it was then spun for a few hours while the pins slowly polished its surface. The result is a lovely shine and a stronger ring!
here’s how the finished ring looks!
Here’s how the ring looks worn on the middle finger. 
Here’s a shot showing the back of the ring, where the split shank comes together. 
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Sometimes I get sad and need something that smiles when I can’t… so I made this ring.
Sterling silver and Lab Rubies are made for each other… and this ring is the proof!
I think jewellery should look good and interesting from all angles, so I designed a ring that has different sides!
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Are you a winker? Here’s a necklace for someone who loves to give a sexy little wink every now and then.
This pendant is made from fine silver using precious metal clay, this necklace features a rectangular shaped bar charm decorated with a carving of a pair of winking eyes.
After firing, cleaning, adding patina and polishing this pendant, I hung it on a sterling silver chain with two handmade sterling silver jump rings.
Here’s a little video that shows some snippets of how this pendant was made, as well as showing off the final result.
Here are some more pics of the piece.
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Love a mismatched pair of earrings? I’ve got a pair of hoops that might tickle your fancy!
The charm is made from some recycled sterling silver and features a lovely red-toned gemstone cabochon.
The handmade silver and gemstone charm hangs from one of the handmade sterling silver hoop earrings, while the other hoop is left plain, meaning that you can add your own charm to it, for a completely customised pair of hoops, or you can leave it unadorned to wear as a mismatched pair!
Here’s what the charm looks like from the back, featuring a 925 hallmark to indicate it is made from sterling silver. 
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Are you a hot and sexy single? So are these earrings!
First cab off the rank is this amazing blue topaz earring! I made this charm using some recycled silver. The light blue topaz is set upside-down in a bezel to give a spike effect. This handmade topaz charm sits on a cute sterling silver sleeper that clips securely in your lobe.
The topaz earring from the front 
Side angle view of topaz sleeper earring 
Side view of topaz earring to show the inverted setting detail The second contender is this organic silver charm. This charm was made using precious metal clay (PMC). PMC is a really exciting material, fine silver particles are mixed with a clay that can be sculpted and formed into unique shapes, when the form is fired, the clay burns away and you are left with a solid metal piece. This textured charm is organic and interesting, finished with a sterling silver reinforcement and threaded onto a sterling silver sleeper earring.
Here’s the front view of this unique organic earring 
This gives an example of how the earring hangs from your earlobe. 
A view of this organic fine silver earring from behind. The final single earring available for your collection is probably my favourite! This sterling silver sleeper features an adorable recycled silver charm that is engraved on each side. One side features a cute happy face, while the other side features a sad face. The double sided feature on this earring means that it is a versatile design that can be worn either way, depending on your mood.
Here’s a view of the smiley side. 
And here’s the adorable sad side. 
You can remove the charm from the earring and flip it around to feature different sides. You May Also Like
Sometimes having an experimental approach to jewellery can yield the best results! Keep reading this post to find out about how I created these mushroom earrings!
Do you like your accessories to be a bit offbeat? Why not get these winking star earrings?!
Do you love cute little sparkles for your ears? These fun yellow earrings with sparkly cubic zirconia charms might be for you!
