Monday 3 March 2008

Matching Jewellery set I made for my mum

I made this matching dichroic glass jewellery set especially for my mum for Mother's Day. This set has to be one of my favorite jewellery sets that I've made. The set has been made with purple dichroic glass, pink glass, black glass and clear glass. I cut and layer the glass, then fuse all the layers together at high temperatures in a kiln. The glass is then slowly annealed to give maximum strength and ensure that the glass will not crack. After the first firing, I smooth the edges off and they go back in the kiln to be fire polished. I then handcrafted the silver bezel and bail to make the pendant. I made this using silver art clay. After firing the silver art clay, you are left with 99.9% real silver. The only parts that I have not handmade is the sterling silver snake necklace and the sterling silver bail & earring hooks. Other than the sterling silver findings, everything else is completely handcrafted by myself.
I especially like the glass bangles. These push on your arm and then slide down to sit snuggly over your wrist. They are made up from several layers of glass and shaped inside the kiln. The bangles are again slowly annealed to give them maximum strength, however they are 100% glass and could break if dropped.
I'm working on a new plate design at the moment. Will post a pic when it's finished.

2 comments:

The Beading Gem said...

This is an awesome set! I was so impressed that you made virtually all of it yourself.

Chloe's Designs Jewellery Findings and Beads said...

Hello.. thanks for your comments. I've been dying to post a pic of this set but couldn't until after Mother's Day. It definately is a favorite of mine. (I'm pleased my mum has it, so I will see it again!!)
It's funny how you can get attached to some pieces that you make!
I've just been looking around your website.. there are some gorgeous things on there.