Monday, March 9, 2009

Photos!

Finally! I am able to upload some photos! I tried shutting down my Firewall and now it seems to work. Although until now, I never needed to shut down the firewall for uploading photos.
Anyway, here is a picture of polymer clay pendant pieces I made. I got the idea from a photo in a book on decorative finishes for metal jewelry. I thought, "I could do something like that in polymer clay!" I want to try this again and fine tune it, they did not turn out exactly as I was imagining, and I know what I did wrong, but I think these are pretty cool anyway.
















Also, I have been working more with metal lately. I purchased some decorative punches, a 'raw silk' texturizing hammer and a dapping block.

Here's my dapping/doming block:














And here's my fancy texture hammer:






I have also been working on metal jewelry, using my new tools. With my dapping block I have been able to take flat sterling silver discs and dome them. You place them in one of the round depressions on the doming block, choose a dapping tool-the metal tools with the round ends shown in the photo, and when you place that on the silver and tap with a hammer, you get a nice domed piece of silver. Also, with various hammers you can pound away on the silver and leave really cool textures and impressions. Here's pictures of some earrings I have made using my cool tools:



8 comments:

ChezChani said...

Wonderful pictures, wonderful work!!

Joan Piwowar said...

Thank you Chez, you are very sweet.

Anonymous said...

Joani - I love your site and all the info on metal work. Your jewelry pieces are beautiful. I saw some two-sided texturizing hammers at Beaducation (I think). I thought they would be cool and am putting it on my birthday wish list. Do you cut your own copper and silver pieces? Do you use a saw or tin snips? And how do you soften your edges. These are areas I am still learning. Also, the dapping block comes in wood, as well as metal. Have you tried the wood? Okay - that was probably way to many questions!! Thanks.
Anita
http://ajhearn.artfire.com
http://ajhearn.blogspot.com

Joan Piwowar said...

Hi Anita,
Thanks for all your kind words. I just purchased a jewelers' saw, but so far I am using pre-cut metal. All I do is punch the holes and do the hammering or doming. I did make one piece where I cut the copper myself with snips, and then I filed the edges smooth.
I also have a wood dapping block, but the metal one has more punches and was pretty cheap from Harbor Freight. I was lucky to find one that was in good shape. I also use the ball side of my hammer to texturize too.
Joan

A Beaded Affair said...

I am dying to buy a dapping block to play with. Looking good. Can't wait to see more of what you do with it.
Lois
http://www.abeadedaffair.com

Joan Piwowar said...

Lois, it sure is fun to play with! I also have a small wooden one too.
Joan

KimberlyRies said...

Your work is really evolving! Have fun with the new tools! Working with metal is really enjoyable. I think it has to do with using hammers!

Joan Piwowar said...

Hi Kim,
Yes, I think it's the hammers, too.:)