A Jeweller's Life For Me!

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

It's finished! So enjoy this video timelapse of my work process from start to finish. 😊

I actually really enjoyed making this video! And I'm learning all new kinds of things by doing this. I'm looking forward to doing this more often! 😊

If you like watching me make jewellery by hand, please consider becoming a Patron to get acces to more content like this. Or buy me a coffee on Ko-fi! Both will be immensely appreciated! ♥️

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Hij is af! Dus geniet van deze timelapse video van mijn werkproces begin tot eind. 😊

Ik vond het verrassend leuk om deze video te maken! Ik leer allemaal nieuwe dingen door dit te doen. Dus ik hoop in de toekomst dit vaker te kunnen doen! 😊

Als je het leuk vind om me sieraden te zien maken met de hand, overweeg dan om mijn Patron te worden om toegang te krijgen tot meer van dergelijke videos en foto's. Of doneer een kop koffie op Ko-fi! Beide vormen van steun worden immens gewaardeerd! ♥️

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

Watch the entire clip with accompanying music and story at Instagram, Facebook or Ko-fi!

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

Another pair of finished earrings for my new collection! Silver combined with Grenadilla wood. These will soon be for sale in my Etsy-shop.

Want to stay updated? Give me a follow! 😉

If you want to support me and receive a discount, check out my Ko-fi page!

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

Rainy Days, silver earrings

Latest project! I'm working on a collection of earrings which I'll be adding to my Etsy shop once finished. This pair I finished up yesterday but it still needs to be photographed for sale.

Let me know what you think!

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

An update is way overdue!

So, since the last post I received my diploma and I officially registered my company Oaklis! I've been slowly working at building up an atelier, website and social media presence whilst also making jewellery and becoming a mother in between!

So I forgot about my Tumblr pages (other page is @oaklis ), so sorry! I'll try and keep them up to date from now on, like my Insta and Facebook.

I also have a Ko-fi page now! Building a complete goldsmithing atelier is expensive, and I already put in every penny I can spare! If you happen to have some penny's lying around and you want to support a small business, please feel free to buy me a coffee! You will receive a discount code for my Etsy shop and I will be forever grateful! You'll make my day, my week, my year!

In conclusion, I'll use this page again for my work in progress posts, and my other page for the finished project pictures! If you're interested in my work, please follow!

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

Long time no see! Sorry for the ugly background, but this was the appointed place to build up my presentation.  This picture is of my graduation piece! That’s right, I graduated! I’m just waiting for my diploma to arrive. I’m actually busy building up my own little company, and I thought this to be a good time to do an update for you! I hope to be posting my progress and new pieces more regularly from now on. So if you’re interested in the works of a goldsmith, or just jewellery, make sure to follow me! You can also find me on Instagram as Elise_Klok. 

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

The final result of the repaired antique silver ring! I learned a lot from this project! For example: DO NOT HEAT ANTIQUE SILVER. Or at least not this old (about 1000 years old). The material is unpredictable and corroded and started chipping because of this. Glueing is probably your only option, and it's what I also chose for. I made a fitting inner ring from new sterling silver, and glued the broken ring on top of it. The right glue can sometimes be better and stronger than poor soldering.

Most importantly, my customer was happy because the ring wasn't "lost" this way, and he could wear the ring like he wanted.

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

Little update on my two projects! On top you see the pendants with opals. They are now in the shape I want them to be, coarse sanded and almost ready for a little polishing. After polishing I will solder on the little rings. These are necessary to make the pendant hang on a necklace and dangle playfully.  The second project is still a challenge! As you can see I made a fitting inner ring, in the size of my client. The original ring will be glued on this inner ring once it is finished. You can see in the last picture that a piece of the original ring broke out of the shield. Unfortunately this has been happening a lot! The material is very brittle and instable. Whilst very, very carefully shaping the ring a bit more round this little piece just came loose. I’ve been able to recover a little sliver of it that I will attempt to glue back in place, but unfortunately, a part of it is just pulverised. Next update is hopefully the finished result of both projects!  

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

So I’m back in business! Above you can see two of my current projects. I’m making pendants with beautiful Australian opals for a client’s granddaughters.   The other project is quite a tricky one, and has proven itself to be quite bothersome. It’s an antique silver ring that is broken. My client has given me a green card to try anything, because he would love to wear the ring. But if everything fails it’s not a big deal, because it’s already “worthless”.  After some tests on the material, and failed attempts at soldering very, very carefully, I’ve decided to make a new ring on which I will glue the very vulnerable antique ring. I got a mend on two points with very soft silver solder, but the silver is very instable and started chipping and discolouring. You can even see a hole in the last picture, because of the chipping of the material. I’ve saved the little piece and hope I can glue it back in place once I’ve glued the whole of the ring. To be continued...

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

Been a while!

So it has been a while since my last post! Life took quite a turn for me this last year and I’ve been unable to do goldsmithing for a while. But! I’m starting up again and will be continuing my internship soon. I hope I’ll have something to show to you in a short while!  In the meantime, I picked up painting again as well and you can check my work on this at my instagram page.  I’ll be back!

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

We had to make a realistic insect out of gold or silver! Which is challenging and fun, but also quite nervewrecking! Especially if you choose a Stag Beatle, which is not only big, but also quite complicated! I was that dummie... I gave it my best shot though, and although I didn’t get to finish it in the given amount of time, I think I did pretty well so far. I’m definetely going to finish this piece in the near future. 

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

This was a big assignment. We had to organise a sale for our own products. Therefore we had to design and make a series of jewels in a short amount of time. These were some of my pieces.

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The assignment was to make a silver bolted ring with perspex in the middle, and a gemstone set on top. 

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This was an assignment for some sort of minor subject. The assignment was to design a brooch with a decorative piece that had to be interchangeable. I designed this brooch in such a way that the decorative piece could be taken out, turned around and put back in again. There’s a locking system at the back to keep the piece from accidentally falling out of the brooch.

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

Time flies when you’re busy!

So I meant to update regularly, but since the start of this schoolyear it’s been crazy busy! I have been taking pictures of my work though, so I’m going to make a photo report of this last half year. Enjoy!

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

Back from the Summer break!

With the Summer break coming to an end I’m picking up my work again. School is starting within a week and I’ll be updating my blog once again! Soon I’ll be posting pictures and stories again of my new projects!

[bowlerhatteddutchess]

The complete set is done!