Water Jet Cutting Part 2

I did it!!!! I expected my ham-fisted score lines to snap but it survived!!!! I need some opinions on finishes. I could let it rust and have it lacquered, or spray it in a bold colour. I'm thinking red for some reason, anything but white as it nearly looks like a snowflake already. What I have decided on is that it needs to be matt, and that it will become a table lamp.......somehow.....

On the Water Jet Cutter!!!!!

So hopefully I will be able to turn this piece of mild steel....

Into this.

God knows how I'll manage the folding part but it will be fun trying. Hopefully if everything goes according to plan I will have the other section cut out and then it'll be finished by the end of the week. Then I can work out scale and finishes, or even better I can can add extra attachments to make a light fitting!! So Exciting!!!!!!!

Copyright Steffi Glaves 2012

Enamel pendant

I tried recreating a sample a couple of months ago that I made in 2nd year with a few changes. Although I don't like it as much as it's predecessor I have worked out a couple new methods to make wet ply enamel easier to deal with. At the moment I have been using shot glasses for storing enamel and applying it onto copper blanks with cut straws. They're great because I can stack my enamels when not in use and my house mate can use the spares for vodka jelly.....hint hint hint Hannah.

etched an enamelled samples

I haven't done any enamelling since the summer and I've missed it so much!!! With these samples I wanted to get better transferring photocopied images onto copper for etching with ferric acid, with the hope of playing with rubbing enamel back and blacking with Liver of Sulphur etc. I thought It would be therapeutic process where there'd be a satisfying feeling of peeling back the acetate like a temporary tattoo to reveal an immaculately transferred image onto copper. Instead I accidentally murdered the laminater and had to perform surgery to get it working again and the spring-back steel components weren't springing back and the tutor leant over it and subsequently dipped his hair in the safety pickle. 8 hours later in the ferric acid (with very little etch) I had some lovely imagery of telephone pylons and these are what I ended up with :

Sifted grey and black enamel (the grey turned green but I like that), rubbed back to reveal etch and  dipped in Liver of Sulphur. I prefer the section on the far left where it is more detailed and not a geometric.

 Flux, buffed back, wire wool, re-fired, Liver of Sulphur. Good to know I can have a glossy background and matt detailing if I wanted.

OK so this is what a sample looks like before I buff the enamel back. Both colours are in fact grey unleaded enamel. The green is a result of multiple firings and the white is after 1 firing. I could have wet plied the enamel which would have given more specific coverage and less mess but there is more of a likelyhood of wet enamel getting contaminated in the workshop than dry for some reason....

.....And this is After!! Still deciding on whether to make it black or not, I think it may suit the white more than the copper. I should really try more colours.....

Summer Sqiggles

What better way to spend a rainy Saturday in Cumbria than to play with inks!! It's like a mini surprise looking through my coursework sketchbook and finding these because It reminds me of the week I spent  with my boyfriend and his mum over the summer. As I go home now and battle with 11p noodles I will remember the fish pie and the pork I scoffed my greedy little face with. 

Sketchbook

More pages will be uploaded soon.

New Drawing

Peculiar Bleach Drawings

Crochet Enamel Necklace

The Hand Warmers Are Back Again!!! Coming soon to Etsy

After curbing my hand warmer obsession for about a year or so I went into overdrive in the summer and made about 6 pairs. Once I have them all photographed they will be going up on Etsy in time for chilly Autumn days - so keep an eye out!

This pair is 25% wool 75% acrylic, and features a little ceramic button (White St. Thomas) made by myself.

Shell stitch pair, with 5 different mixes of acrylic/wool/mohair