M, N, O, P, Q R, and S!

A-Z Challenge (Things I love)

M - My Mother! oh and Money but not so much of the modern every day stuff (tho more of that would be nice) I love the beautiful old coins of long ago that are just plain beautiful to look at, back in the days when coins were made of silver and gold!!!

N - Netsuke, I love anything miniature and these like works of art are just amazing!

O - Owls, I got super excited a couple of weeks ago late at night because there was an owl hooting out side my window!

P - Post! I love getting post, I think it is a hermit thing, but I stalk the posties!

Q - Queen or The Queen...

Because she is amazing!

R - Reading, I do love when a book is so good you just cant put it down, I have just finished reading The Memory Book by Rowan Coleman and I loved it, beautifully written and with a surprising ending! Next up The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal.

S - Stationary, any journals, note books, fountain pens, pencils even stickers!

H - Handmade

A - Z Challenge (things I love)

Well H has to be handmade! I adore handmade items, the time, care and artistry that goes into making something special, that will be treasured and loved!

Here is what my hands have been making the last couple of days....

A little felt pocket fairy named Daisy for my little girl. The pattern for this cutie is by the amazing Ginger Melon on Etsy and is really very easy to make, even when you have an impatient six year old leaning over your every stitch asking when she will be finished!

She even comes with the pattern to make this super cute tin bed, blanket and pillow. Here are a few other handmade items I love on etsy....

'H - Handmade' by silverniknats

Things I love!

Italian Doorway - Original P... PrettyFlamingo $90	Bronze Unicorn Coin Pendant cynthiathornto... $24	Aqua Ombre- handmade faceted... SlateStudiosSu... $14.5	Best Friends - Sisters - Wat... ladypoppins $12
Instant Download PDF Pattern... annapavlovna $15	Pastel colors - Necklace Glasting $440	Autumn Moon- Art on Glass- l... AstridRiedel $135	Buzzy Bee pendant blacksmithbex $22.5
NEW Kerribeads Lampwork Trib... kerribeads $165	hedgehog soft toy woodland h... MosMea $24	Fantastic Mr. Fox humblebeads $12	Mon'Ours (Open edition, ... UnOursonsurLaL... $145
Fairytale Stone & Iron Gate ... EAdornments $195	Cherry blossom ceramic coast... damsontreepott... $12	Ornate keyhole escutcheon ch... jdaviesreazor $8	Fairy shoes/ felted home sli... zavesfelt $60

Powered By Handmadeology

G - Giveaway

A - Z Challenge (things I love)

Giveaways everyone loves a good giveaway and so here is my April giveaway....

I will also include a few mystery items!!!

• x2 Ceramic charms by Gaea
• Ceramic shank button by Bo Hulley Beads
• Lampwork disc by Mandrel Beads
• Pair of connectors by Scorched Earth
• Ceramic bird cage pendent by Tempting little charms
• Old button focal and copper wrap bead by Bits of NikNats

So here's what you have to do....

Leave a comment on this blog post!!!

Easy as that, of course if you would like more chances to win you could....

• Share this giveaway on your own blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc...
• Follow my blog
• Become a follower on any of my facebook pages (Silver NikNats, Bits of NikNats or Rustic NikNats)
• Follow me on Pinterest
• Like my Etsy shops Silver NikNats, Bits of NikNats or Rustic NikNats

Please leave a separate comment for all of the things that you do(if you are already a follower of my blog/shops/pinterest thats fab and you can still enter just leave your comments for each)

every comment is an entry!

This giveaway closes 30th April 12.00 UK time where I will use random number genarator to pick a winner!

and make sure you pop back after 30th to see if you have won!

I wish you all the best of luck and hope that you have an amazing day. x

F - Fun Fair

                   A - Z Challenge (things I love)

Because how can you not love the fun fair? Fast rides, lots of laughing, flashing lights, and candy floss!!!

This was bank holiday Monday at Hampton Court and the weather was just beautiful!

Even the Teens had fun, a sign of a day well spent!

Look out for G later on today, it shall be a Giveaway!

D - Design

A to Z Challenge (things I love)

Here is what I designed and made for The Year of Jewelry Project in March, not managing to stick to the themes any more because the muse has ideas of her own....

Week 10 - Birthstone of the Month: Aquamarine (fail - these are not Aquamarine)!

Princess Tiana Earrings

These are part of my ongoing princess range made from hammered copper, sterling silver, Chrysoprase cabs and lampwork headpins. 

Week 11 - Hinged (fail again - no hinges)!

Simple Prong Set Earrings

Sterling Silver Set Tourmaline

These were made for a tutorial I wrote for Art Jewelry Elements Simple prong set rough tourmaline  studs, so if you would like to give it a go, head on over to the blog! 

Week 12 - Spring is in the Air (kind of)!

Moss Agate

I suppose it is kind of spring like! A Dennis Hardy wrap pendent, Moss agate wrapped in 2mm copper. I love these stones, they are such beautiful colours and have a wonderful depth to them.

Week 13 - Something I have Never Tried Before

Never made a stamped and sawn lentil bead before so this one fitted the theme!! It was made for the Art Jewelry Elements Hare blog hop!

C - Clairmont

A to Z Challenge (things I love)

I really Love visiting Clairmont Gardens an eighteenth century garden a short walk from where I live, Now owned by The National Trust it was once the home of Princess Charolotte, whom would have become Queen of England had she not died aged only 21.

The turf amphitheatre

The serpentine lake

The amazing views

Such a wonderful place!

For more about why I love Clairmont and the Princess that lived there please click here!

B - British Museum

A to Z Challenge (things I love)

Stuffed full of amazing objects, treasures and such how can you not LOVE the British Museum!!??

Here are a few photos from our visit yesterday (hence the B post being a day late) enjoy....

Stunning bodychain

View from the back

Room after room filled with amazing panels

Such stunning detail

This gate must have been at least 20ft high!

Look at that metal work!

So many things to see, one day (when my little one is no longer a toddler) I will get to spend the whole day reading all of the information about the displays rather then a flying visit!

A - Art Beads

A - Z Challenge

My A to Z shall be rather random, simply things I love!

Handmade by Artisans, beautiful little one of a kind treasures!

U - Unfinished

Unfinished creative work

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An unfinished work is creative work that has not been finished. Its creator may have chosen never to finish it or may have been prevented from doing so by circumstances outside of their control, such as death. Such pieces are often the subject of speculation as to what the finished piece would have been like; sometimes they are finished by others and released posthumously. 

So it's defiantly not any thing near as drastic as death stopping me from finishing my UFO'S just my awfully short attention span. I get an idea in my head and more often then not I start it and then need to wait for something to come in the post to complete it, and by the time it comes I have moved onto the next project/shiny thing! 

Shhhhh Don't tell anyone but this is what I mean....

See this box this is where I hide them, There are not as many as there once was, it is a problem that I am trying to fix....

So only about half a box left to go (approx 30 little bags) but I am getting there, and I'm sure there are people out there that have more!!!???

Have a great day x

T - Texture

A - Z

Texture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Surface Texture is the local deviations of a surface from a perfectly flat plane. The measure of the surface texture is generally determined in terms of its roughness, waviness and form.

There are many ways to produce surface textures. They include grinding, polishing, cutting, lapping, blasting, honing, electric discharge machining (EDM), milling, lithography and laser texturing.

 Textured bead caps

Textured earrings

have a great day! x

S - Silver

A - Z

Silver

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag (Greek: άργυρος árguros, Latin: argentum, both from the Indo-European root *arg- for "grey" or "shining") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it possesses the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal. The metal occurs naturally in its pure, free form (native silver), as an alloy with gold and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite. Most silver is produced as a byproduct of copper, gold, lead, and zinc refining.

Silver has long been valued as a precious metal, used in currency coins, to make ornaments, jewelry, high-value tableware and utensils (hence the term silverware) and as an investment in the forms of coins and bullion. 

Silver is my metal of choice, I love the colour, it is easy to work with not as expensive as gold but still has the whole precious thing going for it and it takes patinas well.

And because every post needs a picture here is what I got up to a few days ago, kids at school baby having a nap so I headed to the coffee shop to sit and make some jewellery over a vanilla latte  (still trying to be less of a hermit)!

Smile! x

R - Reticulation

A - Z

Reticulation

Not from wikipedia as they did not have the information I wanted.

" The dictionary definition of reticular is "In the form of a network" and the reticulated is "having veins, fibers or lines crossing like a network, as in a leaf". These definitions accurately describe the appearance of metal after a particular type of heat treatment has been applied, a process that is known as reticulation. "
Info from The New Encyclopedia Of Jewelry Making Techniques by Jinks McGrath

So the short version goes like this.... you anneal and pickle your sterling silver sheet metal several times to bring a layer of fine silver to the surface then you do it once again but this time you keep heating carefully until you see the surface metal starting to move, this happens because the fine silver and the sterling silver have different melting point, you then continue heating trying hard not to melt the piece until you get the effect you want.
Now I was only practising on scraps of metal but for a first attempt I like them!....

The heart still needs to be pickled but I can see these as cute little old looking charms maybe with a little something set on them, ancient treasures!

Have a lovely day wonderful people x

Q - Quenching

A - Z

Quenching

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In materials science, quenching is the rapid cooling of a workpiece to obtain certain material properties.

Basically in my case dropping a piece of hot metal into cool water, I do this just after annealing to soften the metal, so it is easier to work with.

These have been done and domed so that I can make more treasure necklaces....

and I have these still to do.....

Have an amazing day!

P - Polishing

A - Z

Polishing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or using a chemical action, leaving a surface with a significant specular reflection.

Metalworking

Other polishing processes include:

• Burnishing
• Mass finishing
  • Tumble finishing
  • Vibratory finishing
• Sodablasting

I tend to use my tumbler for polishing if I can, it is great for things like jump rings and chainmail but not so good for things with delicate part ie soft stones and bumpy lampwork.

Here are some jump ring pre and post tumbling, can you tell which is which?

And here is my beloved tumbler, my most expensive and most used tool!

This is one of my custom orders all polished up, A coin locket with a garnet (birth stone for January) this one I had to use a dremel type machine to polish because the coins get a mottled effect on them if you tumble them!

Have a great day x