Chains and magnets

Hi Everyone
I'm still struggling with my cold virus. I didn't manage very much work yesterday and I'm going to focus my time today on sorting out some stock for the shops today.
My plans included work on a small batch of jewellery



I did add a magnet to a couple of broaches.



I was surprised to find how thin the magnets are and how good they look on the back of the broach. I think this will be a great solution to my broach problems. My next hurdle is to create the ideal 'magnet back' for the broach to stay in place. Another of the same magnet would work but it's so tiny that the practical putting on and taking off would be very tricky. My current thinking is to have a larger magnet set into a piece of matching clay - as flat as possible. I need the larger magnet to embed and stay within a clay surround. More experiments needed.

I added a few posts to the back of matching earrings (matching the broach) and a coat of seal varnish on another pair of earrings. I'm working on making these earrings look more like they are made of metal and this is the first stage. Not sure if this will be a success but I will try out my idea. My next move is to add some dark silver metal paint around the edges followed by a little sanding.



Something else which is taking up lots of thinking time is what chain or stringing to use with my necklaces. I quite like the look of handcrafted chain, although - I think, I may need a fine chain for some pieces. The handcrafted variety is a much more of a chunky or ornate item and will not always suit my beads or pendents. I ordered a book a few days ago about making chains and it arrived this morning.



There are some great ideas and some brilliant advice on making my own chain. Most of the projects are about making the actual chain the focal point of the jewellery piece, rather than as a way of complementing other elements of a necklace.

I had a go, yesterday, at practicing some different link shapes and jumprings. I am learning fast about what might work. So far, Ive just made individual turned rings and some links which resemble paperclip shapes.



Clearly, each ring is a slightly different size. What I need to perfect is making a long stack of rings on a mandrel or similar and cutting through with a saw or cutters. Here is a look at my practice rings and long thin shapes. I understand the theory, I need to practice. I'm hoping my forthcoming metal course on 31st will help me with this one.

Bye for today
Thanks for reading.