Yesterday we ran our highly anticipated metal & leather jewellery workshop at kwartzlab. The workshop was a great success but ran two hours longer than scheduled-eep! Ryan Consell led the class with confidence and charisma and everyone was able to leave with a few finished pieces of jewellery and an inspired DIY spirit. We encourage all of our attendees to come back and continue to work on their newly acquired skills during a Tuesday Open Night (Tuesdays 7-10 pm) or a Sunday BYOC: Bring Your Own Craft (7-10 pm on Sundays)!
There is ONLY ONE class left in the series, it runs Sunday December 15 from 1-4 pm at kwartzlab! Click HERE for more details.
Don’t forget about our final drop-in event…WRAP IT UP! on Friday December 20th 7-10 pm. We’ll be making custom gift wrap, bows, & tags with Jen & Danielle of In Paper Dreams!! You don’t wanna miss out on these amazing times, bring a friend and come on down!
Here are some photos capturing our workshop!
Hope to see you at the next one where I will be taking the lead on teaching a highly addicting craft …Needle Felting Figurines!
Ryan gives an quick verbal run through of what we will do in the workshop.
Eric in deep thought about his design.
We started with a piece of sheet metal and masked the back with clear tape.
Some were quite meticulous and plotted out lines to divide up their piece.
Then the stamping began!
Permanent ink pads and rubber stamps are a great way to create the resist designs on metal for etching.
The bug stamps were popular. So glad I’ve kept them for so many years (since I was a wee child).
Davenport cheated and used a toner transfer method. Any areas that didn’t transfer well are being filled in with a permanent marker.
Carmen adding some hand drawn details.
Eric trying on one of Ryan’s latest creations.
While the metal pieces were etching away in the chemical bath, we got into some leather work. Here Ryan explains how to measure your wrist for a bracelet.
Yes, that is about half a cow’s worth of leather. Ryan buys in bulk from Tandy!
Having sharp tools is important! We used a rotary cutter and steel ruler to get a nice smooth cut.
These scissors are reserved for leather cutting only!
And 1 hour later the metal pieces have come out of the etching bath. Aren’t they pretty?
Time to chop up the metal sheets on our awesome metal brake! This machine will also bend sheet metal nicely.
I made a set of rectangular baking pans on this machine a few years back, to create a Cake Wall.
Eric grinding one of his pieces down.
Hand files used for round off corners and taking off any burs.
Ryan- The Human Vice, holds an electric sander with 600 grit sandpaper for participants to polish of the edges of their pieces.
Clean off all permanent ink with some acetone after coming out of the etching bath and you’re ready to add a patina!
I developed a method using nail polish thinned with acetone to create multi-coloured patinas that are durable.
We also used a product made for creating a darkened metal look (yellow solution).
Losing eyedroppers in the acetone bottles was a common problem.
Toner resist method results after etching, with toner still on top.
Ryan attaching rivet and snaps to leather bracelets in the back shop.
Punching leather is very satisfying.
And time for a final photo shoot to show off our awesome finished goods!
Power Ranger pose.
Loving the red leather dye.
Matching bracelets for two best friends! Someone lucky will soon receive one of these!
Happy to be done a great workshop (even though we ran 2 hours over).
Til next time…keep it crafty!
Full resolution images can be found on my Flickr page.