When Nature turns into Nature Jewelry #wip

By Viki Tiamat

In my previous post I told you about my new hand bound books +Etsy  shop hiBOOK .
 In this post I want to talk  not about  my SierkaPerka jewelry shop, but about the exciting process of making of the copper electroformed jewelry I sell there .

What exactly is Electroforming anyway ?
Electroforming is a metal forming process that forms thin parts through electrodeposition
This process is differs from electroplating in that the deposit is much thicker than the phases which are plated and can exist as a self-supporting structure.
 In the basic electroforming process, an electrolytic bath is used to deposit copper onto a conductive surface. Once the deposited material has been built up to the desired thickness, the master electroform is parted from the premaster substrate.
This process allows high-quality duplication of the premaster and therefore permits quality production.

I LOVE electroforming mainly for the ability to make nature duplicates!
What can be more awesome than taking a simple leaf from a tree that grows in your garden and make an EXACT replica of the leaf in metal?!
The possibilities are endless!!!!! You just need a little bit of imagination and the jewelry practically makes itself.
Of course turning a biological matter into metal isa time consuming process, but the results are beyond rewarding :)
So in this post I want to show you my latest creation  (not finished as a jewelry piece yet, but so, so beautiful)
I gonna show you how I turned this cool looking dried seed branch into a 100% copper bead

As you may already understand, turning a branch into copper bead requires several steps of lacquering   and coating of the branch and then placing it into an electrolytic bath

In the photo above you can see the branch  I've electroformed resting on top of  the varnish can in the center left of the photo, plus some other nature elements I plan on electroforming in the future
The  electrolytic bath is the blue liquid in the beaker

So after all the coatings and drying has been done, I dip the element in acid bath and let it cook for a while - in some cases it can take a few hours ,with bigger or delicate items it can take several days even

When speaking of electroforming gemstones, after I decide that enough of the copper has been built up I remove the gem from the bath , place it in soda water to neutralize the acid, wash it thoroughly ,baff and polish  to desired shine  ,take photos  and put it up for sale in SierkaPerka shop :)

Here for example  is one of my lovely Agate Geode stud earrings  electroformed in copper

BUT, with  this copper electroformed branch the process is MUCH longer !

After I take it from the bath and neutralize it, I grab my torch and anneal  the newly formed copper to burn the wood branch from the inside



Annealing is such a neat thing- while heating the metal you can actually  see how copper gets oxidized and shows a spectrum of hues starting from yellow to pink to deep purples

When there is no flame  and  smell of burnt wood left,I scrape the charcoaled wood from the inside of the form and like magic, a hollow bead is born

See the burnt pieces in the photo -these are  the branch pieces I scraped from the inside of the form

And here in this photo you can see a small piece of burnt wood peeking out from the almost hollow form

 Isn't it just AMAZING !!!!

Next step would be to make this sweet branch bead into a lovely necklace -I can hardly wait :)             Meanwhile, you welcome to visit my shop and check out my already formed copper nature jewelry 

See ya all soon with new creation

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hiBOOK my new shop for Handbound Books

By Viki Tiamat
Since I got involved with Documented Life Project I found  new passion for books -HAND BOUND books to be exact.
The beauty of creating OOAK covers...The meditative signature sewing...The dilemma of choosing between  tens of options and techniques you want your book to be bound at...The fascinating world of handmade book headbands ...My God, what a peaceful trade and I have the pleasure to practise it daily :)
 And  between my swimsuits design,pattern drafting and sewing, , binding books became my serenity escape

The first bookbinding technique I mastered at  was coptic stitch.
Quite a simple yet with a very pretty results technique  which features an "exposed spine" of visible signatures
The great thing about this binding method is the fact that the  book can be opened up completely flat ,making it  a perfect option for photo albums, scrapbooking ,journaling ,easy sketching etc

I made several books in this binding technique and my absolute favorite book would be the personalized sketchbook with a portrait of the customer and her sweet puppy shown on the spine  and looks almost like a 3D pic

personalized book

I started the book by sketching a portrait of my lovely client 

and then bound it using the coptic stitch into this  soft cover artist sketchbook

The beauty of this Artist book is not only the coolest spine ,but the fact that you can see the whole picture throughout the book

So basically , this book  is like a life story -you can see the face of a person changes from different points of view and never see the whole picture till you look inside :)

I think this book will make a perfect  personal present for that someone special in your life,might it be your loved one,  dear friend or even YOU yourself!

You can order a customizable book like this with  a photo of your choosing from my new +Etsy  shop

hiBOOK

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מסיבת היצירה של אטסי היה מדהים my AMAZING Etsy craft Party

By Viki Tiamat

צילום מאת אושרה פחימה שמש היקרה

מעלה זכרונות ממסיבת היצירה שלי ופשוט נהנית-מהתמונות ,האנשים המופיעים בהן,האווירה הקסומה...האוכל... האמנות ובא לי, בא לי עוד הפעם ואני מבטיחה שזו לא היתה המסיבה האחרונה שלי ,אלא ראשונה מיני רבות

Reminisce for my +Etsy craft party and the huge desire for some more- more from the awesome company...the magical atmosphere ...the food ...the ART
It was AMAZING and I sure will do it again

this is how it all began ... ככה זה התחיל 

... חישוקי רקמה ותמונות שהעלתי על בד של ילדודס...רגעים יפים מיום החתונה ...חיות אהובות ...מה לא היה לנו שם 

embroidery hoops with intimate photos of our kids...magical moments ...favorite animals ...we had it all

Home made snacks  נישנושים תוצרת בית

הסלט המדהים בקערת קרמיקה היפיפיה שהובא ע"י עדנה פיורקו המוכשרת-עדין מרגישה את הטעם המתקתק 

הערה   לעצמי-חייבת מתכון ושחזור מיידי   

The superb salad in the beautiful ceramic bowl which was brought by a lovely attendee  -still can feel it's sweet taste (note to self-get the recipe and recreate asap)

שולחן המתוקים עם סטנד כלוב הציפורים שאת הכנתו הראתי לכם בפוסט הקודם ,שהחזיק  אחר כבוד את המקרונים תוצרת הבית ,הממולאים במרנג איטלקי בניחוח לימוני  אשר הכינותי מראש  לפי בקשתה המיוחדת של סיגל המדהימה .

 אותם ואת הקפקייקס שוקולד המנצחים שלי מצופים בגנאש שוקולד מריר /תפוזים ועטופים במנגטים תוצרת עצמית

ולידם על מגש וינטאג' של מדפיסים סידרתי בתאים בקבוקוני קוקטייל שוקולד לבן וקוקוס-היה מתוק

The dessert table with my awesome birdcage cake stand which I showed the making of process in my last post,honorably  holding my homemade lemoni italian meringue buttercream macarons  and my winner chocolate cupcakes topped with orange chocolate ganache and wrapped in handmade cupcake wrappers.

And next to them were my white chocolate coconut cocktails served in these sweet little milk bottles-it was SWEET

מבעוד מועד ביקשתי מהמשתתפות להכין אותיות מקושטות כדי שנוכל להרכיב גרלנדה אומנותית -יצא פשוט מקסים

I asked all the attendees to make decorative letters to make an artsy bunting for the party,the result turned out adorable!!

הבאתי נגן מוכשר ברמות שילווה את המסיבה בצלילים ערבים -היה מהמם

Invited a very talented musician to play life music at the party-he gave his soul and it was incredible 

ואז הכיף התחיל- חלק רקמו..חלק הדפיסו
and then the FUN began -some were embroidering...other monoprinting

 אני העברתי סדנת הדפסה בשיטת המונופרינט על פלטה יחודית שאינה דורשת מכבש מדפיסים

I  taught the girls how to monoprint a Pop Art style portrait  without a press  

 ובנות אחרות רקמו להנאתן פרחים ודוגמאות גאומטריות צבעוניות

And the other girls enjoyed their time embroidering colorful pattern and delicate flourishes 

היה מדהים והתוצאות מדברות בעד עצמן

It was FABULOUS and the results speak by themselves  

 צילום קבוצתי 

Group pic

me and the ladies אני והבנות

 והנה גם הבת שלי, שנהנתה מהיצירה לא פחות

And here is my princess enjoying the party no less than the others 

 נתראה במסיבת יצירה הבאה 

See'ya in my next Craft Party 

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