Showing posts with label handmade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label handmade. Show all posts

Saturday, 1 April 2017

Cheryl and Oliver's mid-winter wedding - with Glasswing Jewellery ethical handmade wedding rings

"We ordered our bespoke wedding rings from Glasswing Jewellery. We were delighted that our rings were made from the same piece of recycled silver and hand hammered. Oliver doesn’t wear jewellery, so the simplicity of the ring is just beautiful."



What an honour to see Cheryl and Oliver's green and gorgeous, not to mention heartwarming mid-winter wedding on the Fens over on the Green Union blog. It's a generous rundown by Cheryl of all the thought and planning that went into their fabulous day, beautiful glimpse of their warmth, joy and love for each other. There are vintage campervans, fabulous lace frocks, muddy wellies, oh and did I mention I made the rings?! ;) 

Saturday, 9 July 2016

Gorgeous emerald green sea glass and diamond and white gold engagement ring

I think an important part of the Glasswing Jewellery service is offering a 're-design' for my customers if for any reason they'd like their jewellery tweeked...it hasn't happened much I have to say.....




So adding diamonds to her green sea glass and white gold engagement ring for a customer actually involved re-building the entire ring ... sea glass won't tolerate any heating whatsoever, so it had to be removed, but that's OK - I love a challenge! :)





This ring is all 14ct recycled white gold, and the little recycled diamonds are a lovely quality VSI just under 3mm diameter either side of the glass.  I'm so pleased I decided to leave the back open, I totally love the way the light comes through. 


Tuesday, 20 October 2015

Sea glass - what exactly is it?


Sea glass , "seaglass" or sometimes "beach glass" is glass which is found on beaches after having been tumbled smooth and frosted by the ocean waves over an undetermined length of time.



Some of the glass I have found is very old, from an era when glass was far more widely used, and attitudes to the environmental damage caused by dropping litter into the sea were somewhat different to what they are today.



There is an infinite variety of colours of sea glass, and of course every single piece of sea glass is totally one off, having been on its own unique journey through the tides and currents of the ocean.




Some sea glass has travelled great distances, washing up on shores far away from where it was originally dumped, whilst other pieces have stayed trapped for decades in harbours, dropped by sailors and smoothed and tumbled by the tides whilst yachts and fishing boats go by.






Around the coast of Cornwall, we find lovely sea foam, aquas, pale greens, deep greens, and whites. These shades to me, represent the colours of the sea in Cornwall, and are the perfect choice to reflect the unique coast of my favourite place! Much rarer colours found on Cornish shores include blues, certain greens and deep aquas, and lavender.




Grey, pink, teal, black, yellow and turquoise and red (found once in about every 5,000 pieces), and orange (the least common type of sea glass), are all extremely rare colours. Rare sea glass in these colours is almost certainly rarer than diamonds.

The older pieces tend to be smoother, and rounded in shape, whilst the newer pieces wash up in all manner of squared or flat shapes. In jewellery all different shapes are used , and to great effect. The special 'glow' of sea glass, the way in which each piece catches the light in a different way, and the variety of subtle shades - pale aquas, frosted whites, palest blues to deepest colbalt blues and of course the array of greens all add to the magic and mystery of sea glass.

Recently my passion for genuine Sea Glass has led me to look for this increasingly rare commodity further afield.

I have managed to source some amazing examples of glass, some of which are at least 100 years old, that were discarded from an old glass processing in the North East of England, at Seaham in Durham. I have started to design around these pieces of glass, and I really love the pieces I've made.

‪#‎seaglass‬ ‪#‎ocean‬ ‪#‎treaure‬ ‪#‎mermaids‬ ‪#‎sea‬ ‪#‎glass‬ ‪#‎beach‬ ‪#‎coast‬ ‪#‎coastal‬ ‪#‎upcycled‬ ‪#‎recycled‬



Monday, 12 May 2014

Eco friendly handmade wedding set - 2 stackers and a chunky D-shaped band



Big congratulations to John and Danielle, on their upcoming wedding day this July.  They commissioned this series of satin finished personalised rings.  I rarely get asked to make the stamped stacker ring (the thinner ones) in satin, so I thought I'd take a photo or two - I think they look lovely.
 


 
 Glasswing stacker rings are also available in a high polish finish, as are all Glasswing rings.



The 6mm D-shaped chunky band here also looks lovely in the satin finish, and has personal messages stamped inside.  It is available in recycled silver, recycled white gold and yellow gold too.