My Latest Publication

Finally, I'm famous!! Well that may be a slight exaggeration but Glass and Splinters has been featured in this month's Australian Beading magazine, and I'm extremely happy. 2 pages have been dedicated to my profile with a generous amount of photos of my beads, my woven necklace and of course a photo of me at work on the torch. Kelly Norton, the Editor of the Australian Beading magazine approached me quite a few months ago asking if the magazine could do a feature on me, and finally it is here.



I thought I would give those of you who don't have the luxury of buying a copy a view of the pages.








I must admit, it is so satisfying to see my name and creations in print, makes all that hard work worth it!


Australian Beading is a great magazine, 139 pages on nice quality paper. Full of interesting tutorials and articles - and no I am in no way affiliated with the magazine, but felt it deserved a mention.

Making Metal Jewelry by Joanna Gollberg

As I am about to begin another new chapter in my working life of experimenting with aluminium, I need to research different options of connecting the metal other than soldering. I came across Making Metal Jewelry written by Joanna Gollberg, at my local library - ah yet another to add to my wish list.

If you are interested in creating metal jewellery but would like to do it without the need to solder then I'm sure you will find this book of great interest.




Front Cover



Back Cover



Etched Copper Earrings



Geometric Bracelet



Layered Cuff Bracelet



The book covers a generous 21 projects with a vast array of pieces with the emphasis on rivets for the main type of cold connections. Most of the projects entail a great deal of sawing, but the end results seem worth the effort. What impresses me the most with the contents of this book is the variety of intriguing pieces, they are far from the everyday run of the mill styled projects. They are very creative and I found them to be very inspirational.

Jane Adam Earrings

'Hanging Earrings' by Jane Adam. Anodised, dyed and crazed aluminium and stainless steel



Jane Adam is a jeweller featured in 'The Earrings Book' by Yvonne Kulagowski. Jane is a U.K. based artist who over 20 years has accomplished vast studies into working with aluminium. Anodised aluminium offers a wide range of colour and texture and Jane has enjoyed the challenge of overcoming its structural limitations. Jane colours the anodised aluminium by passing an electrical current through the metal, which then creates a porous surface to which colour is absorbed.


I've been intrigued of late with the different metals that are used so beautifully in jewellery. For me and I'm sure many others, sterling silver is becoming unaffordable. Aluminium is such a soft metal and so much easier to saw, so I've done a little research in home anodizing. Very harmful chemicals are needed, so if you were planning to go down this path, be sure to have all the safety precautions covered. I found 'astro neutral' website to have a great deal of information on anodizing aluminium. At Creative Chemistry a step by step process is shown of an anodizing experiment in a classroom environment.


If you live near the Birmingham area in the United Kingdom they run a 'Certificate in Colouring and Forming Anodised Aluminium Jewellery' Course at the Birmingham School of Jewellery. Unfortunately we don't seem to have anything on offer here in Australia.


I also found a DVD 'Anodizing Aluminium For Fun and Profit' at Smartflix available for renting. It can be purchased for US$31.50 from Roderus Productions.


A book is also available - 'Artists Anodizing Aluminium : The Sulfuric Acid Process' by David Laplantz. Amazon sellers have second hand copies ranging from a big US$85.00. I would suggest you try your local library.

Scilla Speet Earrings

'Aluminium Leaf Earring' by Scilla Speet


Scilla Speet is one of the many artists included in 'The Earrings Book' by Yvonne Kulagowski. Scilla's work is very unique, and she participates in experimentation with others in different fields. This particular pair I have shown here are made with aluminium on a non woven fabric with a technique known as PVD - physical vapour deposition. Scilla has collaborated with Dr Frances Geesin, Senior Research Fellow at London College of Fashion who works with different applications to enhance textiles, in this case it is a process of metallizing fabrics.


Physival Vapor Deposition is a process whereby a thin film of material (in this case, Aluminium) is deposited on another layer by way of 1) the aluminium is converted into vapor by physical means 2) the vapor is transported across a region of low pressure from its source to the layer and 3) the vapor undergoes condensation on the layer to form the thin film.
Here you will see an example of a PVD Evaporation System.


Viewing these earrings made from such a totally different process, really gets the mind ticking over. It is definitely what I would class as thinking outside the box, to approach someone in a totally different field and succeed in a concept that collaborates the knowledge of both fields to produce something totally unique. Defintely food for thought, don't you think?

Showcasing my Necklaces

I decided it was time to put together a showcase of some of my unique woven pieces that are available from my website.



Golden Fleece US$360.00/AU$418.00



Saturn US$330.00/AU$385.00



Sleeping Beauty US$360.00/AU$418.00



Apricot Sorbet US$920.00/AU$1137.00



Flame US$920.00/AU$1137.00



Berry Mix US$850.00/AU$1050.00


I hope you enjoyed the show!

The Penland Book of Jewelry

If you have a thirst for beautiful jewellery, whether it be buying or creating, 'The Penland Book of Jewelry' should be in your collection. The book includes 10 'Hands On' step by step instructions on such techniques as soldering gold and steel, lost wax casting and making a die. It is full of stunning images of incredible work by experienced contemporary jewelers who have all taught at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. Whether you would ever make use of the step by step techniques is not important, as this is one of those books that you will constantly look at simply for the wonderful gallery of work it includes. Definitely an inspirational book.




Work by Ed Brickman



Work by Marcia Macdonald



Setting a pearl on a River Stone by Tom McCarthy

Weaver's Knot

I've been finger weaving with conso cord for a couple of years, but am new to peyote and working with nymo thread.
I recently borrowed 'The Art & Elegance of Beadweaving: New Jewelry Designs with Classic Stitches' by Carol Wells, from the library. I've bought many books focusing on different methods of jewellery making and my last purchase was disappointing. So as not to make the same mistake again, I am now borrowing from the library to ascertain which book is worth buying. This particular book has instantly been added to my wish list. It is full of excellent instructions and diagrams including the Weaver's Knot.


If you are a beginner at weaving and not familiar with the Weaver's Knot, I'm sure you will find this an excellent firm knot for joining a new thread to the existing. I found the diagram very easy to follow, the red represents the existing thread and black for the new. Make sure to position the knot as close to your last stitch as possible.