Wax lilies

I have been making some wax lilies. The lilies will be cast in sterling silver and then turned in to rings and pendants. It's the first time I am making ones as large as the three on the right - I'm looking forward to seeing how they will look when finished.

Some of today's casts... :)

So... about three and a half months after building (and sharing) my mushroom tree, I have finally cast it! It is not altogether perfect, some parts have not come out and a few mushroom heads are missing (must have come loose when I poured the investment) but still, they were a bit of a gamble from the start, so I am very pleased that some are good and complete.

 Aren't these orchids beautiful?! I just could not resist them. The casts will make beautiful pieces once cleaned up. :)

Marvelous Mushrooms

My sister came to visit a few days ago and she brought some mushrooms. I have wanted to try to cast this kind of mushroom for quite a while, so although mould making was not originally part of the plans of that day, I decided to steal a few and build a tree. It will probably be a week or so till I make enough flasks to fill my kiln, but I am looking forward to seeing the results of these mushrooms!

The lovely mushrooms

Paw Paw Flower Pendant

The first pendant that I have completed from the flowers that I gathered from my mother's little paw paw nursery and cast.

Beautiful Things

I am very excited to be sharing the first casts to come out of my own studio. It is true that I did my own casting in college, but this is different. These casts are extra special and the start of many great things to come.

Frangipanis have always been one of my favourites. The flowers are so bright and beautiful, they smell so lovely and they twirl delightfully to the ground when you spin them; how much more lovely can one flower be?

The ferns have been coming out very well too. Looking forward to making many more of these.

The other mangrove...

Exactly a year ago today I posted a few pictures showing mangrove jewellery. (The version where the pods were dried out before they were cast). I also, in that same post, promised to post the version where the pods were cast before they had a chance to dry out. I can’t believe it’s taken me a year to do so (can’t really believe that this blog is more that a year old) but anyway, here it is, the other mangrove… :)

The blessing of Spring (and the rewards of Jog Squad...)

About four moths ago I joined a ‘learn to jog’ group. In the beginning I liked it very much, but as the jogging increased, so did my pain. Apparently jogging causes an old injury of mine to flare up-and just like that, jogging was no longer fun. I limped to the finish line of my beginner jogger course, but could not move on to the next group. At this stage the saying, "As jy nie kan verder gaan, begin jy weer van vooraf aan…"  comes to mind. The point of my story? (Other than the obvious, that sometimes one needs to begin at the beginning again...)

Although the actual jogging part has been difficult, the springing of Spring has been amazing. When I started four months ago it was dark and wintery, but now there is light and greenery and many blossoms. This fills me with gratitude; this makes me happy and smiley.

A couple weeks back, I noticed some fabulous green flowers. It was the first time that I had seen that particular tree in flower, as well as the first time that I had ever seen that kind of flower-a double joy. I picked a few blossoms and brought them back for casting. The casts were successful, so I had a mould made from one of them and I had a few cast from that mould. This is my double joy blossom ring.

First picture is of the ring made up and cleaned, the second is after it has been oxidized and the third is after most of the oxidization has been removed (leaving it only in the recess areas) and it has been lightly tumbled for a bit of polish.