And I'm Back

Well first I must apologise for the absolute silence over the past few months. Anyone that knows me personally will know that University has been a mini hell on earth, and so that had to be over before I could do ANYTHING else.

But, as of the 23rd March, I have pretty much finished! I'm now ready to set off a new 2012 post with something quite different to my usual handmade experiments.

One of the first things I did when setting up Gems and Junk was to create a logo that was simple and modern. In the end I figured I'm not very good at that so asked for the help of my friend Katie. She created the logo you see above, on Etsy and the Facebook page.

During University, I wanted to make sure I didn't go insane and had a break from coding and turned to 3D modelling (technically still coding). One of my units is 3D virtual modelling, and I thought I could use it to create a new piece of jewellery and then get it 3D printed at Shapeways.

Seems like a lengthy process? Well take a look below:

 

I took my knowledge of 3D modelling and applied it to the logo. After adding a little hoop at the top myself to be able to create an actual pendant, I sent it off to Shapeways for verification and printing in stainless steel. I'm pretty pleased with the result except for the roughness of the metal. However this couldn't really be avoided as the print was too small for the medium that Shapeways uses to smooth rough metal.

I want to do more in the future of my own designs to either become jewellery, ornaments or other things that I could use as part of a gemstone creation.

The blog will be updated more regularly now I have more time. I hope that myself and Belle Femme Jewellery (see my review of them here) will soon be able to go to a craft fair for the first time. Keep an eye out for updates.