Jewellery with wood and other natural products

[handcrafted]

I really want to add in some really natural wood/seed/bark/nut etc etc into my jewellery. I love the effect of silver and wood.

But i have never seen any really good wooden items to make jewellery with. I would try it myself but i have no idea where to start! Maybe my silversmith class will help as i guess i would have to start from scratch to get the end result im thinking of.....

[RenataHarris]

I love your star earrings, cute!

Wooden beads are good mixed with other materials. silver jewellery is normally a different look, would like to see what you make.

You could buy natural then choose your own varnish? http://www.beadsunlimited.co.uk/coll...ads-natural/21

[autumn rose]

Sounds lovely, hope you get to do it! let me see the end result please, love your jewellery by the way and your site pics are stunning

[ejralph]

Wood is wonderful to incorporate into jewellery. You have to be careful with seeds and nuts as some of the more exotic looking ones can be toxic.

One way to use silver in your work would be to work with metal clay such as Art Clay Silver. That way you could create your own custom settings for the wooden pieces relatively easily.

[woodtattoos]

I've got a few nice wooden pendants that I will be decorating with pyrography when I get round to it! BeadsbyLili was then gonna help me turn a few into necklaces... they are still just sat in my drawer at the moment on my "To Do" list...

Si.

[ejralph]

Ah don't talk about "to do" lists.

My "to do" list got so long it has turned into a "yeah right" list!

[handcrafted]

Thanks everyone!

It wasnt really wooden beads that i was thinking about. More flat pieces of wood (very small bits) That you could mount onto silver. So i guess silver clay is a good thing for that!

I guess its the sort of thing you salvage from wood yards. Scrap bits of wood!

[Selina]

I bought some really pretty carved coconut shell pendants off ebay, they did have a hole for threading in them though so may not be what you are looking for. Selina

[shiner]

Now is the time of year to cut branches from trees. For earings get a branch about as thick as your little finger cut a couple of slices off at quite a steep angle sand them smooth on both sides drill a 2mm hole near the top and varnish them, for necklace drill both ends and link them together or for pendants cut larger pieces, the gift shop used to turn these out by the bucket load when I worked as a woodsman


Oh dont forget trees always belong to someone so if it's not yours get permission

[onlyme]

Now is the time of year to cut branches from trees. For earings get a branch about as thick as your little finger cut a couple of slices off at quite a steep angle sand them smooth on both sides drill a 2mm hole near the top and varnish them, for necklace drill both ends and link them together or for pendants cut larger pieces, the gift shop used to turn these out by the bucket load when I worked as a woodsman


Oh dont forget trees always belong to someone so if it's not yours get permission

Doesn't the wood have to be dried before it's varnished??

[handcrafted]

What makes this time of year the best? Is it because the trees dont have buds etc? What would you cut them with?

[Amethystjewellery]

Yes, the wood should be dried before making anything out of the twigs/branches. My dad is a retired cabinet maker now hiding for most of the time in his shed playing about with trees that have blown down in storms. He seasons them by drying them out in an old washhouse before turning them on his lathe and making them into bowls, lampbases etc.

[shiner]

Now is the time of year to cut wood because the sap is low ie not flowing up through the tree limbs the tree version of hibernating (that's why the leaves die and fall off) after cutting they still have to be seasoned but thinner branches can be dried indoors in matter of a few weeks,

I get a lot of my wood from a local woods where I have, in return for passing on woodsmans knowledge to the land owner and 1 weekend I taught and helped him and his son double lay a hedge, so now I have the wood from clearing the fallen trees into my workshop that he doesnt want