Signing Your Artwork

It's important for an artist to sign his/her creations.  The artist signature or mark identifies it for all time and is often the final step in the creative process.  Something about applying that signature or mark closes a creative verse and leaves a sense of well being with the artist.  Jewelry artists have struggled to find a way to apply their mark to the artwork.  For metal artists that often involves a stamp that is hammered into their piece or attached as a separate tag.

Bead woven jewelry still does not easily lend itself to an artist's mark and again most of this work is left unsigned or tags are attached that don't often remain with the work.  Why should you care?  Ultimately the mark is there for the future.  Beadwork encompasses a huge body of work that has lasted for centuries and has had historical significance. Time will tell if patterns emerge and whether we can trace an artist's growth and influences through the years.  At the very least, your mark will be important to your buyers and/or your family for future generations.

Bead embroidery artists have learned from quilters and embroidery artists and many have begun finding small ways to mark their creations.  Since most of this type of work has a fabric backing of some sort, there are places the artist can write or embroider their initials.  It's this type of beadwork signature I'm currently exploring.  In this post I concentrate on my first steps in branding my designs.

Cat Ivins hosts a series of giveaways on her blog Olivebites.  It was there that I discovered Bullfrog Laserworks, and owner Roberto Sand.  He was giving away a custom stamp, so off to his shop I went.  I was astounded at what I saw.  I had been looking for awhile at having a custom stamp made for cards and packaging, and Roberto's are not only functional, they are beautiful.

These well made stamps have wooden handles engraved to match your design and can be made in practically any size and shape you need.  I ordered two stamps.  The larger one will serve as my Thank You on boxes and cards but I can also cover the words and just stamp the larger logo when needed.  The smaller logo was purchased with the intent to mark my ultra-suede, metal work, and the tops of plain bottlecaps to use in packaging.

These stamps are wonderful, but they weren't the most amazing item I found in his shop.  The second item is still in the prototype stage, but we're getting close.  Roberto has wooden tags he initially designed as wedding favors.  The slots in these tags caught my eye because I had been looking for slotted buttons (also called ribbon slides) to use on my laced back cuffs.

Because of the small size of the button (7/8") the slots are not centered to allow room for the text.  Roberto is sending me a sample so I can see if it rests properly on the cuff, if it doesn't we'll go back to using two holes for the ultrasuede to hook through.  I'll be able to color these buttons and perhaps put artwork on the reverse side.  I'm looking forward to playing with them and seeing where else they can be used and how I can alter them to coordinate with my design.

But wait, there's more!  As excited as I was about these discoveries, I was nearly jumping out of my chair when I saw his listing for 50 faux suede labels custom engraved!  We began a long exploratory journey into faux suede while I considered the most practical use of these amazing labels.  I knew it would be too expensive for me to have multiple shapes cut, so I settled on a large circle with my logo at approximately 25mm in the middle.  This would fit the majority of the cabochon pendants I make.  The faux suede Roberto offers in his shop is not ultrasuede, it's a polyester blend that frays.  This is not the end of the world, when the laser cuts out your shape it seals the edges.  For me, though, that would require pieces to match the size of all my cabochons, I wanted more flexibility.  I asked if I could send him some ultrasuede to use and was delighted when he agreed.

We were both thrilled with the results although I did discover that light to medium colors work best.  As you can see, the logo did not show up well on the black and I loved the tone on tone result on the Orange ultra suede.

I quickly worked up a couple of Izze pendants and couldn't be happier with the look.  They add a professional touch while also keeping to the whimsy I like in my beaded work.  I'm looking forward to incorporating the stamps on my metalwork and anticipate a more industrial feel if what I envision works out as planned. 

So now what to do for my cuffs?  Since these are made in various widths, it just wasn't practical to laser engrave them.  My first experiment was with heat embossing.  I was at one time addicted to HGTV.  The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.  My realization came when my daughter (then only 2) exclaimed "it's Joan" when the host of one of my favorite shows came on the air.  I learned about heat embossing velvet from Carol Duvall a longtime host of all things crafts.  I thought I'd try to see if it worked on ultrasuede.  It will be hard to see in this picture, but it works amazingly well.  I set the iron at the "wool" setting, placed the stamp image side up and layered the ultrasuede on top.  I held the iron on the ultrasuede for 10-20 seconds, pressing firmly.  I lifted carefully and repeated until I could begin to see the indentation of the stamp.

It worked beautifully.  It's much more subtle than the laser engraving, but it still marks effectively.  Unfortunately, I did not get the same results with my new stamps.  The handles made it hard to get a firm press, I'd have to have them mounted on a flat wood block instead.  But the biggest reason is the detail.  My logo is too detailed for this method.  You need a stamp with deeper impressions, something to consider when you have your stamp cut.

My last experiment for this post was using the stamps and Staz-on ink.  The image to the left is the larger logo and the one on the right is the smaller one.  Both work well and this is the method I'll use for my cuffs.  With the smaller stamp, I'll need to press very firmly to work the ink into the grain of the ultrasuede.  I did these quickly and got good results, taking time and experimenting with ink colors will yield even better results. 
I like the boldness of the laser cut images, but these are a great alternative.

Roberto opened his etsy shop in 2008 and has grown quite successfully due to his unique product offerings, great prices and flexible customer service.  He has targeted the bridal market in the past, perhaps now the bead market will be a new venture for him as well.  You can find more in his etsy shop:  http://www.RobertoSand.etsy.com

Can't Get Enough Bottle Cap Art

According to Wikipedia,  the modern crown bottle cap was patented in 1892.  While plain caps are prevalent, the iconic images are what captured my interest.  Bottle caps provide a unique form of advertising and I love how I've been able to preserve that into something beautiful and wearable.  Bottle caps have been used in crafts almost from the time of their invention and I'm honored to include my designs in the mix.

My love affair with the bottle cap began in a class by Mary Hettmansperger.  In her book, Wrap, Stitch, Fold and Rivet: Making Designer Metal Jewelry, Mary shows how to use a bottle cap as a form for wire weaving.   For her project, the condition of the cap is not important, the rustier the better.  Holes are punched into the ridge of the cap and wires are poked through to create spokes.  These are later hidden by an object placed in the cup which is held in place by bending the cap edges over.  This was the pendant I created from that class.  The front is layered with a Chinese coin, a washer, a button, waxed linen thread and a couple of stone beads.

After weaving the wire around the spokes, the spokes are hammered and bent to the back of the pendant.  You can see here, I've hidden the bottom of the spokes with a Canadian coin and crimped the bottle cap edge over to keep it all together.  Instead of a coin, I could have riveted something from front to back and created a double sided pendant.  What also works very well is to cut a 1 inch disc from sheet metal and dome it.  The doming, for me, helps to achieve a better crimp.  But a quarter works very well.

I had several caps at home that I wanted to preserve.  The images were too nice to cover up.  I created several like the one in my first fan page giveaway, using Oberon, Coke, and these caps from a Wisconsin soda company.  These pendants looked better with the spiral edge, but that made them somewhat too large for a pendant (although I still wear mine as one).  I made these as ornaments and gave them away during the holidays.  I started experimenting with resin when I created an ornament from a Guinness bottle cap.  The image keep scratching and I wanted to preserve it as best I could.  I failed pretty miserably creating this design and using resin.  I couldn't pour it after I drilled the holes and drilling the holes after pouring the resin didn't create a nice look.  The resulting failure, led me to my beaded caps.  This was a good lesson for me.  I don't like wasting material, so I don't experiment enough.  You can't design, if you don't experiment and aren't willing to start over.   

In my next post, I'll discuss my original designs resulting from Mary sparking my interest in bottle caps, my desire to play with resin, and my need to preserve the delicate image on the bottle caps.