Jewellery Assembly Attempts (aka please help me propose to my qpp)

Discussion in 'Make It So' started by Kay5, Sep 17, 2019.

  1. Kay5

    Kay5 the most glorious spoon

    SO

    My partner and I have our second anniversary coming up in about two months, and I want to propose to them (possibly not on the anniversary itself, but sometime in the near future for sure). They're not a fan of wearing rings, so I thought that something a bit less traditional like a pendant necklace would be better. And, even though I'm aromantic, I'm still A Romantic, so I want to get something specifically personalised that carries meaning for some of the important parts of our relationship. Soo...

    I figured, why not a floating locket? That way I can pick and choose the charms, and it'll all be contained instead of anything risking getting caught on something.

    ...but apparently the only floating lockets I can really find online are very glitzy, feminine (which is a No because of dysphoria), and the charms tend to either be very low quality or nothing like what I'm looking for, or both.

    Looks like I'm gonna be assembling this thing from a bunch of odd sources then!

    I've found this place which can 3D print jewellery, it's a chunk more expensive than pre-made charms (approx. £8 per charm in sterling sliver, more if I go for other metals, plus another £7.70-ish for shipping), but it means I'd be guaranteed something unique, if only I was any damn good at 3D modelling. (If anyone here *is* good at 3D modelling and I wind up going down this route? I will absolutely commission you, feel free to leave a message on this thread if you'd be up for it)

    The second option in regards to charms is to go down the Etsy rabbit hole, which has the potential to turn up some really good stuff? But has the downside of likely needing to order charms from a whole bunch of different sellers, which means higher risk of something important getting lost in the mail.

    Third option is I make the charms myself. Not.. sure... how?? I mean I've done some jewellery-making before, but that was beads and pins and string rather than outright building a charm from scratch. If anyone has ideas here, please let me know.

    Next thing to worry about is the actual locket.

    I could just buy a plain metal one online? That'd certainly be the easiest route, and there's plenty of places to buy it from. A simple stainless steel or silver one without any decoration on it would be neutral-looking enough, and I could find a leather cord or similar to use as the string.

    But...

    I've also kinda got my heart set on a wood frame? Something more rounded and down-to-earth than the shiny metal containers online. Again though, I don't know where I'd get it. I suppose I could try carving it myself? I've never really worked with wood before, but I learn quick, and it'd be a simple enough design, I guess. The other option is to commission someone who *does* know their way around woodcarving, which would result in a higher-quality pendant, but also I'm not sure how much it'd cost.

    I'm not even going to *start* on where the hell I'd get the glass for it just yet.

    Anyway! Gonna post this then vanish, because my partner will be home soon and I don't want to risk them seeing this and ruining the surprise. If you've got thoughts or ideas I'd love to hear them, else I'll use this thread to just keep track of where I am in terms of making this thing.
     
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  2. Acey

    Acey hand extended, waiting for a shake

    It’s tricky to work with in my experience, but resin might be an option! Definitely something you’d wanna practice with a LOT before making the final product, but it’s worth considering, I think.

    (Also, this is such a cute idea!! <3)
     
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  3. Kay5

    Kay5 the most glorious spoon

    Resin might work! Problem is it's something I've never worked with before, so I'd have to do a bunch of research into how best to use it and what materials to buy, and I'm unsure if I'd be able to keep it all hidden while making it... but hmmm....

    I'm definitely adding it to the list alongside carving the outer locket out of wood, but it'd probably be too fiddly to use for making the charms themselves

    Thanks!
     
    • Like x 1
  4. Kay5

    Kay5 the most glorious spoon

    [​IMG]

    I doodled up some very vague designs for some of the charms I want to include in the pendant, each of them related to some important moment and/or aspect of our relationship. I'm not sure on some of them (mostly the design of the fox), and there's one I didn't include here because I literally only just remembered it (some form of claddagh heart, probably modelled after my own necklace). Feedback is absolutely welcome.

    If anyone knows where I might be able to find some of these or similar charms, I'd really appreciate it, else it might be best for me to work on polishing up the designs and figuring out how the heckie I'm gonna turn them into 3D models
     
  5. Acey

    Acey hand extended, waiting for a shake

    Yeah, resin DEFINITELY isn’t a great choice for the charm portion—I was suggesting it as a way to keep the charms suspended in there (although it’s hard enough to work with that it might not be the best choice for that either tbh?). Sorry if I was unclear! ^^;

    As for finding the charms, I sadly have no idea. I wish you luck, though!!
     
  6. Kay5

    Kay5 the most glorious spoon

    Ahhh, nope, I get what you were trying to say with the resin now, it's all cool

    But part of the point of a floating locket is that the charms in it can move about freely! :D
    Give it a shake and some shift to the front or to the bottom, or just generally make a nice little rattly noise, makes it as much of a nice thing to fiddle with as it is to wear
     
    • Informative x 1
  7. Acey

    Acey hand extended, waiting for a shake

    Ahh, that makes sense! Yeah, resin wouldn't be a good option then.

    Would it be possible to get some sort of glass front for it?
     
  8. Kay5

    Kay5 the most glorious spoon

    Mmhm, I'll need two glass circles that are around 25mm in diameter, one for the front and one for the back, so the locket is see-through.

    I've found a few places online that sell them? Jewellery-making supply stores, and a bunch of places that sell stuff for glass art, including pre-cut shapes. I reckon my best bet is going to be this one here? Mostly because it's a ten pack so if I heck up I'll have spares. Though, 5mm thick is a lot.... I suppose I could sand it down? And honestly, using a nail buffer works just fine with making glass clear and shiny again. It's extra work, but it's also one of the cheapest options, and also the best sizing I can find for what I'm looking for. I'll keep looking though
     
    • Like x 1
  9. Kay5

    Kay5 the most glorious spoon

    Coming back to this after half a year and I could have sworn I had a whole lot more links saved to stuff I'd found but oh well, guess not.

    But! After a bit of a pause because money and stress and tendonitis, I'm back to trying to get this locket sorted!

    I've started down the route of trying to create some 3D charms in photoshop (though I'll probably be switching to blender when I work out how the hell to use it) and I managed to make this
    [​IMG]

    It's not perfect, and realistically it's too thin for the jewellery 3D printing place to actually print it at the size I want, but it's a start. I'm gonna try getting some more practice in making 3D models before I go tackling any of the other designs, the only reason the fox turned out smoothly was because I made it from some vector art.

    Another potential is I look into getting some modelling clay, sculpt larger versions of the charms, and use this method to turn them into digital files. Upside of this is I can actually make the charms look like what I intend them to, downside is things like plastecine and clay and such can get messy, and there's a larger chance of my partner finding out what I'm doing. Still, we'll see how things go.
     
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