Titanium Crafts - Latest News

Invisible Titanium

2010-01-13T20:46:00.003+10:00

The latest from the USA - news is a journalist carried an 8 inch piece of titanium undetected through metal detectors!

The Studio Move:

It has been quite bigger process than expected! The simple job of walling up a carport has been compounded by the fact that the carport location is also the only place where any addition to the house can be carried out :( .
This has meant that the Studio has been delayed and so production is just not going to happen for some time yet. We really want to get to work but there are plans to be drawn up, certifiers to see and councils to satisfy. All this has to be done with a very lean budget.
The picture is a panorama that was taken from the roof of the carport. We have our studio in 2 1/2 shipping containers, which you can see above.
We wish that your 2010 year will be safe and adventurous! Ours will be full of work, new adventures, and new beginnings.
All the best
Philip

Titanium Crafts is Moving

2009-09-30T16:50:00.005+10:00

PLEASE NOTE: We are at the moment packing our studio workshop. We will be UNABLE to fill any orders till further notice..sorry about that.

The new workshop will have to be built so there will be about 6 months at least till we are operational again.

Please feel free contact us if you have any specific needs.

All the best
Philip & Toni

Titanium Stars

2009-08-20T13:45:00.003+10:00

It has been a long time between updates, here is the latest from my jewelers desk, The star is 28mm across, it comes as earrings, a necklace and a tie/lapel pin. I have them in blue purple, and green. in a day or two I will have them added to the catalogue.

Overseas Visitors Beryl and Maurice came all the way from England to soak up some Australian sun and while here they visited our studio. It was lovely to see them again, and it was encouraging to meet some of the people who love our work :)

Moving House and Workshop!
Post Heart of Gold was a very stressful time, the sheer energy and resulting challenges was almost too much for us. The long and short is Toni resigned from the festival that she created. The board and volunteers have a plan and hope to enable it to continue. Meanwhile we are moving to the Sunshine Coast where we hope to be closer to friends family and public transport.

Jewelery interval for Heart of Gold film Festival !

2009-04-03T17:37:00.004+10:00

Phew what a week we have had, The Heart of Gold International Film Festival is over for another year. There has been so many great stories on film. Chris Jones a Film maker from the UK came and ran a master class for film makers. He has a web videoblog that has captured some of the action at the Heart of Gold Check out entries dated April 01, 2009 and April 03, 2009. There was a real challenge for Toni the Director to pick a favorite film it was between, Mankind is no Island and Gone Fishing.
The media coverage has been huge around the Heart of Gold With radio TV, Newspapers and various blogs.
The thing I love is the refreshing conversations that are had around and inspired by these nourishing films. See you there next year!
We are getting back to earth and trying to get those orders done!
All the best

Do you have a Heart of Titanium?

2009-03-08T16:28:00.003+10:00

Have a look at these Hearts

The Heart of Gold Film Festival is nearly upon us! Toni and the team has been working at this for 18 months and we hope the long hours will pay off.

That is if we do not get blown away by the Category 4 cyclone "Hamish"!

Toni sums up the event well here "Film is now the main way we pass on our stories, traditions and values and so it has a role of incredible power and importance. Our mission is to screen and promote films that nourish our minds and spirits, inspire hope and above all, make us smile. It is these elements that lead people to live lives of positive action."

I think the heart symbol speaks of these things. I want to be a person of positive action.

The Culture Shop Gallery has been exhibiting the finalists for the Heart of Gold International Photographic competition. These pictures inspire and speak to us. I suggest you get along and take a look.

Making a titanium mermaid

2009-02-19T20:21:00.008+10:00

Here is a look at some of the process of a new design, the mermaid brooch.
Note: some audio so turn your volume down
I adapted a design I did a few years ago. The Renoir woman brooch, designed for the Renoir exhibition that traveled to the Melbourne Sydney and Brisbane galleries, I thought a mermaid and this design combined well.

Titanium Jewelery survives bush fire

2009-02-17T18:13:00.002+10:00

There are some consolations in having a few pieces of our jewelery if your house burns down.
Some friends of ours lost their house which was so sad. Our thoughts are with the survivors of the VIC bush fires at this time.
Here is a picture of an early squat frog brooch (they were bigger when we first made them) This piece went through the fire that left their house a pile of ash. The good thing, if there can be a silver lining, is that the owners were able to locate the melted gold and silver in the ash. As this frog was still whole it helped them to locate the remains of the heirloom and precious jewelery. Titanium has a very high melting point, so it did not melt.
I am getting close to the finish of a mermaid brooch. I was inspired by the location of the wreck of the mermaid. My niece was part of the discovery. I will post a short clip on the making of this piece.
I cannot believe that we have wild hurricanes of fire in Victoria and monsoonal flooding rains in NSW and QLD. We truly live in a sunburn country, a land of flooding rains. I would not live anywhere else.

Wonderful creativity

2009-01-25T12:00:00.003+10:00

I have just seen a wonderful youtube clip. My 15yr old daughter is a great source of finding creative things.
Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie
Is a warm and vibrant piece of creativity that will bring a smile to your face. I was ooh and ahh about how this was done.
Today we need creative answers to the global challenging problems, answers that have compassion and care for people and the environment. We need people who do their best in their fields of work. I believe there has been too many a half ass'd effort getting a premium reward and that has contributed to this global mess.
OOps I had better get off that soap box, I hope that I inspire you to be more creative and to enjoy life and in turn be a source of inspiration to others.

For all those who would like the low down on welding titanium have a look at this Titanium welding workshop
I think this will be industrial in scale but will give you all the answers you ever wanted on welding titanium.

Welding titanium - copies

2009-01-19T11:51:00.008+10:00

I was surprised that my recent entry on welding titanium was so interesting! I have been following Tailored and his great web marketing blog when he mentioned Copyscape a cool tool for checking if your content has been copied and used in other blogs, from here you can see if there has been recognition and reference to the originator.... interesting as I had 7 copies spread about the net, some even used my image, (it was a good one with sparks flying). If you use others work how about giving credit where credit is due? I liked my pic so much that I haven't blogged for a while so it would remain visible.
Recently my niece has been exploring the reef off Cains in North Queensland to locate the wreck of the Mermaid a ship that sunk in 1829. I have been inspired and am working on a mermaid brooch.

Woodford was very hot this year but wonderful with many great performances. Flickr has a group with lots of Woodford images . While there I did a sandstone carving workshop and have decided to get some sandstone and do a bit more. Here is a pic of me carving a pair of sandstone hands
I have found that life has so much to offer and only limited hours to do it in, so I am having to get picky as to where my energy is spent.

Pelicans have landed

2008-06-29T18:45:00.003+10:00

I have been getting requests, so here is a mess of pelicans, I have added one to my listing so you can put it in your shopping cart and I will send it to your home.
My large Pelican brooch has best quality nickel silver spot welded fittings. I have the option of a small brooch too, these go for a little less $ than the large one, let me know if you are interested.
All the best
Philip

Welding Titanium

2008-06-06T14:39:00.003+10:00

One of the challenges for a jeweler who works in titanium is welding this metal. Titanium reacts with Oxygen and also Nitrogen, in fact it is the only metal that will burn in pure nitrogen. So easily welding is really not possible for the average jeweler unless you have an expensive setup exclusively for this.
Spot welding is on the other hand an option, I use a spot welder, it is quick, you can join reasonably consistantly. Joining dissimilar metals is possible too. The only other options are glue and or riviting, these options have their limitations.
The fittings used on our jewelery are high quality findings that are spot welded and guaranteed for the life of the piece.
Here I am welding a fitting to one of my Superb Fairy Wren design brooches.
I'm hoping to get permission to add links to other titanium jewelers images that I like the look of, so watch this space.

Titanium animals a historical record

2008-04-01T07:05:00.005+10:00

I find the rapid changes that I have seen in my short life on this planet a bit much. We have a huge potential for positive and hopeful outcomes for everyone and also a very big possibility to stuff it all up! I hope to encourage every one to consider their environmental impact much more.
Through my work I hope to help us to value our diverse animal friends. Each of us as individuals is having an impact in our own back yard. I depict animals mostly, they are in titanium which is a long term material reminder of our impact. My titanium jewelry will survive a house fire where all else melts. I see these pieces as a type of historical record for future generations.
Take care
Philip

titanium ear wire bending

2008-03-29T00:08:00.008+10:00

Here is the bending of my titanium earwires that I do regularly. I usually do 50-70 pair every 4 days. it takes a few days for my fingers to recover! I use commercially pure grade 2 titanium. These wires give my Titanium Jewelery an allergy free quality. The stock wires I use are cut to length and have both ends deburred and rounded. They are later colored to match the piece they are fitted to.

Titanium Penguin & Wombat

2008-03-14T09:36:00.003+10:00

Here are some new things from my desk to yours...These earrings are of a little penguin, they used to be called a fairy penguin. Little penguins inhabit the southern oceans around Australia. They nest in holes on islands.

I have also added a pair of fun Wombat earrings...
Wombats are a bit like bulldozers they have a set route of travel. If a farmer happens to put a fence across their path the fence comes off badly. They dig fairly large holes which are dangerous for horses. They are friendly and cute.

Titanium Cross

2008-02-11T08:57:00.000+10:00

Here is the latest design, a customer wanted a simple cross and together we came up with this.

To reduce the plier marks I made this jig, the end result works well. Titanium wire is tough and has quite a toll on the fingers.

Pleasure found in Mud!

2008-01-08T20:44:00.000+10:00

Woodford has been and gone for another year, this year was interesting with 6 days of rain! Some found it hard, sleeping in a wet bed is no fun but when you have somewhere dry to recover, fun it was! I was surprised that Toni who is NOT an out door type was slopping in the mud as if it was sand between her toes on a summer beach.

The Woodford experience was fun but tiring, met some very interesting people and had a memorable time. The cyclone that threatened the coast nearby really added another dimension to the festival, 125,000 people, day visitors, and camping over the 6 days, 20 performance venues rain every day and mud glorious mud. Some of the memorable acts I saw were Bob Brosman, Women in Docs, My Friend the Chocolate Cake, Babylon Circus, Cat Empire, Angus & Julia Stone, Harry Manx, The Waifs, TeTe, The Perch Creek Jug Band, That 1 Guy and more.
there is a woodford photo pool at
Flickr
there are about 4 pages of images so far, people are adding as they are able to get out of the mud!

time flying by

2007-12-13T13:14:00.000+10:00

Well the house of Titaniumcrafts has been going through some events. Georgia and Errol decided that they wanted to move their marriage forward to the 1st of Dec! We had planned some time away after the Heart of Gold so, we left after much planning to marry off our daughter and get some time to gather our frayed thoughts. We are back with some creative juices flowing! We have just tidyed up some orders that came in while we were away. There is still some planning for the Woodford wrap up to the year. I will get a little more time soon to do a better job of this update, Wishing you all the best Philip

Recovery

2007-11-03T07:36:00.000+10:00

Titanium jewelry making has its seasons, spring is busy.

The Heart of Gold is over for 2007 and we are trying to get balance back. I am busy clearing the back log of orders from my desk.

Here I have a couple of beautiful models showing off my work. I do custom work at inspired times, but these do cost a bit more than my jewelery that is advertised here.

Summer is rapidly arriving I have been sweltering here in my studio, so an early start is the go. We have so many birds that are active at this time, they sing to me as I work.

Better get back to work!

9 sleeps till we festival

2007-10-15T10:51:00.000+10:00

Hi the Heart of Gold Film festival is almost upon us. The festival has films from 38 countries. 123 were selected out of 500 entered and of these 60 are Australian premiers, 5 International premiers and 8 World premiers!
In the midst of this I have been getting quite a bit done in the shed with jewelry I have been putting some long hours in to get the christmas orders out the door for the shops we supply. While working I listen to Coast FM they are a great bunch putting together the best radio listening I have heard. You can listen on the internet anywhere in the world! I would like to thank Tailored for the great support, all things web and getting your site found.

comunity service

2007-09-23T20:14:00.000+10:00

Here is a bit of PR for the QRFS, this organisation is peopled by volunteers who help to save property and lives by being ready to go into action to put out bush fires. Here we are having a bit of fun with the Mary Valley Rattler. I joined the Chatsworth Brigade, some years ago, can you spot me? Helping others is lots of fun, here we are posing for photo shoot for the fund raising calender for next year. Clue: I have gloves on!

but wait, there's more!

2007-09-18T16:39:00.000+10:00

Hi I don't know if you know about Flickr but for those who don't here's a quick outline. Or better still here is a link to flickr
I have a flickr site it is mostly photographic and there are a few more pictures than here on my blog so here is my flickr.
Toni is trying to get the on line ticket sales going for the Heart of Gold there seems to be some hiccup with the banks at the moment, but it will happen soon.
Spring seems to be happening everywhere at the moment, lots of things growing people are all getting busy and so many things to do.
For those with our titanium jewelery it is time for a spring clean, or any time is good for a clean! Soapy water like you would use for cleaning glass wear, dip and dry with a soft cloth to stop smearing.
Wishing you good growth this spring

Busy Busy

2007-08-27T08:00:00.000+10:00

It seems every thing happens in spring. I don't know why I can't get my orders spread across the year. I found this site that has a fairly good background information about Titanium It is a Magnetic therapy site and they use titanium in their bracelets. I have found magnets helpful in some muscular pain but I'm not sure about the other claims.
must get back to work
All the best Philip

Unexpected flooding Rains

2007-08-25T20:27:00.000+10:00

260mm or 10.25" of rain in 5 days was not what I had been expecting but that is what we just got! This is my vegetable garden with the option of white water rafting! We had been getting worried about bush fires until the day before.
Yesterday I had an unexpected visit from long distance travelers Beryl & Maurice, little did I know that my jewelry has collectors in the UK. It was a pleasant surprise and welcome interuption to my day at work in the studio. Beryl mentioned Holly Yashi as an interesting site to look at and I thought so too. Take a look at some creative work in another reactive metal, Niobium.
To know how many people actually visit my web site is difficult, as I don't get much feed back. Generally I feel like I am talking to a mute monitor. I have discovered a number of jewelers and craftworkers though on www.flickr.com. Interaction is possible here with comments easily posted to the images and notification sent on to the image owner. I have a site there which I started documenting animals from our property that I was able to capture but lately it has pictures of my work, on flickr here
Thankfully today the rain has stopped and the sun has come out.
All the best
Philip

titanium chain

2007-08-10T21:32:00.000+10:00

Here is my latest design, in titanium it is a type of folded box chain, it is soft and falls nicely. I'm still working on the catch, these things take time! Have a look at my shop

My other half Toni is working hard on the Heart of Gold Film Festival the entries have closed with over 570 entries. there ave been 125 film selected to screen and the deadline for the progam printing is almost done. She really has put a marathon effort in.

Recently we had the visit of a family of Rainbow bee eaters they are beautiful birds that are very colorful, maybe that should be my next project.
All the best
Philip

titanium beetle - Jewelry

2007-07-19T13:58:00.000+10:00

This is my latest creation, a design that is based on the "Christmas Beetle" this beetle abounds in summer, here in Australia. They eat the new leaves on gum trees. I created it some time ago. It is eye catching, but not for some, who fear insects! It is a brooch and is about 35mm long. If you are interested in purchasing one of these contact me.
There is a lot on the web lately about titanium rings here is a site that advertises a free ring sizer. One of the problems I have found is that resizing a titanium ring is not easy! I actually suggest that you have two made, one half to one size larger. This will accommodate the difference in finger sizes between summer and winter.
There have been questions about body piercings setting off airport metal detectors. I do know that titanium is invisible to radar, For instance the stealth bomber but not metal detectors. Airport metal detectors are designed to find larger metal pieces like knives and guns, a piercing is a relatively small piece of metal, so not really a danger on planes, unless you get caught on something by the piercing!
all the best
Philip