Something A Little Different!

Well Christmas is almost upon us and I know that many of you (including me) find it really hard to buy for the men in our lives. So, it got me thinking about what I could make that would be fun for all ages and not found anywhere else.....

So I set about wondering about sport - well actually football & rugby - as most men support a football or rugby team and spend their weekends watching it in some form or other. 

As you may know I make a lot of pin badges or brooches and decided that I would craft a few of my own little footie shirts in an selection of colours! 

I cut the shapes from copper sheet and after filing and sanding them so there were no rough edges I soldered to each a tie tack. These are easy to use as you just pinch the back of the tack and pop it on to the pin, securing the item to your top/ bag etc.

I decided to make three little shirt badges and went for red & white, white and black and black and white.

I fired up my kiln and once at the required temperature, I applied a layer of black to the reverse side of the brooch. This is to prevent the metal from warping when the enamel is applied to the front!

Three layers of powdered glass are then carefully sifted to each shape and fired fusing the glass to the metal. This process is repeated up to three times before the contrasting number and stripe detail are added. One final firing and hey presto! All done.

I rather like my little football rugby shirt badges as they can be worn pinned to shirts, lapels, ties, bags scarves etc and they are each completely unique. You certainly won't find these in the shops either! Great little tree presents and stocking fillers too!

If you are interested in purchasing any of these items then feel free to visit my store www.maisyplum.co.uk and search under 'For Men'