First up... it's not engraved!!! 
I have to laugh because this is the thing I get asked about most, and despite having detailed descriptions mentioning hand stamped (and it even being included in my name!) people still ask to have something engraved so I thought I'd break it down.

So with our hand stamping, we start with a raw piece of metal. This one is sterling silver. We can use most metals but certain fonts/ designs work best on different metals due to their toughness. If we tried to use a really intricate design stamp on stainless it’d probably not leave a brilliant impression- but, stamp it on aluminium or annealed (softened) silver and it'd be perfect.

Here we've cut pieces of silver for our single stem birthflower necklaces, when stamping I need to choose the letter or design stamp and place it on the metal. I then hit the metal stamp with a hammer and the impression is left behind. Hitting too hard though and the stamping left behind is mushed (technical term) and hit it too lightly and the impression won’t all be there. It’s tricky finding the right balance. You also need to know exactly where to place the stamp to line it up if using letter stamps and want the word to flow.

Stamping needs to be done on a metal block, I also place a rubber mat under to soften the sound and use a stamping post to stop double impressions and the blank bouncing back. When you stamp the blank, the metal is then displaced, some will raise slightly around the edges and it also pushes it to the back. After stamping a lot of polishing and clean up is required! My favourite part.

The thing I love best though is you're left with a really dark clear impression which will last for ages. With engraving, you only remove the very top layer so this can end up buffed and polished out over time. Hand stamping is truly a work of art and a great skill to learn. If you have any questions please pop them below!

Nicole