Copper Hammering and Photography Class

It’s Thursday…and I have my photography class tonight through Truckee Meadows Community College. Capture Desert’s Spring Colors ~ taught by Mark Vollmer. Can’t wait. The field trip is on Saturday…wonder where we’re going to go take pictures!?

I’ve been having lots of fun hammering and wire wrapping copper during the evening this week. Decided to practice on copper as it’s much cheaper than sterling silver…will wait to work with that wire.

All of my soldering tools are outside in the backyard shed/tool shop, and I haven’t had any desire to go out there at night so I’ve been sticking to wire wrapping the pendents. After hammering, beading and wrapping I put them in a tupperware with LOS (Liver of Sulphur) for oxidizing.

Here is what I’ve done so far ~

Copper Jewelry and Lap Quilts

In between building my raised garden bed (soon those veggies will be growing!) I’m working on a couple of lap quilts for Odyssey Healthcare in Gulfport, MS and playing with copper wire for myself.

Sitting on the floor last night while watching one of my favorites on the Food Network channel, Guy Fieri’s Diners Drive-in’s & Dives, I played with my copper wire again. Made two round necklace pendants (ok…so one is not so round) with beads and wire wrapped. Hammered them. And placed one in a container with Liver of Sulphur (LOS)…ahhhh…that took me back to my geology lab days! ROFL! I love the smell sulphur in the evening! Kept the one piece in the LOS for about one hour and then peeked in…had gun metal grey, brown and reds…so I took it out. Pretty cool looking. I’m wearing it today.

Here is the other one ~ with out the “antique” oxidizing. It’s too big for my liking. 1-3/8″ across. Think I’ll try it again in the size of a quarter.

My friend Belinda was approached by Odyssey Hospice for volunteer help and she rallied all of her online friends to help…I volunteered to make a few lap quilts. I have to go get some cotten batting for these, discovered all I had on hand was for my husband’s Underground Railroad quilt. So many unfinished projects! ACK!

A couple of days ago, I received a request from someone who manages volunteers for a hospice in Mississippi. She was looking for volunteers to sew for her hospice patients and was asking me for resources. I will be sewing for this hospice, Odyssey Healthcare (www.odsyhealth.com ) as well as continuing to sew for Mission of Hope (www.missionofhope.org ). I would like to encourage you to sew simple projects for this hospice, or perhaps one like it in your area. Although my dad was never put on hospice care before he died, I had the opportunity to watch the hospice staff as they visited other patients in the nursing home, and I was always impressed with their unique ability to bring smiles to people who were in situations where all they wanted to do was cry. I think that people who are directly involved in hospice work must be very special people indeed.

Anyone who sews, knits, crochets, or quilts can volunteer to donate simple projects. Blankets, pillows, pillowcases, adult bibs, crafts, and quilts are all acceptable. Apparently, there are no restrictions and any donations will be used, with nothing going to waste.

If you should decide to volunteer to sew, knit, quilt, or crochet for this worthy cause, here is the contact information

TClark@odsyhealth.com or 228-297-5976

(I would suggest that initial contact be made via e-mail or phone because there are a few guidelines that must be followed.)

The mailing address is : Tiffany Clark, Manager of Volunteer Services, Odyssey Healthcare, 9414 Three Rivers Road, Suite 3, Gulfport, MS 39503

I hope that some of the readers of this blog will consider sharing sewing, quilting, crocheting, or knitting skills, even if it’s just one time. You might play a small part in making someone’s final sunset just a little bit easier, and after they have passed through that final sunset, the blanket or pillow that you made might bring some comfort to the family left behind. At first, they might see through tears, but eventually, they will be able to look at a project that someone sewed or quilted, and remember happier times with their loved ones. The tears may still come, but with each passing day, it may become just a little bit easier to smile through those tears. Wouldn’t it be a great feeling to know that perhaps by creating just one simple project, you might play a part in bringing a small measure of comfort to someone?

Here are two finished quilt tops ~

Split Rail Fence Quilt Pattern

Josh Gates of Destination: Truth ~ NECKLACE ID HELP!

Ok…this is driving me crazy ~ I’ve been trying to get a good look at that dang necklace of Josh’s! Other than stalking the man (which still is a possibility…he’s a damn good looking man! ~ although my husband may not like it) so I can get up close and personal, I can’t figure out what exactly it is!

Googling doesn’t help, going onto his website hasn’t helped. Any ideas folks? Anyone have a close up of it? Is it a compass arrow? I’m guessing it’s a compass of some sort. I’d like to make one in copper or silver.

Lots of New Books! Metalcrafts, Quilting & Jewelry

Oooohhh!  A VERY HAPPY DAY is  getting books in the mail!  And I received a lot yesterday!  Five books for $25 ~ that included the shipping.

THE BORDER WORKBOOK by Janet Kime.  Easy Speed-Pieced and Foundation-Pieced Borders ~ 10ty Anniversary Edition.  2006.

I normally just add sashing type or flying geese borders to my quilts ~ so I picked this one hoping it would inspire me to add prettier borders to my future quilts! The borders included are ~ Easy Braid, Log Cabin Spiral, Flying Geese, Tilted X, Kitty Faces, Eeek! Mice!, Spinning Stars, Sawtooth, Double Sawtooth, Stacked Strips, Checkerboard, Paw Prints, Stacked Bricks, Squares on Point, Beads on a String, Small Dogtooth, Large Dogtooth, Folded Ribbon, Shaded Squares, Arrows, Zigzag, Side-by-Side Hearts, Vertical Hearts, Speed-Pieced Braid, Diamonds and Accordion Pleats.

From what I’ve seen by just flipping through the book ~ Nice layout and easy to read instructions.

SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL BEADED JEWELRY by Heidi Boyd. 50 Quick and Easy Projects. 2006.

This is a nice book ~ easy to read layout with good introduction on findings, materials, tools and techniques. But it probably isn’t a book I would have bought if I was able to thumb through it at a bookstore. Very good book for a beginner ~ I’m not a beginner. I may pass this one onto my my sister and my soon-to-be 8 year old niece to use.

ELEGANT WIRE JEWELRY by Kathy Frey. Contemporary Designs & Creative Techniques. 2007.

THIS one I like! Definitely a keeper. I’m not big on most of the designs, but excellent in step by step techniques!

The Basics ~ tools, beyond-the-basics tool kit, fully-committed-tool-junkie kit, wire, manipulating wire, cutting wire, finishing cut ends, filing and sanding, straightening wire, hardening wire, bending wire, making sharp & soft bends, forming simple loops, wrapped loops, coiling and wrapping, opening and closing loops, making basic hook and eye clasp, making a headpin, purchasing commercial findings, hammering wire, oxidizing wire and finishes. Lots of tips.

SIMPLE SOLDERED JEWELRY & ACCESSORIES by Lisa Bluhm. A Crafter’s guide to fashioning necklaces, earrings, bracelets & more. 2007.

I already had all the materials and equipment to give this art craft a try ~ thought I’d get a book to help me along with the techniques. And it looks like I picked the right one as this book is loaded with good ideas and tips. Lots of pictures and very good directions and explanations. This book is mainly for lead-free low temp soldering ~ if you are jumping right into silversmithing you may want to skip this, but then maybe you wouldn’t. As I said…great foundation of learning this art. It would make the transition into using silver easier, me thinks…

Introduction has Project Tools and Materials ~ tool setup, glass cutting area, soldering tools, tools for beading, finishing tools, soldering materials, bead materials, art materials. A few words about safety. Lots of projects.

METAL CLAY THE COMPLETE GUIDE by Jackie Truty. Innovative Techniques to Inspire Any Artist. 2007.

Not really sure why I picked this book up other than the fact that it fascinates me that metal clay can look like traditional silver and gold jewelry! I may play with this later on down the road.

With metal clay there is no initial preparation with wax, no sprues, no investment, no burn-out, no melting of metals, no vacuum or centrifugal casting. If you prefer, there’s no soldering of any kind. Molding, carving, drying, sanding, firing and polishing metal clay are the only steps involved. Best of all, everything in metal clay prior to firing is recyclable into more clay and paste, ready for reuse. That’s not to say that mastering metal clay techniques is easy, but the time, money and product investments are far less than those associated with traditional metalworking.

HOME & GARDEN METALCRAFTS by Jana Ewy. Included 15 easy-to-make Projects. 2002.

This is one of the books that Sue of Perpetualplum sent me with a bunch of others in trade for soaps.

I’ll be using this book ~ lots of great ideas for outdoor artwork, lamps and other stuffus made of copper.

I Played Hooky Yesterday!

Didn’t even tell my husband…got up at the regular 4:30 am, got dressed…but then said I was going to eat breakfast at home instead of at work.  Then he left for work and I got back into my sweats and dug out my butters and oils to make a batch of soap!  Hee!    He had no clue…I hate when he knows I have a day off as I always end up running HIS errands and never get anything done that I took the day off for in the first place.

So!  I made cold processed Raspberry Lemonade Salt bars and I had an order for Oatmeal Milk and Honey solid lotions and two regular lotions ~ finished all by 8:30 am. 

Here is the Raspberry Lemonade salt soap bars (the box that my friend Sue mailed books in made an EXCELLENT soap mold!) before cutting them.  These have to be cut sooner than my regular soap as coconut oil and salt make for a harder bar.  I used coarse Dead Sea Salts and fine Pacific Sea Salt in this batch ~ along with colloidal oatmeal.  The oils used were Sunflower, Castor, Jojoba, Palm & Coconut.  Butters used were Shea, Cocoa and Mango.  Then I swirled with ultramarine pink.  Berry Berry Pretty if I say so myself!  Smells great too.   This will be ready in about 3 weeks…they cure faster then the regular soap.

Raspberry Lemonade Sea Salt Soap Bar

I made my first salt bar last year and used Pineapple fragrance oil…came out pretty good. Just couldn’t sell any of it ~ which is ok as I make all my soaps as if I’m the only one going to use it. That way if it doesn’t sell, I’m happy as can be using it. I love the salt bar in the shower…makes my skin nice and soft. Doing wonders on my face too…those “monthly” pimples are gone gone gone! I hate being 41 with pimples! Patooey!

After 1/2 hour on the elliptical I headed to the Sparks Library to check some silvermithing books that Sue of PERPETUALPLUM recommended for me to read…found those, plus another that looked really interesting.

Speaking of Sue…she sent me four books in trade for some of my soaps, lip balms and room sprays. Received those in Monday’s mail. I really like the metal crafts book…will probably pass on the Tinwork books.

Anyone still do puzzles?! They are so freakin’ addicting ~ like eating a whole bowl of popcorn. Started one Monday night and worked on it yesterday too. This one is a Charles Wysocki puzzle ~ Hellraisers on Halloween Night…my favorite time of the year! It was a .50 cent puzzle from Thrift Depot in Sparks.

Spent the rest of the afternoon out front in the lounge chair soaking up the sun reading JEWELLERY AND SILVERSMITHING TECHNIQUES by Carles Codina.

More Copper Do-Dads

Yep…still playing with copper wire and my hammer. 

Instead of soldering the heart I just wire wrapped it.

I’d like to oxidize the piece so the next step is to head to the library ~ my friend Sue of Unique Re-tiques, told me to look up The Colouring, Bronzing and Patination of Metals by Richard Hughes & Michael Rowe. So after work, I’m heading to the Sparks Library.