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.

Playing with Beach Glass & Wire Wrapping

After having dinner last night at Spiro’s Sports Bar & Grille (E. Prater in Sparks) ~ love their spanakopita! ~ and watering the new part of the front yard, I organized all of my wires and tools. Decided I will be stopping by Lowes after work to pick up a few container odds and ends.

I played with some of the cheap wire I bought at a yard sale ~ just wanted to diddle around with some designs. Came up with this for two pieces of glass that I bought off of ebay…the ones with rims.

I’m going to try to drill a hole in the middle of the green one to pass the wire through the front towards the back and then bring up the wire to the top as a bail. Not sure about the brown one…but thinking of drilling a hole in the top of that one.

That’s about as far as I got ~ Biggest Loser came on and I love that show. YEAH ALI! A girl finally is THE BIGGEST LOSER! Kelly looked pretty dang good too…and I wrote her off long ago. Am very proud of her! Glad Bernie came back and beat all the guys too! He’s such a sweetie.

Wind, Snow, Beach Glass and Monsterslayer ~ all in one day

The Truckee Meadows was wind blown yesterday and last night…checked the weeping cherry and the lilac bush, both were still standing uprightl! Had my fingers crossed as we had 40 mph winds with gusts up to 84 mph! Sheesh. And to top off the bloody bad weather ~ this morning when I looked out the window here at work ~ what do I see?! SNOW! It was snowing! It’s cool and cloudy out there now with a breeze…went from 81 degrees on Sunday to 43 degrees today. And we’re having a cluster of wee earthquakes (in the 3’s)…seems like the epicenter is near Verdi. Just felt one about 2:33 pm…was more this morning too.

The mail was sweet to me though! Popped into the post office at lunch today and found my order from Monsterslayer and Sea of Glass sitting there waiting for me ~ YEAH!

From MONSTERSLAYER I received a box of silver and copper wire and wire wrap pliers…I wanted to try out the silver square wire and I needed a couple of different gauges of copper. They are pretty dang fast with their orders! Placed an order in the mid-morning and that puppy was already being picked and out the door that afternoon. Very impressed with them.

SEA OF GLASS is a shop on Etsy run by Laura. I bought some green and brown sea glass that was collected in Rincon, Puerto Rico. Really nice medium size peices ~ I’ve gotten some beach glass from other folks…trying to find the right size. Sometimes you can’t really gauge it off of the pictures. Am very happy with this transaction.

These are Laura’s pictures…not mine (I’m just hosting them). I haven’t gotten them home yet to take pictures.

I think tonight I’ll organize all of my tools, wire, glass, beads and other supplies…we’re going to have crappy weather the rest of the week through the weekend so it looks like I’ll be doing inside stuffus instead of yard work. G&G Nursery won’t have Old English Roses in for another few weeks…that gives me time to do other things. Like learning to braid/knot hemp….and drill holes in glass!

Beach Glass ~ Time to make Jewelery after Buying & Bartering

I used to live near the ocean when I was a kid ~ collected all sorts of treasures when I walked the beaches. But for the life of me, I can not place my box of sea glass, rocks and shells. I found a few of my rocks ~ but no glass.

So I’ve been buying a few auctions off of ebay and etsy.

The ones from etsy are too small to make pendants out of them…and I’m not sure I can even drill holes in them for earrings. Will have to ponder on those for a while longer. They are very beautiful pieces, just sooooo tiny. For now they are in a crockery bowl from my Grandma’s house next to my bed so I can play with them before I go to sleep. LOL!

Here is the bowl with all of the beach glass in it ~ both Etsy’s and the Ebay finds ~ the ones I found on ebay are larger and will work perfectly for what I have in mind.

Are those cool or what?! I like the rims on them…great for wire wrapping. I’ll be making necklaces for my sister, mom, niece and myself from them. Maybe even for my 5 year old nephew…with braided hemp, perhaps!

I’m in trade with a wonderful jewelery artist on etsy ~ SafariSister Jewelry + Findings + Objects ~ am trading my soaps for some of her findings, a necklace for myself and a pair of earrings for a present (not sure who will get them!). I’m going to use some of Jacky’s earwire findings with the beach glass. Can’t wait to get them!

I have to figure out how to drill holes through the glass too. From what I’ve read up on it…you should drill the glass under water. Hmmmm…wonder if they teach that in the Under Water Basket Weaving class?! Guess I’ll just take a bowl out to the shed, put a scrap of wood in the bottom of it and then put the glass on top of that…fill it with enough water to cover the top of the glass and start to drill. Luckily we have a cordless drill…I can just see me electrocuting myself.

So…in the near future I’ll drilling holes in glass, wrapping wire around said glass, learning how to braid hemp and whatever else I can think of.

Loom Beading & French Beaded Flowers

For some reason my brain’s been fried this week…it’s amazing how waking up at 4:30 am, just one hour earlier than usual, mushes my thought patterns.

So I’m going to just post some pictures of my beadies…

I don’t really remember how I got started into beading with wee seed beads (my favorites are still plain ole 11/0 Czech Seed Beads…although 11/0 Delicas are a close second!).  I DO remember is was UPZNDOWNS of ebay that inspired me first with her BEAUTIFUL French beaded flowers. And VISIBLESOUL from Texas…I’d post his links, but he’s in the process of changing servers. I’ll post it later.

Then about a year after learning french beaded flowers, I tried my hand at square stitch bead work.

This is my very first square stitch project…the tension was way off! LOL! It was fun learning though.

I was a little intimidated by the Peyote stitch, so when a friend, Judah, posted the tutorial for a BEADED PINCUSHION  (the tutorial is also being changed due to the server, so I linked to her site)…I did it by Square stitch instead! Here is that project ~ Celtic Waves.

Then I bought a loom! Precious! I’ve beaded quite a bit on the loom, but alas ~ have not taken all that many pictures! Patooey.

This is my very first loom project ~ a Celtic Knot book mark. My husband uses this in his Bible.

A Celtic Cross ~ shown without the frame it’s in now.

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.

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.

Copper Wire Crafting

I seem to pick up lots of things on a fancy…and while I’ve always liked to work with wire (french beaded flowers and whatnot), I found some copper wire not too long ago and started hammering away on it.  Tappa Tappa Tappa into the night I went.  Then I started adding glass and metal beads to the hammered wire.  Now I’m hooked…until the next fancy comes along. 

It’s a good thing I have lots of creative outlets for my stress!!!

I have a big anvil type vise out in the shed, but it’s cold out there still and it’s bolted to the work bench.  My husband went upstairs and came down with a small 5×2x2 piece of steel for me to use while inside at night.   But he yelled at me around 11pm last night to cut out all the racket…phooey.  It’s hard to hammer copper wire quietly, eh?! 

This is what I made while sitting on the floor…watching Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives last night. Just love that guy ~ I could take him and Bobby Flay home with me any time.

My little inside hammering set-up ~