Friday is My Fun Day! - Midnight Lagoon Necklace

I'm trying something a little new.  I saw these wonderful flower lei-style necklaces somewhere on Pinterest, and it inspired me to try adding some silk flowers to my designs.  I'm not sure yet how they will sell, so right now I'm all a-flutter about them- nervous and kind of excited.

I used Swarovski crystals and blue pearls with the silk flower.

A Close-up of the flower construction- 

I wired it all together with a loop on the back to secure it to the necklace.

I have TERRIBLE luck trying to photograph clear crystals.  No matter what I do the sparkling clarity of Swarovski crystals totally throw my camera for a loop.  I love my camera and it normally does a great job, but not with black beads or clear Swarovski crystals.  Very frustrating.

Friday is my Fun Day! - Polymer Charms

This week I worked with Polymer clay, and I had so much fun!  I started a couple weeks ago when I made the heart for my Bead Soup.  And now I've made some other pieces- Forget-Me-Not charms & butterflies.

 

Forget-Me-Not Charms

I used a flower stamp, cooked the clay, and then hand-painted the charms.  I'm pleased with them, and I can't wait to use them.  Maybe earrings?  Maybe more than 2 and I'll make a charm bracelet?

Butterfly Charms

 

I used the same procedure on these- a butterfly stamp, cooking the clay, and then hand-painting the charms.  The only difference on these is the sparkle.  I used a dab of glitter glue on each of the wings, to achieve the iridescence of butterfly wings. I will be making earrings for my girls out of these.

 

I have a lot of different butterflies- green, yellow, turquoise, red...  They were so fun, I couldn't stop making them!

Friday Art Day

I had so much fun working on projects this week and I wanted to share a little bit of what I've been doing.

I finished off the green butterfly, so now all three of them are done.  Filigree butterflies, Swarovski crystals, and flowers.  What other combo could be quite as fun?

I completed more of the little frame hearts, but I only have one picture...  Becca, Do more pictures!  These little hearts are so fun to make.  I enjoy creating the heart, and then wrapping the flowers and crystals to the heart.  My favorite touch is the little crystal butterfly dangling from the center.  The necklaces end up very simple and sweet.

Also, I've been making these wire Y-shaped flower necklaces for a while, but I'm making them a little differently now than I did when I first started making them.

New Necklaces, Summer 2012

I used to make the entire necklace out of wire, like this:

Forget-Me-Not Necklace, Summer 2009

And this:

Blue Flowers Necklace, Summer 2008

NOW, instead of making the entire necklace out of wire, I mostly make the focal/center out of wire and then attach chain.  I don't do this with ALL my wire necklaces, but I am finding that a lot of people like them better this way.  The chain and chain extensions give the necklaces more length, and they can be worn a little looser.  Most of my clientele do not like chokers, and a lot of the wire necklaces were pretty short.  I've learned to make them longer, but people like having the option of making them a little shorter or a little longer depending on their outfit.

I still make my pearl necklaces completely out of wire, but I use a chain extender in the back.  The wire foundation works better for these viney necklaces because the weight and balance of the wire and pearls gives the entire necklace a solid structure.  However the light pieces seem to work better (less bending, less damage, less kinking) when attached to chain.  The chained wire pieces are also just plain easier to make.  They take a little less time and allow me to really fine-focus the wire details.

I'm also making them all a little more sturdy- at least double wrapping the wire and sometimes triple.  I like the viney, natural feel the extra wrappings create and I like them to be a little less fragile.  They are still delicate and dainty, but they don't break easily. I'm delighted with how quickly these Y-flower necklaces have sold this summer. I can barely keep them on the table.

It's fun to look back and see that I've gotten better at what I'm doing!

What I've Been Working On...

It's a Friday Art day!
I finally got around to taking some pictures today.  I wish I did this more easily.  I really have to fight to get things photographed now.

I found these fabulous butterfly filigree pieces at Michael's (yes, sometimes I find some fun & unique components there!), and I've had so much fun working with them.  I've still got a green one left, and I hope to finish it off tomorrow.

I played around with some buttons I've been admiring & saving. This green and brown one is my favorite.



And last but not least, I have been twisting wire into little hearts... 

I saw some heart pendants in a chain store, not sure whether it was Walmart or Fred Meyer, and I thought "What a cute idea!  I bet I could make something like that, but unique and prettier."  I am delighted with the way they turned out.  The large one was my first try, and I had fun with it.  However, it was a trifle big for me.  So I endeavored to make the rest of them smaller... 

The brown and blue one is my current project, and lacks a chain still.  I finished a cute copper and turquoise one on Saturday, but it was sold before I even got it out on display!  A young woman walked into our tent, looked at the little silver one, turned and saw the copper one, and said 'That's the one!'  So it is already gone.  I'll try to do one similar soon..  Not exact, but similar.

Friday is My Fun Day!- Leafy Bronze Bracelets

I am delighted to show these bracelets off!
They were fun to make...

First and most importantly, I chose metal that had already been worked with and aged. Each of these pieces had been worked with and then discarded. I loved the texture and images already embedded in the metal.





Then I heated the copper to make it malleable. I chose leaves and ran the metal and the leaves through the rolling mill.
(A rolling mill is the tool I covet the most from our shop. Yes, I want a torch, but I WANT a rolling mill in a really bad way. The cheapest good one I've found was around $500. It's gonna be a while before I have one...)



Next, I soaked the pieces in liver of sulphur to age and darken the leaf impressions.
After the liver of sulphur bath, I sanded the surface to lighten the raised metal.






Then I drilled holes on the sides. After speaking to an artist on Etsy I used clear finger-nail polish to coat the backs of the bracelets. Copper has a tendency to turn skin green when worn repeatedly, but the clear nail polish will prevent the copper from touching skin.






Finally, I took them home and beaded them, which was a blast! I wanted a heavy, rich appearance so I mixed chain in with vibrant glass beads and luscious stones.








I created the green bracelet specifically for me, but the red and blue one are both for sale!


Take a peak down at Farmer's Market on College Rd. in Fairbanks or on Etsy.

BONUS Fun Day!- My Garden Bracelet

Yesterday was the Bead Star submission date, so I ran around like CRAZY. Trying to get my pics taken before metal-smithing and while the sun was shining.

I didn't want to wait til after class, 'cuz of the time difference. Alaska time is an hour after Pacific coast time, and I wasn't sure when they'd shut down the entries.

So, I've got extra photos of the work I've been doing, and I wanted to share!!!

I made this bracelet about a month ago. I love the way the seed beads wind around the rose quartz and the center frame. I fought with that strand of seed beads! It would not do what I wanted it to do at first, but I finally won the battle.

I think my favorite bit is the butterfly charm

It's hard to see, but there's also a strand of fluorite with with the strand of green pearls.

I'm calling this one 'My Garden', because it reminds me of soft pink flowers and fluttering butterflies.

Friday is My Fun Day- Butterfly Pendant

It's been a crazy day 'round here... Lots of wacky kid stuff. The power was out for about 2 hours. Deborah had a choir concert at school. Abigail had Occupational Therapy... I've had a migraine headache almost all day.
Weird, wacky day.

But. I am going to prevail! I will post about what I'm doing in the creative realm =)

****
so far, I think this is my favorite piece from Metalsmithing. This will be a pendant. And no, I don't really know what it will be strung from yet.

I'd rather do more than a chain, but I'm not sure what that 'more' will be.


The first thing I did was anneal the metal to make it soft and usable. Next, I used the roller press to stamp the leaves into the metal.

Then I cut out the rectangular shape and filed it, and cut out the flowers and butterfly.
I soldered the flowers and butterfly onto the pendant.

The next to the last step was to use a toothpick to 'paint' liver of sulfur onto the leaf impression. It just wasn't standing out enough on the pendant, but I didn't want the whole thing to be patinaed. Just the leaves. So, I carefully put the liver of sulfur just where I wanted it.

My last step has been to carefully sand the metal. And that has been the most difficult part of the process. I've been very unhappy with my ability to evenly sand the entire piece down.

I can't get quite close enough to the flowers and butterfly.... Which has left odd glowy halos about them. I think I'm going to have to let it go, though, 'cuz if I keep sanding at it I'll lose my patina and possibly even the impressions of the leaves.

Otherwise, I'm really happy with this piece. I wish I could sand a bit better, but I like the 'brushed' metal look the piece currently has.

Friday is My Fun Day- Labradorite Ring

Here's some of what I'm working on- A double layered ring with a Labradorite cabachon.

I love Labradorite! (Think 'Labrador retriever', then add 'ite' to the end.) Such a pretty stone- I love the fire within it. Rather like an opal or Tiger's Eye. Like Tiger's Eye, Labradorite's fire is caused by natural Asbestos within the stone. Isn't that cool?


I wish I had a picture that truly showed the magnificent fire within the stone- None of these shots come close.

The first thing I did was make the inner layer of the ring. I cut it, filed it, and soldered it together.

Then I made the outer layer. Same process- I cut it, filed it, and soldered it. Then I decided to forge (or hammer) it. I love hammering! I love how it gives the silver a faceted surface that shines and shines. I got to just pound away at that layer. I left the surface where I planned to attach the stone un-forged and flat so that it would solder together more easily (learned that trick from my hoop butterflies!)

Here's where the first problem happened- I had made the outer layer a bit bigger than I thought. When I hammered it, it stretched the metal and made the ring about half a size bigger.

So to get them together, I had to stretch the inner ring a bit and squash the outer layer. And I'm so glad that happened!

I LOVE the domed affect it gave the two rings.

I had to keep the inner ring level while I squashed the outer ring so that they would fit together. But then, the way they fit together, I didn't even have to solder them together. The two layers fit perfectly together, with the inner one actually cupped by the outer one.

The domed surface of the ring band looks really cool, and gives the ring a heavier look. So I'm actually very happy about my mistake!

Then I started working on the bezel for the cabachon- (the 'cabachon' is the stone that's been cut and prepared to use in metal-smithing. The bezel is the metal that holds the stone snug.)

And this is where my second problem occurred. I had originally intended to use a Tiger's Eye cab from my dad's metal-smithing stash. And either somebody brushed it off my desk, or took it, or it magically went abracadabra...

However it happened, my Tiger's Eye cab went missing after I had already started working on the bezel.

In fact, I had measured and created the bezel specifically for that Tiger's Eye cab, and it was gone. Which made me just about cry- I didn't realize how much I wanted to use my Daddy's cab until it was gone.

Beth graciously offered the Labradorite, but the bezel was a little too small. We worked with it, stretched it, and shoved the Labradorite cab into the bezel. So it doesn't quite fit, but it works.

After preparing the bezel, I soldered it onto the ring. Not perfectly. But solidly.

I'm actually really happy with the ring. It's an excellent ring for a first time, and the beautiful Labradorite covers up most of my mistakes.

Friday is My Fun Day!

That's what I'm going to call it. It may not be the best or most creative name, but in honor of Sheryl Crow I'm going with it. ;)
*****


Here's my creative endeavor for the day: My first ring.
I'm actually pretty happy with it.


Since this is a two-layer ring, my first step was to create the inner ring. I cut it, filed it, and soldered it together.

Next, I created the outer layer- I cut it filed it, and then before I soldered it together, I pierced it and added the vines and leaves. Which was a pain, 'cuz I used very fine gauge silver. I thought it would be easier to cut, but it made it harder in the long run. The whole piece kept bending, swaying and buckling with ever cut. Argh. But I was determined! And I got what I wanted.


Then I soldered it together at the ends. Then I fit the two rings together and soldered them together. I'm not thrilled with the seam on the outer ring, but it's my first attempt at ring soldering and it's not too terribly bad really.


To get the lovely dark lines and patinaed effect I soaked it in Liver of Sulphur. Then I sanded & polished it. I'm really happy with what the Liver of Sulphur did to it- a chemical dark patina.


It's a very sturdy and attractive silver ring. One of a kind, since I will never be able to exactly match the vine pattern again.

Friday is Art Day!

Still don't have a fancy name for Art day... Fridays with Flair? Fancy Fridays?

Anyway, here's what I've been working on- Butterfly Earrings!
The coolest thing is that I made every part. =)

The process:
First, I soldered the wire together to make the big hoops.


Then, I cut out the butterflies. Before soldering the butterflies to the hoops, I hammered or 'forged' them. Which I love! I discovered my favorite part so far is hammering away. I love the texture it creates, and the sparkle it gives the work as the light bounces off each of the forge marks.


Next, I soldered the butterflies to the hoops. Which is where I had problems... I'm getting better at soldering, but at this point in my learning curve everything I soldered had problems... The butterflies wouldn't lay flat enough on the hoops to solder them securely, even though I had left a flat space for them. So, I decided to hammer the butterflies onto the hoops so they would have the shape of the hoop in their back... a good place to solder them together. Which worked... However, the copper is so soft that they ended up looking funny, so I had to forge the butterflies all over. I got annoyed. They still look fine, but not how I had imagined them. Anyway, I got it done- and attached the butterflies securely.


Then, I made the ear hooks! Which is exciting, 'cuz I use a LOT of ear hooks. And I got to make my very own! I heated the wire enough to cause it to ball up at the end, then I forged them to 'work-harden' them. If I didn't forge them they would be too soft to maintain their shape.


Anyway, I have some lovely silver hoop earrings, with copper butterflies. Plus, more practice in soldering!

My First Friday

My first post about the art I'm working on! =)













This is the first metal-smithing project I have ever created. It's got some major problems- I'll be able to fix a couple of the problems, but the rest I'm going to have to let go...





However, I like the end result- it's just not exactly how I envisioned it.

First, I cut out the copper flower- It was the first time I EVER had used a jeweler's saw, and it wasn't easy. I'm a lot more comfortable with it now after working with it since January. Now I feel pretty confident of my ability to do what I want with the tool.

Next, I cut out the silver flower, which was much easier than the copper flower with the cut-outs in the petals.














Here's where it starts getting tricky- Because this is actually the second reincarnation of this pendant.... I almost totally destroyed the original piece., but I was able to save it. I am still in the process of becoming completely happy with it.

After cutting out the flowers I soldered the copper flower onto the silver flower- my first soldering attempt! And it was very successful and easy. I haven't had such an easy time soldering since that first time.

After soldering, I carefully hammered just the edges of the silver flower. It was beautiful! I was so thrilled with the way it looked.

However, my next step was to attach the bail (the little metal thing attached to the back so that I can use the pendant as part of a necklace.)













Arrgh!!! Here's where things went awry! I could NOT get it on there, and by the time I got it attached firmly, I had gotten the pendant too hot. The copper flower had melted into the silver til it had almost disappeared. (You can still see shadows of the original copper flower underneath the second one.) Plus the silver had started to slump and stick to the heating block. It was not pretty! I could have just thrown the whole mess away, but I wanted to save my FIRST metal-smithing project.

So I took it back to the anvil room and hammered the whole silver flower and got rid of most of the weird buckling from the slumping. It wasn't the smooth shiny surface from before, but it was attractive. I tried to save the shape of the silver flower, even if I couldn't save the surface. It had deformed on the right side and looked really weird. Not pretty, not ugly. Just weird.

Then I went back and cut out another copper flower, and attempted to solder it back on to the front. And I couldn't get it to solder on there! Probably because I was terrified of destroying the whole thing again...

So, in my mind I see the beautiful pendant I had before I tried to attach the bail and caused the whole thing to self-destruct... While I like the finished product I have now and will keep it just to remind myself of my first project. I'm not thrilled with the project now, because I keep comparing it to what it was originally. However, I think I did a pretty good job of saving the piece.

Art on Friday

I have a problem!!!
I have decided to post on Fridays about whatever art I am currently working on, but I have no idea what to call this regular post.

Friday Art Day?
Fancy Fridays?
Creativity Day?
Arts and Crafts?

Have you got any good ideas? I'd love to hear them!
Thanks!