Category Archives: Metal Work

Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, selling, Wire Work

Walking Jewelry

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We attended a small political “coffee” a few nights ago. I really try to stay away from politics having had enough of it in my gifted and talented education work, but I wasn’t given much choice for this one. When we arrived, the first thing that caught my eye was a piece of jewelry walking by. I tried not to accost the woman wearing it, but finally got close enough to determine that it was one of my sets. You’ve seen a picture here in an older blog. It was made of 5 round copper discs and a handmade chain. It also had matching round disc earrings. I was really tickled to see it and learned that the person’s husband purchased it at one of the stores for her birthday. I was so pleased, you’d have thought I just laid an egg. . . . I think this was the first time I’d seen one of my pieces on someone that I had never met. It was neat! Since I only work with one store here in the town where I live, it’s pretty unlikely to encounter my own jewelry on someone else. I don’t see too many women with jewelry on here at the ranch!

The woman wearing my jewelry didn’t know who had made it. This made me think about branding (not the type with fire and iron or as we do it here-dry ice, alcohol and iron) and how I might do a better job of labeling my work. Most of the store owners tell the customers the story behind the jewelry, but once a piece leaves the store I imagine this is forgotten. Therefore, I’m considering investing in tiny stamped metal jewelry tags to go on all the pieces. I’ve looked at this before and felt it was too time consuming, but now I’m thinking about it again. Do any of you other designers do this? I’m not as concerned about pieces such as the one pictured below. Those that are strung are not as important to me for branding as the more unique metal pieces, although the one below is pretty special.

lab

 

 

[ labradorite, tiger eye and Chinese picture jasper with seed beads– all from Magpie Gemstones www.magpiegemstones.com) ]

 

 

 

 

 

Then again, the metal pieces are perhaps occasionally too unusual for me to want them to wear my brand.   lpis cab I’m not sure how I’m going to complete the one pictured here, but I like it! It’s one of those pieces that keeps evolving. Originally, I was soldering some silver wire to the diamond shaped copper piece. Before I could move the torch, I was watching the wire melt and spread on the copper creating an unusual metal effect. It sat on the workbench for weeks before I tried a little fold forming. Then it sat a bit longer. Finally, this week, I added the cab and copper and silver wires. If I ever complete the piece, it will certainly have a story behind it.

Why is it important for people to know who made their jewelry? There are, of course, many reasons but my primary business thought today is so they will know what “brand” to look for if they like the first purchase and want something else. There is also the ego angle, but I’m not going to make any money based on that one.

I think I need to get out more and conduct surveillance to try to capture a peek at my designs walking by. That way I won’t be quite so surprised when I meet one face to face. If I can put a little Dreamcatcher Designs tag on the pieces, the person wearing one won’t be so surprised when I say hello.

booches, Creativity, Metal Work, Pendants, Philosophy, Techniques, Wire Work

Children and Problem-Solving

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I was somewhat bothered by a short five paragraphs in the Parade section of last Sunday’s newspaper. I waited several days to comment in order to see if my thoughts changed. They did not. The title of the article was “Teach Problem-solving to Prevent Bullying.” It was based on research conducted through Louisiana State University and the University of California the results of which indicated that those youngsters who have trouble with solving problems are more at risk of being bullied.

Bullying has also been on the television news lately as a result of the school bus incident during which a child was bullied and her father later threatened her attackers. This child, who is handicapped, would probably fit the profile suggested in the abovementioned research.

It wasn’t, however, my concern about the relationship of bullying and lack of problem solving skill that concerned me about the article. I believe that is a good point. It was the fact that the article focused solely on how games could help develop problem solving skills. I was pleased that the author mentioned checkers and chess since these do require rational strategic thinking. We might add to that dominos, chicken feet (played with dominos) and a number of other similar games that require thinking. None of these rely solely on chance like so many of the simple spinner type games.

I wanted the article to also talk about the place of art in the development of problem solving skills. I believe that almost any form of art requires this type of thinking. Even when the child is merely drawing a picture, he/she must figures out and plan where things go on the page, what colors work well and often what to do when a mistake occurs. Consider why a cardboard box is so often a child’s favorite toy. The child must solve the problem of how to create something out of very little. Also, if the art form selected requires tools or supplies, a young artist may need to solve the problem of what to do with limited supplies or lack of tools.

Many of of schools have no art classes other than what the classroom teacher might squeeze in. With extremely tight budgets most of the “frills” of education are gone. I have heard parents at school board meetings plead for retention of arts programs. Among other things, their rational is often based on the value of art (including music) in bringing joy and self confidence to the child. Should we instead be discussing the higher level thinking and problem solving skills that the arts teach our children?

My most recent example of difficult problem solving in art comes from the angels I first mentioned on September 11. I have continued to work with them for days trying to solve the problem of their crooked halos and messy backs covered with too much solder. Finally, after considerable work (problem solving) I completed some angels that are working. The halo now goes around the angel rather than just in front and the solder is hidden between the body and the wings.angel1I’ve also solved the problem of how to display/market them in boxes with a small poem. Doesn’t everyone need a guardian angel? (www.dreamcatcherdesigns.etsy.com ) I wish I could send one to each child who is forced to endure bullying.

angelpoem

This problem solving adventure is only one of so many that we find in art. Does that mean I’m ready for those big bullies? Hmm . . . I’d still just as soon they stayed away from me and from everyone else. Maybe the bullies need the opportunity to learn problem solving skills in order to direct their misguided energy down a better path.

Earrings, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, Torch Work, Wire Work

9-11

What should you do on the anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy?

I watched some of the news reports and heard some of the names of the fallen as they were read aloud, but I wasn’t sure what to do. 

My family was fortunate that we did not personally lose anyone on that day. My son, who was working in NYC at that time in a building not far from the towers hadn’t gone in to work that day. My daughter, who was working at one of the high rise offices in Atlanta was evacuated and sent home since authorities feared the possibility of other attacks. When my husband and I talked with each of our children, the distance between us seemed extreme, yet we felt close, and we wished we could still protect them as we did when they were little. Alas, we wondered if any of us would ever regain the sense of security taken from us on that day.

Of particular interest to me on the news was the report on the Ground Zero Memorial that is to open in another year. I was taken by the description of the two pools, titled Reflecting Absence, that are to lie in the footprints of the towers. The reporter referred to them as the inverted vertical of the buildings that formerly rose so high above New York City.

Today was 9-11. Today I made angels. It was the least I could do.

angel tiny silver

angel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

copper angels

Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, Torch Work, Wire Work

Things That Fly

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A friend at our last wire workers meet up showed me her new book, Metalworking 101 for Beaders, and I was off and running. As she flipped through the pages, a metal bird caught my eye and it didn’t matter what else was in the book, I was certain I needed it.

After four order attempts, it finally arrived this week. I won’t bore you with the sordid details of the various online bookstores and delivery services that kept the book from reaching the ranch, I can only say “Thank you Amazon!”

bird on the run 

The bird on the left is somewhat similar to the one shown in the book. Of course, I can’t make anything EXACTLY like the directions. I added the bottom piece of wire and can’t quite decide if he is a “bird on the run” or “a bird sitting still on a branch.” There’s probably something philosophical in that, but I won’t get into that either.

Another bird, much more like the one in the book will probably become a wall hanging for my mom who is an avid birder. bird wall When I told her I was making metal birds, she wanted to know what kind of birds. This was something I hadn’t considered, but she showed me how the birds at her window feeders had various unique distinctions. Not knowing if I could recreate my metal birds to her specifications, I changed the subject.

Another day, I minified the bird and created a necklace with the third creature.

bird copper

 

 

These birds are actually quite simple to make and I’m hoping people will like them.

 

I made another type bird several weeks ago from a cabachon and sterling silver half round wire. He’s cute, but I’m not sure he will be popular. He was also tricky to make since his silver tail melted off once while I fused the pieces.

bird

 

Well, you cannot think of birds without thinking about flight. My winged friends will fly out of here either as gifts or customer purchases. Flight will get them where they need to be just as flight got me where I wanted to be last week. (Yes, I know this is a stretch, but I wanted to include the picture below.) We flew to Atlanta to visit family and enjoyed the little cherub below. Hmm . . . I wonder if he needs a bird . . .?

 

lounging

Bezels, Color, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, Torch Work

“When I Am An Old Woman . . .

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. . . I shall wear purple . . . “  Those are the initial words of a poem called Warning by Jenny Joseph. The poem appears in a book by the same name edited by Sandra Halderman Martz. The contents of this collection include both poems and short narratives such as The Trouble Was Meals, Late Autumn Woods and Reaching Toward Beauty. Years ago when I first bought this book, I thought the pictures of the elderly woman throughout the book were frightening. But after so many trips to the mirror and the nursing home, they look quite normal now. Reading it now for the third or fourth time Warning remains my favorite entry. Not only does the woman in this poem say that she will wear purple, she’s also going to make up for the sobriety of her youth by picking flowers in other people’s gardens and learning to spit. In the final part of this piece, author Joseph suggests that she needs to practice now so that people won’t be shocked when she really is old and starts to wear purple.

I say “hurrah!” I think we should all wear a little purple now and not wait until we’re too old to get a kick out of it. I’ve actually been practicing for years now. Once while shopping with my young adult daughter we saw a rather rotund lady going in a store with curlers in her hair and an orange housedress on. I asked my daughter to not ever let me do that. Then, on her wedding day as we rushed around with our preparations, there I was with curlers in my hair and my lime green and orange housedress on. I went to the nursing home to pick up my Mother in that garb. I’m thinking that when I’m old no one will worry about what’s in my hair or what I’m wearing. I guess I was just practicing on that wedding day.

Today’s jewelry pieces fit with all this practicing. They’re PURPLE! As I looked around at my products and caught up on what had sold at the stores, I realized that purple goes out the door pretty quickly. See what you think about these two new pieces. am1 The pendant at the right hangs from a lightweight strand of amethyst chips and sterling rounds. The bezel is one of those for which I became brave enough to use all sterling silver. Other pictures are in my etsy store at the following address:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/53924047/sterling-and-amethyst-pendant-necklace

The second piece is based on the colors of a specific garment at one of the boutiques. The amethyst is highlighted with just a few olive colored Czech crystals. You can see one of the larger stones best in the side picture blowup. http://www.etsy.com/listing/53963222/amethyst-and-sterling-necklace?ref=v1_other_1

amet2

 

amebest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that I’ve got my purple to wear, the poem also says I can gobble up samples in shops and wear my slippers out in the rain. It sounds like I’ve got all sorts of things to practice for when I’m an old woman. Does anyone out there want to join me?

Bezels, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Techniques, Torch Work

The Pickle Ate My Pants

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I looked up the word pickle and found all sorts of connotations that I hadn’t considered. The first definition usually appears as food or something you do to food as in pickled okra. Then there are all manner of situations that cause one to be “in a pickle”; yet, none of those fit this situation. Let’s get to the beginning of the pickle I’m talking about.

As I’ve probably mentioned before, when learning something new, I try to practice it every day. This goes back to learning and then teaching piano and realizing how skills develop over time. I’m continuing to do daily practice on making sterling silver bezels. While some days I think I’ve really mastered it, the next day is often a disaster and puts me back in my unskilled place.

Lately, I’ve completed a bevy of bezels, most of which are already gone; but a few are shown here. bezebl glack

 

bezel copper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

blue bezel

The copper backed bezels remain the most difficult due to the variation in temperature needed for copper versus silver.

Now, about that pickle. After spending considerable time one afternoon working on copper backed bezels, I took off my apron and noticed big holes in my shorts. I didn’t recall any sparks flying from the torch or any pain in the area of the holes. This did, however, remind me of the time I went fishing with my dad and his pocket caught on fire. He was dancing around pretty well when he figured out that his tobacco pipe, which he stuck in his pocket, was not completely extinguished. I think we later threw away those trousers. I guess I was luckier than him since I didn’t have to do any dancing around.

It wasn’t until a day later that I figured out what happened to my now-holy shorts. The pickle must have eaten them. I remember seeing drops of pickle fall on the shorts during several trips of the copper back and forth to and from torch block to pickle. (For those of you who aren’t metal workers, pickle is a solution used as“a treatment of metallic surfaces in order to remove impurities, stains, rust or scale (Wiklopedia).” I think I either mixed my pickle a bit too strong or I need a longer, tougher apron.

This morning as I was making the daily bezel, I felt something easing down my leg. After the shorts versus pickle incident, I’ve become more aware of what gets on me while I’m using the torch. The bezel had just reached the right temperature for the solder to begin to flow and I didn’t want to have to start over by stopping to see what was after my leg. So, I decided that I would not jerk or yell when the “something” bit me and I WOULD finish that bezel. Luckily, when I finally completed the bezel and extinguished the torch I learned it was just my untied apron string that was crawling down my leg. I think I lucked out on that one.

I can’t wait to see what “get’s after” me during the next bezel practice. I never anticipated so many extraneous happenings would occur while designing jewelry.

Pickle . . . we all either eat them or get in them from time to time, but I never imagined that one would eat my pants!

Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, Techniques, Wire Work

A Day Like Alexander’s

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I would NOT like to be Alexander who is best known for his bad day. Perhaps you have read about him in the children’s book by Judith Viorst. The title is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and you can hear Ms. Viorst read her book out loud online at the following Barnes and Noble link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/storytime/index.asp?cds2Pid=34152

When I’ve had a tough day, I try to remember Alexander and he usually makes me smile and feel better. Recently I had an Alexander day. It seemed fine at first, but by mid morning a neighbor came for coffee and wanted to talk county politics with my husband. Trying to be friendly, I grabbed my bead board and sat with them. I was working on an asymmetrical piece and should have known better than to let them see it. I’d been struggling with getting the multi strand necklace to hang correctly and kept holding it up to see how it was working. Each time, the men would sport somewhat pained and confused looks and each time I became more disgusted with the piece. Finally as lunch approached, I simply put it out of sight while I cooked. butterfly I pleased that the next day was NOT an Alexander day and I finished the piece shown here.

Following my ego deflating morning, I worked on making bezels most of the afternoon. Why did it take most of the afternoon? Because I burned up two bezels trying to get them to solder to copper backing. They simply wouldn’t connect. At one point I became so frustrated that I stopped and connected a different bezel to sterling silver for the necklace pictured below. This was much easier. However, since I was not willing to give up, I worked and worked until finally I managed to get the silver bezels to solder to the copper sheet metal. Yet, my ego took another hit.

tur1

 

tur2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later that day, I managed to string the pendants and was relatively happy with the outcome. The following day, however, when I was showing some pieces at a store, my good customer politely asked how to fasten one of the necklaces. All I could do was smile and tell her it was just an Alexander day. Look closely at the clasp in this next picture and laugh along with me.  clasp

Meanwhile, here at the ranch in the past few days, the puppy ate my good shoe and scratched the glass door. I put Vaseline all over the door to discourage him, but he ate that too. The pivot (irrigation machine)ran into a tree and wrecked. My car had a flat tire and the barn cat killed a rattler (actually that was a good thing since Angus got the snake before it got him). IMG_1494

 

I didn’t create this blog post to garner sympathy. I wrote it because I’m thinking you, too, could also create a narrative of the things that have happened to you on your own Alexander day. We all have them and we all survive. But just in case I forget that fact, I think I’ll keep in mind all the things that happened to Alexander on his own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!

Bracelets, Metal Work, Necklaces, Philosophy, Wire Work

I’m a Little Bit Country

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No, I’m not Marie Osmond even though that’s her song.  How do you get to be country? Country speaks to me of time outdoors, gentle wind and farm ponds. When I was young, my father was the soil conservation agent in Medford, Oklahoma. As such, he helped local farms put in and stock their farm ponds. Later, he was allowed to fish in those ponds. I loved it except when the mosquitoes were out in force. My dad even used these country ponds to encourage his then “new” son-in-law to take up fishing. This country ease later gave way to boats with big motors and some small tournament fishing for my husband. At least it started out as country!

Another part of country that I enjoyed as a child was picking sand plums. We used to load up in the pickup and drive somewhere to find sand plum bushes. It seemed like I picked forever before my little bucket would be full enough to stop. The mosquitoes weren’t so much the problem as the bees in the bushes. One country problem with sand plums was that there was often sandy loam to traverse to get to the fruit. We carried a big board in the back of the pickup because my dad had a propensity to get stuck. Luckily, we were usually prepared for the inevitable. We brought sand plums home and Mother made great jelly from them. That’s something else I consider country even though city folks sometimes make jelly and do canning also. I think you could say I WAS a little bit country growing up.

Thinking about being country naturally leads me in to thinking about being western as well. My dad always wore a western hat and boots. I still have his last felt hat in a box in my closet just in case a need to rekindle a memory. It’s interesting to me that after all these years of living in major metropolitan areas while my husband was with Procter and Gamble, I grew up to be both country and western. Our ranch endeavors have certainly helped add a western bent to my life. Although I don’t wear a hat and boots, can’t ride a horse and don’t rope any steers, I can help round up the cows with the jeep, help down at the barn and save the life of a calf with a needle and fluids. Does that count for country-western?

I think a person’s art form takes on the style of who they are. Certainly your life, past and present, influences the things you like and therefore your style. While I continue to be a bit unsure about my own art style, I keep trying various types of designs. This week, I’ after country-western. So here’s the question, what does it take for a piece of jewelry to be that style? Western is somewhat perplexing. I’ve perused the web and been in several “western” stores, but am particularly dissatisfied with the store offerings. While the pieces carry a hefty price tag, they largely appear to be made of plated silver, large stones, magnesite dyed to look like turquoise and flashing beads, crystals or rhinestones. Since I haven’t been to a rodeo in about a 100 (slight exaggeration) years, I don’t know if this is what cowgirls are wearing. I envisioned more authentic turquoise, pure silver and less bling. I have several photos of pieces below that I would call western. See what you think.

turq1

This cuff has a brass layer on the bottom and the top is fold formed copper. I wired the turquoise stones to the copper and then attempted to rivet the two pieces together. Since that didn’t work, I finally used leather to lace it together and just riveted the ends.

 

horses

The lapis, coral and carnelian necklace shown here has bone horses strung in it. I’ve done several of these before and have even sold a few  as far away as a store in Maine.

 

sunstone1

 

 

 

 

 

The sunstone necklace is composed of an array of shapes of sunstone beads with a peach sunstone cabachon bezeled on copper for the focal. I hoped the copper shape would look western.

fetish

 

Finally, this necklace contains Native American fetishes made from various gemstones. They are strung amid picture jasper chips, turquoise and carnelian beads.

These westernish pieces are missing the bling since they don’t display any rhinestones and the turquoise is real. This is my style country-western. A couple of these will probably go in my etsy store and we’ll see what others think about them.

I’m a little bit country and from my roots in Oklahoma to my anchoring here in Texas I hope the care I take with my art will reflect who I am!

Metal Work, Necklaces, Philosophy

Mixing It Up

I have great customers! The boutique owners who buy my jewelry are all unique and offer different styles in their stores. Yet, sometimes this presents a conundrum for me as a designer. I may really be doing well producing the colors, the size, and the overall style that is right for one boutique. Then I call on another store and realize the pieces I’ve brought with me don’t fit well at all in the second location. While one store owner wants mainly unique copper pieces, someone else is looking for western style jewelry. Although the pieces I usually make are largely for women 30 and over, one of the boutiques I visit has teenage and 20ish women customers. Therefore, my “usual” just doesn’t work. This boutique requires a very different type of jewelry.

The greatest thing that can happen is for the store owner or customer to be specific regarding what she does and does not like. It’s often hard to get people to talk about this since many fear they will hurt my feelings. In the beginning, I did feel low when someone didn’t like a design. Now I see discussion of likes and dislikes as a real plus. The store owners are a huge help when they share this type of information. Not only can I often adjust my pieces based on what they like, I get many design ideas from what they say. Working with the various styles allows for cross over and mixing it up within the designs.

An example is the use of chain commonly combined with vintage or feminine elements in the designs for younger women. This dainty rose necklace is mainly strung with metal beads and includes chain. rose necklace Although I didn’t consciously plan it, when I switched to working on western jewelry today, some of the feminine style went with me. You can see the use of chain again in the mahogany bead necklace below.

mahogony

 

 

 

 

 

Mixing styles may not always work, but it does seem to add interest to the pieces. I think the trick it to keep the piece from losing its identity. The other trick is to remember which boutique owner likes which style and to keep up with where I’m going on which day.

It’s very much like spending time with friends. There are those with whom one of your personality traits can be strong, while that same trait may need to be more subdued with another friend. While one friend appreciates your blatant honesty, another is recoiled by it. Just like with the jewelry, it’s important to keep those friends straight and remember who you’re with! Don’t get mixed up!

Creativity, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work

Thinking Creatively

A series of short articles I recently wrote for Magpie Gemstones (www.magpiegemstones.com) on creative thinking in design instigated several new necklaces. If you have interest in this topic you can find these at the following addresses:

http://www.magpiegemstones.com/creative1.html

http://www.magpiegemstones.com/creative2.html

http://www.magpiegemstones.com/creative3.html

http://www.magpiegemstones.com/Creative4.html

In making these necklaces, I was trying to apply creative thinking techniques to my preexisting skills rather than coming up with a new element to add. The question was “In what ways might I create interesting pieces through relatively simply techniques?” The first piece is a simple strung tiger eye necklace. I added small wire flowers that I had been making as earrings and used them as spacers. tiger

I seldom use a single color or type stone in a piece, but this one seems to work OK.

The next photo shows a simple strung necklace using glass beads. The easy pendant is made from a filigree piece to which I attached a small flower bead.

flower

 

 

 

While the next necklace was more complicated, it simply combines processes I already knew. By the way, as we learn in creative thinking training, I used happenstance with regard to the copper “sticks” on the back of the bezel. They were not planned, but when I was trying to torch two straight pieces of copper wire, they fused themselves together. So I went with this mistake and used it in the design. bird The last photo shows a simple piece derived from thinking “what if?” I  just kept adding things to the basic piece of etched copper and ended up with a very long pendant. long leather Although you can’t see it in the photo, there is a flower etched on the copper portion of the pendant. This pendant started as a bracelet and ended (at least for the moment) as a necklace. I think “resistance to closure” which is also practiced in creativity training worked well for this bracelet/necklace.

I guess the message I’m trying to send today is that easy methods can produce innovative designs. While I will continue to practice newly learned techniques, applying creative thinking skills to those that I have previously learned is another positive avenue for innovation. I hope you will read the short articles at the above addresses and apply them to whatever form of work you are doing. Have fun, laugh often and create for life.