Category Archives: Metal Work

Earrings Du Jour

May 12, 2010 Karen

Since I don’t do soup . . . may I offer you the earrings “of the day”? First, however, you should know that the light on the right of my photo tent is out right now creating somewhat difficult picture-taking circumstances. This appears to have caused the large circle earrings to show as different colors when they are exactly the same. It did not cause the second amethyst earring to completely disappear. I couldn’t get them both to hang well for the photo.

I got started making earrings today when a store that sold one of my necklaces requested the large circle copper earrings to match. I hurriedly made a pair and took them to the store only to learn that I had the wrong patina. I was given the customer’s daughter’s phone number to gather further details and learned that she “didn’t know what her Mother wanted” and that the necklace had gone to the other side of the state. She kindly gave me her mother’s number and after calling her, I learned, she really didn’t want big earrings at all . . . just small copper rounds that matched. Hmm . . . how do I figure out what “small” means and how do I match the patina to a necklace that I can’t see? I suggested sending a photo to the mother, but the daughter explained that Mother doesn’t compute. Finally we agreed that I would make the earrings, send a digital photo to the daughter here in town, she would forward it to her sister who lives near the mother and the sister would show it to the mother. Do you think there is much chance that the earrings I make will match? By the way, if you are one of the daughters reading this blog, I truly appreciate your efforts for your mom.

I had another call from out of state for a pair of earrings to match a copper necklace sold by that boutique. Luckily, the owner matched the necklace to the stone in a pair of silver earrings she had in the store before letting the customer get away with the necklace. She mailed the earrings to me and I think I have a chance at that one.

So, what’s the point? I’ve told myself this before, but I’m absolutely sticking to it this time. If I have the beads to make earrings for a necklace, I should do it before the necklace goes out. Secondly, if I’m going to patina metal for a necklace, I MUST patina enough to make earrings in the same liver of sulfur bath. Does anyone wish to bet on how long I remember these statements? The hurrieder I go the more I forget my promises

Bracelets, Earrings, Metal Work, Pendants, Wire Work

Puppy Shot

May 5, 2010 Karen 2 Comments

The day started just like any other day. I had carved out some time to design and shape some copper sheet metal and then patina the pieces with liver of sulphur. I never know just exactly what color the patina will produce due to varying factors including water temperature, amount of product, whether or not a piece has been torched, etc. On this particular day, everything was working well. I liked the color produced and was pleased at its richness when I took it out of the tumbler. If you aren’t used to this process, I use a rock tumbler to remove the excess grime created by the liver of sulphur and to polish the pieces. The tumbler is partially filled with steel shot, a drop of liquid detergent and water. The shine it produces is largely a product of the length of time a piece tumbles. Following the tumbling, I pour the tumbler contents into a metal kitchen strainer in order to rinse the pieces without losing any of the shot. I then place the strainer on the top shelf of my laundry room work cabinet. That’s what set the stage for trouble.

As I continued my clean up process, our exuberant 3 1/2 month old puppy raced into the laundry room for his food. He spied the strainer, leapt up and grabbed it and then we were both showered with flying shot. I tried hard not to yell at the little guy, but when I got the broom to sweep up the shot, he kept grabbing it and trying to run away with it. (I’m thinking of rewriting the nursery rhyme to read “the DOG ran away with the BROOM) Picture a little black and white puppy scurrying down the hall with the broom head in his mouth dragging the handle. That was the end of my patience. Slipping on the rolling shot, I managed to grab the puppy by the collar and drag him out to his pen. Then I set out to sweep the shot. Sound easy? When I tried to sweep part of the shot, it would quickly roll to the other side of the room. Eventually, I put up little shoe barriers to catch it as it rolled. That shot was everywhere . . . under the washer, under the dryer, under the freezer, behind the sink, in the shoes, in the boots, buried in the rugs and even in my apron pockets. Two days later, I’m still finding shot - - - puppy shot!

Just so you won’t worry, let me say that I did not shoot the puppy. That’s just the new name for what I put in the tumbler. By the way, this is the same puppy who while waiting inside the running car while the trash was emptied from the car into the container on the street managed to lock one of us out of our own car. He’s such a good little fellow!

Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Techniques, Wire Work

Two Peas in a Pod

April 27, 2010 Karen

This is a phrase most of us have heard to describe things that are very similar. When I searched the origin of the simile, I realized that most of the time we don’t hear the complete phrase, “as alike as two peas in a pod,” meaning two identical items or people. Following is information about the origin of the phrase which dates back to the 16th century.

(Source: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/as-alike-as-two-peas-in-a-pod.html)

. . . This simile, of course, derives from the fact that two peas from the same pod are virtually indistinguishable. The phrase, which is sometimes given as 'like as two peas', is quite old and versions of it date from the the 16th century. . . [the]use of 'pease' as the singular form was the norm in Tudor England. The word 'pea' came into use as the singular in the 17th century, with 'peas' as the plural. This avoided 'peases', which would have been somewhat of a mouthful. . . .

For over a year, I’ve been making a version of peas in a pod which should probably be referred to as pearls in a pod. I’ve made these in various sizes from “baby peas” to the regular size shown here.

Several weeks ago, another designer who doesn’t do metal work requested that I make her a simpler and more realistic version of a plain pea pod. As I played with her order, I began creating various sizes of the newer pod using different metals including copper and brass both torched and not torched. Then I played with filling these pods with mixed metals or pearls. I also made baby pods in this newer shape and created earrings. Finally with too many pods on the work bench, I needed to do something with them. Having hung them on pearl strands, leather and neck wires, I kept thinking I should be more original. Yesterday, thinking again about the phrase and the number two, I tried mixing the pods. I used one larger copper pod filled only with wire tendrils and one brass pod filled with pearls and silver. We might call this the ANTI peas in a pod since the pods are not at all alike. I will continue to play with this idea of “anti” and see what develops. I believe there are many other possibilities if I continue to work with this idea.

I wonder if there are there other phrases that might spawn ideas. Would the ANTI of them provide further inspiration? It’s food for thought? . . . yet I don’t even like peas!

Bracelets, Creativity, Metal Work, Necklaces, Philosophy, Wire Work

FFOE

April 20, 2010 Karen

The letters in the title do not stand for a secret society or club; rather, they represent the four major constructs of creative thinking: fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration. While the first three are needed to develop a solid and unique design, the latter, elaboration, is often shorted by highly creative individuals who are eager to move on quickly to the next great idea. The opposite can also be true if that creative is a perfectionist. The individual may find it difficult to move on because the piece is never just right.

Elaboration is the noun form of elaborate, which Webster (1995) defines as “planned or done with careful attention to numerous details or parts” . . . The application of the term elaboration to a discussion of creativity suggests that an idea has been embellished, developed, polished, or enhanced. (Meador, Creative Thinking and Problem Solving in Young Learners, Libraries Unlimited/Teacher Ideas Press (Available at Amazon.com)

Elaboration requires scrutiny of the original idea and, just as a writer adds adjectives to a sentence to make it stronger, a jewelry designer may add more detail to the basic piece with stones or wire work. In the picture examples, one photo shows elaboration of the original wave necklace that I started making a couple of years ago which is shown in the other photo. These look like very different necklaces and while one person may prefer the original, another may like the elaborated piece.

The point is not to make a judgment regarding which piece is the “best”, but rather to use elaboration to vary a piece so that a basic design gets plenty of mileage. I find it easier to elaborate upon an idea than to develop a totally new one.

While my definition of elaboration above written years ago is sound, I’m now using the elaboration step in creative thinking for a second purpose. It’s possible that a design can be overdone and have too much embellishment. I want to use the creative process to also determine if something should be removed or made smaller in a design. Creativity gurus would cringe at my use of the word for this, but we all know that sometimes “less is more”.

The final picture in this blog entry is of a basic bracelet. I worked through fluency, flexibility and originality to get to this point. Now, as I consider elaboration, I don’t know if it is better left alone or if it needs some detail. I’ll be playing with this design for a while. Currently, I believe the answer is YES and NO regarding detail. Some people will like the simplicity of the piece while others will find it uninteresting. Through elaboration, perhaps I can made something for both tastes.

Bracelets, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Techniques

Rivet . . . Rivet . . .

March 21, 2010 Karen

I’ve been riveting all weekend and I’m still not very good at it. Intrigued by the look of my new bracelet design, I felt that surely if I made several of them I would get faster at riveting. Alas, this has not yet been the case. I guess this would be a good time to also work on patience. Each piece of ornamentation on these bracelets is attached with wire rivets and I do like the way they look.

The metal for the top and the bottom bracelets was “touched by fire” to give it color variation while the middle bracelet’s rectangular shapes were not treated with the torch.

Some of the difficulty in riveting occurs when the circular pieces are domed. I’m still not sure whether to dome and then rivet or vice versa. Either way is a little tricky.

I’m also trying some pendants using the same technique. Although it’s difficult to see in the photo below, the pieces of the necklace pendant say faith, hope and love. I was trying to capture the look of a mobile when I selected the double hanger for this pendant.

I was working on the bird pendant at our wire workers meet up and exclaimed out loud “I can’t get this bird to rivet!” The clever lady next to me said, “it’s not supposed to. It isn’t a frog.” Eventually, the bird DID rivet.

I plan to keep practicing. Keep your fingers crossed that my riveting skills improve. I think it would be pretty tacky to have to resort to glue!

Metal Work, Necklaces, Wire Work

Going in Circles

January 27, 2010 Karen 6 Comments

Some say if you keep going in circles, you’ll never get anywhere. But just think of all those times that going in circles pays off. I watched the national women’s ice skating competition the other evening. The circles they went in were pretty impressive. I made a pecan pie for my mother’s 89th birthday yesterday. She thought that was a delicious circle. AND, if we didn’t go in circles, albeit loops, we’d never find our way back home and I rather like it here at Dreamcatcher.

I’ve been going in circles with the metal work this week. It all started with a single left over circle from a pair of earrings gone awry and things mushroomed from there. Using the torch I had added color to some copper sheet metal and several natural circles appeared. The left over earring became a pattern and the medium circle necklace on the right developed. You can see a bit of the color created from the heat of the torch. Perhaps I went a bit overboard as I created a hand made chain out of wire circles. These circles are graduated becoming smaller toward the back.

Since there was more of this copper, I cut some smaller circles and made a second necklace.

Undaunted by strange looks from across the living room, I made one more set of circles. Surely someone might want a bit more bling! The larger circles came from a piece of metal I got at the recycle establishment. They already had an interesting patina.

It’s quite a wonder this latter piece ever came together since I worked on it between trips to the lease pasture to help round up and haul the cattle several times today. I even took the components with me when I served a picnic lunch to the men and they laughed at me for working on the necklace instead of eating. Some days, it’s a real struggle to finish anything and I wasn’t giving up. The glare on this picture gives the copper a strange hue that is not really present.

The final photo shows the back of one of the necklaces which is the same for all three.

I’m thinking this journey in circles should continue into bracelets and belts now. It seems that I’m enjoying going in circles. Could it be I’ve been on the straight and narrow for too long?

Who knows? Next I may decide to try rectangles . . . , but somehow I don’t think it will be the same.

Color, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Techniques, Wire Work

New Pieces

January 19, 2010 Karen

I’m short on time and short on words today, but wanted to put up some pictures of completed necklaces. The copper pendant with the sterling silver cross was born of my efforts to put more movement into pieces. The cross hangs from a hammered figure 8 piece of wire that allows it to swing inside the copper piece. The bumps on the outer edge of the copper were made with my doming set.

The butterfly pendant is atop a domed and stamped piece of copper. I used the torch on the butterfly to give it a bit of color.

This piece is made of ruby zoisite (large chips) and kiwi. I used plated silver beads and added some blue rounds to the necklace. I regret the color doesn’t show very well in the photo

This piece took several days because I didn’t know what I was doing. I wanted to do a layered pendant and use rivets, but in the end I just have layers and fake rivets. The oval is copper and the diamond shape is brass that I stamped with Ranger brand alcohol ink to add a bit of color.

The seed bead pendant has been close to completion for quite a while. Now I can check it off the list of UFOs (unfinished objects. . . check . . . Hurray!)

Earrings, Metal Work, Wire Work

Still Swinging

January 14, 2010 Karen

More earrings swung into place after yesterday’s post. These are largely composed of small pieces I had played with for several days. I lay all the pieces out and was then able to see what should come together.

Does this mean that I should never throw any doodles away?

Bracelets, Metal Work, Techniques

Warm

January 8, 2010 Karen 2 Comments

The word for today in Central Texas is warm . . . as in try to stay that way. With temperatures lower than we have seen them in over 10 years, the men here at the ranch have raced to stay ahead of the freeze and provide water for all the animals. We’ve worried about how our cattle would get water if any pipes burst since our animals largely get their water from above-ground containers. Trying to keep the pipes warm, every water outlet has been covered and/or insulated along with other precautions. Getting ahead of any potential pipe problems, many of the animals have been moved to different pastures where natural tanks are located. In other words, warmth for the pipes has been a big deal.

The dogs and cat get to stay warm in the garage at night (in separate rooms, of course) and the pregnant dog gets to come indoors. The people at Dreamcatcher are on their own.

Before the coldest snap hit, I was happily warming copper with a torch outdoors. Yesterday, that activity took place in the garage, but today it’s even too cold for that. I like the colors produced by the torch on copper as shown in the cuff below.

I also torched a flat piece of copper and then cut out earrings in the places where the colors were most vibrant. I think this may be a good process as opposed to cutting out the object and then hoping to achieve good colors. “Warming” the metal is intriguing and I’m anxious to get going with other designs. Check back for more pictures.

Of course there is another connotation for warm. What warms your heart? A couple of pictures from Christmas morning tell most of the story for Nanaw and Sir (the name my husband said the grandchildren should call him).

Here’s hoping you can stay warm one way or another.

Color, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants

Back to the Blog

November 21, 2009 Karen 2 Comments

Many weeks have elapsed since I last wrote and it’s time to get back to the blog. We held our annual cattle sale here at the end of October and it has taken this long to get a good grasp on all the shipping, registration transfers, etc. With only a few more to complete, I can see the proverbial light at the end of the barn.

We enjoyed having our family with us to help at the sale. Grandson Gabriel certainly encouraged us to keep the proper perspective letting us know when we needed to eat and sleep.

Fall brought beautiful leaves and I became intrigued by the possibility of capturing their great shapes. The first picture is of the real leaf I picked up and you can also view my attempt at replicating it in copper.

I also liked the shape of another leaf and achieved a different color for it using a shorter dip in liver of sulphur. This picture was taken before I added a few bead dangles to the leaf where it attached to the necklace. It has already left home and I can’t take another pictures; so you’ll have to imagine it with the embellishment which gave it more personality.

It is good that I captured the leaves before the current rain storm. Most are now gone and today looks like the bleak mid-winter. Thankfully, this atmospheric condition will be temporary here in South Texas. We’re seldom too far away from another sunny day. I hope you’re making it a sunny day wherever you are.

Dreamcatcher Designs