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!”

 

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. 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.

 

 

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.

 

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 . . .?