Although it is well after Christmas, today I was able to give a gift (perhaps it’s Happy Valentine’s Day) to my musical friend. It was good that I had extra time since my wire work took a turn for the worst. As you can see from the finished product, I was making a treble clef sign as a pendant for her. I know to practice first with inexpensive wire and having made one treble clef from craft wire, I thought I was ready for sterling silver. Actually, the sterling silver clef turned out even better that the craft wire until . . . the hammering. The piece seemed to require a bit of flattening and I manage to strike some strategic blows that looked quite nice. Unfortunately, I hammered the piece so well that I weakened the points where the pieces of wire crossed and the bottom of the clef sign fell completely off. Rats! So, the final pendant was made of good strong copper wire, flattened a bit, but not completed smushed. Flat is not always better!