Class # 10

Apparently 5th time is NOT the charm for soldering my bezel! It took 2 times to get the cup itself soldered, & during all this soldering, the cup lost its solder. I resoldered it again & no luck, solder had gone to the right of the join. Then I asked the teacher about it & he said try the meduim solder, again, no luck. I gave it one last try before class was over, but still no luck. I did get another project started, a custom charm for a friend. I also got something embossed in the mill, another shape to cut out to match it & a cross charm soldered. We only have 2 more classes left & I really want to get some things done before it's all over! I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Tulsa Bead Show

The bead show was this weekend. I went on Friday to do a re~con & get an idea of what was available. I fell in love w/ a disc cutter for metal, found lots of round gemstone beads & saw some really beautiful turquoise. I went back on Saturday to shop & the fairgrounds were a totally different place from the day before! The gun show was in full swing & so was a livestock show, so parking which had been so abundant the day earlier was tough. The bead show was packed, but my recon paid off & I was able to go straight to the booths where I knew I was going to buy. One of the vendors had gemstone strands $3.00 each, or 15 for $30.00. I found lots of round beads,( I am doing a design that needs rounds for my upcoming Yule Fair, & those aren't something I usually use)& some nice nuggets. It took longer than I thought to find 15 strands, but I made it, ;). I got some big(think pecans/walnuts)turquoise ovals, they almost look like eggs! I also realised when I got home I had bought basically the same gemstone in almost the same shape in two different finishes, one a highly polished, the other matte. I hadn't even noticed until they were next to each other on the table @ home. I found copper crimp beads that will be great w/ all the copper toggles I use. I also found a combo anvil/bench pin w/ clamp that I got for my sister to give me for either Christmas or my Bday. I had given her my wish list, & besides tools for metalsmithing I really couldn't come up w/ lots of things. She had called before I went to the show Saturday & told me if I saw anything I really wanted from the list I could get it if I would be surprised. I called her & told her that I had bought something, & not only would I be surprised, I would bring it to her & let her wrap it!I also got a stamp w/ a princess crown, I can really see something for my niece(ok, & me!) w/ this image. What would all these stamps be w/o something to lend a little darkness? Not much, so I got a product called Black Max, somethingthat can be used in place of liver of sulphur. The Hip Chick Beads booth(www.hipchickbeads.com) had so many great tools & products, & the owner is alwys so nice & helpful. I also got a wooden dapping block to get started on my adventure in metalsmithing.As I finished up there,( & let's face it,the tools & beads were HEAVY,4 stops & I was having trouble w/ my bag) I had to go by the booth w/ the disc cutter & look one last time. I caved in & bought it too. I've already made a lot of the rounds into pendants. The only reason I had to stop last night was because I ran out of wire. It was a really good show & I can hardly wait til June comes around for the next one!

OPHA Yule Fair

I did it~ I bit the bullet & sent my booth rental fee in today. It is a Pagan/ Heathen Yule Fair. It is in a month(exactly) so I do have to step up my game & get busy! I did a show last year on the spur of the moment so I didn't have the time to be nervous I do for this one. I am amking new things geared more to this audience, but still w/in my look, ( in my humble opinion). I am also trying a few new things. I will have pictures taken of the pieces so when I am able to down load I'll have them. Now, away from this beast & back to the bead room!

Rivets,Acid Etching,Liver of Sulphur ,Drill Bits & a Hole Punch

I worked on a lot of different things in class tonight,( I have multiple projects going). I tried to rivet the coral to my copper & mica combination piece, but I did break the coral. I knew that was a possibility going in, I just wish I had brought someting to sub in for it. I had a few other things, but I didn't really like any of them as much. I did try to drill a smaller hole in a cog from a watch, but I broke the drill bit so I put finishing the rivet off until next week, ( as soon as I finish this post I am going to go through more 'objects' to replace the coral). I'm going to go get a couple of 20g drill bits tomorrow, one for me(& my Dremmel!) & for class. I may try to get the drilling done here before next week. If I find something fireproof I can finish the rivet post in a ball, as suggested by my teacher. Mica won't take the heat, so I am going to try that approach on another piece.I acid etched a copper leaf. I was a little disappointed in the results. The copper acid isn't very strong, so the lines were faint, even after 40 minutes. I used some liver of sulphur, so the veins are more visible,but it isn't quite as pronounced as I had hoped for. I got some shapes cut out w/ the saw. I have another piece I'm mulling around, more details to come on that. We also had great fun trying out my new metal hole punch.Wow~ what fun!SO easy, I could cheerfully never hand drill another hole again~lol.(It was like buttah)!All in all a busy class, time flew. I'd also like to say Thanks again to Cindy, I have had such fun trying out all my new toys, they couldn't have come at a better time!

Giveaway!

announcing another generous blogger~ http://trashtotreasureart.blogspot.com/ is having an awesome giveaway to celebrate her one year anniversary. If you would like to join in the fun, go & leave a comment to enter the drawing. Enjoy the art & Good Luck!

Class #8 Recap

I started several things last night. I soldered posts on 2 pieces of copper that I will rivet something to. I had planned on using some pieces of coral, but 1 broke while I was working on it so I decided to wait & find something else @ home that would be a little sturdier.I also prepared a small copper leaf for etching. The leaf needs to 'dry' for a week before I can scratch a design into it so it should be ready next week. I also soldered my bezel to a piece of copper. I need to go back & re~solder a side,(those little pieces of solder jump around when the flux starts to bubble!)maybe even part of the cup.The copper that is part of our supplies came in so my copper bezel wire was in demand too! I even discovered I can use my big paper cutter to cut strips of my 30 g copper sheeting that are even smoother than using my tin snips. Now I have several rolls of bezel wire in varying widths to work w/. All in all a good class. On the picture front I am still having no luck. My sister was in town & tried to get camera to download w/ no success. I may just take the set~up in & have the computer guy try his hand @ it.