More Chaos and Cattle

Filed under: Cold Connections, Metal Work, Necklaces, Ranching, Wire Work | Back to: Homepage

If you read the blog entry for March 29th, you will recall that we experienced considerable consternation here at the ranch when another person’s bull was hit by a car in the middle of the night. You may remember that I wrote about how we always get the call and it’s never our animals. Last night, it happened again. Luckily, this time there wasn’t an accident, but some cattle were out so the Sherriff’s department called us at 12:30 AM. We always go to check and see if the culprits belong to us, but anyone can see that our cows live in a fortress and it would be hard for these inmates to escape. Of course last night when we went out to check, by the time we arrived, no cows or deputies were in sight. The dispatcher phoned the deputy who reported that the animals went back to where they came from; so he went on. Now why that warranted a call to wake us up, I do not know, but UP I was. It was just another chaotic night at Dreamcatcher.

Since I’ve experienced these calls so often and know that I can’t normally get back to sleep, I started in on several unfinished pieces of jewelry. It seemed fitting to finish the “chaos” necklaces that I had on the workbench. I wrote about this style on February 24 and have since made several other chaos necklaces. The first one shown has a riveted charm.

A second chaos necklace is a bit larger and the middle charm has a soldered flower on it. This one has sponge coral and jasper beads.

One of my customers called and ordered a couple of these the other day. I had previously told her I could make them with “less chaos” if she wanted. She called and ordered two  confusion necklaces and one with less confusion. Hmmm – I had to think about what she meant for a bit. The “less confusion” pieces are pictured below.

An article with chaos in the title caught my eye today and a read enough to learn that in time of chaos, we are supposed to rely on our creativity  in order to be innovative and work our way through a tough period.  It looks to me like I’ve certainly found the chaos and it’s time to be creative. Taking this to heart, I’m playing with new designs based on the double wire structure of these chaos necklaces. I hope the new pieces hatch and pull me forward. Yet . . . I rather like this decorative chaos – what do you think?

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Royalties

Filed under: Bracelets, Creativity, Necklaces, Philosophy, Tutorials, Wire Work | Back to: Homepage

Do you turn the television off these days when you hear a segment about the “royal” couple? Are you tired of seeing hats with big brims and feathers that blow in the wind? Will this all end after the young British couple is finally wed? At the very least, surely the stories will slow down. . . but I may be hoping for too much.

Even though I’ve avoided the opportunity to wonder about the bride’s dressmaker or whether she will wear flowers in her hair, I have conjured greatest if I could just design a few of the jewelry pieces for the wedding. Hmm . . . I wonder how the queen would look in a funky metal piece like the one below?

Alas, I guess we’ll never know. (I think a little metal something would be quite charming on one of those hats!)

I did think of that royal couple this week when I opened the mail and found a royalty check from one of my books on creativity. I’m still amazed that people buy something I wrote in 1994 that was published in 1996. It just goes to show that I’d better watch what I say that is published since those words hang on and on.

After receiving that check, I wondered how to perpetuate a jewelry design such that it paid off for as many years as that book. The closest I could think of would be the payoff from tutorials. As you probably know, I have two bracelet cuff tutorials in my etsy shop and, like the books, they bring me some cash from time to time.

I considered whether a design that lives several seasons or even years is a type of royalty. A boutique customer requested a freeform peyote cuff last week. This is something I haven’t made in years, but it still has life.

Now, if I can just remember how I gave it that life!

I can’t say this example is a good analogy to the book royalties since I do have to do the work again. The books and tutorials don’t require anything further.

There is, of course, that option of writing a book about designing jewelry. Yet, I remember how long it takes to put a book together, the pain of dealing with a grouchy editor, the long wait before it goes to press and the tiny percentage an author receives from each book sale. It seems to me that the next time I think I want “royalty”, I’ll just put a floppy hat on my head and go out for a stroll.

Bracelets, Creativity, Necklaces, Philosophy, Tutorials, Wire Work 2 comments

Cold Connections

Filed under: Cold Connections, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Techniques, Torch Work, Wire Work | Back to: Homepage

If you are not a jewelry designer you may not recognize the term in the title. Thinking outside of the design realm, I can think of a few “cold” connections I’ve had with people. You know, those encounters that leave you feeling unwelcomed and flat. These are the opposite of those warm welcomes you get from real friends.

Cold connections in jewelry making refer to the way we put things together, often in layers without using heat. I’ve been experimenting with the type of cold connections called riveting. Yes, my spouse is calling me Karen the Riveter, but luckily, I doubt you will be seeing my picture on any soon-to-be famous posters like Rosy the Riveter.

I would call a plain wire rivet the foundation for this technique. Constructing this requires creating holes in the pieces to be layered and inserting a piece of wire through the holes. You then flatten each end of the wire creating a small head that holds things together. This is done on both the top and bottom of your piece. This is easier said than done and it has taken considerable practice to make this type rivet work. Below is a photo of a necklace using a plain wire rivet. The rivets connect the large S’s to the focal.

I riveted a small piece of sheet metal to each wire component  It’s easier to see from the back of this piece.

The pendants/charms below show more riveting I just finished.

I used the same plain wire method for E.T.’s bicycle and flower. The other two pieces are riveted with wire on which I balled the ends with my torch. I know that I said “no heat”, but I was just making a big head pin, not connecting!

I really like using the balled wire since this means you only have to flare the backside of the rivet. It’s much easier. The problem that I’ve experienced is in balling the 14 gauge wire required to go in my 1/16 inch holes. This gauge of wire does not melt and ball very quickly and I’ve ended up creating a little oven type structure to aid the process. This structure, composed of old charcoal blocks and solderite has two walls and a bottom. Using the tweezers, I hold the wire in this little structure while I torch and this helps reflect the heat back toward the wire instead of out into space. It still takes a good length of time, but I think it’s worth it.

The last photo shows my first attempt at riveting ceramic beads . . . without breaking them. If you look closely, you can see that each part has 4 layers. From the top down, these are a brass daisy spacer, the bead, a dark copper disc and a teal colored copper disc to which I applied alcohol ink. This will become a necklace, but I’m still playing with how to connect or hang the pieces. They will have a propensity to flip and I’m trying to preplan and avoid that problem in the finished necklace. At the moment, I’m just feeling good about the riveting and not ready for the next challenge. You may notice that some of the wire balls became a bit flat as I worked on the bottom of the rivet. I’ve got to go back and fix that.

There are all sorts of other types of rivets including nail heads, tubes and decorative manufactured rivets. I have tried to nail down the basic technique before doing much with the others.

I hope rivets won’t leave you feeling cold. They really are a great connection!

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The Wheels on the Bike Go Round and Round. . .

Filed under: Earrings, Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work | Back to: Homepage

. . .round and round, round and round, the wheels on the b . . . oops, I guess that song was really about a bus! Well, today, it’s about bikes! I’ve been playing with little wire bikes that some friends and I accidentally created while manipulating wire one day. Each bike is made from a single piece of wire.

The earrings were easy to do since the three dimensional shape (the handle bars) doesn’t create any problems on them. These are really free swingers and hang pretty long. I’m thinking of doing them in colored artistic wire as a “fun” summer look.

The bike links caused considerable consternation at the design table. You can see that they do not want to lie flat and one of them prefers to be in the “ready to go round and round” position.

Finally, no bike series would be complete without the bike that E.T. rode. After all, didn’t it help save him and get him home? This little riveted charm above was planned to show his upward flight when the bike left the ground in the movie. This will either be a small pendant or a charm on a chaos necklace. I’ll try to post the finished piece when it is complete.

I’m still playing with the bike shape; so stay tuned for an update and other ways to use the bikes. Please add your own suggestions in the comments section. I’d enjoy hearing your ideas.

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The Pearls Have It

Filed under: Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work | Back to: Homepage

I don’t normally spend a lot of time ogling pearls at stores and beads shows. After all, I’m a metalsmith. I’m trying to be a metalsmith. Someday, I’ll be a metalsmith. At any rate, one of my customers wants pearls and I try to oblige my customers. They (the customers) are pretty valuable! I was getting ready to send a pick box out of state and called the customer to see what she needed. She told me that she always does well in the summer with pearls and gemstones. “But what about something copper?” I asked. Again, she said, “I really like pearls and gemstones.” Finally, I got it. The woman wants pearls and gemstones; so who am I to disagree?She knows what she can sell at her boutique and I don’t live in her shoes. So . . . I went to Magpie Gemstones (www.magpiegemstones.com) and I bought pearls!

I do have to admit that I’ve been more interested in pearls lately. I recently finished a research article on pearls (http://www.magpiegemstones.com/about_pearls.html) and learned about how they come from an uncomfortable mollusk. I guess it just goes to show that good things can come from irritants.

I was completely astounded to see what I’d been missing in the pearl department. There were the traditional white and ecru pearls in a beautiful array of sizes and hues, but there were also pink, purple, blue, teal and green pearls. Who knew? This would-be metalsmith had not clue! I bought pearls!

I started stringing these night before last and learned that I really like pearls. They work up very fast, look good with almost anything and make a good statement in designs. I felt like an ostrich with it head . . . well you know. Below are just a few of the pieces I strung with the newly purchased pearls. They obviously are very simple, but I’m hoping my customer will like them.

The first rather fuzzy photo, displays white stick pearls with peach oval pearls. The stone is a white turquoise cabachon that I wrapped with sterling silver. It has earrings in the same style.

The two pictures above display very plain necklaces. The first has a lovely mother of pearl pendant and the second is a double strand of tiny peachy pearls. My customer often purchases gemstone pendants that could hang on these pearls.

The piece below sports a picture jasper pendant hanging from shell beads. I was fascinated by the shape of the latter and wish you could see the swirls in them. Rather than being flat, the jasper bead has a nice wave to it. I have an entire strand of these to play with.

I was so excited about my pearl purchases that I strung them all and will need to go back for more. (What a shame! – ha!) Until I get more pearls, I guess I will have to back to trying to be metalsmith; but you know, it’s good to get out once in a while!

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