Pickle Face

Filed under: Philosophy, safety, Torch Work | Back to: Homepage

Long time readers may recall a blog entry some time ago wherein I wrote about “pickle pants”. I was referring to the holes that I found in my shorts after dripping pickle across them after I soldered something. If you aren’t familiar with pickle, it is used after soldering to help remove fire scale. I heat my pickle in a small crock pot so it works faster than cold pickle.

Yesterday, rather than dripping the pickle across something, I managed to splash it. My copper tongs weren’t working well as I attempted to grab a small piece of wire from the crock pot and I bent over the pickle to look at it closely. Just as I peered in, the tongs snapped sending splashes of pickle onto my face. Although it only felt wet, I knew I should wash it right off. I wasn’t sure if any had splashed into my eyes, but ran upstairs and used my special eye wash to thoroughly wash my peepers. At the same time, I said a audible “thank you” to my son-in-law who purchased and mailed me the eye wash that I mounted above my sink. He said he wanted me to be able to “see” his son as he grew up. I think he’s a very smart fellow.

When my wits returned, I wondered why I take my safety goggles off following soldering and before I rescue pieces from the pickle. From now on, I’ll be leaving them on until I’m ready to leave the torch room.

I was lucky, the pickle on my face caused no harm – just a bit of excitement. It was, however, a big reminder about safety. When I rush around or when I’m totally comfortable with a potentially harmful technique, I think I tend to wave some precautions. This is just STUPID! If I don’t watch out for my health, I won’t be making jewelry or anything else. How about you? Let’s all be careful at whatever we are doing and stay safe!

By the way, if you don’t have a son-in-law like mine or husband like mine who makes me torch in a safe environment, get yourself a surrogate. We all need someone to watch after us.

Philosophy, safety, Torch Work 2 comments

I Know Who Moved My Cheese

Filed under: Bracelets, Cold Connections, gifts, Metal Work, Pendants, Philosophy | Back to: Homepage

I’m preparing for a few art/craft shows in the Fall and thought I would get a jump on making some small, inexpensive items that could be stocking stuffers. Last year, I made a healthy number of wire bookmarks. There were wire cats. dogs and rabbits. This year I had visions of other wire animals hanging from the shepherd’s hook bookmarks. I was happily working on these when I happened to glance across and see my husband who was reading. Then it hit me. Someone moved my cheese!

If you are not familiar with this phrase, it is derived from the title of the 1998 book by Kenneth Blanchard  Who Moved My Cheese? (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Who+moved+my+cheese) Companies and educational groups bought this book by the dozens and used it to make employees cognizant of the fact that times are changing and we need to be prepared to learn new skills and to problem solve. Many of us who were “encouraged” to read the book felt we could have gotten the idea with a simple memo, but hopefully it made a difference to others. The full-day workshops on the topic were a bit much.

My “cheese” realization” came when I noted that my husband was engrossed in a book on his IPAD II and no longer needed a bookmark. With the onslaught of electronic readers, I had to rethink the number of bookmarks I might need this year. Many of my friends and customers who are readers no longer need bookmarks.

It was fortuitous that I realized I might not need so many bookmarks this year before I made a hoard of them. I garnered my bookmark energy and set out to find something else small that I could offer at the art shows. I’m currently working on a few very small pendants/charms that could go on a chain, bracelet or a BOOKMARK.  (Surely, that cheese didn’t all move away.) Unfortunately, these little things take a bit longer to make, but I’m sure I will get faster as I make more and more.

The charms with a religious theme might work well combined on a bracelet or simply as a single charm attached to a beaded bracelet. Surely something will hatch before long.

In the meantime, I’ll be making just a few new bookmarks and trying to pay close attention to any other cheese that has been moved since last season. Of course, it would certainly be exciting if I had a clue what customers want ahead of time. But where would be the fun in that??? I’ve just got to follow the cheese, but in the meantime it’s important just to realize that it moved.

Bracelets, Cold Connections, gifts, Metal Work, Pendants, Philosophy 4 comments

Multipling

Filed under: Necklaces, Techniques, Tutorials, vendors | Back to: Homepage

Yes, the title is a made-up term that has nothing to do with math. Anyone with math phobia can continue to read this. The term could stand for multi-tasking or something else. Its meaning In this treatise follows the basis of multitasking; yet it means doing something that requires several steps of design planning to occur at the same time on multiple strands of beads. I think that makes this a double multiple task . . . ?

I was multipling for several days this week as I worked on a couple of articles/tutorials for Magpie Gemstones (www.magpiegemstones.com). The first has been published and the second will be out this coming week.

Creating with multiple strands has always been a challenge for me; but this week I remembered a piano pedagogy instructor from a long ago workshop in Dayton, Ohio. She said we should attack our weaknesses. Sometimes I’ve felt I should just avoid my weaknesses, which I prefer to call areas of challenge. This week, however, I heeded that instructor’s words and attacked.

I read the available information online and watched a few videos. Then I commenced to work on my own pieces. When multipling, I had to consider the length of each strand in relation to the others, the bead placement in relation to the strand length and the placement of multiple strand spacers and connectors which somewhat alter strand length. Please don’t ask me how many times I restrung things before I got everything in sync. The two pieces immediately below are thoroughly discussed in Creating Multi-strand Necklaces: Part I http://www.magpiegemstones.com/mutlistrand1.html 

Part II of this discussion, soon to be published, discusses clasps, connectors and spacers for multi-strand pieces. The bib style necklace with leather and the three strand necklace below are featured in that article.

I was enthused enough about multi-strand pieces to go ahead and purchase a fancy clasp for one at the bead show I attended today. It was so pretty, that I decided to use it in the front of the choker style necklace. I don’t make much bling, but I liked this clasp. So, there I sat at the workbench again – multipling.

Now, I need to get back to singling rather than multipling and stop making up new words!

Necklaces, Techniques, Tutorials, vendors comment

From Big to Small

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

I’ve always thought that when trying to learn something new you should work from big to small. Remember those first prereaders in Kindergarten? The one or two words on each page were quite large compared to the first grade readers and then chapter books and novels. The print got smaller and smaller as readers progressed in ability. (Of course, as we grow older, that print has to grow larger and larger due to failing eyesight issues. Of course, I can’t personally speak to that! Ha!)

In teaching piano, I found the big to small postulate to be the same. We started with a few large notes in songs and went on to hundreds of small notes and intricate passages. When my friend and I were trying to help little four year olds learn more efficiently, we developed musical notation with relatively large circles and ellipses that most little ones found easy to read. My engineer husband provided us with the appropriate drafting tools to write Keyboard Kapers, a book of original songs we used with the little ones. I wonder how many little pianists played songs about “my dog Blazer” when they were learning from us and the teachers with whom we worked. As the young pianists grew more proficient this notation gradually became the more common smaller notes we see in traditional music.

Having found success with big to large in the aforementioned reading formats, it seemed natural for me to apply this idea to learning to make jewelry. For example, when learning to make soldered bezels, I made large ones first and found they were easier than the tiny ones I’m trying to create now. I currently still have trouble and sometimes melt those little pieces of silver while encouraging my solder to hurry up and flow. Big IS easier!

Fortunately, a couple of my friends recently showed me how to use small premade bezels and snap sets for the tiny stones I wanted to work with. I purchased these from Rio Grande Jewelry Supply. I have always made large pendants, but decided I was ready to grow up to smaller pendants using this new bezel setting technique. My bravery extended as I also used more sterling silver that I usually do.

These pendants were not intended to look like anything in particular. I just wanted a pleasing shape that would house a little jewel. The first and second pictures show pieces that have rubies set in snap sets.

The next couple of pieces show peridot in snap sets. The first one IS NOT a bug!

Finally, I became brave enough to try a larger piece composed of more components. It’s still relatively small compared to most of the copper work that I do. Someone already told me it doesn’t look like my style since it is more formal. See what you think.

The photo on the left was taken from an angle and makes the piece look somewhat “off” Yet, it is symmetrical – my picture taking just isn’t! I wrapped a stone to hang from the basic silver armature and can change this out to other stones with the jump ring attachment.

Big to small is still working for me with one exception. I quickly realized early in learning about wire working that manipulating heavy gauge “big” wire is more difficult for me than working with a lighter gauge “small” wire. When you’re working with wire and have to sound like a tennis player who makes a noise every time she serves, it’s probably time to get a light gauge wire!

Bezels, Necklaces, Pendants, soldering, Torch Work, Wire Work 4 comments