Luck of the Irish...

Time to just have some fun here.  True story, the previous resident of my home was named McMillan. When he moved, he left various things like a sofa and chairs, silk plants, a funky clay flower pot shaped like an animal, a lovely framed poem by Kahlil Gibran (FYI, Elvis was a fan of his work) and various other things.  Some of them are still around here, but I did send the sofa and chairs away!

Every early spring in a flower bed, there are some white iris bulbs that come up.  Right next to those, years ago, I noticed some tiny clovers growing in a pot.  They always make their appearance toward the end of January.  They went from the one pot, then the next year skipped to another area where there is a tree and ground cover.  They popped up there again and this year, they popped up in the side yard.  They will soon be gone as the weather heats up, but they are so fun while they last.

I decided it was time to experiment and see if I could get the clovers to impress images on metal.  They are super fragile to begin with and I dried them between pages in magazines.  I experimented with milling those onto copper and it did work, however the images were not pressed in as deep.  Still, the detail is pretty good.  The dry clovers or shamrocks are really delicate and if I bump one with my finger, it will crack after it's dry.

I was talking with someone last weekend and he asked if I would make a clover pendant with the fine silver.  It's funny that he asked because the copper pieces were samples.  I didn't want to try it on the silver until I knew it would work.  I will be making some more rings and pendants with the clovers.  I've had some positive feedback on these.  Not sure if it's the season or the luck of the Irish???

Photo Study Peridot Briolette

These were taken in exactly the same location at the same time.  The top photo is darker and cooler in look.  The brio facets are showing and they look very clear.  Notice how different the brick looks in the two photos.  Don't get me wrong, it's a nice photo, but cool.  The stone in real life is much lighter than this.  If I want to sell this, it's not a good, true representation.  Sometimes I post multiple photos to show off different aspects of the item.

I moved the pendant a little bit and tried to get the brio right where some filtered light was showing through some leaves.  Yes, this photo could be more sharp, but I'm trying to show a warmer, more natural light with some shimmer on the stone.  This also shows the true color of this little peridot.  I'll say this photo looks a little blown out compared to the other with the change in light, but it's still doable.  The difference between the two photos to me, is pretty dramatic.

So when someone asks "why are you taking so many photos?"  It's because about 5 in 25 will look decent and if you're lucky, one will be really good.  This subject needs some more work!

FYI...  This is another one of the fine silver ingot pendants and I have milled leaves on the front and back.  If you look closely on the photo about 9 o'clock, you will see a 9 that is still there where .999 was on the original piece.  You can see various mint markings on this pendant. 

Upcycled Belt Leather and Copper Bracelets

These are some of my copper pieces and I have actually sewn them to bracelets I made with upcycled belts.  Funny to think the metal smithing was the easy part!  I've discovered with the belts, they need to be real leather for one and not some compressed material.  I go through piles of belts and flip them over and look for cowhide, leather or any other markings that tell me they are the real deal.  It's possible that this could be done with synthetic material, but I do like the look and wearability of leather.

I've found some really cool heavily tooled leather belts that will look great set up with some nature imprinted metal or with some added words.  It's been fun to search for the perfect belts for my projects.

I've mentioned the learning curve before with this...  You know it's sometimes easy to do the same thing over and over, but I really wanted to get more into using leather with some of my projects.  Things I've learned and considered are the types of leather, thickness, sizes of snaps, sizes of leather punches, other tools, will I drill my metal or use a metal punch, what size punch should I use, can I get it centered, thickness of my copper or metal, getting the correct size hole in the metal to get the rivets to set through all the layers, waxed cord, leather cutting shears, staining the cut leather...  So, you can see there was a little bit of thought involved here.

This metal was sewn to these because the gauge is heavier and the hole I pierced in the metal was too small for the rivets to go through.  I've seen these sewn on like this and I actually like the look and it's flatter.  A rivet will set up a little bit above the surface of the metal.  It's possible to get things together and looking just fine while you are learning.  I can try something a little different each time I make these and it's all perfectly fine.  Even the things you think aren't perfect can be finished nicely.

Copper Cuffs

I made some much heavier gauge copper cuffs.  I tested the waters with 16 and 18 gauge sheet metal. I had to gradually mill the metal to get it through without distorting.  I then got to the right pressure for the metal and leaves.  So here we have some new cuffs with and without words and a leather bracelet.  I've been hammering words on the outsides of some of the bracelets and adding secret messages on the inside of them as well.  Just makes them a little more personalized and fun.

24 Ounce Klean Kanteen 550 Paracord Bottle Cover

This bottle cover or koozie was a recent order and thought I would post some photos of it.  It will be on its way to the land of ice and snow by tomorrow.  Yes, the American south...  I've made these for the 12 ounce Klean Kanteen bottles, Liberty and Nalgene bottles as well.  It seems everyone including yours truly, has their favorite bottle to take along for the ride or hike.  These bottles are fantastic and will keep ice with your beverage for over 24 hours.  I don't have to brew overly strong tea anymore and consider that the ice will melt down and dilute my drink.

The person sent me dimensions for his slightly different bottle and it was very close to the measurements of my 24 ounce bottle.  We decided to go ahead with the measurements he sent for this koozie.  There is over 130' of US mil-spec 550 paracord in this project.  The entire bottle cover can easily be pulled apart for emergency use or you can use some of the cord.  You could then tie off, weave the end down, weave the drawstring back through and your back to having a functional smaller bottle cover or storage bag.

I can make these in coyote and black as well.  The koozies enable you to clip your bottle to a backpack or give it a little extra protection just in case you drop it on a pile of rocks!  Look at it this way, having one of these on your Klean Kanteen is like having a Jeep with a bunch of KC lights all over it!  You just can't go wrong!

Patina

It takes a while to get the patina to grab on the fine silver.  I let those soak and soak in the liver of sulfur.  I've discovered that hanging the pieces on thread makes them much easier to move around in the solution and pull out vs. using plastic tongs.  Also makes for some musical entertainment while rinsing off the metal pieces.  They bump into each other and jingle-jangle!  The silver will discolor a bit, then have the AB look, then go almost black.  I use hard boiled egg on my sterling pieces with stones and pearls.  I wouldn't want to submerge my pretty pearls, opals or semi-precious stones in liver of sulfur.  It takes a while for the hard boiled egg to grab on the sterling.  You can see it just starting to change in this photo.  I'm going to add some wrapped brios to the bottom of some of the fine silver pendants.  A person could either pre-patina some sterling wire or do a gentle patina process of the entire piece one more time before finishing.  There are so many different ways of going about finishing a piece and you just have to find what works for you.  I go through all the various steps, layer the color and I work it right across the finish line!  To get a complete look, you have to take the time and not rush things.  Work through each step from inception to completion, then you'll have something that has the look and layers of a total work.  A total, tiny work.

In the Works...

Every so often, I'll post photos of things in the works...  Believe me, there's a whole lot more of this laying around..., but I like to roll my new stuff out in person at shows before it hits the net-waves.

Here are some copper pieces with oak leaves and various other pieces.  The large pieces will be cuff bracelets.  I need to file, shape, patina and sand.  The other pieces will be for some other projects.  I have a woven smaller cross and I've decided that I want to make an adjustable micro paracord necklace for that.  There is one finished leaf pendant in fine silver and the other two are straight out of the liver of sulfur.  Lots of pieces in various stages!  The larger copper bracelet pieces have a really pretty color to them right now, but it won't last.  That's what the happens after dropping them in what we call pickle at the studio.  It's really a mild acid, but the pickle sounds so much more tame.

Manicure....

I just love a good manicure....  Not!  The next time I work on this much metal..., I will wear gloves.  I started these pieces last week and have already finished some and made bracelets.  One of these will be a cigar band ring.  I have to use some consideration as to how much pressure I'm putting on the sanding depending on how deep the imprints are.  The leaves have a good structure and mill well, while some other organics are thinner than paper before milling.  I'm honestly surprised the images showed up at all.  Those have all the intention of the image without the depth. So delicate and really pretty!  I've been wanting to experiment with some other dried flowers and such.  You will see some new ones in the mix here.

Photo Study

I like to photograph my jewelry outside in natural light.  I really look for the perfect combination of time of day, shade, angle and so many other things can come into play.  I sometimes try to shield away too much reflected light that may come back from a large painted wall.  I have a large round nylon tent cover of all things, that makes the area where I photograph a bit more mellow with added shade.

  

I like what I call the sweet afternoon light and the photos can look so warm and rich.  At times, I place my items on a brick wall and get a little closer to a row of trees where the afternoon light will shine through.  I then adjust my pieces around so the soft light might hit a stone or brighten up a pearl.

If you look at these two photos, you will see one where the labradorite dangle illuminates and it's as dull as can be in the other photo.  This was due to the angle the photos were taken.  It's a great stone and if I want to sell something, I have to make sure it shows well.  This usually means I take loads of photos and have lots to sort through.  I upload, look through them, pencil down the good ones, note a check mark, one or two stars and note 3, 4, 5 after that.  I usually save my best pics and don't put those out there in cyber-land. 

Stones that can be a bit challenging to photograph are labradorite, moon stone, kyanite and opal.  The good stones have a color flash and you really want to capture that by working the various angles.