Big Move

We are now located on Cape Cod, specifically Hyannis. Woo hoo! As the studio gets set up, I'll update.

Heart in my Hand

I am having a lot of fun with my Zooiis XL heart press. I just LOVE the way these turnout. And I get a compliment every time I wear one.

Spring Weather = Bees

Well it's FINALLY getting to be Spring like here in the metro NYC area and I'm sure I heard a collective sigh of relief. Although we may still have a last gasp of cold, it looks like winter is over. Yah!

I've been making some bee beads to celebrate and have been trying designs for a honeycomb bead to make a set. Here's a first attempt.

Christmas DIY

After reading this blog I decided to try and make some personalized gifts. We have two international students living with us (and for a month we had three!). So I thought the painted mugs with both English and Chinese characters would be nice.

I picked up the pens at Home Depot (5 colors for around $13) and got a box of Cynthia Rowley mugs at Home Goods (8 for $15). Plus one extra mug to practice on. The stickers were from AC Moore and I think they were about $8. These were the most expensive stickers they had but I wanted the initial to be big.

After applying the stickers I began to dots the paint around each letter.

I did red, black, gold and finally silver.

Since we have a Chinese student with us I had him write each student’s name in Chinese. Then on the others were, Mother, Grandmother, Oldest Son, Strength and Perseverance. If you have a little mess up just clean with alcohol and a Q-tip, very carefully.

The blog said to peel off the sticker and bake the mugs.

Well, taking off the stickers proved to be the most annoying and arduous part of the whole process. It might be the stickers I purchased but the stickers came apart and had to be slowly and carefully scraped off with an Exacto knife.

Of course the paint had to be completely dry so it wouldn’t smear. Ugh. Suddenly this became a multi-day process. Some of the paint leaked under the stickers, I just carefully scraped it off. I would not use alcohol at this point since it is super easy to smear the paint.

Finally my mugs were finished and ready for the oven.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes and then just leave them to cool. The whole process from painting to baking can be a little smelly so have some ventilation going.

The mugs came out GREAT. The red got a bit darker but otherwise the colors all stay true and bright. This gift takes a bit of planning but it is well worth it.

UPDATE: Sept. 2015. Sadly the paint did NOT turn out to be permanent. The dishwasher did take off the paint after several months. Hand washing was better and the gold lasted the best of all but, sniff, I'm still looking for easy to use, PERMANENT, paint!

Bavarian Bead Presses

I finally received my new presses from Bavarian Beads (and yes they are in Bavaria!). An angel wing press and an ammonite press. I've been lusting after an ammonite form for years and finally get to play around with these.

Presses take a while to get familiar with but the ammonite press I have having more success with so far. I think these will make adorable earrings!

Thanksgiving Leftovers

A quick and tasty way to deal with left over yams and potatoes.

Peel the potatoes, sweet potatoes or yams. Throw in whatever is left - parsnips, cooked carrots or another root vegetable. Mash with a fork or an old fashioned potato masher of you have one. Mix in a couple of eggs and any spices you might like (cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon etc). Sprinkle 'muffins' with chopped pecans. Using a muffin tin very well greased, cook at 350 until firm, maybe 20 minutes. These will be very soft and delicate so be careful taking them out of the pan.

Serve right out of the oven. YUM!

Formfolding Class Part 1

Formfolding is a method of creating three dimensional forms in sheet metal without the use of cutting or soldering. The plastic qualities of the metal itself are utilized and a variety of organic shapes can be created. You can see some of the incrediable shapes on this page. The book Foldforming by Charles Lewton-Brain is a comprehesive manual for the art.

Sunday, November 2, I took a class in Formfolding, at the Center for Metal Arts in Florida, NY, taught by Chip Schwartz. A great local place, they also have classes in blacksmithing and other metal work. Check out their schedule here

We started out with a simple line fold. Here Chip is begining the process on an anvil, creating the bend for the first fold in a piece of copper sheet.

After the first fold, the piece is hammered flat with a deadblow hammer. A rubber or rawhide mallet could also be used.

Then he anneals each piece.

Since hammering hardens the metal, heating the copper softens the metal so the plasticity is returned. By repeatedly hammering, bending and annealing a shape can be created.

Here are a couple of my pieces that have been repeatedly hammered, annealed and unfolded.

You can see how the lines appear to flow under or over each other.

If I wanted to use these pieces for a pendant, I'd have to file the edges, drill holes to hang on a chain, pickle the piece to remove the black and the finish it with butcher's wax or Renaissance wax for a protective finish. Of course, I'd also have to stick a glass bead on it somewhere! ☺

Personally I like the variety of colors flamed copper can take on so prior waxing the piece I'd slightly heat it on a torch to bring out some reds, oranges or even blues then coat the metal with a protective wax.