Three days of teaching...four classes and 90 students later! I'm headed home from Santa Fe...what a great group of students and wonderful friends I had here! Here are a few photos...love the architecture here and the furnishings. My classroom is clean in the morning and utter chaos at the end of the day after every tool has been used. Thanks to all my patient students who let me test all my new classes for this year on them! Wow really amazing work you all did!
This design started with a strip of rusted steel. I love rusty metal and was pretty excited when I saw this strip of metal and realized that I could shape it and drill it to use in a piece of jewelry. I manipulated it around and decided I liked it as a pendant. In the original design I left the back long and was going to add a bezel with an old photo and resin. You will see that part in the photos and then it disappears as I finish the piece. I liked it less and less as I added the other parts of the design so I sawed it off. I think that is one of the hardest parts of the design process is keeping it balanced. I always walk away from a piece and come back later to see if it’s still working for me.
After deciding that I was using the rusty steel, I had to dig through my stash to find the perfect stone to use with it. I like to make an inspiration pile as I search through things, just pulling items I think might work and keeping them available until the piece is complete.
I came across this piece of petrified wood and felt that it was perfect. The smooth and shiny is a good counter to the rust and it’s irregular shaped and strong enough for the total design.
To construct the pendant, bend the steel over a round mandrel with some heavy duty pliers and a few taps with a hammer and slide the stone in to fit it.
I have pliers with teeth on my work bench for this type of work. The hardware store has some great ones.
Mark the stone and steel with a marker then drill the stone using a diamond drill and a hockey puck in water.
The hockey puck is very inexpensive and a nice hard surface to drill on. A drill bit can drill into the puck with no harm. The water needs to cover the stone to keep it cool during the drilling process. This is a slow process so be patient.
After drilling the stone, make a corresponding hole in the steel with a regular metal drill bit. These holes are 1/16th inch or size 52 so they will be a perfect fit for a micro screws to hold it all together.
I wanted to make this piece look “old west” so I put a piece of brass filigree in the rivet stack. Before using the filigree, heat it with a torch to age it. Next, line up the stone inside the steel strip and put the screw through the center of the filigree piece and then through the whole stack (filigree, steel, stone, steel ).
Once the nut is tight, snip off the excess ‘two rings” up and tap out the raw tip with the ball peen hammer to spread it and keep it locked. When you are doing this, the front of the screw needs to be set on a bench block or anvil to be able to hammer from the back effectively and get the desired result.
This is basically a very simple rivet and you could actually do a wire rivet here also. I recommend doing two rivets as it will keep your stone from moving….thought of that one when it was too late! I would do one under the filigree and one through the filigree to keep the finished piece balanced.
Thread the pendant onto two stands of 4mm vintage look leather cording (three feet should work unless you want it to hang long). Don’t cut yet as one should be longer than the other. I decided to place some metal on the leather cord to make it stronger looking and add interesting detail. I also wanted the cords to lay apart to make them bolder to go with a large pendant and did them in twisted wire to look like rope.
Make twisted bronze wire by folding about 6 feet or more of wire in half. I used 16 gauge here. Put the loop in a tight vise and then the raw ends into a hardware drill. Slowly start the drill and twist the wire until you like the finished look. Cut about 2 inches and anneal to soften then make two facing loops then put in a vise and hammer to flatten the top of the wire.
Cut about 2 inches and anneal to soften then make two facing loops.
Put in a vise and hammer to flatten the top of the wire. I didn't get a photo of this step but in the photo below you can see the result.
Whenever you use rusty grungy metal it needs to have some sparkle and shine somewhere to keep it from looking like it came from the tool shed. I used E600 to glue on the single turquoise sparkle stone.
I like these because they are already set in brass and it makes them bolder looking than just a plain crystal. I also torched them carefully to darken the brass a bit. I then tapped a bit of Patina colored Gilder's Paste on the leather to pull it all together and wear it down to look older like it “biffed” something and transferred the color. Sandpaper makes it easy to remove too much color. Once this is dry it won’t transfer to your clothing as it’s a wax. I also added the turquoise sparkle to the leather holders to spark it up a bit.
Originally I was going to put a resin piece on the rusty part (I had been asked to do a resin piece for a magazine) but later decided it was too much and cut it off. Design happens as you go because you have to see it together to know if it balances right. As you can see the change of direction is a good choice!
The ends are custom made to blend with the pendant and because they had to work with two cords. I made a loop and flattened it. Think about "inventing" the right pieces to pull it all together. I saw something similar on a piece by Keith LoBue--someone who's work is well worth staring at!
After the loop, make two rolls of loops below them to fit the leather cord. Cut the length of the leather cords to meet in back--the outside cord will be longer. Adjust the wire loops on the cord working around the circle, tightening the wire slightly as you go.
Dig the raw end of the wire into the leather to make it secure. Use a brown marker to color the fresh cut ends so they blend in.
The hook is shaped from the same gauge bronze wire so it matches perfectly. Cut 2.5” of wire and flatten the first ¼” of one end on a bench block with a chasing hammer. Roll that end tightly with a pair of small round nose pliers.
Lay the wire over a smooth pen and with the loop outward roll it over the pen. This will shape your loop and you can adjust with a chain nose pliers if you want. Take the round nose pliers and at the larger point make a loop on the raw end and cut with flush cutters to fit.
You can modify this hook in many ways. After you make a bunch of them they are super fast and easy and very handy as they can be adjusted to fit your project perfectly!
Buff up the metal and coat with Renaissance Wax to keep the patina stable. Put on your cowboy boots and wear!
Share this blog link with a freind who would like it and cc me at linda@objectsandelements.com. I'll put your name in a drawing for some of The Overflowing Stash AND a piece of rusty steel!
Next week I'll be blogging from the BeadFest show in Santa Fe
I always have a host of random things on my workbench and now I have photos with a similar problem.....too simple to be a blog but maybe something to share. So, this blog is an opportunity for me to clean out some photo files and share them with you!
OK, this is simple.....it's a brass bangle with one of our multi-stone Round on Square component glued on with some E6000. Simple easy and wearable!
I like these two art deco pieces, but they haven't been finished because they were started for a magazine article that took another direction...they could be a pendant or if they matched, earrings....they are the base of Art Deco Bezel which would be .94 cents if you wanted to make earrings. The images are from our Paper department where we carry some great collage sheets and then topped with thin layer of ICE Resin to magnify the images and make them permanent.
I love our new line of steel because it's economical and fun to play with. Sand it and make it look kind of scratchy or polish it like a chrome bumper!
Three elements, the hoop, a fun dimensional flower, and an 1/8" eyelet and put them together into this fun earring component for spring. Consider painting the flower or the background hoop for some contrast. I've been using a lot of spray paint and nail polish (enamel with a brush) on my steel and brass with some great results. Of course there is always Gilder's Paste....
Ever need a tiny curved work surface? Use the ball peen end of a chasing hammer to work on.
This curved surface is perfect for the concave side of the flower so that the front of the rivet was on the front of the connection. OK, this tip is worth reading through this wierd blog...
The pieces below have been sprayed black or nail polished and then highlighted with 000 steel wool....I like playing with changing the color and somehow black peices always look more sophisticated.
The flourish petal makes such a cool tassel...
Just make a loop on some wire and add the tassel pieces then put the flourish on it and wrap. The neck chain is made from a 10 Gauge bronze wire and the tassel is tied on with silk sari ribbon....viola!
Love the patina done with gilder's paste!
The band on this ring is soldered to a foundation that allows the stone's rough edges to show ...
This piece below is very easy to wear and was very inexpensive...
I purchased the chain on clearance at a clothing store and then cut it into three pieces and added scrunched sheer silk to this one. I just tear strips of the silk and then soak thoroughly and twist into a tight rosette and let dry. When it's dry it becomes a lovely soft fiber to work with.
The other two chain pieces ended up one plain and one with another fiber that I love--Rayon Grosgrain Ribbon. It lays so beautiful and drapes great, I would wear it tied on the side so the ends flutter down. We don't carry it on the website...yet.
Whew, my brain has been dumped and now I can shove these things aside for clearer thoughts and better ideas. I hate the marginal things you never quite know how to finish....
Leave a comment ("please don't so this ever again" is an acceptable one) and I'll send a radomly drawn name some of my unfinished projects and some of The Overflowing Stash!
This is how I organize my sterling wire. Most of it is not spooled so this works the best of anything I've found and holds a remarkable amount of wire! Its a plastic file folder that has several sections and also has a flap with a handle so it's easy to carry. Easily found in any office supply store. I put labels on each section of the gauge and it's easy to find the right gauge when working. It's also easy to take to class!
This is Kami....she has been involved in Objects and Elements since the beginning and now is living in Seattle going to school. She is our "person on the street" who lets us know what is hip and cool. She also does all the sketches we use in our packaging.
This is the bracelet that she made recently out of some of the bullet shells we carry.
As you can see she drilled the ends and then threaded a .5 mm leather cord through to weave them together. She used a crimp end to finish off the leather cord and then attached a lobster clasp.
Then Kami discovered our cool spikes in two sizes and attached as many as she could to a rolo chain with jump rings and added a lobster clasp.
So if you want to be hip like Kami you may want to make some STRONG jewelry. And you could add some bling in between the spikes :)
Our newsletter sign up is not working on our new website template so I'm going to give you the code for our free shipping offer that went out with the newsletter this week. Just put "FreeShipping" in the discount code box on any order over $25. Thanks for reading! Linda
If you have been reading my blog for awhile you know my goal was to get some serious organizing done the week after Christmas--and I did! Of course things kept creeping into my week but I fought off what I I could and made some real progress. Here are some of my favorite things I got done and what I learned.....
I had these lovely vintage bottle that I found and I put my saw blades in them. The label shows the size along with the right gauge sheet metal. I can never remember so it's right there! I also opened the packets and the blades are loose. I get frustrated when I'm sawing and break a blade and have to sit and futz with the silly wire trying to get my blade loose!
I also have all these punches that needed an easy home that I could grab and move to the work bench.
My best tip for organizing? If everything has a place then it's easy to clean up! I am really lucky to have a big studio space--I've sacrificed a garage for my black car and have to scrape ice--but it's worth it!
I like my pliers on this Organizer and have two, one for older trashed and steel pliers and the other for my better ones.
I prefer drawers to bins because I don't have to stack them. The small boxes on top are the items I'm always reaching for; eyelets, jump rings, head pins, washers...I can just grab the right box and I have a lot in there to sort through to find the exactly perfect piece! yes, I like dolly parts in jars....what does that say about me?
Most things are in drawers but somethings just look nice out where I can see them...notice that beautiful sunshine coming through the window on a Seattle winter day!
Leave a comment with your favorite organizing tip and I'll send a set of tubes to my favorites so you can make your own saw blade holders :) I'm on vacation next week......it is
medically necessary" to go to the warmth and sunshine in the winter...Linda
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