Welcome Spring

Welcome Spring

So, March and the beginning of this month were rough for me.  Those familiar with me know that I am always fighting off depression, have sever allergies and arthritis.  Well I got brought down by all of them and then to top it off had a mild (thank the Lord) case of Shingles.  

I am back and productive again.

Pleasant Surprise

We have a nice flock of hens here and they are laying like crazy.  More eggs than we can use even after giving away many. 

part of the flock

So, we have a couple of "broody" hens.  They want to sit on the nest and incubate the eggs.  

I gave a pile of the eggs to one of the hens and let her have her way.

 She is a mean thing and very possessive of her eggs.   Left her alone for three weeks and peeked in on her to make sure she was still alive.

 Then one morning when I checked on her, this little surprise was waiting to say hello.

 And three more.  She hides them up under her wings carries them outside and taught them to scratch in the dirt for bugs and seeds.  They also have "chick starter" and water.  Momma hen has her dish of layer feed that is to large for the chicks to eat.

I just wanted to share this with you.  These cute little babies have helped to put me back in a positive mood and back to being creative and motivated.

There are lots of ideas spinning around in my head and have been productive the past few days, making some pendants.  Some are wire wrapped fossilized bone. Some are molded or carved epoxy.  Look for a preview of them in next post.  

Hope you are all having a wonderful spring.

Idea Avalanche

Idea Avalanche

Sometimes I am asked to do a project for someone that will "match" something they already have. Here is a quick little project I did for my cousin.  I can't post the picture of the piece she has without being able to give the creator credit.

The process

First thing I did was a quick sketch of the design I thought would "match" what she had and once she approved that I gathered my supplies.

I used the lined paper to save time measuring, it is much cheaper than graph paper.  These are drawn actual size and were used as the pattern to transfer to the sheet copper with carbon paper. 

Using metal shears the outline of the letters were cutout.  To cut out the centers, I punch a hole through so I could fit the tip of the blade through and carefully snipped out the inside.  Since this process stretched the copper and it was no longer flat, I used a "Ball" headed hammer and tapped the copper and made it lay flat with a slight bumpy texture.

The curly design behind the letters is made with salvaged copper wire, bent by hand.

The intention was to solder the pieces together but, my soldering gun was not working properly and I didn't have gas to use a torch.  So, used epoxy glue to attach the pieced to the back.  I wanted to get a good bond so I did this in a way that they would not have to be moved until they had cured.  When that step was complete I sprayed them with Rust-oleum Semi-gloss.

The Avalanche

Although the initial idea was not mine, the process of creating what my cousin wanted was a good stimulant. While I was doing the project I thought of all kinds of things that I could make using this same method and what other materials I could use.  

Look for the results of this avalanche in future posts and my soon to appear online store.