Practicing

One of my New Year's resolutions was to practice more.  I thought I would show you some of the skills I have been practicing, they all involve manipulating heavy gauge wire.  In Sharilyn Miller's book there are two tutorials for fibulas.  What is a fibula you ask?  It is an ancient design for a safety pin.  Fibulas were used to secure clothing before the invention of the button.  Now they are worn for decorative purposes.

I made both of them but the one I liked the most was the "Artsy Fibula Pin" by Eugenia Chan.  The top picture is my interpretation of her design.

This heart is also a Sharilyn Miller design, it was in the March 2009 issue of Art Jewelry.  The heart in the tutorial was bigger than this one but I thought it was too big so I downsized.  I really like this pin design.  It looks awesome on the collar of my denim jacket.  Both pins were made with 16 gauge wire.

Earring Class

Friday, February 12 I will be teaching another class at Garden of Beaden.  Participants will learn to make these three wire earrings.  There is still room in the class...give GOB a call to sign up.

So Much to Do, So Little Time

The last couple weeks have been filled with activities...from taking classes in fine silver fusing and PMC to horsemanship seminars at the Equine Affaire. 

Both the fusing and PMC are keeper techniques and will add new dimensions to my metal work.  Fusing involves heating fine silver wire with a torch just to the molten stage and allowing it to melt together... it doesn't require solder...a great technique for joining links.  PMC is Precious Metal Clay which is silver particles suspended in an organic binder that you manipulated like clay to make stamped links, pendants, beads, etc...again you heat it with a torch this time to just before the molten stage and allow the binder to burn off and the silver to fuse together...lots of design possibilities here too.  The picture shows the projects I made in the PMC class.  I took both classes at my favorite bead shop...Garden of Beaden, see Links.

I also spent two days at the Equine Affaire attending seminars by some of the country's best horseman...it is so inspiring and energizes my desire to become a better horseman.