I'm still in shock but oh so happy! The boy next door proposed to me Sunday morning. It was a gorgeous day with blue skies and perfect temperatures. He caught me completely off guard and he absolutely takes my breath away. May we always make one another as happy as we were yesterday!
While talking about what to do for the day, he threw in, "should we get married?" I thought he was joking for several minutes after all the wedding talk generated by our trip to Vegas. After I realized he was serious, it didn't take me long to say "YES!"
We haven't decided any details yet but I'll keep you posted! : )
Monday, September 13, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Keeping my fingers crossed
The wedding cake topper still hasn't arrived safely in South Africa. There's only three weeks left until Julines's wedding. I sure hope it gets there in time! *sending good vibrations to my cows in transit...*
Thursday, September 2, 2010
I know some gossip...
CraftGossip, that is!
As of September 1, I am the new jewelry making editor. Come get the latest gossip!
http://jewelrymaking.craftgossip.com/
As of September 1, I am the new jewelry making editor. Come get the latest gossip!
http://jewelrymaking.craftgossip.com/
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Wedding cake topper for Jules
My friend Jules is getting married in September. Although I can't be there for the wedding, I want her to know how happy I am for her and Pieter. I made a cake topper with her favorite - cows! I hope she loves them and they make her day a little more special. The cows are made from wire (copper eletrical wire and a coat hanger for the thinner parts), aluminum foil, and polymer clay. I added some glass bead details to the "wedding dress," ribbon roses for the bouquet, and some mica powder to make the bride's costume shimmery.
Friday, July 30, 2010
PMC workshop
Hey,
Just wanted to tell y’all about the PMC workshop I went to on the 23rd. It was mostly basic info about PMC. Did you know PMC was created by Mitsubishi? (The metal works division, which is a sister company to the car maker.) Our instructor said it is believed the binder in PMC is cornstarch, so even the fumes from the kiln are not toxic. Really old PMC will sometimes grow mold because of this but is still usable until it dries out. After PMC has dried out, you pretty much can’t reconstitute it. You can add water to make it creamy and use it for slip (much like clay slip) to bind jump rings and pieces of PMC together. It was believed this material would sweep the jewelry industry but that hasn’t happened. Jewelers stick to their craft using torches, saws, grinders, etc. PMC really appeals more to crafters like me who don’t know metallurgy and are kinda afraid of all those traditional jewelers tools. The original PMC had much larger particles of metal, which means more air holes around them once the binder burns away. As a result, it is very brittle after firing. The newer stuff (PMC+ and PMC3) have much smaller particles of metal, so Nancy recommends them. She told about wearing an early PMC ring during a car accident where she was not hurt but the ring hit the dash and shattered. The precious metal clay with the lowest firing temp has the smallest particles – not sure if it was + or 3. During firing the edges of the metal get “sticky” but the metal doesn’t actually metal. The particles fuse together as the binder burns out.
We worked with very small amounts of clay (that was included in the price of the workshop) – we tried the silver, brass, and copper PMC. They have recently added steel PMC to the lineup, too. While the kiln was firing our pieces, Nancy showed us how to fuse copper and silver and do enameling with a torch. That was fun but the fused pieces I tried pretty much sucked. I burned out the middles of two of them with the torch. : )
If you decide you love this medium, the start up cost is reasonable. Around $1300 will buy everything you need to get started from Rio. They have a kit that includes the kiln, a tumbler, and other pieces you need. The best part of PMC according to Nancy is that it really brought down the prices on kilns that have precise temperature controls. You can use the PMC ones for enameling, glass fusing, and small ceramic pieces as well. The tumbler helps polish your pieces and also work hardens the metal to make them stronger. You can burnish them to help strengthen and clean them but tumbling is faster and less labor intensive especially for really small pieces.
It was a great workshop. Thanks Nancy!
Just wanted to tell y’all about the PMC workshop I went to on the 23rd. It was mostly basic info about PMC. Did you know PMC was created by Mitsubishi? (The metal works division, which is a sister company to the car maker.) Our instructor said it is believed the binder in PMC is cornstarch, so even the fumes from the kiln are not toxic. Really old PMC will sometimes grow mold because of this but is still usable until it dries out. After PMC has dried out, you pretty much can’t reconstitute it. You can add water to make it creamy and use it for slip (much like clay slip) to bind jump rings and pieces of PMC together. It was believed this material would sweep the jewelry industry but that hasn’t happened. Jewelers stick to their craft using torches, saws, grinders, etc. PMC really appeals more to crafters like me who don’t know metallurgy and are kinda afraid of all those traditional jewelers tools. The original PMC had much larger particles of metal, which means more air holes around them once the binder burns away. As a result, it is very brittle after firing. The newer stuff (PMC+ and PMC3) have much smaller particles of metal, so Nancy recommends them. She told about wearing an early PMC ring during a car accident where she was not hurt but the ring hit the dash and shattered. The precious metal clay with the lowest firing temp has the smallest particles – not sure if it was + or 3. During firing the edges of the metal get “sticky” but the metal doesn’t actually metal. The particles fuse together as the binder burns out.
We worked with very small amounts of clay (that was included in the price of the workshop) – we tried the silver, brass, and copper PMC. They have recently added steel PMC to the lineup, too. While the kiln was firing our pieces, Nancy showed us how to fuse copper and silver and do enameling with a torch. That was fun but the fused pieces I tried pretty much sucked. I burned out the middles of two of them with the torch. : )
She showed us how to add jump rings to the backs of pendants using PMC and also how to set stones. There are a lot of stones that won’t work including diamonds. They turn back into carbon in the kiln. CZs will work, though. Rio Grande sells stones that will work with PMC. Lab grown stones work better than natural ones because the natural impurities can cause stones to break or burn out when firing. Some things, just as with glazes in traditional clay work, seem to happen by serendipity (or not) when firing PMC.
The best part of the class was learning about mold-making for PMC – you can use the two part stuff from Rio, or Hobby Lobby (I’m going to try the really flexible kind from hobby lobby like Tim Holtz recommended since I have some of this), cheap polymer clay, or 100% clear silicone caulk if you want to make a lot of molds. Did you know that E6000 and Goop are really just 100% clear silicone caulk? You can use those two products to make molds as well but the caulk is much cheaper. There was a lady in our class who brought in some really cool Chinese boxes. I made a couple of molds from them - bamboo and a dragon. (thanks Betsy!)
If you decide you love this medium, the start up cost is reasonable. Around $1300 will buy everything you need to get started from Rio. They have a kit that includes the kiln, a tumbler, and other pieces you need. The best part of PMC according to Nancy is that it really brought down the prices on kilns that have precise temperature controls. You can use the PMC ones for enameling, glass fusing, and small ceramic pieces as well. The tumbler helps polish your pieces and also work hardens the metal to make them stronger. You can burnish them to help strengthen and clean them but tumbling is faster and less labor intensive especially for really small pieces.
It was a great workshop. Thanks Nancy!Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Look at what Denise made me!
My talented artist friend Denise created this wonderful piece from a vintage, hand sewn quilt block made by my Grandma Ila. I see love in every stitch! Thank you so much, Denise! It is a beautiful tribute and I simply love it. I can't wait to see the other pieces you created using her squares.
To see some of Denise's other works, check out DeniseFelton on Etsy or you can read what she's been reviewing -- Needlework news at Craft Gossip.com.
To see some of Denise's other works, check out DeniseFelton on Etsy or you can read what she's been reviewing -- Needlework news at Craft Gossip.com.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
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