Every weekend, the folks from the City of Anaheim Fire Department bring their trucks and hoses and clean and flush them out at the park across the street from my house. Here they are untangling some hose. It looks like they might be putting out a fire, but really they're just watering the plants at the park. We love to watch the ladder truck with the ladder fully extended. Sometimes they flood the street. They are always nice to the kids and families at the park and are happy to talk about their equipment.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Leaves
I was looking at my "Green Garden Necklace" the other day, which is a one of a kind piece. I really liked the leaf element to the pendant, and decided that part could make some great, but simple earrings, which aren't so one of a kind. So "Leaves" which are inspired by the "Green Garden Necklace", but are not made to necessarily go with it, came to be. I love them and they are perfect for today's New Release Thursday!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Production Line, part I
EtsyMetal's Charm Swap #3 is underway. I am mid-production on my "Tea Cup Charms. Here you can see the design sketch, template and metal selection. 
I've decided on a floral patterned brass. The pattern is nice for a tea cup and the brass is fairly inexpensive for a production of 24 charms. The 20 participants of this swap will get 20 different charms to do with what they please, Two charms will be donated to the EtsyMetal shop for use in bracelets for sale, and I will keep two to sell in my own shop as charms or necklaces.
Next, I used rubber cement to glue the traced pattern to the back of the brass. This gives me guidelines for cutting without marking the metal. The paper will simply peel off the finished cut pieces. The shape of the cup is nice as there is very little metal wastage.
I cut the straight lines with a break shear and the curvy lines with a jeweler's saw.
The edges of the newly cut tea cup shapes are filed and smoothed and then stamped the back with my name marking.
My next steps will be to fabricate the handle and steam swirls from sterling silver wire. I will be posting photos of that process soon. I rarely make this many of anything at one time. Usually I make less than 5 of one item at a time or one of a kind pieces, so the production line I'm doing here is an interesting process, which takes a bit more planning than I'm used to. It's interesting to see what other members are coming up with. Charm Swap charms are a delightful, eclectic mix of treasures from a talented mix of metal artists.
I've decided on a floral patterned brass. The pattern is nice for a tea cup and the brass is fairly inexpensive for a production of 24 charms. The 20 participants of this swap will get 20 different charms to do with what they please, Two charms will be donated to the EtsyMetal shop for use in bracelets for sale, and I will keep two to sell in my own shop as charms or necklaces. Next, I used rubber cement to glue the traced pattern to the back of the brass. This gives me guidelines for cutting without marking the metal. The paper will simply peel off the finished cut pieces. The shape of the cup is nice as there is very little metal wastage.
I cut the straight lines with a break shear and the curvy lines with a jeweler's saw. The edges of the newly cut tea cup shapes are filed and smoothed and then stamped the back with my name marking.
My next steps will be to fabricate the handle and steam swirls from sterling silver wire. I will be posting photos of that process soon. I rarely make this many of anything at one time. Usually I make less than 5 of one item at a time or one of a kind pieces, so the production line I'm doing here is an interesting process, which takes a bit more planning than I'm used to. It's interesting to see what other members are coming up with. Charm Swap charms are a delightful, eclectic mix of treasures from a talented mix of metal artists.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Beautiful Day
It was a beautiful day today. This tree is in full bloom in my yard. The next windy day will blow all the petals off the blooms causing snow flurries in my yard. The kids will go out and scream and dance around and shout, "Snow, snow!". Maybe tomorrow, but for today, the honey bees are very busy.
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