Thinking in 2D

I have been making bookmarks from copper wire for a while now and I always amaze myself when I get a good design that is both visually appealing as well as functional. In the beginning I made the mistake of crossing wires. In other professions when you cross the wires you might get a shock or worse, but in cold forging wire, you just get a ruined piece if you try to hammer the crossed wires and since all of my bookmarks need to flat to be functional, crossed wires are no-no. This all leads me to the fact that my bookmarks have to be one continuous piece of wire. If you have ever tried to draw a picture without picking up your pencil and without crossing any lines you understand this dilemma. It's a little nerve wracking at times! When I have a specific design I am working on it can take me hours or even days to get it "right". Often I have to pick and choose the details of an item to include so that for instance, a violin still looks like violin. It's a balancing act and a puzzle at the same time. I hope you enjoy all of my designs I have puzzled out for you and keep watching for new ones.

The snake pose

I headed down to the pool this morning to do my yoga by the water and my dog wouldn't stop barking. I kept telling him to hush. He wouldn't. So I went over to see what the fuss was about. At the other end of the pool on the warn concrete was a black rat snake. It was a couple feet long and half settled into a crack in the concrete. I left it there and returned to the warrior pose and my dog seemed satisfied having shown me the intruder. It got me thinking though. The way that the snake's body twisted and turned. I have scoliosis and my back feels like a snake sometimes, twisted and curled, which is why I started doing yoga. I wanted to somehow straighten my back, strengthen it and lengthen it so that my back won't hump over and make me one of those hunchback ladies that I've seen growing up who can't reach their own hair to brush it. This snake gave me a great visual to use while doing my poses, imagining my back like a snake, muscular and able to unfurl itself from its gnarled twist.
Maybe that's why many of my pieces have snaking curves. It's my subconscious trying to balance my twisting and curving spine. Whatever the case may be, mine will be a lifelong struggle to keep my back from collapsing on itself. So I suppose I will continue making writhing serpentine pieces of copper and metal.

Upcycled Southern Belle

a southern belle ballgown for under $100

before

For the past 8 years, our local historical society has thrown a reenactment ball to commemorate the battle of Fort Donelson in February 1862 here in Dover. Two years ago I went in a borrowed gown 3 sizes too big and the year before I went in a gown that was only about one size too big. This year, I wanted to do it right, but "right" came with a budget.  I wanted a fancy 1860's ball gown that would cost less than $100, but I'm a bit of a fashion snob and didn't want any old cheap looking gown. It had to be fairly historically accurate, or at least look that way. Since I can sew, I thought about making one from scratch, but new fabric prices had me choking a little and I didn't have enough of the right material in my stash, so the dress from scratch idea flew out the window. I searched for a dress that fit my budget and might be close enough to that style that I could make it happen by reworking.  I found a dress from TreasureChest01 on Etsy that was perfect.
     I took in the waist, added maroon satin from my own fabric stash to the lace at the bottom and sleeves and added bolder bows and buttons (also from my fabric stash) at the gathers. I  lifted the low back up to a more modest level and added a fancy brooch from my collection of vintage jewelry to the waist.  Using an old sheet and the eyelet lace trim from an old pillowcase I created a chemise (underdress). I took some maroon ribbon from my stash and threaded it through the eyelet holes to make a pretty accent to the top of the dress.
     Because of the fabric and notions I already had, I spent a whopping $39 total on a dress that I felt made a huge statement and looked great!  I decided to splurge on a vintage hoop instead of buying a cheap modern made one. The final result turned out to be a beautiful dress that showed up great in all the photos being snapped. I got many compliments on it and just had to brag about how I upcycled it for under $100.

finished ball gown for under $100

I had a customer ask me to make some bird wings. These ones: http://llevoelinvierno.blogspot.com/2011/03/make-alitas.html

I love the look of these but as I am a free spirit and hate patterns, well, I had to do them my way. I have a large stash of thrift store fabrics, maybe bordering on hoarding but that's another blog altogether. Anyway, I cut a half circle that was 44" wide and cut it again in half to have two triangles, just like the instructions on the other blog only a little larger. I free hand cut the feathers from scraps of fabric about 2-3" wide, the only difference from the instructions was I used pinking shears to give it a more textured edge. After I was finished with the wings, instead of adding bias strips for the neck, I made fabric strips wide enough to fit the velcro strips I had and then added the velcro to the ends sewing it all together to make a simple collar and cuffs. I then added 3 buttons to the middle of the collar and one to each cuff. After that, I added rayon cording loops at the neck and arm of each wing so that the cuffs and collar can be buttoned at different points on the wings as the child grows. It turned out great and my customer really loved it. Here's some pictures of the finished product. 

collar and cuffs are easy release velcro

I can do it by myself!

wings overlap while the child is small

buttons on the collar make the wings adjustable

Taking it to new heights

I am taking my jewelry to new heights, literally. At my last craft fair, I opted for a half booth. So I need a way to maximize my space. I stacked a smaller table on my larger one and added some snowflakes to take your eye away from the ugly metal legs and it turns out they were an attention getter as well. The tables kept the most awesome pieces at eye level. My printer drawer full of pendants fit perfectly just below it. I wish i had electricity (a plug was nowhere near me) to add some lights for further display below the table, but it worked great as a place for my checkout stuff like bags, necklace cord, etc.


I would love to hear your ideas about your favorite display ideas. Have you seen or made a great display?

A rose by any other name

I started by hammering copper spirals and loopy Celtic waves, but I wanted to somehow bring a more sculptural quality to my work without the need for soldering. I wanted the piece to be one long piece of wire molded and hammered into a miniature sculpture. I started making roses almost by accident. I had a crinkly piece of wire that on a whim I hammered flat and wound into a spiral shape. The crinkles in the wire made such a neat, roselike shape to the spiral that I kept working with it and eventually added leaves or other decorations. What resulted was a unique, 3d rose that had an elegant shape. I have been making these roses for a while now and each one seems to be a little more elegant than the last. Here is my latest one, a rose ring from recycled sterling silver.

Display ideas for craft fairs

I thought I would show the results of my display search. Here it is. Lots of junk repurposed into jewelry displays along with some store bought ones I had already from previous years of selling. We were under some trees so some of the pictures had less than ideal lighting, but you get the idea. Happy hunting!

I used old crates and boxes to add height and
scarves for color

Me and Miss Priscilla ready to sell

We are ready for our closeup!

Close up of my stacked boxes

Shutters held earring cards, I hung a mirror from the canopy

an old printer drawer makes a great pendant box

an old stand up mirror and some scarves thrown on the canopy for color

I found the clear step display (right) at the Goodwill

My father in law helped me build the ring tray from an old board
the crates helped the necklace boards from blowing away in the wind,
a problem I had at the last show