Autumn Means Color!

By: ornamento.blog
Art, Halloween, , , Leave a Comment on Autumn Means Color!

Boris is sleeping more these days which tells me that the days are getting shorter. Soon it will be Halloween which is also my 30th wedding anniversary. I don’t think that Boris will care much unless he gets a treat and chin scratches. My husband is bit more romantic than I am which is good because he brings me down to earth a little and this makes me more grateful for all the things I have.

Now the best way to hide things from my husband is to put them in plain sight.  Which is why my anniversary gift to him has been hiding out in the living room all these months and which is why I can post it on my blog which never reads.  It’s one of Dr. Ron Lehocky’s hearts that he sells for the Heart Pin Project and I got it at Synergy this summer.  I met Ron, too.  A lovely man.  Part of the auction proceeds from Clayathon 2018 are also going to the Heart Pin Project.

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Speaking of kids and crafts and Autumn and October,  part of the fun of the season is pumpkins: both hunting and decorating.  I helped at the Fleisher Art Memorial’s Pumpkin Painting event at Palumbo Recreation Center in South Philly and got paint on my clothes, face, cell phone, pocketbook and hands.  It all washes out.  Eventually.

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I also got to accompany Mom, Bubbe, Pop, and the Step Potato and the Step Banana to a real live pumpkin patch!

 

08.IMG_20171021_152003We went on a hay ride and pet the animals in the petting zoo.

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But mostly I wandered around the pumpkin patch.

 

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Pain and Soldering Revisited

By: ornamento.blog
Art, art from recycled materials, art, creativity, crafts, inspiration, Craft demonstration, DIY, Ireland, metalsmithing, problem solving, Silversmithing, , , 3 Comments on Pain and Soldering Revisited

 

I am making a setting to hold a coin.  Or I am trying to.   I set a coin in Richard Salley’s metalsmithing class at Hacienda Mosaico a couple of years ago.   I didn’t like the results and vowed to try again.  I had my class notes but wanted to find something a little more tailored to my capabilities.  And so I looked for a tutorial in every dog house, out house and waffle house and didn’t find anything I like.  So then I decided to improvise.  Uh oh.
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This is the coin.  A lovely specimen (from before the time the Republic  of Ireland went on the Euro)  that a friend gave me so I could make the pendant for his wife.  I would love to show you the other side, but I have lost it.   My husband says it will turn up somewhere.  Brilliant.  Maybe on one of the moons of Jupiter or the other side of the state, but not with me.

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I start off with 18 gauge silver

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And measure very carefully.

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My trusty scribe and metal cutting scissors.  By the way, these scissors are fantastic!  I forget where I read about them.  (Maybe Helen Driggs’ column in Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist?)  I have a few pair of metal cutting scissors, but these are the best by far.  You can buy them from Amazon.

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I cut my bezel.

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I straighten my bezel

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I wrap the metal around the coin, cut to fit

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and solder

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I planned to cut tabs on both sides of the bezel for fold over tabs

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Soldering on the jump ring

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And phooey phooey phooey!  But his story has a happy ending!  I managed to design a coin bezel based on a basket setting.  This took several hundred many attempts.

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In the coming weeks, I will post a tutorial on  how I made it.  In the meantime,  here are two new ideas for making your own jewelry tools!

3.Hammeringmat This one is great!  Who uses phonebooks anymore?  You can also use a thick catalog or maybe stacks of magazines.  Just secure them with masking tape or duct tape.  They make a great hammering surface or a cushion for a bench block.

 

An old hammer head secured in a vise makes a great metal forming tool.

 

Clayathon is Coming!!!

By: ornamento.blog
ArtLeave a Comment on Clayathon is Coming!!!

The 13th Annual Clayathon Retreat is several months away but Arlene Groch’s clay elves are busy making lists, taking names and planning the best Clayathon ever!  Donna Kato does the honors as guest artist this year. NEW THIS YEAR: you can sign up for pre and post-retreat Master Classes with  Donna, Melanie West, Sarah Shriver, Jana Roberts Benzon, Claire Maunsell and Lindly Haunani!    Registration is filling FAST. Don’t miss it!  Registration is full!  For more information, go to the Facebook page here.

 

Read all the blog posts on Clayathon here.

 

 

Bob’s Garden in the Fall of 2017

By: ornamento.blog
Art, Urban Gardening, Urban Landscape, , , 1 Comment on Bob’s Garden in the Fall of 2017

Things are quieting down in Bob’s garden about now and the last of the summer flowers are starting to fade.  The cacti are getting themselves ready for the winter and the turtles have gone to the bottom of the koi pond to wait out the cold weather.  The banana tree didn’t throw off any fruit this summer but its long, broad leaves still made me feel like I was in the tropics.  Here are some pictures of Bob’s garden in the fall.

 

For more pictures of Bob’s garden over the years, press here.