TT - A little late

Tutorial coming - pics of 'fold and gold' for now.....

Yes, Tuesday Tutorial WILL be posted today, but its going to be a LATE date post - well, more like a night time post. :) Hope you'll come back tonight or check in tomorrow. I'm having a good time posting metalsmithing tutorials that I find and also sharing those of friends.

In the meantime, I said I'd try to grab a photo of the fold and gold ring now that its oxidized. I didn't get to it last night - swim team is going to be a killer! Yesterday was our first practice. My father was good enough to take LG to the pool at 5pm at which time we found out he'd be in the 6:15-6pm group. They decided to stay and wait it out, so I ran home and picked up little Lisa and took her to the vet. I returned home with Lisa around 7pm and little guy and Pop-Pop pulled in a bit after 7:15. Needless to say, dinner was on the late side last night, little guy needed a shower after being in the strong chlorine, and after he went to bed, I crashed.

Ohhhhh, No, scrap that. I did go to the bench - - got started with the 14k gold bezel - on a lovely little triangular (trillian) cut aquamarine cabochon. After fiddling with that a bit - I then crashed in front of the tv for an hour and went to bed early. (again!)

So I snapped these photos on my way to work this morning and now that I'm taking my lunch break have uploaded them.

Whatcha' think?

I don't really like the way the LOS was left on there....I may redo the LOS and use pumice instead of steel wool, but my pumice doesn't arrive until Friday, so the ring is going to stay as is for now.

:)

Don't forget to check back for the Tuesday Tutorial - if all goes well it will be up whilst its still actually Tuesday!

Oh, and for fun, here's little guy playing Ultimate Frisbee at the school fair this past Saturday.

Isn't he just too adorable?

~Janice

Pictures!!! and critique needed

I'm back. :)


I hope you got a kick out of the tutorials posted earlier today. I've already heard from some of you that enjoyed them - YAY!! (and yes, you CAN do it guys! but methinks it takes some practice.)


So, this weekend was a wild one - oh and did I mention HOT! Like way weird wicked hot - in the 90s. Thats the thing about the weather in MD - blink and you miss Spring. Blink twice and you miss Autumn. Thankfully though the heat was not humid - we've got a month (maybe) before it gets humid. Its the humidity that kills us. oy.



Anyway - here's Sam with his shape and race car that he made. And then a picture when I told him to act 'normal'.

























Normal somehow doesn't look as fun....




























This was a rectangular block of wood that he designed into the car you see below. He had heldp (help) sawing and sanding....and he mostly painted it himself. I helped him apply some tape to paint straight lines. :)

























Despite the fact that the car went really fast, he didn't place - although the video my friend took says he got second in one of the earlier heats which would have actually put him 2nd or 3rd overall, but oh well, such is life - he had fun!!! And no design trophy either. Maybe next year. This was our first year, next year he will be better prepared.

And now for something REALLY different - for me at least. I am working on an entire necklace. Yep- not just a pendant. AND, not only that, but its WAY out of my normal box/comfort zone/etc. I have been inspired by a few artists that I admire and sooo, here is what I have so far.

There is some pre-fab chain (EGADS! lol) and some handmade links, and some.....wait...you're not gonna believe this.....

I used some.....

beads.

Yep. Beads. The things that freak me out and cause me quite a bit of confusion - I just never know what to put with what and stare for hours. Truly. It has taken me like 3 nights just to get this far on this thing.....so, what do you think?



I need honest critique.
































And actually, it doesn't look exactly like this anymore. I removed the three hammered open links on the left and made them heavier weight and used two and then a bit of chain and then a third one higher up and then some small beaded wrapped links. WIll grab a photo tonight.


But what do you think so far? Keep going? Scrap it?
Janice