"Pure"
Project 1
My enormously talented, artsy friend Jen Worden has issued a fun challenge on her blog. Jen's challenge is to work from one end of a "how-to" book to the other, project by project, through June. Of course, part of the challenge is adapting the projects to your style. Life being what it is, I'm not able to participate in Jen's fun so, instead of crying in the corner, I decided to issue a challenge of my own and invite you all to join me.
A couple of months ago, I got Mary Hettmansperger's new book but haven't had a chance to work any of the projects yet. I know the techniques in the book and I like the way Mary combines them. So, my challenge: Work through Mary's book, project by project, through the rest of the summer (till the end of August). I'll post my projects here as I finish them. You post your projects to your site as you finish them. Leave a comment and a link to your project here, on my blog, under the appropriate post. For instance, when you finish project 3, leave me a comment and link under my project 3 post, even if I've moved on to project 16. If you don't have the book, I highly recommend it but I'll post the techniques used for each project so you can play along, even without the book. If you'd like to get it, Amazon carries it here. I'll post photos of some of your projects here as well. Oh, yeah...at the end of the project making blitz, I'll put all the participants names into a hat and give away one of my completed projects to whomever I draw. You don't have to participate in all the challenges but, you're name will be in the drawing once for each project you complete. So, if you do one project, your name will be in the hat once. If you do 20 projects, your name will be in 20 times...more chances to win! Plus, I promise you, the more projects you complete, the more you'll perfect your skills. Come on...you know you wanna play with me!
"Pure" focal
Mary's projects focus on a series of techniques to practice working with metals in various ways. If you like working in metal, or you want to learn some basics, this will be great fun! You may have guessed, this piece is my version of the first project in the book called "Stacked Spinner Necklace".
Techniques include:
- cutting and forging sheet metal
- cutting a window in metal sheeting
- texturing
- punching holes
- wire wrapping
"Pure" side view
This necklace gets it's name from the technique of stacking various pieces of metal (or other materials) onto a piece of wire and using spacers between each element so they swing freely.
Ok, I admit, I cheated a little and left out one of the techniques because it didn't fit in with my design. I didn't cut a window in sheet metal. But, that's okay as there will be lots more opportunities for that later. For the bottom layer, I used a piece of copper that I textured, then colored by heating it with the torch. If you don't have a large torch, don't worry, you can do most of these projects with a small, butane torch. I used another piece of copper that's been colored with a borax treatment...that's the red piece. The next layer is an antique tintype, then a piece of mica over that. The last layer is a piece of vintage brass.
I finished it all off by adding a large, faceted, jasper bead and threading it onto a thick piece of rubber with handmade loops and clasp. This was a really fun project...very easy and quick. Remember, in order to be in the final drawing for the piece of jewelry, you have to complete at least one project (hopefully more!), then leave your comment and link on the appropriate post. I hope you'll join me on my jewelry making odyssey...only 19 to go!
