Hammered Hearts Earrings

I subscribe to two magazines that contain jewelry projects, Step-by-Step Wire and Art Jewelry Magazine, and I while I study the articles, I rarely do any of them. Here is an exception. The Summer Preview 2008 issue of Step-by-Step Wire had a nice project by Sharilyn Miller that I finally played with this week. I found immediately that I didn't like the way the heart shape as she made it flowed into the earring hook portion, so I substituted my current method for making fibula pins. I also did a lot more hammering of the heart shape.

The leaf background shows the strange way my sugar maple is turning this year. I have never seen this pattern of green/yellow/orange/red in a single leaf before. These beautiful leaves are dropping from a single branch of my tree; the rest of the tree is still dark green. Go figure!

Posted by Jan Raven on http://wovenwire.blogspot.com. If you are seeing this on MakingWireJewelryBlog.com, know that this content is being lifted without permission or attribution to the real author (me!). Unethical at best and possibly a violation of copyright and of U.S. law (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act). If you really want to learn how to make wire jewelry, please go to JewelryLessons.com and support actual artists!

Explorations in Foldforming

Here is my latest new book, Foldforming, by Charles Lewton-Brain.

An example project from the book was recently published in Art Jewelry Magazine, and while I didn't pay much attention to it on my first pass, a subsequent reading of that issue had me intrigued. Book in hand, I used the tools (20 oz. carpenter's hammer) and materials (28 gauge copper sheet) I had on hand for my first try at the "Romero fold." The resulting leaf shape has some interesting texture, but there were some issues. First, a carpenter's hammer is most definitely NOT the right tool for the job. Second, properly forming the copper requires that it is annealed, which my sheet was not, after the first few hammer blows. I had never done any annealing, so didn't really think about it.

After I ordered and received the proper hammer for the job, I tried again, this time annealing the copper periodically. I made a few ruffles (one of which I am making into an experimental pin), and more interestingly, a Rueger fold. That last one was fun! I successfully applied flux to the copper to prevent firescale, and successfully annealed the copper several times, allowing the copper to begin curling and flaring with successive hammer blows.

A Birthday Present!

About two weeks ago I found a wonderful new blog (Daily Art Muse) that instantly became a favorite of mine, so much so that I put it on my Bookmarks Bar immediately. This blog is full, FULL of little introductions to some amazing artists, in all genres. I try to visit every day, to check on new posts, and to troll through the previous two years of posts. This always eats a fair amount of time, because I am compelled to visit the various artist websites that are referenced in the posts. Anyway, last Sunday I checked in and found that the Daily Art Muse was celebrating a birthday, and that Susan (Da Muse, herself) was going to give six art books to a random person chosen from amongst those who commented on the blog post. Well, who wouldn't post a comment with that kind of incentive? Turns out, there were 92 comments, so Susan used an online random number generator to pick the winner, who turned out to be me! I am so thrilled about this! I feel like I am a sponge right now, soaking up inspiration, techniques, books, tools, magazines, web links, and more inspiration. If you have read some of my posts from earlier in the summer, you'll know what I am talking about!

Next week I am off to northwest Arkansas to attend the War Eagle Fair, so when I return I can look forward to a Birthday Present to unpack and dream over.....

Yearly Drug Fix

Autumn is my favorite time of year, but it seems to be the shortest of all the seasons, at least here in central Minnesota, so I have to take in as much as I can while the leaves are around. Last Saturday was a beautiful sunny day that turned surprisingly warm. The outlook for the upcoming week looked rainy, so I took most of the day to go hiking with Morgan in the woods. On a whim, I drove over an hour north just to go walking for three hours. I don't drive much during the week, so I figured I could splurge on the gas. We went to Banning State Park and had a great time. Well, I did. I am sure Morgan would have preferred to be off-leash, but this was a State Park, not a National Forest! As you can see, I compromise with a thirty foot line (not kidding!).

Enjoy the walk through the park!