This week so far - May 5th

It's been a crazy week and I haven't been able to get to my weekly update until now.
This week I've been working with tube rivets. It takes a lot of practice and some luck to get the back side of the rivet right. In the first samples I punched the centre hole and then domed the metal. I found that by doing it this way I had to be careful not to distort the middle holes.  I know my for my first tube riveting project I probably should have started with flat pieces but I enjoy a challenge!
Unfortunately these metal blanks already came with on hole in them so I'm trying to think up ways to hide the prepunched hole.
I've been searching online to find the best way to flare out the rivet on the back side of the piece. In the third picture you can see the results  of my flaring technique.
I think I still need a bit more practice. The fourth picture is a couple of flat pieces of metal joined together with rivets. I like how the finished piece looks so I'm going to keep at it. I'm also debating on whether or not I should get one of those tools that does it for you.

Tube rivet in the centre with ugly prepunched hole in small circle.

I think the rivet in the square one looks nicer than the one in the circle pendant.

I love the contrast in this piece. I'm debating if it needs something in the centre or not.

This week so far - April 26

This week was filled with more adventures in resin and bike chains. One of my cycling friends was doing a tune up on his bike and he gave me his old chain.
My current dilemma is do I pour the resin in the pendants before attaching the bike chain or do I attach the bike chain and then pour the resin. Both ways have pluses and minuses.
For instance if I pour the resin first it is easier to get a better seal and therefore I make less of a mess. The problem with this method is that you need to drill a hole in the resin. When drilling resin it is best to wear a mask because it creates a lot of dust and flying bits of resin (making a mess).
Using the second method you attach the bike chain and then pour the resin. In this method it is harder to get a seal (so you are cleaning up leaks and sometimes having to recast the whole project) but then you don't have to drill. Not that I'm against making a mess... far from it, some of the best crafting projects make my work room look as though a bomb hit it.
So here is one of my finished pieces.

Fun Foto Friday - April 22

Happy Friday! The photos that appear in Fun Foto Friday are random photos taken during the week on Kodi's daily walks. Feel free to add your own caption.
Kodi's new back pack.

This week so far - April 19

So this week my post is going to be a little bit different. I'm pleased to be a blog hop co-host with BlueEyedBlessings. See the bottom of this week's post to join the blog hop fun.

So far this week I've continued my experimenting with resin and backless pendants. Currently I'm working on a way to incorporate my backless resin pendants with bike chain (one of my favourite materials to work with). I'm not quite happy with the results yet (I'm pretty fussy) and so I'm playing with some different ideas. I'm hoping to get this sorted out by the weekend.
Also this week I'm trying to figure out the best way to dry cherry blossoms. The problem with cherry blossoms is that they turn brown really easily and they are so delicate. If anyone has ideas or experience with drying cherry blossoms please post them in the comments on this blog post.

So without further ado... on to the blog hop

Wednesday Store & Blog Hop hosted by Blue Eyed Blessings and Crocheted Little Things and co-hosted by me!

 

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3) Follow any blogs or stores that interest you! Leave them a comment too!

4) Grab our Button and Linky Codes to share with all your Blogging, Etsy, Artifre, etc. Friends! 

*Please remember that our blogs are Family Friendly and any thumbnails or links that we feel are inappropriate will be removed*  



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Fun Foto Friday - April 15

Happy Friday! The photos that appear in Fun Foto Friday are random photos taken during the week on Kodi's daily walks. Feel free to add your own caption.
Cherry Blossoms!

This week so far - April 12

It's been a busy week for me. Our dog got an eye infection and so we've been visiting the vet. His eye is looking a lot better and is almost healed. Spring has also arrived and that means spring cleaning.
I was inspired by the cherry blossoms on the trees in the neighbourhood this week so I dug out my pressed flowers. I picked these flowers from the yard and pressed them last summer.
Last night I poured resin over them using a technique I learned in the workshops I took a few weekends ago. Here's one of the pendants, I'll be adding more to my shop this week.

I'm also expanding my line of bicycle jewellery. I'm really enjoying working with bike chain. There are so many different items that can be paired with the chain. This week I found some wooden checkers and drilled a hole in them. I've also made a pendant from dominos. Here's the latest

This week so far - April 5th

This is my last instalment on the workshops I took a couple of weekends ago. I took courses in riveting, enameling, etching, soldering and resin. Last week I talked about the resin and etching classes so this week I'll talk about the riveting, enameling and soldering classes.
My second workshop of the weekend was the soldering class. I was excited about finally getting to use my butane torch. I've taken a soldering course before but we used an oxy-Acetylene set-up that was quite intimidating and expensive. As the workshop was a beginner class most people were in the same boat as me. We learned about safety. Our project was "bubble" earrings in sterling silver. I doing this project we used hard, medium and soft solders. I also learned not to place my small silver "bubbles" close together on the fire brick because if you over heat them the just melt into a ball. Here's the result of my class.

They need a bit more polishing and some earring wires but I'm quite happy with them.

The next morning I took a riveting class. This is definately not an activity to do if you have a hang over. A lot of pounding with hammers as we also textured the metal before riveting. We got to play with the fun expensive tools from one of the supplies from the tradeshow.

This is the results of the class

They just need the finishing touches, earring wires and a chain.

The last workshop for the weekend was copper enameling. Some people fell in love with this right away and some not so much. I'm still on the fence about it as the results seemed very hit and miss. The kit that came with this class was awesome, it contained enough materials for us to take home and experiment with enameling on our own. I plan to get some books about it and practice with it some more. I did have a few pieces from the class that I really liked and I've posted them in my etsy shop.

From my shop

These were some of my others:

I'm hoping to work with these new techniques and I'll be posting my results in the future.

Fun Foto Friday - April 1

Happy Friday! The photos that appear in Fun Foto Friday are random photos taken during the week on Kodi's daily walks. Feel free to add your own caption.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. I'm not sure what apples do for fire hydrants.

This week so far - March 29th

I really enjoyed my weekend workshops. I learned some great new skills and got a lot more tools! I bought a two hole punch, small vise (I'd been looking for one of those for awhile), a bezel mandrel, soldering block, a few different types of tweezers, and a rivetting hammer. I also got some flux. I didn't get any pickle because I'm going to try an eco friendly version. I've added to my list of tools that I'm saving up for (rock tumbler, disk cutter, and rolling mill).
My first workshop was the resin one. We made two pendants using two different resins. I've worked with resin before but the results have not always been what I've expected. I've had a lot of problems with bubbles and the texture of the resin. It seemed like only a third of them would turn out so it was great to get my questions answered.  These are the results of that class.

I used a shimmery powder on the square one and a doming resin on the circle one. The square one is backless so the light shines through.

I also took a copper etching class. It was easier than I thought it would be. When I first took it out of the solution it didn't look like anything had happened, so I had a bit of a panic attack. Then I pulled one of the smaller resists up and it looked so cool. The cuff still needs some polishing but I'm quite happy with the results. This one doesn't need tools, except for the cuff bending bit. This is the cuff I made.



I'll have to work with these new techniques for a bit before they become available in my etsy shop.

I also took classes in riveting, soldering, and enameling. I'll post about those workshops next week. 

Fun Foto Friday - March 25th

Happy Friday! The photos that appear in Fun Foto Friday are random photos taken during the week on Kodi's daily walks. Feel free to add your own caption. Sorry I'm a bit late this week. I had workshops this afternoon and I didn't get to it until now.
Flock of birds - Mud bay near White Rock, BC

So far this week - March 22

I had a wonderful weekend with my boys, except for the road rash on my hands and knees. Let's just say 75 pounds of untrained Lab dog, 10 foot flexi leash, and a large flock of birds are not a good combination. Kodi went from a dead stop to as fast as he goes in about 10 seconds. Before I knew what hit me I was on the ground and the leash had slipped from my hands. Part of me landed on the path and the other less sore part landed in the grass. Thankfully Kodi came running back to see what all the commotion was. Next time I'll let the hubby hold the leash.
I'm counting down the days until my weekend workshops! Only 3 days to go! I'm also dreaming about all the bead supplies and tools at the show. I can't wait. I'm taking classes in resin, soldering, riveting, etching, and enameling. I look forward to incorporating the new skills into my work.
This week the focus was on making earrings from bike parts to go with the pendants. Many different ideas came to mind. Some worked, some not so much. Some you can't really tell that they have bike parts in them. You know when you are really into it when you get a tap on the shoulder at 1 am asking you to put the tools down and come to bed.

Fun Foto Friday - March 18th

Happy Friday! The photos that appear in Fun Foto Friday are random photos taken during the week on Kodi's daily walks. Feel free to add your own caption.



Ok... maybe not so fun. Thankfully the sign was broken and gas wasn't really 999.9

 

So far this week - March 15

This weekend I purchased my torch! I went on a field trip to Cloverdale to Western Gems. The staff there was very helpful and it's a cool shop with lots of stones. They also carry enamels and soldering supplies so if I like the courses at the bead fest I don't have to go all the way to Vancouver to get supplies. Let the count down to bead fest begin.

This past week I've been dreaming of bike chain pendant designs. I think it's interesting how one material can inspire you to use it in different ways. I've been laying them out across my desktop with different items from my bead stash. I even brought out the drill to enlarge holes on the nuts, who doesn't love a project where you can use power tools!
So without further ado... here's what I've been working on

 

Fun Foto Friday - March 11

Happy Friday! The photos that appear in Fun Foto Friday are random photos taken during the week on Kodi's daily walks. I'm not going to put a caption on these photos. Feel free to add your own caption.

This week so far - March 8th

The rest of last week went well. I had some time to heal and I signed up for some workshops at the Fraser Valley Bead fest. I'm pretty excited about learning some new techniques and getting some questions answered. I read a lot of books and magazines to find new techniques but I find that sometimes they leave out important steps. Also books and mags can't give you feed back on why something didn't turn out quite like you thought. Some times it is something so simple like the way you are holding a hammer or the saw.
I'm attending workshops on etching, enameling, soldering and resin. The best part is that I have an excuse to get a torch!!! I was going to get one at some point anyways but now I need one. The scary part is that I'm a bit of a klutz so I think a trip to get a fire extinguisher is also in order. The workshops don't take place until the end of the month so I won't be able to report back on how it went for awhile.
So without further ado... Here's what I've been working on lately...

Fun Foto Friday - When ducks attack!

Happy Friday! The photos that appear in Fun Foto Friday are random photos taken during the week on Kodi's daily walks. I'm not going to put a caption on these photos. Feel free to add your own caption.

This week so far

 So far this week I've whacked my finger with a hammer (it is still tender), slipped on the ice and twisted my knee, and accidentally filed a dent into my finger nail. Hopefully this week will end without any serious injuries. I'd better not drive, I think it might be safer to take the bus for a while. Here's a few of the items I've added to my shop recently.

It's the First Fun Foto Friday

The photos that appear in Fun Foto Friday are random photos taken during the week on Kodi's daily walks. I'm not going to put a caption on these photos. Feel free to add your own caption.

Welcome to my blog

Hello my name is Kerry and I am a self taught artist. As well as making jewlery, I'm also a  photographer and painter.
I live Surrey, British Columbia, Canada with my husband Pierre and our energetic dog Kodi. Kodi is my side kick, he loves having adventures. Kodi and I are working on a feature for the web site Fun Foto Fridays. Drop in check out the new photo and write a caption...
Travel is one of my passions, I can't help but check out the departure board and think about where I'd like to go next on the way to bagage claim whenever we return from our travels. My husband and I toured parts of Canada, the United States and Europe on our bicycles. We travelled by bike over 10,000 km in two years.
I get inspiration by my travels. Working with different types of materials gets my creative juices flowing. I'm always trying out new techniques and ideas. I love working with new tools.
My summer weekends are spent in my booth at the local farmers' market selling jewelry.