Ok, so I should really be sitting, focussed, reading my Adventures in Diving tome and answering the Knowledge Review questions on Dry Suits, Underwater Navigation, Naturalist Diver, Deep Dives and Peak Performance Buoyancy before Saturday...... but I was directed to the Kidzeco shop in Bathgate yesterday so I thought I'd share. I've seen the shop in the passing quite a few times over the last few months but assumed it was only a shop selling children's clothes. As my 'kids' are now aged 25 and 23 (on Monday) I decided it held nothing to interest me and never actually went in to see what was on offer.
As you can see if you click on the website link, they are a non-profit making organisation that recycles children's clothes, furniture and associated bits and bobs. As well as selling recycled items they also sell products that have been hand made by local artists, such as quilts, bags, bunting, jewellery and other gifts. They run workshops for jewellery making, sewing etc and have plans to do much, much more.
I spent an hour or so yesterday talking to Tracy, who runs it all and she is a very friendly, intelligent, enthusiastic person who is determined to make it all work as a community project. If you live in the West Lothian area you might want to pop in and have a look. If you have a facebook account you will find the shop Fan page here:
KidzEco fan page
Go and take a look.
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
I think my eyes are going to shrivel up and fall out
Ok, this is a short one tonight. The reason is my eyes are worn out. It seems like everything I want to do these days requires me to use my laptop to do internet based things or to read books, or do both at the same time.
I suppose a lot of it is my own fault. I refuse to write an actual letter and post it unless there is absolutely no alternative. I do all my correspondence by e-mail or internet. I have been selling on eBay clothes that don't fit any more and gadgets that have been sitting all sad and lonely and unwanted so, obviously they have to be physically packed and posted but all of the activities leading to the packing and posting involves my laptop and the internet: taking photos, uploading them to my laptop, editing them, creating an eBay listing, writing all the blurb, printing a packing slip, printing a postage label, leaving feedback for buyers, not forgetting paying my eBay fees..... and it all takes time.
I spend the first wee while after I get out of bed drinking coffee while I catch up with e-mail, FaceBook, forums, check my internet banking, read the latest Dilbert comic strip, etc. and attempt to wake up. During the day if I want to look up any kind of information, like train times, product information, weather, maps, anything, I Google it.
As many of you know, I have my own website which is very basic at the moment and I'd like to learn how to turn it into a well laid out, properly managed site. Even in it's present form it requires maintenance, so more staring at computer screens. Yesterday Amazon delivered a new book - PHP 6 and My SQL 5 by Larry Ullman. This is the reason I have been reading and using my laptop simultaneously. Someone recommended it to me as a good instructional book for learning web programming. I've reached page 15 (it's a fast starter) so only 600 more pages to go. So far the pattern has been - read a couple of pages, type the commands I've learned into my laptop, test the code to make sure it works, debug it if it doesn't, go on to the next page in the book if it works OK and go round the loop again.
Then there's the scuba diving education. Who said scuba was all about getting into the water? To become PADI certified you have to complete the recommended learning and then do the knowledge reviews (tests) for each topic. I was going to be a really good girl and start doing the studying and knowledge reviews for my Advanced Open Water tonight but by the time I'd found all the knowledge review pages and photocopied them (so i don't have to rip pages out of my books) my eyes were protesting. I think I will leave the actual reading and doing tests until tomorrow night. I have to hand them in on Sunday, plenty of time, maybe....
I do actually enjoy reading books as relaxation but I think my eyes would just shut down altogether if I tried to do any recreational reading. I have loads I want to do but my eyes are objecting. I suppose I should listen. Does anyone out there have a spare pair of eyeballs I could borrow? Preferably ones that don't need glasses for seeing with like my own ones do.
I suppose a lot of it is my own fault. I refuse to write an actual letter and post it unless there is absolutely no alternative. I do all my correspondence by e-mail or internet. I have been selling on eBay clothes that don't fit any more and gadgets that have been sitting all sad and lonely and unwanted so, obviously they have to be physically packed and posted but all of the activities leading to the packing and posting involves my laptop and the internet: taking photos, uploading them to my laptop, editing them, creating an eBay listing, writing all the blurb, printing a packing slip, printing a postage label, leaving feedback for buyers, not forgetting paying my eBay fees..... and it all takes time.
I spend the first wee while after I get out of bed drinking coffee while I catch up with e-mail, FaceBook, forums, check my internet banking, read the latest Dilbert comic strip, etc. and attempt to wake up. During the day if I want to look up any kind of information, like train times, product information, weather, maps, anything, I Google it.
As many of you know, I have my own website which is very basic at the moment and I'd like to learn how to turn it into a well laid out, properly managed site. Even in it's present form it requires maintenance, so more staring at computer screens. Yesterday Amazon delivered a new book - PHP 6 and My SQL 5 by Larry Ullman. This is the reason I have been reading and using my laptop simultaneously. Someone recommended it to me as a good instructional book for learning web programming. I've reached page 15 (it's a fast starter) so only 600 more pages to go. So far the pattern has been - read a couple of pages, type the commands I've learned into my laptop, test the code to make sure it works, debug it if it doesn't, go on to the next page in the book if it works OK and go round the loop again.
Then there's the scuba diving education. Who said scuba was all about getting into the water? To become PADI certified you have to complete the recommended learning and then do the knowledge reviews (tests) for each topic. I was going to be a really good girl and start doing the studying and knowledge reviews for my Advanced Open Water tonight but by the time I'd found all the knowledge review pages and photocopied them (so i don't have to rip pages out of my books) my eyes were protesting. I think I will leave the actual reading and doing tests until tomorrow night. I have to hand them in on Sunday, plenty of time, maybe....
I do actually enjoy reading books as relaxation but I think my eyes would just shut down altogether if I tried to do any recreational reading. I have loads I want to do but my eyes are objecting. I suppose I should listen. Does anyone out there have a spare pair of eyeballs I could borrow? Preferably ones that don't need glasses for seeing with like my own ones do.
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
I've been certified...
... as a PADI Open Water Diver. Woo hoo!
Thank you to my very patient instructor, Martin, from Aquatron in Glasgow.
This was a bit of a trauma for me. I should have completed my certification 4 weeks ago but for a number of reasons that I won't bore you with, I didn't even though The Boy completed his.
First of all I'm really not that keen on water unless it's warm, in a bath and covered in bubbles. Secondly, I'm perfectly happy to dive if the water conditions allow me to wear a swimsuit or a shorty wetsuit. Unfortunately, in Loch Long in October you need to wear a drysuit, fleecy undersuit, hood and gloves to keep warm. Here's the reason why:
When we arrived there just before 9am it was almost sunny and the water was as smooth as glass. As the day progressed, the mist rolled in and the rain started. Thankfully the water stayed fairly calm, for which I am eternally grateful.
Dive number 1 was fine. I got into the water, used my compass to navigate to the buoy (skill #1) that marks the underwater platform and managed to descend to the platform. Normally, you kneel on the bottom while everyone takes turns to do their skills. I found kneeling a problem as I kept tipping forward and had to be held up. Not a great start.
I did my full mask flood and clear (skill #2) without any issues. I even did my fin pivot using manual inflation (skill #3), eventually, once I worked out what I was supposed to be doing. The instructor must have thought I was thick. Basically you lie on your stomach, breath in through your regulator, remove the regulator from your mouth and use most of the air to breath into your BCD (Buoyancy Control Device - ie, the inflatable waistcoat thingy divers wear) through a tube. Unfortunately, you have to press a button to open the valve on the tube and my fingers were being feeble and seemed unable to actually press the thing hard enough. I got there in the end so big tick for skill #3.
Next we went for a swim around the platform and had a look at the wildlife. There were velvet crabs, tiny little fish, starfish from tiny ones to huge ones and sea urchins.
Say hello to a velvet crab (photo courtesy of Google search):
Last skill for this dive (skill #4) was a CESA - that is Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent. That means you have to pretend you're out of air, take one final breath and swim to the surface breathing out very slowly as you go. No more breathing in allowed. Then you have to inflate your BCD on the surface by breathing into it. The ascent was easier than I expected as I thought I would run out of air. On the surface I was able to use my not so feeble right hand to press the button on the tube and inflated my BCD without problems. Big tick in that box.
We had a break for lunch and then had our second dive. This is where my trauma started. We swam out to the buoy and descended. All the while my mask (which I had borrowed as own one had been leaking a bit) was filling up with water. On it's own I could have coped with that but my mouth was filling up with water as well and no matter what I did I just couldn't spit the water out. So, I panicked. I managed to stay calm long enough to signal to the instructor that I needed to surface and up we went. Dive time 6 minutes. I explained my dilema and the instructor very kindly swam to the shore and got me another couple of masks to try. Eventually I found one that seemed to be airtight(-ish) and we descended again. Meanwhile The Boy was sitting patiently on the bottom with another Open Water student and a dive master.
So we had to start on the skills again. Mask removal and replacement, then clear (skill #5 and the one I was dreading due to my leaky mask problems). Tick. Next up was reciprocal navigation (skill #6) - basically use your compass to navigate to a point on the sea bed then navigate back to where you started. Tick. :o)
We had another swim around the bottom. This time The Boy had borrowed a flashlight so he was able to point it at some of the wildlife on the sea bed so that we could get a better look at them. There was a huge hermit crab running around the sea bed and loads more velvet crabs, star fish, sea urchins and tiny fish. Where have all the big fish gone?
Most of the star fish seemed to be this variety, I think (photo courtesy of Google search):
After our swim, it was back to the surface and on to the last 2 skills. Remove / replace weights (skill #7). You need to be able to remove weights in an emergency to ascend. As I was wearing a harness rather than a weight belt I only had to do the remove part. What a faff that was! One of the weights was determined to stay exactly where it was but I won in the end and dropped it to the bottom. Tick! Then it was remove / replace BCD on the surface (skill #8). This skill would have been completed a whole lot quicker if my gloves hadn't kept getting stuck to the Velcro on the cummerbund thingy that's part of the BCD. Boy that's strong Velcro! Tickety-tick-tick.
All skills successfully completed it was time to get out of the water. Sounds easy doesn't it? Try trudging up a rocky shore, trying to avoid tripping over rocks, carrying a metal cylinder on your back and 42 pounds of weights. You suddenly get a clue what Atlas must have felt like carrying the world on his shoulders.
So.... now I am a certified PADI Open Water Diver. Look:
We have our first Advanced Open Water dive in two weeks so new skills to learn. Martin assures me I won't need to take my mask off under water again, which is good. We might even manage to see a different dive site this time, maybe Loch Fyne, famous for it's great seafood :o)
Here are a couple of photos I took of The Boy at Loch Long in September:
Waiting to go in .....
You can see there isn't much room for masks and regulators when you're wearing a diving hood.....
Thank you to my very patient instructor, Martin, from Aquatron in Glasgow.
This was a bit of a trauma for me. I should have completed my certification 4 weeks ago but for a number of reasons that I won't bore you with, I didn't even though The Boy completed his.
First of all I'm really not that keen on water unless it's warm, in a bath and covered in bubbles. Secondly, I'm perfectly happy to dive if the water conditions allow me to wear a swimsuit or a shorty wetsuit. Unfortunately, in Loch Long in October you need to wear a drysuit, fleecy undersuit, hood and gloves to keep warm. Here's the reason why:
When we arrived there just before 9am it was almost sunny and the water was as smooth as glass. As the day progressed, the mist rolled in and the rain started. Thankfully the water stayed fairly calm, for which I am eternally grateful.
Dive number 1 was fine. I got into the water, used my compass to navigate to the buoy (skill #1) that marks the underwater platform and managed to descend to the platform. Normally, you kneel on the bottom while everyone takes turns to do their skills. I found kneeling a problem as I kept tipping forward and had to be held up. Not a great start.
I did my full mask flood and clear (skill #2) without any issues. I even did my fin pivot using manual inflation (skill #3), eventually, once I worked out what I was supposed to be doing. The instructor must have thought I was thick. Basically you lie on your stomach, breath in through your regulator, remove the regulator from your mouth and use most of the air to breath into your BCD (Buoyancy Control Device - ie, the inflatable waistcoat thingy divers wear) through a tube. Unfortunately, you have to press a button to open the valve on the tube and my fingers were being feeble and seemed unable to actually press the thing hard enough. I got there in the end so big tick for skill #3.
Next we went for a swim around the platform and had a look at the wildlife. There were velvet crabs, tiny little fish, starfish from tiny ones to huge ones and sea urchins.
Say hello to a velvet crab (photo courtesy of Google search):
Last skill for this dive (skill #4) was a CESA - that is Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent. That means you have to pretend you're out of air, take one final breath and swim to the surface breathing out very slowly as you go. No more breathing in allowed. Then you have to inflate your BCD on the surface by breathing into it. The ascent was easier than I expected as I thought I would run out of air. On the surface I was able to use my not so feeble right hand to press the button on the tube and inflated my BCD without problems. Big tick in that box.
We had a break for lunch and then had our second dive. This is where my trauma started. We swam out to the buoy and descended. All the while my mask (which I had borrowed as own one had been leaking a bit) was filling up with water. On it's own I could have coped with that but my mouth was filling up with water as well and no matter what I did I just couldn't spit the water out. So, I panicked. I managed to stay calm long enough to signal to the instructor that I needed to surface and up we went. Dive time 6 minutes. I explained my dilema and the instructor very kindly swam to the shore and got me another couple of masks to try. Eventually I found one that seemed to be airtight(-ish) and we descended again. Meanwhile The Boy was sitting patiently on the bottom with another Open Water student and a dive master.
So we had to start on the skills again. Mask removal and replacement, then clear (skill #5 and the one I was dreading due to my leaky mask problems). Tick. Next up was reciprocal navigation (skill #6) - basically use your compass to navigate to a point on the sea bed then navigate back to where you started. Tick. :o)
We had another swim around the bottom. This time The Boy had borrowed a flashlight so he was able to point it at some of the wildlife on the sea bed so that we could get a better look at them. There was a huge hermit crab running around the sea bed and loads more velvet crabs, star fish, sea urchins and tiny fish. Where have all the big fish gone?
Most of the star fish seemed to be this variety, I think (photo courtesy of Google search):
After our swim, it was back to the surface and on to the last 2 skills. Remove / replace weights (skill #7). You need to be able to remove weights in an emergency to ascend. As I was wearing a harness rather than a weight belt I only had to do the remove part. What a faff that was! One of the weights was determined to stay exactly where it was but I won in the end and dropped it to the bottom. Tick! Then it was remove / replace BCD on the surface (skill #8). This skill would have been completed a whole lot quicker if my gloves hadn't kept getting stuck to the Velcro on the cummerbund thingy that's part of the BCD. Boy that's strong Velcro! Tickety-tick-tick.
All skills successfully completed it was time to get out of the water. Sounds easy doesn't it? Try trudging up a rocky shore, trying to avoid tripping over rocks, carrying a metal cylinder on your back and 42 pounds of weights. You suddenly get a clue what Atlas must have felt like carrying the world on his shoulders.
So.... now I am a certified PADI Open Water Diver. Look:
We have our first Advanced Open Water dive in two weeks so new skills to learn. Martin assures me I won't need to take my mask off under water again, which is good. We might even manage to see a different dive site this time, maybe Loch Fyne, famous for it's great seafood :o)
Here are a couple of photos I took of The Boy at Loch Long in September:
Waiting to go in .....
You can see there isn't much room for masks and regulators when you're wearing a diving hood.....
Saturday, 9 October 2010
How hard is it to take your own photo?
I will admit I'm not at my best today. My cousin Geri had her pre-opening do for friends and family at her shiny new Curves gym in Broxburn last night and the alcohol was flowing at a speed that has left me feeling slightly less than bright today even though I must have eaten half of the lavish buffet all by myself. The official, presumably alcohol-free, opening is on Monday.
I've tried to have a gentle day today. Unfortunately, The Boy went off into Edinburgh this morning to have a day out with the other boys and his parting request was for me to return wonky a Guitar Hero guitar that he ordered from the Game website to the Game store in Livingston and see if I could get a replacement. Stupidly (probably because I killed too many brain cells with Jack Daniels last night) I said yes.
WHAT WAS I THINKING ABOUT???? I avoid Livingston shopping centre like the plague, especially on a Saturday and even more especially when people are starting to get excited about Chrstmas shopping, like now.
At my third attempt I managed to find a car park with a space. It was probably the furthest car park from Game but it was still (just) in Livingston. My unhappy feet trudged through one and a half phases of shopping centre to find Game and then stood in an almighty queue. On finally managing to speak to an assistant to explain the reason for my visit I discovered the receipt had escaped somewhere between the car park and the shop. I was devasted. The shop assistant very kindly gave me the customer services phone number so that I could request proof of purchase and I headed back out the door, eyes to the ground, hoping to spy the receipt. It was right outside the door! Result! Did a little dance. YAY!
So, to cut a long story short, I got the guitar changed and then fled back to the car park and home. And I've been trying to take it easy since then. I have a few clothes that don't fit me any longer so I spent a couple of hours listing them on eBay, along with a couple of pairs of trousers that The Boy hasn't been able to squeeze into for a while. My body has been craving sweet stuff so dinner was a Snickers bar followed by a tiramisu. After that I felt fit enough to start thinking about making some jewellery. I made an illusion necklace for myself a while back and have been meaning to make matching earrings. I finally did it this evening and tried to take photos of myself wearing necklace and earrings to post on here. Here is the only photo that shows both, doesn't show the camera and also doesn't make me look like a complete retard. :o)
Did I do good? Please say yes, I couldn't cope with starting over.
I've tried to have a gentle day today. Unfortunately, The Boy went off into Edinburgh this morning to have a day out with the other boys and his parting request was for me to return wonky a Guitar Hero guitar that he ordered from the Game website to the Game store in Livingston and see if I could get a replacement. Stupidly (probably because I killed too many brain cells with Jack Daniels last night) I said yes.
WHAT WAS I THINKING ABOUT???? I avoid Livingston shopping centre like the plague, especially on a Saturday and even more especially when people are starting to get excited about Chrstmas shopping, like now.
At my third attempt I managed to find a car park with a space. It was probably the furthest car park from Game but it was still (just) in Livingston. My unhappy feet trudged through one and a half phases of shopping centre to find Game and then stood in an almighty queue. On finally managing to speak to an assistant to explain the reason for my visit I discovered the receipt had escaped somewhere between the car park and the shop. I was devasted. The shop assistant very kindly gave me the customer services phone number so that I could request proof of purchase and I headed back out the door, eyes to the ground, hoping to spy the receipt. It was right outside the door! Result! Did a little dance. YAY!
So, to cut a long story short, I got the guitar changed and then fled back to the car park and home. And I've been trying to take it easy since then. I have a few clothes that don't fit me any longer so I spent a couple of hours listing them on eBay, along with a couple of pairs of trousers that The Boy hasn't been able to squeeze into for a while. My body has been craving sweet stuff so dinner was a Snickers bar followed by a tiramisu. After that I felt fit enough to start thinking about making some jewellery. I made an illusion necklace for myself a while back and have been meaning to make matching earrings. I finally did it this evening and tried to take photos of myself wearing necklace and earrings to post on here. Here is the only photo that shows both, doesn't show the camera and also doesn't make me look like a complete retard. :o)
Did I do good? Please say yes, I couldn't cope with starting over.
Friday, 1 October 2010
Friday, 10 September 2010
An unusually productive afternoon
I'm still not sure how I managed it but I have had a productive afternoon despite the fact that The Boy was working from home today. I managed to make a necklace (which I am currently wearing to make sure it's robust), a pair of earrings and two phone / handbag charms.
Earrings first. I have a pile of beads that I made from Fimo clay and they have been calling my name, so first up was a pair of earrings featuring 2 of my clay creations. They're big enough to catch the eye but lightweight because of the clay so they won't drag on the ear lobes:
Next up, two phone / handbag charms / zipper pulls, whatever people prefer to use them for. I was kind of designing both of them simultaneously, as I do, because I had two slightly different thoughts running through my mind at the same time. There was a bit of swapping about of components but the end result was one girly pink number featuring another of my hand made clay beads....
... and also a green and silver charm inspired by the lily pad in the dragonfly charm, eventually made using an irregular shaped lampworkk bead and some tiny semi-precious chips....
Last but not least, a necklace that I've been wanting to make for ages because the foiled beads have been taunting me from inside their box. In the end I didn't use many of them. I used more of the amber coloured glass beads and I finally found a project to use some of the lovely little round garnets that I bought ages ago. The theme here is kind of autumnal:
I'm spreading my wares around a bit at the moment so some are on Etsy.com, some on Misi.co.uk and some on Folksy.com (a new venture for me).
Earrings first. I have a pile of beads that I made from Fimo clay and they have been calling my name, so first up was a pair of earrings featuring 2 of my clay creations. They're big enough to catch the eye but lightweight because of the clay so they won't drag on the ear lobes:
Next up, two phone / handbag charms / zipper pulls, whatever people prefer to use them for. I was kind of designing both of them simultaneously, as I do, because I had two slightly different thoughts running through my mind at the same time. There was a bit of swapping about of components but the end result was one girly pink number featuring another of my hand made clay beads....
Last but not least, a necklace that I've been wanting to make for ages because the foiled beads have been taunting me from inside their box. In the end I didn't use many of them. I used more of the amber coloured glass beads and I finally found a project to use some of the lovely little round garnets that I bought ages ago. The theme here is kind of autumnal:
I'm spreading my wares around a bit at the moment so some are on Etsy.com, some on Misi.co.uk and some on Folksy.com (a new venture for me).
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
An educational weekend
As my last employer recently decided they could live without me and gave me a little cash to soften our parting of company, I decided to use some of that cash to learn some new jewellery making skills. I've always enjoyed technical things so I signed up for Beginners Silver Jewellery Techniques and Comprehensive introduction to Precious Metal Clay workshops, both of which took place over the weekend.
The silver techniques workshop on Saturday lasted two hours. That sounded like a reasonable length of time but when we actually got down to it, a little longer would have been good. We were given a tiny piece of silver sheet, and a load of tools including saws, texturing hammers, files, drills, etc. First we drew around our piece of silver on a sheet of paper a few times. Then we had a go at drawing shapes to use as templates inside the little rectangles. That was the easy bit. Next we had to cut out our templates and draw around them on the silver sheet. Here's mine:
Then it was time to do the scary part and actually cut out the pattern from the silver sheet using a very fine saw. That got harder as I went along because my big clumsy fingers wre rubbing off the pencil marks as I tried to hold the piece of silver steady. I got slower with each shape instead of quicker.
With all of the pieces cut out, the next step was to carefully file the ragged edges around each shape. Remarkably, I had managed to make all four pieces more or less the same. Result! I decided to use a texturing hammer on my pieces so for the next couple of minutes there was a bit of therapeutic hammering until all of my shapes had a similiar covering of aesthetically pleasing dents. The next challenge was to pierce all four in the same place with a hole for a jump ring and give the whole lot a polish. Someone has suggested my finished creations look like fishing lures. I'm inclined to agree but they are PRETTY fishing lures that will be transformed into earrings or a necklace:
The precious metal clay workshop on Sunday was an all day event with several projects to complete throughout the day. First up was the silver leaf. The tutor had very kindly collected some suitable leaves off a bush and we all chose one. For this we needed a pot of art clay silver paste and a paint brush.
We started off by carefully painting the back of the leaf with paste then setting it aside to dry. As the day went on we built up the layers of paste until it was about 1mm thick and let it dry before putting it in the kiln to fire.
For the next project we were given a 10 gram pack of silver clay, which doesn't look nearly big enough to do anything useful with. There were lots of pieces of jewellery in the middle of the table so we all had a look through them and decided what we wanted to make. There were tiny cookie cutters & texture mats as well to help us make our pieces unique. I decided to make an end cone. I know, that doesn't sound very exciting but there were some gorgeous pieces of jewellery on the table made with very pretty end cones. So we massaged our clay to condition it then rolled it out, textured it, cut it and, in most cases, balled it up and started again. It took me 4 attempts to get my end cone right. I had a little piece of clay left so I used it to make a couple of tiny textured hearts. If I had remembered to punch the holes on opposite sides I could have used them to make earrings. :) Never mind, I can use them as charms on a bracelet or something.
The last project of the day was a ring. Remarkably, a 10 gram pack of clay was enough to make a fairly chunky ring. This time we had to tackle ring mandrels. First we had to use a ring guage to size our chosen finger, then roll the clay, texture it, cut it and hope it fitted around the ring mandrel at the appropriate part for the size of ring we wanted. It did. Phew! The joining of the two ends was slightly tricky. Despite having bigger fingers than most of the other participants I had enough clay left over to make a ring topper, so I did. I carefully added the topper then left the ring to dry before firing. We were running over our allotted time by then but we were all enjoying ourselves and noone was desperate to leave so we stayed until our creations were fired. Look at the pretty things I made. I'm particularly pleased with the end cone so I will take care making it into a pendant:
I still need to drill a hole for a jump ring in my leaf. The ring is very slightly off-centre but I'll work on that and see if I can straighten it up a little without cracking the silver. It's perfectly wearable though and very comfortable. I will have to save up my pennies to buy some art clay and have a go at home.
The silver techniques workshop on Saturday lasted two hours. That sounded like a reasonable length of time but when we actually got down to it, a little longer would have been good. We were given a tiny piece of silver sheet, and a load of tools including saws, texturing hammers, files, drills, etc. First we drew around our piece of silver on a sheet of paper a few times. Then we had a go at drawing shapes to use as templates inside the little rectangles. That was the easy bit. Next we had to cut out our templates and draw around them on the silver sheet. Here's mine:
Then it was time to do the scary part and actually cut out the pattern from the silver sheet using a very fine saw. That got harder as I went along because my big clumsy fingers wre rubbing off the pencil marks as I tried to hold the piece of silver steady. I got slower with each shape instead of quicker.
With all of the pieces cut out, the next step was to carefully file the ragged edges around each shape. Remarkably, I had managed to make all four pieces more or less the same. Result! I decided to use a texturing hammer on my pieces so for the next couple of minutes there was a bit of therapeutic hammering until all of my shapes had a similiar covering of aesthetically pleasing dents. The next challenge was to pierce all four in the same place with a hole for a jump ring and give the whole lot a polish. Someone has suggested my finished creations look like fishing lures. I'm inclined to agree but they are PRETTY fishing lures that will be transformed into earrings or a necklace:
The precious metal clay workshop on Sunday was an all day event with several projects to complete throughout the day. First up was the silver leaf. The tutor had very kindly collected some suitable leaves off a bush and we all chose one. For this we needed a pot of art clay silver paste and a paint brush.
We started off by carefully painting the back of the leaf with paste then setting it aside to dry. As the day went on we built up the layers of paste until it was about 1mm thick and let it dry before putting it in the kiln to fire.
For the next project we were given a 10 gram pack of silver clay, which doesn't look nearly big enough to do anything useful with. There were lots of pieces of jewellery in the middle of the table so we all had a look through them and decided what we wanted to make. There were tiny cookie cutters & texture mats as well to help us make our pieces unique. I decided to make an end cone. I know, that doesn't sound very exciting but there were some gorgeous pieces of jewellery on the table made with very pretty end cones. So we massaged our clay to condition it then rolled it out, textured it, cut it and, in most cases, balled it up and started again. It took me 4 attempts to get my end cone right. I had a little piece of clay left so I used it to make a couple of tiny textured hearts. If I had remembered to punch the holes on opposite sides I could have used them to make earrings. :) Never mind, I can use them as charms on a bracelet or something.
The last project of the day was a ring. Remarkably, a 10 gram pack of clay was enough to make a fairly chunky ring. This time we had to tackle ring mandrels. First we had to use a ring guage to size our chosen finger, then roll the clay, texture it, cut it and hope it fitted around the ring mandrel at the appropriate part for the size of ring we wanted. It did. Phew! The joining of the two ends was slightly tricky. Despite having bigger fingers than most of the other participants I had enough clay left over to make a ring topper, so I did. I carefully added the topper then left the ring to dry before firing. We were running over our allotted time by then but we were all enjoying ourselves and noone was desperate to leave so we stayed until our creations were fired. Look at the pretty things I made. I'm particularly pleased with the end cone so I will take care making it into a pendant:
I still need to drill a hole for a jump ring in my leaf. The ring is very slightly off-centre but I'll work on that and see if I can straighten it up a little without cracking the silver. It's perfectly wearable though and very comfortable. I will have to save up my pennies to buy some art clay and have a go at home.
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