I had a little trouble with this one. In the craft book it's a single sheet of thin gauge copper folded into a shelf. I of course decided to go with two pieces of tin. This made the whole foling it over a huge pain! so while it isn't as crisp as it could be I still think it came out rather beautiful.
Only a few a days left for my give away !
two posts in one day.
I wanted to share some pictures of what a friend and I are working on. We're both sort of going throu a creative slump and we decided to work our way through one of my many many jewelry craft books we chose this one . I'm going to do every project even the earrings which I myself don't wear . here are the first two projects in the book .
This was the first project . I of course didn't use the same materials as the book and instead went with enameled bits that I've been making . I love the enamel gear ! I need to make a ton more .
The second project was a pair of folded metal earrings . the projects in the book are very rustic and use a lot of plain or textured coppers and silver . Since I have a ton of tin and love color I went with that. I think these came out looking like little lunch bags .
Artfest was a huge blast. I had a ton of fun and now i'm inspired to make colorful spring works . I was even lucky and sold both my necklaces ! if either of the lovely people who bought them read this please drop me a note ! I love hearing from people who have bought my work .
On to the classes ! On my first day i took Liesel Lund's Tin Charming . I'm sure it sounds kinda nutty that i took a tin jewelry class when thats what i already make . I took the class so that i could be a dear friend's helper monkey. She has problem carrying all that weight and has never before done metal work . We had a blast ! this is the necklace i made . i decided to branch out and try riveting something to my focal point .
I think sometime next week i'll list it and a few other pieces inspired by spring in the etsy shop !
On the second day I took Melisa Manely 's porthole pendant class . This one was so much fun. I already knew how to solder and use tabs but I had never thought to combine them in this way ! I can definitely see myself making things similar to this for my work . Maybe larger for pendants and smaller for charms . Each piece is reversible with some having a window with an image and others are my own etched copper .
I really want to try making these with the brass pipe I have and maybe etching the pipe itself !
My last day of classes was I think my favorite ! i took Linda and Opie O'Brien's collage a trois {tin collage class} I've been experimenting on my own with making large tin wall art but this class really helped me with easier ways to hammer in the tiny nails and how to approach the background . I'm itching to make more ,larger pieces !
as spring is everywhere i think I'm going to once again go to battle with the giant mess known as my studio. I always toy with taking before and after pics but I am simply too embarrassed by just how bad I let it get .
Ok so you want to try making recycled tin jewelry right ? Where to start ? taking the tins apart of course !
Here's what you'll need
Tins ! I get mine at thrift stores from friends and flea markets . Some times ou can even get gorgeous imagery from spice tins !
heavy duty tin snips . The ones that are straight ! the curved ones are for cutting curves and thats not what we want .
detail tin snips . I'm pretty sure these are just rose shears but you can find them Here .
a hammer for beating the tin flat
and not pictured a box . You will want a safe secure place to put all those clippings . these things are razor sharp !
So why is the can opener in the picture ? to remind me to mention that while you can use it to open round tins it will not work for oval or square and it will leave a strange scratch all along the bottom. yuck !
Big Giant Note of caution !!!!! I don't use gloves . As these bits are razor sharp ,it'll cut through them. Be aware of where your hands are in relation to sharp bits !
That bit said lets get started .
The first thing we're going to take apart is the lid . Pull it off ,sometimes there hinge ,I find bending it back and forth will cause this to snap off . take your heavy duty shears and cut a wedge in the lip of the lid like so.
put the wedge in your sharp bits box and then go around the entire lid with your snips. Your cutting away the lip of the piece . Periodically cut off the sharp bit and throw it away.
this is what your left with
We could stop here but let's take apart the rest of the tin.
This parts a little harder to explain. Flip your tin over and holding the snips at a slight angle begin to cut off the ridge . This does require hand strength. Just like the lid your going to cut the lip off all the way around the tin.
As the part your cutting away get longer snip it off and toss it in the box. Nothing hurts like having that piece cut the back of your hand .
So after cutting off lip this is what your left with
Now look for the seam . on tins with corners that usually where it is . We're going to cut just along one side of the seam to open up the tin .
Once thats done this is what your left with . but we're not done yet . With your hands carefully straighten the piece out .Now your going to want to cut off the seam
Take your detail shears and cut off the inner rim . If you cut continuously and not let the blade fully close you'll be left with a much neater edge .
Your going to do the same to the other side . this neatens the piece of metal up and cuts off any stray burs that could cut you later .
Ok tomorrow I'll show you what to do with your tin !
And boy does it suck . I have so many things I want to do but I just can't right now.
But as promised here's a picture of my second tin collage . this one isn't finished as i think I want to add more to it .
Just a quick shot of something i worked on this week. i'm thinking about doing a series of them for the eventual opening of the new shop .
As promised here are the pictures of the new series of pendants I've been working on . So far I only have two and 1/2 finished . Half you say ? Well one is still awaiting two more rivets and then it too will be finished .
This is the first one I made . It was originally going to be a broach and I was going to fold a tin backing to it. That failed and so I was left with this little tin collage . After digging through my findings stash I found the bezels I picked up at Ornamentea ,they were perfect !
The second one is my favorite ! I think it's the teeny tiny couple ! They were a bit of a challenge to saw out . The rivets are a combination of steel wire and brass escutcheon pins.
My plan is to eventually make my own boxes . Once Ryan and i build the hydraulic press ,I'm going to experiment with shapes and dies .
I really can't wait. I fell in love with the press at penland ,there are just so many things I want to make !
I can finally get back to work ! The studio now has an window ac unit. You have no idea how hot it would get in my studio!
So i've been spending most of my time outside breaking down new tins. My goal is start separating it by color and then start working on larger wall art pieces. i also have a few "shadow box "tin collage pendants I've been working on. I can't help it , I love my jewelers saw.
I've already "set" the Asian girl into her pendant. the cool thing that you can't really see is how 3d the whole piece is . She stand up from the background and her fan stand a wee bit higher . I love the look of it as it reminds of dioramas I used to make in school.
The flower is sort of a "sketch" so to speak . I wanted to play with layering tin and copper to make a sort of framed image . The only problem was i didn't make the frame is wide as it really needed to be so my tube rivets kind of hang off the edge . But that's why I do these sort of "sketches " it's a good way for me to work out the kinks .
Also in other news I got a flex shaft !!! I am so happy to no longer be limited to the size of hole I can drill and all the other amazing things this tool can do.
Hopefully the sun will be on my side and I can snap some pictures of the two finished shadow box pendants.