Torching

So this afternoon I decided to pick out a few copper plates and torch them. There are 2 plates that have an embossed pattern and these react to the heat by turning white. On the back they have turned orange. The flat plate has a more interesting pattern - lots of reds- but it is definitely in no way similar to using liver of sulphur. The LoS has a real vintage look. And the torching can be dangerous. While trying to remember not to touch the hot item and use my tongs, I nevertheless picked it up with my fingers. Eek! My index finger and thumb are blistered.

Beading version number 10 - or less

I decided to work at another heart necklace (a la Nancy Donaldson). OK. I know you don't want to hear any more of my whining so all I will say is that I strung on too many rows. Yuck. Well, here it is.

I decided that I was going to do one as a birthday gift and because I wanted to use purples, I had to go to Arton to get some more beads. And necklace ribbon, and faux silver beads, and copper and chain, and I don't know what else but it came to $100. How did that happen? Then one of the owners told me to check out the store next door. It's another version of Arton except that the beads are semi-precious, freshwater pearls, sterling silver etc. What did I buy that totaled $90. Honestly, I don't know how I do it. It's scary. I'm not even going to make jewellery and so I'm guessing that I will use these supplies in mixed media stuff. I think I'm a sucker for coloured and sparkley things.

I decided to get back to making some copper book necklaces which requires the copper be vintaged using liver of sulphur. I opened up the jar of solution and immediately I knew there was something wrong. Firstly it had no aroma (it should have smelled like stinky rotten eggs). Plus the solution was clear, not yellow. I left the copper plates in the solution for 4 hours with no reaction. I guess even caustic solutions have a best before....it was 2 years that it was last opened. So today I zoomed down to Lacy's and picked up a new bottle. I tried it out and it was too strong and the copper plates turned black. Must figure out a new recipe. It's always something...

Annual Holly Jolly Sale

Well, the annual Holly Jolly Christmas sale has come and gone and Karen Arts did a wonderful job of organizing the event. For the last 6 weeks I've been trying to increase my inventory of fabric boxes. It's such a labour intensive project and I was so bummed out by the time frame that the boxes I created were 'to die from'. I ended up throwing out 4. I had decided that the 11 I had already made would have to suffice. It turned out that my boxes generated more interest than I could have imagined. So I have to admit that I was so pleasantly surprised and it was a boost to my self confidence.

Here are some of the boxes sold:

Urban Wildlife

I seem to have become obsessed with befriending squirrels and birds. Particularly pigeons. Clearly I do not have enough to do. I know that people hate pigeons because they're messy but to me they have the same allure as other small city birds. I walk around with walnuts in my pockets and birdseed in ziplock baggies. During the summer there was a flock of around 50 pigeons that used to roost on top of the Shoppers Drug Mart sign. One day they were all gone -
Shoppers had installed metal spikes on top of the sign. Most of the birds took up residence on the roof of the church across the road but essentially, they stopped coming across the road to forage for food. Yesterday I saw a lone pigeon at Yonge and Finch pecking at cigarette butts looking for food. How tragic is that. I whipped out my birdseed and scattered them around and this little guy was so accurate picking out each kernel, one at a time. I felt very satisfied that I was helping a homeless animal.
As for the squirrels - the ones around my building are pretty tame and come to me when called. I was really surprised to discover that squirrels have lousy eyesight. I can place nuts all around it and the squirrel runs all over the place looking for goodies and not finding anything. Maybe they need to touch and nose things first. After tossing about 6 nuts around this guy he finally found the one I placed right under his nose. Earlier in the year this little guy used to jump up on my purse as I rummaged around for the bag of treats. Yeah, yeah I know it's a rodent - big deal.

Attack of the evil toenails

Well I finally did it. After a summer of excruciating pain in the big toes I finally went to the podiatrist to have toenail surgery which involves yanking out the offending portions of nail from the bone. Just the thought of it gave me the willies. My girlfriend had a like response and announced that it was worse than having needles stuck in one's eyes. I don't know where she gets this. Eyeballs freak me out. The podiatrist froze me completely so I felt nothing. Except for the needle prick. Now that the freezing is wearing off I'm sore. So I'm going to take advantage of my justified inactivity and go to bed under the duvet with my girls. And 'baby it's cold outside'.
No pictures of my toes available.

You've gotta have heart

Yesterday was a wonderful day taking a jewellery class from Nancy Donaldson. The inspiration came as a result of Nancy wearing her necklace for the Jane Wynn workshops a few weeks ago. Leslie and Irene rounded out the class of three and this guaranteed all kinds of special attention from our teacher. Beyond the techniques to be learned, the goal was to come away with a necklace of our own doing finished and ready to wear. It's surprising how a once clever girl (i.e. myself) could have so many problems taking on new skills. All I could see in my heart was the mistakes. But it looks fine from a distance and I'm determined to do a few more necklaces depending on where to find the materials. I've been on-line for half a day searching in vain for rebar wire.

You've gotta have heart

I've been looking forward to a class with Nancy Donaldson for weeks now. Yesterday it happened with Irene and Leslie as the 2 other students. So nice to have so much individual attention. Especially since what looked like an easy, straightforward project required all kinds of manual dexterity and problem solving abilities. What's happened to me...? I used to be pretty clever but in my old age I find myself helpless in learning something new.

I first saw Nancy's heart necklace (and Leslie was also wearing one too ) at the Jane Wynn workshop several weeks ago. I lusted after it. Hence the motivation for taking this class from Nancy and here are the results. Of course all I could see were my mistakes but from a distance it looks fine. It's so hard to find the materials necessary - I've been on-line half the day looking for rebar wire.