Why the Hell Not?

Feather/Leaf Bracelet Part Two

Yesterday, I made another fold formed copper bracelet.  This one I will be donating to a silent auction for a fundraiser I'm helping to organize.  I wanted to donate something cool and unusual, that will hopefully get lots of bids.  If I'm feeling froggy, I may make another one (though with a different finish) for the auction next week.  

Remember these bracelets?  Well, yesterday I made one using the same technique, only I did not flip it inside out.  Thus, the fold in this one is on the inside of the bracelet, rather than on the outside.

Here's my bracelet -

I did what's called a torch patina on the metal, meaning the coloring is all from torch work.  It's a very inexact method and you never quite know what you'll get.  You heat the metal until you get the look you want and then you let it cool slowly.  When you heat metal and let it cool slowly, it stays hard and inflexible and will hold its shape.

I noticed that this copper kept having a bluish tint when I was heating it for annealing and hoped that I would be able to get that same tint in a patina.  I lucked out.  It's actually even more blue in artificial light.  The patina has the same effect as a fire opal does - it changes as you move it under light.  I have to admit, I'm amazed at myself for not only getting it to that point, but also for having the willpower to stop heating it so I didn't lose the patina! 

I love the rose gold look of the metal too.  It's amazing what you can do to just plain copper.  Also, I did seal the metal with wax to help hold the patina on.  That does slightly dull the shine, but also helps to prevent turning the wearer's skin green (from the copper).

Here's another picture -

And the last one (a picture of the ends) -

The reason the ends are sort of scalloped is because I forged them when the metal was folded.  This stretched the metal in places, forming a scalloped look. 

An Outfit for Little Miss

When Little Miss and Mr. Why came to visit for Camp Kiki 2010 Summer Edition, Little Miss picked out a stamp set she wanted me to use to make her an outfit.  She picked Heartfelt Creations' Innoscents Flowers 2.  While the kids worked on their Father's Day projects, I stamped out the flowers onto duck cloth.  And then I set the project aside.  A few weeks later, I painted and cut out the flowers.  Then I set it aside again.  Today, finally, I finished the project.  Just in time too as school starts next week and she just might want to wear this during her first week!

Presenting, Little Miss' outfit -

And a matching headband as she's really into headbands these days -

 

All are appropriately blinged up, as bling is an important thing to a six year old.  Here are some detail shots of the shirt that show both the painting detail and the bling -

 

I hand sewed them to the shirt and only attached them in the middle so the flowers would move with wear and washing.  I also added a solution to the acrylic paint to make it fabric safe and added a clear paint to it as well.  This made the paint slightly more translucent and made it easier to blend colors on the flowers.

As for the belt, I stamped the smallest flower in Azure Stazon (stamped off once first) all over the outside of the belt.  It's hard to see the detail in this picture, but the detail does show in person.

 

The belt "buckle."  The actual buckle is a set of "D" rings, but I sewed this on top to partially hide the fastener. 

 

And lastly, a little side detail of the headband.  This is the only flower that I sewed down on the sides and the middle.  It will somewhat limit it's movement, but it needed the stability.  I bought the headband premade at the dollar store (I think). 

I hope you enjoyed them!

In case you're wondering, I used duck cloth because it's quite stiff and will help hold the flower shape.  I did not seal the edges so they will fray over time, adding to the vintage look of the outfit.  I used slightly more than half of the duck cloth I bought for this outfit.  Speaking of fraying, I hand sewed a line down both ends of the webbing to seal the belt to hopefully prevent fraying. 

Supplies -

Heartfelt Creations Innoscents Flowers 2 stamp set (HCPC 2242), 1/8 yard cream Duck cloth, 1/2 yard cream webbing (for belt), 2 "D" rings, Making Memories scrapbook paints, acrylic paint additive to make it safe for fabric, clear acrylic paint blender, Stazon Black ink, Stazon Azure ink, Gutermann thread, needle, paint brushes, various Swarovski crystal beads, t-shirt, headband

Heartfelt Creations Design Team Entry

In June, I discovered a wonderful stamp company named Heartfelt Creations at the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington.  Once I saw these stamps in action, I instantly fell in love!  I've been playing around with them for a few weeks and am finally able to share some completed samples with you.  Since I mostly see Heartfelt Creations' stamps stamped on white card stock and colored in, I decided to play around with the images and see what else I could create.  I did try coloring one of them (and have quite a few colored that I just haven't made into finished products), as they do color beautifully.  The following three projects are my submission projects for their design team call.  I hope you enjoy them!

Oh, and check back tomorrow as I plan to finally finish the rockstar outfit I've been making for my six year old niece using Heartfelt Creations stamps.  When she was here in June, she picked which stamp set she wanted me to use and I've been slowly working on the projects ever since.  I hope the outfit I'll be sending her soon will make her the hit of her first grade class!  As a hint, it involves paint and canvas...

Project #1 - a Thinking of You card -

This is a 4.25" x 4.25" square card, so it'll fit into a regular A2 envelope.  Keep scrolling down for detail shots and a supply list.

Here's a shot of the interior -

I did something interesting on the interior.  I wanted to use the third stamp in the set, but needed a large space.  I also needed to stamp it in a light color so you could read the sentiment on top of it, as well as anything I write in the card before I send it.  So, I inked the stamp with Memento's Desert Sand and then pounced Memento's Rich Cocoa ink randomly on top.  Lastly, I stamped it off twice before stamping it onto the white card stock.  This technique gave the image a weathered look which works well with the vintage feel of this card.

Here's a detail shot of the medallion and the pleated front -

To pleat the paper, I scored the paper every 1/4" and then folded the paper to get the look I wanted.  I did apply a bit of adhesive (ATG) under each pleat to make the paper easier to handle.  Once I'd pleated my piece, I ran it through the Big Shot with a square scalloped Nestie to cut it into the shape I wanted.

The medallion was a combination of the faux metal technique and a happy accident.  First, I smooshed SU's Very Vanilla craft ink over a scrap piece of card stock.  Then, I sprinkled Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) in Bronze on top and removed the excess.  I heated the paper with my heat tool until the embossing powder was fully melted.  Then, I quickly added another layer of UTEE, removed the excess, and heated again until melted.  I repeated this process until I had five layers of UTEE, a nice thick coat.  Then, I smooshed my stamp into the melted embossing powder.  To my horror, my melted embossing powder came up with the stamp when I lifted!  I about died.  It was embedded in the stamp!  Thankfully, when it cooled, I could peel it off.  Some of it came off in once piece, including the popped up part that's now in the middle of the medallion. 

For my second try, I did the correct thing of protecting my stamp with ink before smooshing into the hot liquid.  This time, I inked the stamp with Very Vanilla craft ink, which is why you see cream in the recesses of the medallion.  Since I am a waste not want not girl, I cut out the middle of the medallion that I pulled out of the stamp and popped it up to give the medallion extra dimension. 

Let me know what you think!

Supply List -

Card stock - SU's Chocolate Chip and Bronze, PTI White

Patterned Paper - Basic Grey

Stamps - Heartfelt Creations GRS-228A

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa (for stamping and inking edges), Memento Desert Sand, SU Craft Ink in Very Vanilla

Tools - Spellbinders Shapeabilities Pendants - Fleur de Lis, Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Scalloped Squares Large, Martha Stewart Score Board

Accessories - UTEE in Bronze, heat tool, Tim Holtz Distresser, Swarovski pearls, SU Chocolate Chip satin ribbon

Adhesives - Scotch ATG, SU's Dimensionals, Zip Dry

Techniques - Faux Metal, Pouncing, pleating paper

Project #2 - Life is Good Card -

 

As you can see, I did do a bit of coloring on this one!  I couldn't help it; I had to!  Unfortunately, I made it a few weeks ago and forgot to write down the Copic colors I used. Sorry about that!

A close up of the flower -

 

Isn't it pretty?  I love this stamp set.  I cut the flower from a much larger image.  Even though there are only three stamps in this set, it's quite versatile. 

I also used the technique of Faux Suede on the background of this card (I used the same technique in the next project as well).  It's a super easy one to do - just crumple your card stock then peel off the top layer.  You'll be left with a rough texture that looks similar to suede.  Crumpling your card stock breaks the fibers enough that you can peel the top layer off.

Supply List -

Card stock - PTI White, New Leaf, and Kraft

Patterned Paper - October Afternoon

Stamps - Heartfelt Creations Lilacs/Posy Bouquet - HCPC 3302

Ink - Memento Black, PTI New Leaf (stamped off once for main image), Colorbox Chestnut Roan (for inking edges)

Tools - Sizzix On the Edge Die - Brackets, SU Ticket Corner Punch

Accessories - SU Linen Thread, SU button, Basic Grey ribbon, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (for stapling the ribbon into shape)

Adhesives - Scotch ATG, SU's Dimensionals, Zip Dry

Project #3 - Wedding Details Scrapbook Page -

My husband and I got married in the month of December.  Our colors were crimson, olive green, and muted gold.  Conveniently, the church and wedding reception location were already decorated for Christmas in those colors...  And, conveniently, they were both decorated with poinsettias, just like the ones in the Heartfelt Creations Regal Poinsettia 2 set...

This shot shows my sister, also my matron of honor, buttoning up the back of my gown.  Our photographer, Ryan Green Photography, took many "detail" shots.  I'm a sucker for detail shots, especially those taken with a journalist's eye.  As I make my way through scrapbooking my wedding, I can't help but include as many of those detail shots as possible.  This page is just an example of the detail shots.  I also plan to post more of my wedding pages as Ryan Green Photography was gracious enough to give me rights to publish their pictures (and submit them for publication elsewhere), so long as I mention their name.  I love that they were so willing to work with me, are fabulous photographers, and such nice people.

For this page, I decided to go mostly monochromatic.  My entire book is based on black and white with a touch of red, green, gold, and silver (yes, I mixed metallics).  This color palette made it easy to work with the mixture of color and black and white photographs that I have.

Here's a detail shot of my faux suede gray poinsettia embellishments -

I made sheets of faux suede using SU's Basic Gray and then stamped the poinsettia images onto the card stock.  Ironically, I hand cut out each image.  I say ironically as: (1) I'm rarely a fussy cutter, (2) I'm a tool fanatic and have the Nesties that match this set, and (3) when given the choice of cutting something out by hand or using a tool I rarely choose the hand method.  However, it was so nice to only do one of something (since I tend to make cards in bulk) and I really enjoyed the monotony of doing the mindless task of massive cutting.  Plus, these images are super easy and quick to cut out by hand!  Love that design feature!

I also stamped the middles of the flowers on Bazzill Crimson textured card stock and paper pieced those onto the top flower.  Each layer of the flowers is popped up on Dimensionals.  The top left flower is also popped up on double stacked Dimensionals, so it sits above the other two flowers.

A detail shot of the bottom border, made by piecing cut out stamped images -

 

To make this border, I used Stazon Black to stamp the largest poinsettia in this set onto Silver Textured Card Stock (DCWV).   Then, I cut the flowers out.  I stamped the medium poinsettia onto Basic Gray card stock (SU) and cut those out.  I then cut the medium poinsettias in half.  I ran a line of adhesive (ATG) onto the back of the black card stock.  I pieced the medium poinsettias onto the card stock, arranging them how I liked them.  I then ran another line of adhesive on top of the pieced medium poinsettias.  I then adhered the large poinsettias so that they stuck farther out than the medium ones.  Lastly, I adhered the entire black card stock piece to the background paper using Dimensionals.  I used Zip Dry to adhere the crimson pleated ribbon just above the edge of the black card stock.  I love the look of this border!  I hope you love it too.

I also stamped the photo mat with Basic Gray ink (on top of Basic Gray paper) to give it some added dimension.  I used the last stamp in the set to frame in the photo by stamping it in Snow White.

Supply List -

Card stock - PTI White, New Leaf, and Kraft, SU Basic Gray and Basic Black, Die Cuts with a View Silver Textured, Bazzill Crimson Textured Card Stock

Patterned Paper - Die Cuts with a View

Stamps - Heartfelt Creations Regal Poinsettia 2 - HCPC 2291

Ink - Stazon Black, Memento Black, PTI Snow White

Accessories - Ranger Inksentials White Gel Pen, Swarovski pearls, May Arts (I think) pleated crimson ribbon

Adhesives - Scotch ATG, SU's Dimensionals, Zip Dry

Techniques - Faux Suede, Paper Piecing

I hope you enjoyed seeing my submissions.  Let me know what you think!

Key Lime Cookies

A while back I made Key Lime Curd.  I figured it was about time that I used some, so I went searching for key lime cookie recipes.  I came upon this one.  It sounded good, but I did not have any more key lime juice.  So, I modified. 

It annoys my dad that I modify every recipe, even on the first try, but I do it anyway.  It usually starts out of necessity - I want to make a certain recipe but I am missing an ingredient.  Or, out of dislike - I want to make a certain recipe but I don't like a particular ingredient.  Sometimes though I'm just feeling froggy and want to change the recipe and do it my own way.  They usually work out.  Of course, this serves to only fuel my need to change things from their "original" form more...  So, off I go continuing to modify. 

In the case of the Key Lime Cookies, modification yielded a downright awesome result.  I do need to make one revision of the recipe - using a greased cookie sheet (or just greasing the foil).  Parchment might work, but I think they'd stick to that too.  They're quite soft and chewy and sticky...hence the picture of them on the baking pan -

A close up of one of those bad boys -

The end product is about a three inch cookie.  They spread considerably and still reached out and touched one another when I put them several inches apart on the cookie sheet.  So, you'll need to give them some serious room to bake.

I also took a shot of the last bits of dough cooking in the oven.  The picture reminds me of the old Mervyn's commercial with the lady standing outside of the store saying, "Open! Open! Open!"  Here I was saying, "Bake! Bake! Bake!"  I'd already tasted the dough (it was fabulous), the curd (yum), and the finished product (divine) and was ready to them all to be done!  I couldn't help but modify the photo a bit to give it a bit of vintage flair.

 

Here's the recipe (my modified version) -

Ingredients

For the Cookie -

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup Key Lime Curd
• 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Filling -

• 2 cups Key Lime Curd
• 1/3 cup sugar (use only if your curd is too sour for your taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Paste or Vanilla Extract (I used paste)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar well. Add the eggs 1 at a time and the 1/2 cup of Key Lime Curd.  Mix well.  Add salt and baking powder.  Mix well.  Gradually add the flour to the mixture until incorporated. You may need to add additional flour to your mixture.  My Key Lime Curd made it moist enough that I added an extra 1/4 cup of flour.  Dough should be stiff but not dry. 

Place 2 cups of Key Lime Curd into a mixing bowl.  If the curd is too sour for your taste, add sugar to sweeten it to your taste.  I used 1/3 cup of sugar on mine and it made it perfect.  Add vanilla and stir well.

Lightly grease your cookie sheets or used pre-greased parchment or aluminum foil to line your cookie sheets.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls, press thumb into center of balls to make an indentation, being careful not to press through to the bottom. I like to also smoosh the cookies flatter on the pan so I can make a bigger filling hole.  Place your cookies no closer than 3 inches apart as they will spread considerably.  Fill indentations with about 1 tablespoon Key lime curd filling mixture.

Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Enjoy!

Makes 4-5 dozen, depending on how much dough you eat.

Judy's Pin

I couldn't give a fellow artist the Breast Cancer pin I'd made for her without giving it to her in a proper box.  I took a plain white Container Store box and turned it into this -

I used Prima papers for decorating the box, some extra Close to My Heart flowers I had stamped and cut out ages ago and had left over from a card kit,  Making Memories ribbon I was hoarding (from last year's travel line), Stampin' Up!'s twine and rhinestone brad, and metal charms from that same CTMH kit.  I wrote the words "Hope" and "Faith" using a black Sharpie.  I also popped the flowers up slightly using SU's Dimensionals.  Just about everything was inked with Colorbox's Chestnut Roan chalk ink. I  learned that a glossy white box does not take chalk ink well...  Hence, I lined the top inside of the box to hide my smudges.  I hand cut the leaves from the green Prima paper.

I intended to use the extra piece of green paper you see to write a nice note about the piece, and forgot.  Zoinks!

Here's a view that shows you some of the dimension of the piece -

A close up on the charms.  Note that I tied the twine and arranged the charms so that the twine was in the shape of a ribbon. -

 

One last detail shot of the box top -

The most important shot of all of my pictures of this project is the next one.  It's of Judy after I'd given her the pin.  She loved it!  I hope that it helps her through her breast cancer and reminds her that she is loved.

A Present for Judy...

Mark's aunt Judy has breast cancer.  Thankfully, it's treatable.  However, the treatment is difficult and long as it's compounded by her other health problems.  Through it all she maintains her typical Judy positive attitude.

Judy is also a crafter.  Like me, she's tried just about every craft out there.  Unlike me, she excels at painting.  In fact, her crafting skills compliment mine well as we're good at different things. 

Since Judy truly appreciates crafters/artists, I decided to make her a gift in metal.  This was truly a labor of love as it was my first time to set a stone, first pendant, first pin, and first of so many other things.  However, I think it turned out quite well.  It's also symbolic. 

See if you can guess the meaning -

The ribbon is made of 18 gauge Sterling Silver that I cut into the shape.  I hand drew the shape from memory.  I used my ball ping hammer to forge a texture into the ribbon.  It's polished to a high shine, which makes it very hard to take a good picture.  The ends of the ribbon are also curved up to give the ribbon more life.

The cross is of highly polished copper (it's not enameled like the picture looks).  I also hand drew and cut it.  The pink stone is a 4mm round cut Pink Tourmaline and is set in a Sterling Silver tube.  I drilled a hole in the back of the piece to allow more light to come through the stone to enhance shine.

Here's the back -

 

The bail is made of the same tubing the stone is set in.  The pin back, however, is hand made (and hand sharpened) from 16 gauge Sterling Silver wire. 

Judy can wear this as either a pin or a pendant.  I figured she'd appreciate the versatility.  The finished piece is about an inch wide by 2.5 inches long.  The wavy edges of the ribbon were created when I forged the texture into it.  

I aimed towards making a classier version of the typical breast cancer ribbon and including a cross.  I think I succeeded. I plan to give it to her today and hope she likes it!

As for the meaning, you probably guessed it.  It's simple.  Hope plus Faith gets you through the fight.  Of course you need medicine too, but the patient can only fight with hope and faith.  Doctors provide the medicine.

This gift is also a temporary one.  It's meant to be passed along as a sort of good luck charm.  When she's cured, she can pass it to a friend or family member that needs it.  Hopefully, she'll be cured and never need to pass it.  However, breast cancer is currently prevalent enough that she will have to pass it to someone she knows.  Or maybe this will be the decade that we find the cure.  Through hope and faith, science just might...

Yummy - Key Lime Curd

Today I started out on an adventure.  An adventure to make curd.  See, I usually avoid any recipe that requires me to stir constantly.  The one and only time I made fudge I burned the tar out of it.  I didn't stir enough. 

I don't like to stir.  I like to ignore.  So, custard recipes are out.  And curd is a custard.  But, I was in Fiesta and the bags of key limes were only $1.50 for a 2 pound bag.  That's about as cheap as they get.  They tend to hit this price in the dead of Winter and in the hottest part of Summer, so key limes must have two seasons around here.  I bought two bags yesterday and pledged to make curd.  I knew that if I put it off, I'd never make it, so I made a point to make it today. 

Have I mentioned that I LOVE key limes?  They're fabulous in just about anything - Cokes, tea, water, Caipirinhas, beer...you name it.  But I've never used them in baking.  Weird, I know.  Especially since I'm a baker. 

For the curd, I used this recipe.  Since I had eight million limes and was determined to use them all, I made a batch that was 5x the recipe. Thankfully I didn't try 6x as it wouldn't have fit into my pan! 

I also varied the recipe slightly.  I eyeballed (and went for the high side) the zest.  I used the zest of 9 key limes and it was too much.  The resulting curd is a bit too bitter.  But, and that's a big but, if you put it onto something sweet (i.e. a cookie or ice cream) it works quite well.  I'll still actually follow the recipe next time and *gasp* measure the zest.  I guess I found the one case where more is not a good thing!

I also used salted butter, in case you care.

Wanna see my curd?

Ain't she purty?  I did strain the curd before jarring. I figured that was important since I forgot to strain the seeds out of the juice before cooking.  Oops.

I also used both pint and half-pint jars.  Figured I could give away the half-pint ones and keep the big boys for myself. 

Also, after doing quite a bit of research, I determined that I should NOT can the curd.  It needs to be refrigerated or frozen.  Basically, the combination of eggs and not enough acidity make it a bad idea to can.  Plus, you only get up to 3 months of shelf life with canning this product, which is not much.  With freezing, however, you get up to a year of shelf life.  If you decide to refrigerate it, you get 3 weeks of shelf life. 

The original recipe makes about a pint.  Since I quintupled the recipe, it made about 5 pints - enough for a couple of pies or whatever else I can think of.  I did once make almond tartlets (I used almond butter cookie dough as the crust) and filled them with lemon curd after baking the crusts.  They were to die for, and I'd imagine the key lime curd would go nicely with almonds as well. 

Did I mention that this recipe is cheap to make?  When Mark and I were in Central Market this weekend, I looked longingly at a jar of Key Lime Curd.  He told me to buy it if I wanted it so much.  My response?  "But it's $7 for this tiny little jar of goodness."  He shrugged and walked off. 

How much did my version cost?  About $8...for 5 pints.  That "little jar" was either an 8 or 12 ounce jar.  So, I made more than 5 times the amount for the same price.  Here's the breakdown:

15 eggs - $0.99 (Fiesta had a sale on for 18 for 99 cents. I still have 3 eggs left but rounded up on cost.)

2 - 2 lb. sacks of key limes - $3.98 ($1.49 each)

2 1/2 cups sugar - $1.10 (I used about half of a 4 lb package and the full package was $2.19.)

Just under a pound of butter - $2.00 (love store brand butter prices!)

Reused jars - "free"

Total: $8.07.  

Total of on jar of pre-made stuff with tax: $7.57.  Total cost for 80 oz of the pre-made stuff (assuming it comes in 12 oz jars) - $50.47.  (Assuming it comes in 8 oz jars) - $75.70.  That's quite a difference!

So, for a whopping 50 cents more  than the cost of one jar I have at least 5 times as much curd.  Now, granted, I didn't use all of the same ingredients as they do in their curd.  After all, I didn't use preservatives.  

If you want to figure jar prices in there too, add $5 to the total.  The jars run about $1 each new.  And, since you're not truly canning them, you can reuse the lids.  I do plan to cover the lids with Press n' Seal as well before freezing since the liquid was not hot enough to create a true vacuum. 

Off to enjoy my curd!

Hey Kiki...

Um, um...remember when you told me that we could go to the Zoo and talk to a scientist about something I found?  Well, I want to go.  And I brought a rock to trade for points so I could get some stuff.

Okay.

And off we went to the Dallas Zoo.  What?  You haven't been lately?  Well, you should go.  It's renovated, they have a new and rocking cool Savanna exhibit, and they even have the trading post that Mr. Future Banker loved.  After all, where else can you sit eye to eye with a geologist and talk about a rock your aunt brought you from Oldupai Gorge, show your "journal" on the topic (which Mr. Future Banker called a speech he "threw together" the night before Camp Kiki began), and get points you can spend on getting more fossils and cool stuff?  In a word, the Dallas Zoo "rocks."  Um, literally.  At least literally in the Trading Post.  

And here Mr. Future Banker discusses the incredible value of the rock he brought.  If you look closely, his speech is he piece of paper on the bottom left of the desk.  It now resides on my fridge as it's one of those things that you keep forever.  It marks that key time in his eighth year where he put the pamphlet that came with the stone into his "own words."  Gotta love this kid!

And, since he knew so much about the stone, he got 1,000 points.  That traded for quite a few fossils!  He was very excited and I was completely proud.

Fold Forming Greatness

On Saturday, I took a class at the Dallas Craft Guild on Fold Forming.  Fold Forming is a technique in metal working.  Basically, you fold a sheet of metal and then apply various techniques to get the results you want. 

During the morning, we learned fold forming techniques.  During the last part of the afternoon, I used those techniques to make the bracelet on the right.  It was originally a 1"x7" piece of 18 gauge copper.  The one on the left I made today.  It was originally a 2"x6" piece of 18 gauge copper.  The larger one ended up a bit thin (I've quite the ability at forging), so I'll have to use 16 gauge copper next time. 

If you're wondering why the right one is shiny and the left one has what looks to be a pink powder on top, it's because I haven't fully cleaned the left one.  I've pickled it but not attacked it with the brass brush to remove the oxidation. 

See, when you heat metal to anneal it, oxidation occurs.  On copper, oxidation tends to be reddish black.  To remove this oxidation, you pickle the metal, meaning you place it into a pot of "pickle."  The pickle we use is a mixture of water and pool chemicals.  This pickle removes the oxidation.  Then, you wash the pickled metal with water and scrub it with a brass brush and Dawn soap to remove the last bits of oxidation.  If you don't scrub the copper clean, the pink powdery finish will rub off onto your skin when you wear the piece.  So, pickle it!

To make these bracelets, I annealed the metal (heated it to a certain temperature and then quenched it in a bath of cold water) to soften it and then folded it in half.  I annealed it again and then forged (hammered) it into a "C" shape, annealing each time I needed to soften it back up.  If you work in metal, you learn quickly that metal work hardens, meaning doing something like forging will make the metal get super hard and unworkable again.  Thus, you have to anneal it often.  After I'd reached my desired shape, I pried the metal back open, making sure to not lose my fold.  I shaped it on an oval mandrel and then annealed it again.  Lastly, I flipped the metal inside out and shaped it on a mandrel into the cuff.  The whole process took me a couple of hours, though I was working on a second project at the same time (to be shared later). The result is a frilly bracelet that looks like a feather or leaf.

Wanna see what the bracelets look like on a wrist?  Here's the smaller one on -

And the larger one:

 

And some detail shots...

Inside of Big Daddy Bracelet -

This would have been the outside if I hadn't flipped it inside out.

Edges of Big Daddy Bracelet -

Edges of the small bracelet - 

 

One of the cool things about this technique is that you never quite know what you're going to get.  I have to admit, I'm hooked!

Quote of the Day

My favorite quote of the day for today is from Mark, not one of the kids.  He told The Boy to clean up the paper he'd left on the floor after cutting out his own money (the Dr. Pepper museum had an exhibit where you could make your own money for your personal "country" and he made lots of sheets.  The Boy loves money.) 

The Boy said, "They're not mine.  They're Little Miss'."

To which Mark replied, "Well, I don't have a fingerprint kit so pick them up anyway." 

Awesome. 

As I was typing this, this exchange happened in our kitchen:

The Boy - I thought we were going to make something.

Mark - Make what?

TB - Some sort of food or something.

M - Oh, Karen already made it.  It's in the oven.  Why don't you go turn the light on and look at it?

TB - Okay! (he goes in the middle of the kitchen - about six feet from the oven - and is looking around)

I don't see a light.

M - That's because you're looking at the dishwasher.

TB - Oh. (He chuckled.)

The Mark showed him the oven.