Copper and Brass jewelery

So I recently ordered a jewelers saw so I could try my hand at some metal jewelry. I find cutting out the shapes are a fairly easy task – but soldering…that is going to take some practice! You can see in the bottom right (inside of the frame) there is a little solder peeking out. I don’t want that. This is actually the second piece I made just like this. On the first piece I really had solder leakage. (BTW – hate that word…leakage…ewwwww) So I scrubbed at it with some wire brushes and ended up copper-plating my brass! Oh – and the black part is patina’d copper and the gold part is brass. So…I now have two almost good enough pendants…one I’ll wear and this one I’ll keep scrubbing at and then dontate to the Cuyuna Range Whitetails banquet next year. (My hubbie is the VP and I’m the Secretary – lot’s of meetings…but FUN!) I have a couple more designs planned  but haven’t gotten to them yet. This may seem like a total random craft for me to try but it isn’t. I actually bought a coping saw about ten years ago to give this a whirl and it didn’t work very well – lol. Now I was gifted with some large pieces of copper and brass and decided it was time to tackle it again. I had an old work bench in the shed and I begged and bugged my 16 year old to get some friends together and get it to the basement – they did – yay! It’s ugly as all get-out but STURDY and it has a VICE and DRAWERS! And I can leave my mess down there – and start and stop whenever I want.

Here’s another one I did finish. I made the heart out of polymer clay – I have to take pictures of the backs of these don’t I. After I cut out the wings I realized they were very pointy and dangerous. I mean, if I fell wrong while wearing it I could puncture my jugular! But – they made a perfect way to hang it. I used thin copper wire to attach them to the chain. The copper should patina as time goes on. Next step in these projects is to etch the copper. I have all the supplies but now need the time…

I went to a garage sale yesterday and picked up a couple things. Just a couple. I got a pizza pizzazz for $5.00 and a couple skeins of yarn. I crocheted up the yarn last night into a scarf -

It’s a rather short scarf so I’ll have to figure out some kind of closure/toggle/thingy – I think. I’ll probably just wear it as it is for now. (Well, next winter…unless we get more snow!) The scarf is the background for the necklace pictures if you want to relook and see close-ups. I can’t donate this project cause I totally forgot how to single crochet and my edges are all wonky – I figured it out in the end – but this yarn does NOT unravel. It’ll break before it will come undone. So darn…I have to keep a wonky soffffttttt alpaca and mohair and acrylic scarf for myself. lol. (I’m so proud of myself – the yarn didn’t get put into the “someday” pile!)

And guess what – I won a give-a-way! That is RARE! I won this awesome tote from Nestle and Soar.

It’s a great tote – I used it yesterday :) Thank you!!!

In other news I’ve reorganized the back entry and still have to repaint. Grrrr. I took down all the old mismatched racks and added one longer rack. It took me about THREE HOURS to hang it! I don’t know why. It just did. It was a pain. It took two trips to the hardware store to get the correct wall anchors. The back entry is full of clean hanging laundry right now because it was supposed to rain yesterday – so everything had to be dried inside. Maybe…maybe I’ll paint today. I moved down and started cleaning the basement yesterday instead. Why and HOW does it get to be such a mess! Well, I know one way it gets so messy…KIDS! They had arranged all my totes into a pen for a puppy last summer…after I’d just sorted them out…and I lost heart for the project after that. This time there will be blood-shed and tears if anyone so much as moves a tote an inch! (Probably my blood and tears – cause I’ll probably throw myself onto the concrete floor and have a world-class tantrum!) And yes, my crafts are messy. But it’s a moving mess…it’s changing all the time – that’s gotta count for something right?

Happy Crafting!!!

Painting tips … and crafts

(Picture taken by my husband…sorry for the blur)

I think this has to be my favorite polymer clay piece I’ve made so far! I love how the leaf turned out and the color of the pendent. I tried to recreate that color the next day (the brown)…and spent at least two hours blending clay until I got it close enough! I have to take notes when blending clay from now on. I’ve actually started taking a picture of the clay with my phone camera and emailing it to myself with the list of colors used. Sheesh! I hope that saves some serious time in the future!!

(Picture taken by my youngest son…)

Do you have a favorite pair of socks? I have a few and this is one of them! I’d worn them so much there was small holes and the sock was getting very thin…so I darned them. I think I’ve talked about darning before…I’m acquiring quite a collection of darning yarn from thrift shops and my granny! I darned this pair as we were driving “home” for Easter. It took the entire trip there and most of the trip home to finish them…about 3 hours total. I wouldn’t do this for a regular pair of cotton socks, but if it is a pair of socks that fit nice and don’t sag and bag around my ankles I’ll give it a try. Someday I’ll buy a pair of beautiful knitted socks…someday…(I can’t knit!)

(Picture taken by me – look at all that stitching!)

Since I’m out of certain polymer clay supplies, and don’t have plans to get them this week, I’ve decided to tackle a problem…this is the problem -

 

(Handle is stretched around the chair)

 

(Purse is hanging properly but picture is too dark…color in the first picture is the true color)

The problem is I like the inside of this bag but have never liked the outside of this bag. The main problems are the color of the bag and the flap. Hate that flap. I’ve had this bag for a few years now and used it for a few months. My neighbor gave it to me…when you’re a hoarder crafter people give you stuff. Some stuff works out and some stuff has to be modified, and some stuff has to just go into the recycle/donate bin. I’ve had different ideas over the years about how to fix this bag but never “got around to it”. Well, the day has come. The bag is currently on my kitchen table getting a make-over. It already looks better and if I can’t find the supplies to do anything else it’s better than it was. If it doesn’t turn out it will get recycled into something else. It wasn’t doing anyone any good to be sitting on my shelf for the past few years. You’ll have to wait for the big reveal until next week.

Oh – and here’s your #1 painting tip! When you are going to paint a room DON’T clean it first! As a matter of fact, wait until it’s plenty dirty and dusty! That way the paint spatter sits on the fuzz and cleans up easily. I was telling my mom this and it blew her mind. I thought everyone painted this way lol! I finished the living room ceiling this week and will be off to the paint store soon to get the wall paint. I let my family pick out the color because I couldn’t stop dithering…green? no gray!…no YELLOW!…no sage!…no GRAY! I drove myself nuts.

Oh – and here’s a note…I sometimes get asked why I don’t do many tutorials. Well, it’s because a lot of what I make goes to the Bazaar at our church and I don’t want anyone else in the area making and selling the same things. We do good things with the money we raise (heat share, buy chickens for a community in Africa, help the soup kitchen…just to name a few). So, if you live outside of my area and want to know how I did something just contact me via email and I’ll tell you. I don’t mind sharing!

Happy Crafting!!!

Welcome Pea Brain…

“Pea Brain”

Meet “Pea Brain” the newest member of our household. We are all debating on new names for her, so far the leading names are Phoebe, PB, and Peanut. Now we just have to see which one sticks. We needed something that sounds at least a bit like “Pea Brain” lol! She is the half sister of our other dog Edith.

“Edith”

We brought her home on Easter Sunday…she’s fitting in pretty well. Edith is an alpha dog and packs a lot of attitude into her small size. Luckily Pea Brain is very submissive and while they aren’t best friends (yet) Edith tolerates her, smells her a lot, and has to know what she’s doing all the time, lol! I think it’s going to work out! They are both mutts with Chihuahua, King Charles Spaniel, and Jack Russell in common. They are also very FAST!!! I found out Pea Brain is very fast today when Julie and I took them for a walk. The leash holding Pea Brain got fumbled and she took off like a bat out of hell. There was no way I was going to catch her but I tried anyways, luckily she stuck to the sidewalk and was headed for home. Julie managed to get in front of her while I distracted her by basically almost crying… on the ground…on the sidewalk. PHEW! I got my cardio in for the day…didn’t know I was in such poor physical shape…and I don’t want run/jog to change that thank you very much. Running sucks! Note to self: train Pea Brain to come when called by bribing her with hot dogs until she does it instinctively!

Today I started painting the kitchen ceiling. It makes such a difference!!!! One coat on in one part and I’ve just started the, I don’t know what you’d call it…coffered ceiling part? I decided to paint the edge of the wood – have a look -

You can see in this picture where I’ve caulked and need to re-caulk. Caulking is why I’m painting the wood. I couldn’t get the seams caulked without getting caulk on the wood. And the seams were/are big! I think when it’s all done it will be a much cleaner look. I know I should have re-caulked and then started painting but since I had all the stuff out and full of wet paint from the first part of the kitchen I decided to give it a first coat, then caulk, then a second coat, then see if it needs a third (please NO!). My neck is getting sore from being cranked up all day lol!

Happy Crafting!!!

Some changes are good!

(snip of my Google Reader page – I’m still going to subscribe to those blogs shown :) )

Bye bye Google Reader…you have been much loved…I’ve imported 356 blogs into you to be read by me. I used to panic if Google Reader said I had 50 unread posts…then I got over it and I probably have 5,000 unread posts…dead digital weight as far as I’m concerned. I’ve reading about other RSS readers and decided on The Old Reader. There are lots of options out there and I started signing up somewhere else but they have been inundated with new subscribers and no longer offer free subscriptions. The Old Reader is perfect that way…I can use it for a while and donate if and when I love it. It is set up like the old Google Reader, thus the name lol. There is an option to just import all my original subscriptions and I tried to do that … but then I stopped … and thought this is a perfect opportunity to clean up some of my digital clutter! I decided to only import my very favorite blogs. It has been surprising! I’m only subscribing to about 1 in 10 blogs that I used to subscribe to! It is so much easier to just not subscribe rather than “unsubscribe”. I could never make myself “unsubscribe” because I didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. lol. It feels good to be cleaning it up!

I’ve also started to click the “unsubscribe” button on various emails I’ve been getting. Why did I sign up for so many newsletters? Probably to get something free. However, if it is just annoying to continue to get those newsletters then it’s time to unsubscribe. Get rid of more clutter!

You have until July 1st before Google Reader shuts down…perfect time to clean up your feeds!

While we are on the subject of cleaning up and making your life easier I have to tell you that I love this product!!!

I’m always a sucker for cleaning products…but let me tell you a little story. Once, long ago, a neighbor stopped by my house and I was mortified by how messy it was. One of the worst areas was my messy splattered counter. When I saw her looking at it I looked at it and told her the truth - “I wait to wipe down my counter when I do my dishes and the sink is full of hot soapy water.” (Remember, cheapo me doesn’t like to run the water too much…) As soon as those words left my mouth I realized how stupid that sounded!!! Since then I’ve tried different things from Clorox wipes, to homemade Clorox wipes to sprays…this is a better fit! It is compact and cute enough to sit on the counter and I can refill it with whatever I want down the road. I got a second one for the bathroom. They cost about three dollars each and I consider it money well spent. The only thing that would really bug me about these is if the pump stopped pumping. (Hey Windex – if you want to sponsor me I’m up for the task!)

Here’s a not-so-good change…I’ve been getting tons of spam comments and I had to turn on the feature that will make you type in random numbers and letters (to prove you’re not a robot) to leave a comment. Bummer, I hate those too. Otherwise I’ve tried making it as easy as possible but I still get emails and calls saying leaving a comment isn’t working. I don’t know what to tell you…keep trying? Because it is so much fun to read your comments!!!!

In crafting news I’m working on a project for the library and it’s taking a lot longer than I expected. Have to wait for lots of glue and paint to dry…

I did have fun changing out the pillowcases on the couch to these “summerier” ones I made a month ago or so! I used yarn to crochet the edges this time…I like them both ways…yarn or thread…

Happy Crafting!

How I make washing dishes more pleasant…

Aside from not using a dryer my dishwasher is also on the fritz. I’m pretty sure I can fix it but I just haven’t taken the time to try. I really don’t mind doing dishes. Of all my mom-cleaning jobs washing dishes may be the least offensive. I like to see the cluttered counters all tidy again. It’s instant gratification. It’s also a good time to ponder. I ponder very important things like…how can I make this job easier? (While I don’t mind washing dishes I don’t want it to take all day!) And after a big meal like yesterday, Thanksgiving, the dishes were everywhere!!! Here are my tips and another installment of my jury rigged life:

• Above you’ll see what I use to drain my silverware. It’s a plastic container some french fried onions came in…I drilled holes in the bottom for drainage and clipped it to the outside of my dish drainer. This way I have the entire dish drainer for plates and bigger stuff. The one that came with the dish drainer is under the sink holding sponges…it took up way to much room in the dish drainer.
• My dish drainer rests on the top sides of my sink…I like this because if something needs to be dumped out, like milk left in a glass, it won’t get on my clean dishes and it won’t get my dishwater icky.
• I fill up my copper bottomed tea kettle with the cold water that comes out of the faucet before the hot water gets to my sink. My hot water heater is in the basement on the other side of the house. Darnit. It’s cheaper and hotter to heat the water on my gas range than to keep pulling it across the basement from my electric water heater. 
• Let the hot soapy water do the work! I fill the dish tub with plates and silverware first and let them sit in the hot soapy water. While they are soaking for a bit I add super hot water from the tea kettle. Then I’ll do something else in the kitchen for a couple minutes…like put away the pot holders…or get recycling ready. When I get back to the plates they are clean and only need a wipe…not a scrub. Refill the sink with glasses or whatever and repeat. I always wash the silverware last. I don’t know why…habit.
• Have two dishcloths in the dishpan! While waiting for the hot water to do it’s magic on the dishes use one dishcloth to wipe the counters…if there is a really sticky or stained area don’t stand there wasting precious crafting minutes scrubbing! Take the other hot soapy rag from the dishpan and lay it on the problem area…while that is soaking go back to the dishes. When a new load of dishes is soaking go back to the problem area. Chances are the hot soapy dishcloth dissolved the problem and you can just wipe it away.
• Let the dishes air dry and have the kids put them away later. Air drying is more sanitary…having the kids handle them…well it’s a chance I take.
• I periodically refill my tea kettle, heat it on the range and add more hot water to the dishwater as needed.
• When I’m really on a roll I make sure my sink area is clean and tidy. Sometimes it’s the cleanest and tidiest place in the house. Sometimes it’s also the most peaceful place to be in the house…nobody bothers me because they don’t want to get roped into helping lol!
• Other tips: Use a good dish soap. I stick with Dawn. It’s nice to have a plant or pretty piece of pottery to stare at while pondering at the sink. Have something pretty in that area. If you use a sponge get it really wet and microwave it for a half a minute or so to sanitize it, don’t wash your dishes with bacteria from a dirty sponge!!

Well, while this seems like some pretty basic stuff to we “pro’s” I’ve noticed a lot of teenagers going through my house who don’t have a clue how to handle a huge mess like the aftermath of Thanksgiving…this post is for them…

Happy Crafting!!

Steampunk Polymer Clay

Buckle your seatbelt and get a cup of coffee, this is going to be a long post! Let’s start with the crafty stuff.

I’ve been playing with polymer clay and having a blast!!! This entire pendant is polymer clay…except for the wire part that is used to hang it from a necklace.

 

I attach them to a necklace like this…this way I can have one necklace and many pendants…saves a snarly mess in my drawer lol!

Some I like more than others…I’m not terribly thrilled with this one. I can’t wait to see if they sell at the Spirit of Christmas Bazaar at our church. Might not be what the people around here are looking for…we will have to see!

Also my husband just got home from an elk-hunting-trip in Colorado. Lucky boy!!! (I was going to craft the whole time he was gone but ended up sick and didn’t do much at all – what a let down!) While he didn’t get an elk another hunter in their party did so we will be able to try it out. They divided the meat evenly … that’s a nice way to do it! We will be cooking some up tomorrow. Here is a view he had while sitting on the mountain waiting for the elusive elk…

Because of his job he doesn’t get to have a beard…but this is what he looked like when he got home! Full beard!!! Doesn’t he look like his brothers Mary!!!!

Here is the horse he rode from time to time out there. Another in the party brought two. They use them to get the elk back to camp once they process them a bit in the field. Otherwise it would have taken them all day…we (me and the kids) wish there was a picture of hubbie on the horse because we just can’t picture it. He is not a “horsey guy”.

Here is a picture of camp. That’s one of two wall tents they had out there along with our Rhino. Still love that Rhino. They used one tent for cooking and hanging out and the other for sleeping.

Here is another view from camp. So peaceful! He had no cell reception up there so we didn’t talk to each other for around NINE DAYS! That’s the first time that’s happened since I’ve been 17! It was strange, didn’t like it. I told him the “no girls allowed” rule is dumb. I’m coming with next time! lol. I think the next trip will be in five years or so…one of our boys will be 21 by then and the other 16. (weird to think about!!!) Next fall I have my sites on Montana. I want to take the kids there and camp through Yellowstone…I just can’t get that place out of my mind. We had such a good time when we went a couple years ago. It just made me awestruck…

I’ve also been busy with some household crap stuff. I finally put the end to a quest that began about two years ago with this stuff -

I’ve been asking around for something to remove caulk in hardware stores for a couple years. I’m not kidding you when I say the salespeople would look at me like I was crazy. I even had one laugh at me. Well, while in Home Depot I asked again and the THIRD person to help me in this store plucked this stuff right off the shelf and said “This is what you’re looking for” like it was no big deal. Over the years I’ve asked dozens of people…just had to find the right one.  My bathroom caulk had gone black, probably mold. And it wouldn’t come off. I scrubbed and scraped and it was stuck on for eternity…until I got this. I still had to use plenty of elbow grease as it isn’t magic, but IT CAME OFF!!! Oh happy day! My bathtub doesn’t look all cruddy anymore. It drove me nuts that I’d clean it and it would still look dirty. NO MORE – it looks CLEAN!!!

I also cleaned the carpets with my carpet cleaner. I use Melaluca laundry detergent he to clean them and nothing works better. You can’t buy it in the store, only from an at home person…like Avon. I get it from my mother-in-law. (thank you!!!) Full disclosure: I had a tiny Chihuahua who came to live with us untrained. She never did get the whole “pee outside thing” completely down pat.  grrrr. Well, this stuff gets the stain and stink out. And it doesn’t smell while drying. (Other cleaners would get the stain out but then the house would smell like pee while the carpet was wet and anytime it was humid) I just use around a tablespoon in my carpet cleaner. It even works on old stains.

I’ve also been baking again. I’ve made dinner rolls a couple times and cinnamon rolls a couple times and I’ll be processing a couple laundry baskets of apples today. That kinda takes care of any crafting time. By the end of the day I’m so tired I want to send the kids to bed by 7 so I can go myself.

Take care and Happy Crafting!!!!

Getting white pillowcases white again!

Remember when I made these pillowcases? It was in early June. We’ve used them everyday since then. Of course I wash them, but then put them right back on the pillow. Well, they were starting to look dingy. Really dingy. Not only does our head transfer oils to the case all night but I use moisturizer and sometimes don’t take my makeup off like I should. (Cause I don’t use makeup very often and forget! lol) We also live in an area that has a lot of iron and all our whites end up looking dingy really fast anyways. This bugged me. A LOT! These pillowcases are sooooo soft and smell so nice when washed I want to use them for a long time…just don’t want them looking dirty even when they are clean. Well, somewhere in my brain I remembered they used to boil clothes a long time ago and decided to investigate. I got on the internet and spent waaaay too long learning about boiling clothes. I’ll make it short and sweet for you – I filled a large pot with water got it on the stove and added a healthy squirt of blue Dawn dish soap, put in my pillowcases and made sure they floated freely, put the cover on and got it up to a boil. Then I just poked at them for a bit with a long wooden spoon and turned off the burner and let them sit for a bit. I rinsed them like crazy in the sink and hung them to dry. They are once again SNOWY WHITE!!! No bleach needed!!!! (I don’t care for bleach, I think it smells and breaks down the fabric, also can cause yellowing…probably because of all the iron in our water)

After I washed these cases I used the same water and boiled all my micro-fiber cloths too – they smelled so much sweeter. Then I used the boiling water to clean out my slow sink drain. It was a good morning!!!! I think the blue Dawn dish soap is the key. I’m gonna start buying it by the gallon lol! FYI - I’ll probably boil them a few times a year to keep them nice and white…

Happy Crafting!!!