More Easter Eggs, some metal playing

Between cleaning the basement (the never ending job ) fixing my leaking wall - the outside water is accumulating at the foundation and coming THROUGH the wall - like its weeping.  Got some Hydraulic cement and have been slowing refacing the wall to keep the leaks out and today was nice enough to redirect the flow of the basic river running to my house -I'll have to keep on this till I finish the wall

But in between I did a couple more eggs  - getting up there - almost a dozen

I found my embossing  heat tool which takes the wax off way better than a candle 

(that is crayon wax in muffin tins on a hot plate  underneath it - another story)

Then I wanted to try out my new punch I got - its a guitar pick cutter I got off ebay -  and found the 24g too thick only made two marks on the metal

so went looking for my 36 g that I use for my  Microfolding and I had to remember where I put that (I've been out of the studio toooooo long - was in my metal cupboard (where I keep my metal sheet, tubing and wire - duh !)











You can see the difference between the thickness of the 24g and the 36g- the 36g almost like paper




I love 36g  cuts like butter with a pair of scissors -

I then cut up one of my diet coke cans to test out how it would work up (free silver colored metal !!!! Aluminum)  for an accent  

First -  I punched out pieces with my new punch from the 36g

then I cut a piece of the 36g and ran it through the tube wringer

most craft stores that sell tube paint carry this 

some craft stores carry the 36g 

then I ran the coke can material through

voiola -  some accent pieces

I'll have to go through how to make a bead with this material later

but you can find the earring tutorial   here :  click here  for the start of the 5 step by step
very easy and you can use the aluminum as well

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WUBBERS Bangle Press

Any one see this new WUBBERS  Bangle Press


check it out
Looks really interesting

More Easter Egss - Zentangled

Last weekend was great with the grandkids making easter eggs - and of course once I did  a black and white I just had to do a zentangle - well one led to another - so I never got down to the basement to start spring cleaning  Had lots of fun I could just not stop

So much fun to be had making  easter egss
couple of tips
1. get the blow out egg thingy (as you only put one hole in the egg )

2. get the end piercing - although you could use the end of the bead reamer - but I find the nice sharp end possibly means no breakage - so something very very sharp

3. I used a dremel with a bead reamer on end to enlarge just enough to blow out the egg

4. do not empty till finished
5. when finished dying eggs and wax off  be sure to put a coat of spray sealer on so that when you do blow the egg your dyes do not wash off (this is the big one to remember  and makes everything so much easier)
I used the kyrlon clear spray
6. use room temp eggs ( they are really cold from fridge and affects how easily the wax goes on
7. use cardboard containers for storage as the foam ones can cause condensation
8. wash eggs before using with a little vinegar and rinse and dry - dont leave the vinegar on too long (dont soak) as vinegar eats away at the shell

I set up my goodies
candle

got out the kiska and wax 

make sure your dye container has a wide mouth and can hold 1-1/4 cups of liquid and I bought big spoons at the dollar store - I put egg on spoon and slowly put into jar that I hold slightly sideways so the egg does not drop into the jar - let sit for 2-3 minutes to get color 

while egg in I leave the spoon and then scoop out and grab with paper towel and wipe off 

Happy St. Patricks Day

Happy St. Paddy Day to all

this is my very first Fat Paddy ever made - and is a huge 4"  

The March Give-A-way is the smaller wearable one





- so dont forget to check out and leave a comment on the give-a-way thread

http://deborahreadcom.blogspot.ca/2014/03/march-give-way-better-late-than-never.html

Making Easter Eggs Day

The grand kids got up early so we started right away

Zoe (the oldest ) was going to do the Pysanky with me and the little one Ave was going to paint and dip and put on stickers

we had a really good time

Zoe made two eggs - the first one she dropped a bit and it cracked when were taking off the wax - it does take time to make even one

 oops.  she dropped while making and did not think she cracked it - when we emptied it sort of popped more

Her second was tremendous



the littlest one made the cutest eggs (hers were hard boiled)

and then they got bling

Mine I had some fun -

Totally loads of fun - the  Pysanky dies  I got at Michaels along with the tools and beeswax (nope - went to michaels and checked - they no longer carry any of the kits )  best choice is on line to order your tools and wax  - candles from the dollar store 

I bought a dozen medium mason jars and put all colours out - and labelled them 

good for up to one year 

Easter Eggs

I finally remembered I wanted to do some Pysanky (Ukrainian) Easter eggs - BEFORE Easter this year
I typically remember day before or right on the Easter weekend

I must have looked all over up and down for my materials and took a couple of hours to finally find the box

so the grand kids are here tonight and we have all the colors made for dipping and all the tools out to start on Sunday morning after breakfast

Using the colour packets  - 12 colours for each stage of dipping  - light to dark 

beeswax - egg holders,kistkas and a  variety of egg decorating packages 

One should use gloves when mixing the colours 

Other Use Punches

Now can you figure out why I would want to buy one of these punches

  about 17.00 with free shipping form china

No I really dont play guitar but I totally see a cool shape for necklaces and bracelets and earrings to punch out of  24g copper ....  (I hope )   it punches old credit cards and other plastics and they are fairly thick so I think it should punch the copper as well (not sure for how long but we will see )

Using 24g Copper Sheet - Etched

I am working on a project where I want to create a large copper etched pendant and incorporate beads, findings etc...  so I thought a bit of a step by step on using 24g  copper that is thinner than my standard 18g  I use on my bracelets and other small jewelry pieces

I bought a large roll of coper from  a company called BASIC COPPER   was  I thought reasonably priced even including the shipping - the 22 mm size is the 24g  - they carry right up to the 36 gauge I like for microforming (but that is another topic)
 it is 12" x  50 ft

I can use scissors basically on this material to cut and shape


so I laid out my basic beads I wanted to use  and created a design I wanted for my metal piece

I drew the design on paper and then transferred it to the metal and cut it out  with scissors and to get clean round edges used my circle punch and files
I cleaned up the edges and the metal
Then I stamped it with one of my zentangle stamps (available on etsy - see left side bar)

Etched the metal - keep an eye on it while etching - this is thinner metal than 18g so I dont go quite as deep with the etch (but it may be fun to see what would happen )  (another time)

I have that nice 3" wide tape and used two pieces 

this piece is about 6" wide by about 4" tall 

Etched piece - cleaned the resist off and cleaned up the piece

I outlined the piece on paper again and  marked where I would like the holes- I need to fasten the beads to the piece (although there could be some soldering involved)

I laid the form over the design on paper and marked my holes on the metal

Because its so thin its very malleable - even more so after etching- as I handled it I started forming and thinking 3D instead of flat

Using my fingers I started bending the edges so I start to get a 3D more form - was pretty easy
Then I got my nylon pliers out and finished the edges off

(this looks cool- and gives me an idea to make a piece that would go around my neck as one big piece )

Now I have it formed - could have used the pliers right away, created a form to hammer over or into - many inexpensive ways and tools to use.

So now I have my piece and I put the holes in now  I know where I want most of them

Next will be soldering on back for fastening as well - that will hopefully this week

Now because this is my base for my bead soup - I cant show you yet what all the beads look like even sitting with the piece - but I am so pleased -  now if I can get my soldering done I can start assembly and be finished early


- I did some beads last night as I want to  make a finished necklace - need more finished items for my shows