Today's Lessons

I'm still prepping for the By Hand show.  Took yesterday off to get some work done.  I spent the day making some bits and pieces of bronze metal clay.  When the kiln hit 700 I opened the door.  I let it sit for about 15 minutes but then got impatient.  So I decided to sift the carbon to find my pieces.  Lesson number 1....don't sift hot carbon through a KitchenAid plastic pasta scoop.

Damn...I loved that scoop.  It's just the right size to sift the carbon out fast and leave even the smallest pieces behind.  Luckily I can get a replacement through Amazon.

The next problem came along when I decided to tumble the bronze.  At the same time I was putting a patina on some brass washers.  Instead of pouring in a capful of Supersheen, I poured in a capful of brown/black patina solution from Rio.  I only tumble for about 10 minutes to knock the the color down.  I opened up the tumbler expecting all the suds...what I had was black....all the bronze had turned black.  At first I was baffled..then I realized what I did.  I flushed it out and replaced it with Supersheen. After another 10 minutes of tumbling, the pieces came out beautiful.  Lesson 2...pay attention to what you are doing... actually turned into a happy accident....so maybe the lesson is to be open to the unexpected!!

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Busy, Busy, Busy

Getting ready for the show.  As I put together pieces I realize I need more of one thing or another so I've been hopping back and forth between the production bench and the metal clay bench.  I made a bunch of spacers and little pendants....and some big pendants.  I ran a couple of batches in the kiln and got two different sets of colors.  This never ceases to amuse me when I open up the kiln.

I've got all my little pieces parts sorted out.  One of the labs at work were throwing out these little tiny petri dishes so I brought them home.

And put together these pendants... pretty pendants all in a row...this is a pendant I learned form Mary Hettsmansperger. 

With fabulous beads by Angi Graham.

So I'm in the studio all weekend long.  I have four weeks to finish up my inventory, card the earrings, price everything and make sure I have everything I need for a three day show.  So I'm going to be.....busy, busy, busy.
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