Other Things We Have Been Up To Lately

I actually drew out an idea

I thought I would share some things mom and I have been up to the last few weeks. The above picture is something I actually sketched up one night. I had an idea as I was trying to go to sleep - so got up - looked for the sketch book and drew out my idea. The bead is from Jane Perala (love, love, love her beads). I have had the bead for several years and I am just now coming up with the idea.

I wanted to make a frame for the bead - so I etched a piece of copper. The frame I sketched is a little small - so going to scan my sketch and make it slightly bigger. Then glue the sketch on the copper and saw it out. I am going to ask mom to wire wrap the bead to the copper. I now need to make accent beads to go with the piece. I can't wait to see how it comes out.

This is what mom has been up to - sawing out a koi plate.

This is a picture mom took while she was sawing out the koi - gives you an idea of the size of the saw blade.

Yesterday mom was working on filing and sanding the koi and ended up stabbing herself with one of the files. I think that is something each of us does on piece - either saw a finger or stab with a file. The piece is now ready to be enameled.

Last weekend was an enameling session - I need to get the pendant enameled for the ABS Challenge piece.
I also enameled some double-sided pendants, lizards for earrings and circles for earrings.

Circles for earrings and one for a bracelet

Will be made into earrings

Here are the double-sided pendants:

I wanted to create a nature image - I am also keeping this one
for myself :)

Red and Black Double Sided Pendant

Black and White double sided pendant

Yellow and Purple Curly Qs

Butterfly and Flower Double Sided pendant

You can find the pendants on Etsy.

This is mom working on putting the pendants on leather cord.

Two weeks ago I signed mom and I up to participate in Tammy's Superstition Blog Hop. We were also one of 13 who won her polymer clay cat bead. Isn't it too cute!!! I have an idea what I want to do with this bead plus another idea for another piece for the blog hop. I am so excited to participate!!!

And I have been working on adding listings to our Etsy shop. Oh so much fun - re-sizing images, measuring pieces and then uploading it all to Etsy. Fun times I am telling you.

So - that is a little bit of what mom and I have been up. Oh - and I did get the August ABS Challenge piece posted and you can see it here.

August ABS Challenge Piece

Summer Thunder

By Hosteen Klah

Weaving, Wool

Mom and I finally completed the August ABS Challenge piece. I have come to the conclusion that mom and I will never finish a piece before the end of the month. But - at least we completed it :)

I wanted to share some of the process of us creating the piece. Above is a picture of mom drawing out a pattern to put on the copper to saw out. There is very rarely, if ever, that I will draw out the design - mom is the one I have nominated to make the designs!!!

Once the pattern has been drawn, and scanned for future pieces, then it is glued down on 20g copper. Mom doesn't like to saw out the perimeters of the pieces so I actually sawed out the perimeter. I also started sawing out the larger designs - since I hate sawing out the smaller designs in a piece.

Almost done being sawed out.

The piece after it has been sawed out, file and sanded. The next step is me enameling the piece.

A picture of the enameling process.

And then I make lampwork glass beads to go with the pieces we create. I have several reds laid out to use for the beads.

And finally - the piece is laid out in several variations and then we decide what we like before we string it. The above picture is mom stringing the beads on a test wire to see if we like the way it looks. I think we went through two different layouts before we decided what we liked.

So - here is the final piece:

Mom and I don't have a name for the piece yet. I really love how it turned out - I think it is one of our more awesome pieces.

Here is a close up of the pendant. I wanted the pendant to be black and then pull in the tan and red from the painting. Mom does awesome sawing!

A closeup of the lampwork glass beads I made that is accented with Jasper and gunmetal spacer beads. The necklace is long enough to slip over your head - so didn't need to use a clasp this time.

So - that is our piece for the August ABS Challenge. I think mom and I had a lot of fun with the creation of this piece. If you have a chance - check out the two ABS Challenge boards on Pinterest - Beads Monthly Challenge and Jewelry Monthly Challenge.

Another Working Studio Weekend

Mom and I had to walk around the yard on Saturday morning, it had rained the night before and we wanted to see if any more of the rose buds had opened up. This is a pic of one of the opened roses - they smell oh soooo good.

Mom's sawing station

This weekend mom worked on sawing out the August ABS pendant and started sawing out a koi plate.

This is the sawed out, filed and sanded pendant for the August ABS challenge. Now I just enamel the piece - which will happen next weekend. We didn't have enough pieces filed and sanded for me to have an assembly line as I enamel.

This is mom sawing out the next piece - a koi plate. Mom likes the difficult pieces - she likes to see how far she can take the saw blade and how far she can take a design.

This is mom's view of the koi plate - like the image of the saw blade with the design.

This was my setup for making beads for the August challenge piece.

This is my view with the torch going - I have my mandrels to the right, glass in front of me and frit to the left.

This is a picture of the bead before I put it in the kiln - can't tell it is red glass - it looks black.

This is Saturday's bead haul. I have another kiln full of the same colored beads. You will see why in the next photo.

This is the challenge piece laid out - you can sort of see the sketch of what I did to the right of mom's hand. Once we laid out the beads, with accent beads, we found out I didn't make enough red beads, so I ended up making another whole batch of red beads - I even made a few small ones that mom can use to make earrings.

So - that was our weekend in the studio. I am hoping to get out into the studio in the evenings to file and sand some pendants and earrings so I can do an enameling session this weekend.

More pictures will follow.

New Designs and Things

Mom and I working

Mom and I have been trying to get out into the garage/studio more. This is us this past weekend working on making up test charm bracelets. Since we don't have a bracelet mandrel (mom was making up the bangles for me) she was using a paint can, rubber cement jar and a wine bottle to form the bracelets. Improvise, adapt and overcome!

So, here are something we have been working on.

Dragon Plate - went into a shadow box for displaying

Mom loves this piece - and it actually sold at our
show at the Broadway Library Show.

Kokopelli after I finished enameling them

Kokopelli in a shadow box - this sold at our show at the Broadway Library

Frog pendant

Leaf pendant

Copper word bracelets:

Just Breathe bracelet with our lampwork beads.
I textured the copper on our cement floor in the garage since we don't
have texture hammers or texture plates.

You Matter bracelet with our lampwork glass beads

Be Awesome bracelet with our lampwork glass beads

Handmade copper word charms:

Word charms I made from etched copper that I then patined with colors

Mom made the test bangles so I could wear the
charms to make sure they can stand up to
someone wearing them. I love how they
sound when I wear them all together!

Sawing projects:

The pile of stuff to saw out is to the left and the scrap copper is to the right.

These are things I actually sawed out on Sunday.
Five pair of earrings (at the top), and four pendants.
Now to add them to the pile of stuff to file.

All the stuff to be filed and sanded. If you know of any filing or sanding
fairies - can you send them our way :)

Mom drawing up the piece for the August ABS Challenge. Maybe
we will actually finish the piece before the end of the month :)

So - that is what we have been up to lately. Hopefully I will get better at the blogging again. I have been mostly posting to our Instagram and Facebook pages; if you want to keep up with what we have been doing.