spring clean

ok, i actyually managed to get out to the studio before midday for once! (thanks to the dogs trip to the vet) argghh, the studio is full of spiders!! really, really big ones!! sooo....finally out of the onservatory,i spent most of today buying plastic boxes, and organising all of my work stuff. it felt really good to try and sort through everything, evven if i did have a complete nightmare due to the dogs getting at my leather thong stash!! also, i called the tax credits people, and i can get some more childcare, so that i can actually get some work done properly!
on the work front, i am still searching for a setting for this emerald, and have had a party booking pfrom one of the ladies from last friday. hmm, sleep now methinks

party fever!

ok, so i did my second ever party last night, i was very, very nervous! thankfully, it was a very good friend of mine who'd booked it, and another very good friend was attending, so that helped me a lot in the confidence department. in the end, two people showed up, both were interested in ordering work/booking parties, and i sold a very old necklace for £30, which i see as a pretty damn good ratio!! i did a firing demo, but no=one really cared about that, and it was quite difficult for everyone to see, so i'm not sure i'll do that next time. however, everyone enjoyed polishing up some pre-fired pieces, which will come in handy i'm sure!! i was thinking about doing some water-casting, but my attempt at the studio demonstrated that my torch just isn't up to the challenge! the charm-making went down very well, it was miles better than the first party where they did it using silver clay, and i brought a load of moulds and texture sheets, and didn't join in. last night, instead of that, we used wood clay, i was sitting on the floor, and just had a few shaping tools, it was great fun! next time, i think a few more clay shapers are needed, but not a lot else.
over the week, i have also been doing some reasearch, and trying to gather some tips on getting the copper to fire properly. i am beginning to really crave some more time at the studio, but when i'm there it's just so difficult to concentrate! and other than that, the kids came in and crushed the hinge i was working on, on a locket i havee been very slowly making for the last few months! i was so upset that i actually had to leave. on the up side, the large geranium leaf that i snapped mended very well, and was greatly admired on party-night!!

craft fair chaos

i am now completely knackered after-lets just say, a pretty eventful day!! having actually got myself sorted and packed up in the car to get to the fair (apart from having to also take my smallest, a three-month old baby!) i got to within a mile of my destination, when a simple 4-3 gear change somehow turned into a 4-5 gear change at just the wrong moment, and i eneded up losing a wheel, and two tyres!
thankfully, my table was next to some very lovely people who took pity on me, and offered to babysit while i (belatedly) set up my stall. the highlight of my fair being a woman opposite me, who thought it would be a nice gesture to come and boast to me about the course i have been dying to do, but cannot afford, and tell me very bluntly that my stuff was very pretty, but wasn't real silverwork, and wasn't it just like cheating. fantastic! thank you very much!
the short version of this entry is thus: did a craft fair, sold nothing, left. it was a great day, just very, very expensive!
tip for next show: examples of commission work, wedding pieces etc.

lesson learnt today--do not fire all of the things you have been working on too hot. one of my beautiful silver leaves is now lots of tiny molten silver balls, my hollow copper bead no longer exists in any real sense, my blank copper ring shank looks like swiss cheese and my pretty leaf ring nearly worked, but has plenty of its own problems! i definately need a new kiln. oh dear.
i have to admit to being slightly disappointed that my copper rings didn't work, although i can't say i'm surprised. they were looking very lovely before they went into the kiln, and i'm definately getting better at my ring making.
i have it in my mind to make a pair of mis-matched fiddles, i hope i get a chance to throw myself into that, it's one of those things i feel i need to do for someone, and for myself.

on the selling front, i have booked myself a table at the dorset art and craft fair in dorchester this saturday, which i'm looking forward to. there are a few things i am slightly concerned about, one is that i haven't got that much new stuff, it's mostly left over from last years failures, and i'm not keen on a lot of it, but maybe i'll change my mind about that when i get it all out of its box for the first in a long time!! the other thing is that i'll have my 3 month old with me, and worry that i'll really struggle with the stall and the baby on my own. i have asked my brother who will be coming to visit if my 10 year old niece would like to come and help me.......to be honest i don't know what i'll do if she doesn't! fingers crossed............

right, having already written all this (and deleted it) already here goes again!
i had great fun today playing with my new batch of copper, it's very strange after working solely in silver for so long-i've also had to sacrifice some of my tools to the cause, in case i contaminate one metal with the other at the wrong stage. i have experimented with a few methods in the copper, to see how they turn out-i can't wait to get out there next week and see what's happened! i have tried two different ring ideas, one as a complete copper ring, with a leaf-printed shank and berry detail to disguise the join, another, just a basic plain shank, to try and embellish with the silver later on. i have also attempted a hollow bead, and we'll see how that comes out, i'm not sure what i want to do with that yet.
in my spur-of-the-moment search of the studio to try and find my ring mandrel, i also came across some pieces i'd half-finished a year or so ago, that i'd completely forgotten about! two of these i've finished nicely today (although i seem to have misplaced the stone for one of them, that i made a specialised setting for!) and another one i utterly failed to fix (again!) that is to say i fixed the bit that wasn't working-and somehow managed to damage another part, d'oh! i have also discovered that i really do need to buy a new camera, as my phone is not proving a worthy replacement!!

copper cobana

right, following much research, and many, now very bored and exasperated friends, i have discovered a copper i can fire in my kiln without having to use activated carbon! i've not been so excited in a long time. i really can't wait to get my hands on it and have a play! i have started my first hairpiece, so far i have the basis for two leaves, hopefully, the copper will come, and then i can make it doubly gorgeous, and be able to display it at the dorset art and craft fair on the 10th. (which i have just completely emptied my cashpot to pay for a pitch at!) i spent a lot of today organising my workstuff, since i am currently using my friends conservatory, instead of the studio. (which is full of spiders, cobwebs, and scaffolding, and coated in sawdust.)
i have a business proposal for a friend of mine, who i'll be seeing over easter, so we'll see how that goes. this afternoon i have also vetted my rather huge parcel from vistaprint, and found 5 mistakes, joy. tomorrow i'm going to try and fire a hollow-form bead i've made as a retirement present, and hope nothing goes wrong!! ok, now i am very tired and must get to bed before i end up typing utter nonsense. over and out.

mixed metal madness

orchid brooches done!! i have now sold two beautiful orchids for £140. although, being me, i have handed them over before taking any money-i really must stop doing that! the enamel worked out very well, and although i know i shouldn't, i mixed the yellow with a brushful of grass green, without the fondant base, and it was a transparent tint with tiny green spots-just like the flowers themselves-i was very impressed! by using the klyr-fire i was the able to apply the enamel directly onto the flowers, without the need to integrate channels into the design.
i have also refined my guitar picks, and they look fantastic now, and feel amazing. the only thing left is the engraving-which, i have to say, i'm not terribly confident about, hopefully i'll get the guts up next week.
on the reasearch front, i have changed my silver supplier to someone who, although doesn't give me the discount i've been used to, actually stock the things i need. these suppliers also stock copper and bronze, and are running a day-course in aylebury in may on mixing metals. i have been getting very excited about this, and have been trying to arrange a trip up. i'm really looking forward to being able to incorporate the different metals into my designs. this will also allow me to make bigger items, and experiment with more sculpturable designs cost effectively.
i have just ordered some new tools as well, which will hopefully make life a lot easier-but really still need a new kiln, if only i could afford £600! (having said that, if i could sell on my current kiln for £300 it wouldn't be so bad.)