And when the boy is back in town things happen that you didn’t want to happen.
Like coming home to strange animals.
First there was Guiness.
Imprisoned for his sins.
(If you remember he was found guilty of the sexual abuse and consequent death of Thor. RIP)
Then Nutmet.
The clumsy kitten with diarrhea.
Thankfully that little episode is over now,
but she’s still here…
And then, just when we thought we were safe, we come home to a strange dog standing deathly still and silently staring at us with his eerie eyes.
As though he owned the place.
Actually that was kind of freaky and I was glad to find out that the boy had brought him over from a friend’s house because he was scared of the noise from the graduation party going on there and that he was going home that night.
He was just so completely quiet and his eyes, though beautiful, gave me the creeps.
Next up.
Spud!
What can I say.
Ridden with fleas. Just the way we like ’em.
Not.
Here she is preparing for the flea washing ritual.
She wasn’t happy.
It was kind of tragic seeing her cling on for dear life to the enemy.
Yes, the water of death comes from the faucet little one.
She was left utterly exhausted
But very soft and fluffy.
That’ll teach her to turn up without an invite.
Ultimately Pickles (don’t look at her fat) is just baffled as to why these creatures keep turning up
And Wally and Willow are just so over the drama already.
They can’t even be bothered to pretend they’re interested.
Meanwhile…
In the studio I’ve been working on my silver scraps.
I’ve loads of them.
Four years worth I should say, give or take a year.
This is what’s left after my scrap silver melt down extravaganza.
A while back I bought a new torch head because the one I use for soldering didn’t give out enough flame to melt anything and I was just wasting gas.
The one I use for soldering is a number ‘0’ (can there even be a number ‘0’?) and I really like it.
So, not one to mess about, I decided I’d get a number ‘4’ nozzle.
That’d show the scraps.
Well it came and veritably scared the sh@* out of me when I tried to light it.
The bang was a loud explosion of black smoke and I thought I’d have a heart attack right there at my table and no one would find me until it was time for dinner.
After the initial shock, and not one to give in to intimidation, I decided that the thing was obviously new to the game and was just adjusting itself to its new job and so I tried it again.
It scared the sh@# out of me just the same this second time,
and the third
and the fourth…
Don’t tell me I’m anything if not determined.
Eventually I decided that perhaps continuing wasn’t the best idea I’d ever had and that my heart probably couldn’t take a fifth explosion so I packed the torch head back in its box and sulked a bit before giving up on the scraps as a lost cause.
They’d have to go back to Rio.
That was until I had the bright idea of ordering a number ‘2’ head.
This one.
Now it might sound obvious to anyone reading this that a number ‘4’ was just way too large for the job I needed it for, but why the h@#$ would a jewelry store sell a torch head that could take down the Eiffel Tower just by looking at it?
Not my fault.
The number ‘2’ worked like a dream and now I have a huge stack of silver just waiting for something to do with itself.
Look at it!
It’s brilliant.
So here’s to my little scrap necklaces.
This could be the beginning of a wonderful relationship.
May you always choose your torch head with care
and not blow up…
🙂
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your posts always make me smile! i love your menagerie-
So long as it doesn’t become a zoo 🙂
What a precious little kitten! My cat hates baths too. The last time he had one it was very traumatic. You would have thought we were torturing and killing him by the sounds that were coming out of him. Poor baby!
I like the silver pancake stack. And the pendants you made with the recycled scraps. Very cool!
I saw your interview Penny. Way to go. Let me know how quitting your day job goes. Hope everything goes well.
Thank you Deborah. Well it’s been over a year now…..I quit my job in Feb. 2014. I have gotten quite a few things done that I never had time to do when I was working. But as for my jewelry business, it has not grown enough to sustain me financially so now I’m going to have to get another job. It has been nice not working and having the freedom to do what I want with my time, but I do need to eat….there is that. So I guess the vacation is over unfortunately. It’s time to face reality, and no matter how much I hate it, I’ll have to go back to working for someone else. It’s quite sad and depressing really, the thought of going back to some soul-sucking job that I despise, and then not having time to devote to making jewelry and growing my business. I’ve been trying to look for a job that is jewelry related or kind of artsy in some way, so that maybe it won’t be quite so soul-sucking, but it is proving difficult. That’s one reason I started teaching these metalsmithing classes, but I’m not making enough money to cover my bills. So if you have any ideas or know of any place looking to hire someone let me know. I’m thinking about just getting something part-time so I will still have time to make jewelry, although I don’t know if part-time will cover the bills unless I make like $20/hr or something, which is highly unlikely for a part-time job.
So there you have it. This is why I have been in a funk lately. I just dread the whole job search and interview process and the idea of going back to work at some meaningless job. Hope I didn’t bore you with my complaining. 🙂
I am always so glad to see a post from you. I get to laugh, a lot, and see beautiful jewelry. Thanks, Bev
🙂 Have a good day Bev.
I LOVE your “scrap” necklaces–I am a big fan of chunky, irregular elements that look like they have been cast. Would you be willing to share how you arrive at the pancake shape with your torch (or have you maybe already talked about that in a previous post?) Thank you for all the helpful information, and the great laughs.
Yes. I just melt it into blobs. I had to get a larger torch head to make the larger pancakes, and then I run it through my rolling mill until I get the right thickness. So of course, depending on how large you want the end piece will depend on how much of a blob you’ve got to begin with. You can use a hammer also to thin out the silver. You will have to keep re heating the silver as you go as the rolling or hammering hardens the silver and it becomes less malleable. Because of the nature of the rolling, and how random the shape is afterward, I find a stone after I’ve rolled it out that suits the piece. I tend to hoard stones so I have about a thousand or so to chose from 😉 If that doesn’t make sense just let me know.
Yep, perfect sense! (wow, thank you for the quick reply! you must have been “sitting on it” as they say). I’ve done a teensy bit of soldering and melting lots of headpins but never attempted just melting a blob on a flat surface–didn’t know if you had to corral it somehow or if it would stay put for you. Obviously the latter!
You can do it on a charcoal block if it’s a small one, but just recently I bought a small crucible from Rio and that is better for making the ‘blobs’.