Is a big day.
I’m trying not to get too excited, but…
It’s bathroom cleaning day!
Can I hear a yah!
You know, if only people would refrain from going in there I wouldn’t have to keep cleaning the darn thing.
It’s o.k. though as I seem to be struggling with everything that I touch in the studio right now so perhaps I should appreciate this time alone with the Clorox.
We rarely get to spend quality time any more…
Actually we’ve been going through a lot of the stuff recently as Willow, bless her heart, has decided that her pee is too good for the garden and that she intends to conduct all of her business from now on in the living room.
Fortunately we have a tile floor.
S believes that this is the key to the problem, however, as when she was a young pup she had to do all of her peeing outside on the concrete in the dog yard we had specially made for her and our other two dogs.
Go figure.
He says that now she’s old, and blind, and deaf, and, as that other man who lives in the house with us insists, a little senile, he believes she thinks the tile floor is the concrete and that she is, in fact, outside.
Consequently it’s our fault for making her pee on the concrete in the first place and so we shouldn’t get irritated by it.
I’ve become very good at rolling my eyes.
Here we see Spud knocked out cold by the combined fumes of Willow’s pee and the Clorox.
It doesn’t seem to help that I only use the lemon scented kind.
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I spent four hours in the studio yesterday until I finally threw up my hands and melted down the bezel I had been working on.
I called time of death around six p.m..
I had only managed in that time to produce one, small, heart charm.
And I don’t even like hearts…
The only good thing going on in the studio right now is The Moonstone – and I don’t mean the ones in my top drawer.
I’m listening to Wilkie Collin’s book of that title and, in spite of the dark hours spent in that jewelry desperation wasteland, am thoroughly enjoying it.
Before Christmas I was listening to The Woman in White, which I really loved, but this one is even better and sometimes I even have to laugh out loud.
Betteredge, the butler, cracks me up.
I want one.
I read both of them when I was in my twenties, but sometimes you just can’t get enough of a good thing 🙂
The day before yesterday, however, I did manage to make a bracelet.
I spent most of the day wallowing on the sofa, I even had to have a little nap when the boredom overcame me so much that I couldn’t keep my eyes from shutting.
Dark times people.
Finally, at five o’clock, I managed to crawl my way into the studio and make something I’d been toying with for a few days.
I call it,
Just get up and do something before you melt into the sofa and become lost forever in the deceptively cosy depths of doom.
(Too much?)
It’s a very easy, non challenging project which I share with you today, but beware, only make this when you really need help getting off the sofa otherwise you will have wasted your one chance of rescue.
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I used 12 gauge wire for the links and 18 gauge wire for the jump rings and clasp.
Cut 12, 1″ lengths of the 12 gauge wire.
And hammer the edges flat.
If you don’t hammer very often here’s my tip.
Keep the hammer balanced nicely in your hand and let it do most of the work. You want to move your hand up and down, more at the wrist, allowing the weight of the hammer to fall consistently on the end of the wire and not force the metal into the shape you want.
For the shape above I like to move my hammer slowly away from the center of the length of wire along to the edge. I tap the hammer more gently at the center and as it moves along to the end allow it to come down with more weight. This produces a smoother and more even result.
As you are hammering toward the ends of the length watch carefully that you’re not hammering more to one side and thereby producing a misshapen end. Unless you have completely outdone yourself and whacked the end out into a wonderful, but not what you was going for, deformed shape, you can rectify any lopsidedness by gently concentrating your hammer on the other side of the end, or by gently rolling the end back and forth very slightly to allow the hammer to even the shape out.
If this isn’t possible you’ll just have to abandon the length and start over.
It’s the only way…
Once you have hammered the lengths you can file and sand them to perfectly round ends and then drill holes in them making sure to position the holes consistently.
Using a small bracelet mandrel or a large pair of mandrel pliers such as these,
You’re going to bend the lengths slightly so that when two links touch end to end they form an oval.
Now make 7, 4.5mm jump rings from the 18 gauge wire and join two links by two links until you have a bracelet.
I soldered the links on my bracelet, but if you’re not up for it no worries.
Unsoldered jump rings are better than wasting away on the sofa…
Just sayin’.
Next I bent the ovals again, but this time in the direction that when the bracelet is on, the links lay more comfortably and hug the wrist rather than lay rigid.
Lastly finish it with a clasp of your choice.
After which you can go inside and have a bowl of super food.
🙂
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seriously nice piece!! on the cat note i recently bought new furniture with lots of pillows and my cats ALL FIVE have gone into cat comas. i have take many pictures of the various positions they assume between pillows . gee, it would be nice if i could enjoy my new couch and chair. i’m interested in trying this new WUBBER tool. it looks interesting. and i cant recommend enough the saw frame by Otto Frei http://www.ottofrei.com/Store/Art-Clay-Silver_2/?search=saw+frame . i am seriously devoted to this work of art. if you dont have one yet please do yourself a favor and order asap
I know, right. It must be so great to be a cat.
I’ve seen that frame and have read all the reviews, etc.. Perhaps one day I’ll get around to getting one. It certainly looks fun.
Love the blog and the bracelet! I empathize with you on the loss of 4 hrs and a bezel. I think I even gained a few gray hairs last time that happened. I’m encouraged though… You prevailed! Nice work!
Mindy, your painting are wonderful. Thanks for popping by 🙂
Nice work, as usual!
Thank you.
Love the idea of the bracelet and think I will try it first in copper as I am a newbie and my hammering needs lots of practice, but such a great idea to inspire one to practice. As for the dog and cats, I understand. We are loaded with creatures too. But, you might want to change the bleach if your cats have that sort of reaction. I once had a vet tell me that bleach is deadly to cats and that it can burn their insides if they get it on them and lick or if it is too potent in the air. I changed my floor cleaners to a brand that has organic oils as I also have tile and it absorbs what you put on it. My cats were much happier right away. Oh, and my endocrinologist, who removed a huge tumor from my neck said that some of the ingredients in things like Clrx Cleanup are extremely toxic…and I am rarely on the floor where the creatures spend most of their time. Just sayin’.
Hi Ella, I was joking about Spud. I do tend to lean toward exaggeration and drama 😉 But it really is a good point that you bring up and I’ll look into the bleach stuff. Love to see your bracelet when you’re done 🙂
As always, I love reading your posts! They make me smile. I am in the same situation with having an old dog that is now blind, deaf and can’t hear. I wanted to recommend doggie diapers! I have a ‘male dog wrap’ style that just wraps around and soaks up all the pee! Mine has to wear it at night. Its so much easier than all the mopping I was doing!
Ha! I hadn’t even thought about diapers! How messy do you find them. (My keyboard won’t type ‘f’ in a word right now. Annoying!)
Love your ovals (and perfect paddles), but since I never get the desire to follow anyone’s instructions, I cleaned the bathroom instead. Luckily it’s just myself I have to clean up after. After that, there was an awful lot of snow to sit around and admire here! Meanwhile, I’m wondering why I’ve read practically every British Victorian writer save for Wilkie Collins. Shame on me.
You’ve more than likely read way more than I have. I mean, I’d rather shoot myself than read Dickens any day. I thoroughly enjoyed The Moonstone though.
Atta Girl, now we’re talking! You sound better! The bracelet is beautiful, a good start to the year. Now this year, be kind to yourself, and just go with the flow. I am very busy setting up my blog, it is surprising how timeconsuming it is. Once it is ready, I will, of course, invite you to subscribe. Thanks for the tip on the books, I am always looking for new books to read. Unfortunately it costs an arm and a leg to get them for us, even on Kindle. But I also would rather squirrel away some of the housekeeping money for that ……
Is it ready yet?!
I found a copy of the Moonstone on a shelf…. with all the Dickens. 😉
Remember I listened to it. Maybe it was more fun because of the reader’s voice. Actually reading it might be a bit of a slog as Collins does tend to go over and over the same story but from different perspectives. I also have the complete works of Dickens up high on my shelf. Mine, however, have been collecting dust for over thirty years now. Perhaps it’s time to let them go 😉