Some new beads

13  strawberry beads

My 2 favorite  

1 gray piggy & 1 gray mouse

A Sukura Blossom button bead

A guinea pig

SCA Glassworking flame station

I have decided to make a glass station that I can take camping that might be as theyvused in 1500's based on my research

Traditional Glassworking Techniques page 17

For the bellows I will more then likely try and figure out a side by side or over under set up. If I do side by side I will use a piston based on the ones use for mining and smelting from Georgius Agricola De Re Metallica. 

Georgius Agricola De Re Metallica
page 180

a close up of page 180

Georgius Agricola De Re Metallica
page 365

 

DIRTY DOZEN LARGESSE DERBY

Up Date: I did win the Derby.

For my Dirty Dozen Derby Largesse donation/entry I was going to do 12 entreys for 144 total pieces. Master Philippe challenged me to not do that but put my combine ideas together into one really good entry instead. As such I give you my entry of 12 things combined into one. 

 

Leather needle bookwith wool felt page, containing, 

2 penannular brooch (copper)

2 bowfibula (brass)

4 veil pins (steel & glass)

2 hair pins (brass & glass)

And a linen bag. 

I made a leather book by using a awl to poke holes ro sew a peice of wool felt in with sinew though waxed linen would have work as well. I used a soft sided coptic book design that I use to make books with paper in them. I could have made the wool twice as big so that I could have doubled the amount of stuff but with me I would then have wanted to double the amount of stuff. also another page can always be added.

Making the penannular brooches

I used 7 strand naked electical wire that i cut in to 2 1/2" & 3 1/2" leangth 

Using the horn of my anvil i bent the longer peice of wire around to make a full circle

 Here you see the circles and then with the small bended circles on each ends and finaly rebent into a finished circle. I also tapped the whole brooch flat with more force on the ends to help hammer harden the metal

 Making the pins I hammered flat then hand filed one for clean up.

I used the file over the other end of the pin to sharppen the end. I takes about 75 passes with the file to make a sharp pin.

 I bent the flat ends of the pin so that I could use it to hook the frame on and then finish bending the pin around the frame. The back tail of the pin is used to get a better hild on the pinn when using it.

 To make glass headed veil pins i start with store bought pins because they are verry thin and clean and are less likely to mess up the modern fabrics that are used by reenacters.

 I removed the plastic top with the hammer on the anvil

 I have my perscription saftey glasses on with side shields. You always need saftey glasses when working glass in a blow torch.

 Because of their short size you need to use plyers to hold the pins or i used wine corks. But don't use the synthetic ones they melt from the heat. I made 75 and then set them out and matched them up by size in order to make sets that were the same head size. 

                     

Making the  bowfibulars. Using hardened brass wire from the hobby stores train section. I cut 6" leangths. I sharpened the cut end. Again it takes about 75 passes with a hand file.i hammered the other end flat and file it smooth it to a rounded edge. I finger bend 2 at a time to keep them matching. then spinn the spring coil till the leangth of the pin sits at a good location of the clap end. this is about 2 or 3 times. 

Here are the 12 books closed

The 12 books full and open

Close up of one of the books with its contents.

also the hair pins were made with thicker Brass wire they were sharpend befor having the glass added to the other end the end with the glass was roughed up some to better hold the glass I dont work wire after glass is on it. 

I will add a photo of the bags here.

Birthday gift & Christmas gift Lady bugs

 

At my mothers request I bought some lady bug beads to make a gift for her friend Bernie.

I didn't have the energy right now to do the lamp working my self so I picked up a combination of lamp worked lady bug beads and Peruvian hand panted lady bug beads. I had all the other parts on hand already.

 

I used a large lobster claw clasp that is very secure because she has lost bracelets before. I also used two crimp beads per side to further make sure of the bracelet security. 

 

On this one I used fresh water pearls 

 

I personally prefer very simple earrings as such I made her one set that was just that.

 

these I made a little more complex with the Fresh water pearls 

German beaded Willow madalion German beaded Willow madallion

German beaded Willow medallion  the size of a half dollar

Tree of life pendant with seed beads

For a swap I made a tree of life pendant this is only my second attempt at these. I make it much smaller then the first one. it is about the size of a nickle I like the first one better.

beaded circlet

This is a 4 ft long necklace that is really designed to be a circlet. First you wrap it back on it's self then you fasten it. It does also work as a necklace and a bracelet too. I used glass pearls with black glass large seed beads, and small silver seed beads , and Alexanderite (green stone).

Blue Monks Stone, Also know as; gold stone

 

I was able to locate some odd shaped beads of Blue Monks stone. I thought they were cool in there strange shapes. I assembled them into some semblance of a pendant and strung them with some cristal beads that had a peacock mirror treatment on them. My Daughter thought that with it being so dark that the seed beads should be very bright and colorful and I think it was perfect.

Triple moon Pendent

I couldn't find a triple moon pendant and when I did they were sold out on back order and wouldn't sell me the display model. Lucky for me in that same store I found Moon stone beads that were half circle discs and a moon stone bead so I made the triple moon out of then and strung them with more moon stone and some full moon medal beads I bought else were. I then made a bracelet and I bought a moon stone ring also to make it a set. I really like it and thought about keeping it. I am not sure if I can reproduce it because I don't know that I can get more of all the different types of moonstone so it is one of a kind. all it needed was earrings too bad I didn't have more moon stone to do that but that might have been over kill.

Apple Tree of Life

 Here you get to see a rough draft and a finished project. I had never made a tree of life pendant before and so I tried it and it didn't come out nice so I cut it all apart and tried again with a different way of starting You can see the original that inspired this,
By Phoenix fire @ http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=366545.0
You can also see how much better the second one came out.

match box swap

 I downloaded a template and printed it out on card stock then drew and colored on the box.
I stuffed it with stuff, crafted is a polymer clay piece a wire ring and the 3 twilight guitar pick made out of a gift card & resin pendent filled with beads

Lamp worked headed pins

Finished second batch

 The way that I go about making these is to take a  corsage pin and remove the top plastic piece (I crush them with pliers) Unlike making beads on a mandrel. there is no bead release needed.
These are mushrooms they are going in the project bag needle case I showed you yesterday.
I also make these as hair pins for use in costuming  (garb) in The SCA (Medieval Reenactment) yes I stick pins in my hair to hold it up. I tend to blunt them a little before this use.

First Batch Practice