Be Yourself and Be Free!



Carmen Planking!!!

This is a picture of my friend Carmen making her kids say, "MOM!!!"  They were at Tropical Park and she wouldn't get up until they took the picture. 
Her daugher posted it on her Facebook page and my son caught me looking at it several times and called me a picture stalker! 
I couldn't help it.  It makes me giggle every time I look at it.  This is Carmen being totally free and being herself, caught up in the moment, teasing her kids. 
I felt just a little twinge of jealousy that I hadn't let myself feel that way.  I've been just too caught up and I must confess I started to forget a little about having fun.  (I've been a real stick.)
She has really inspired me.  This is how we are supposed to be, enjoying moments, being ourselves and enjoying our friends and family!  She reminds me of how I'm supposed to feel, and that's free - not encoumbered with the weight of the world, worry free and just allowing myself to enjoy the moment with friends and family.  I wanted to share her inspiration with you!  And, may I add, She's doing a perfect plank, too!

Ideas Kind of Just Floating Around?

You know, I really believe its OK to have some random ideas if you are stuck and haven't really chosen a direction to go with your work. Get those ideas started even if its just a little here and a little there. You will discover little things along the way about each one. You might want to write them down in a journal or sketch them down.

Don't criticise yourself for working on a few or a lot of ideas all at once. I know we all have been criticized for starting several projects and not finishing them but if they all or some are moving forward in one way or another I don't think anyone should judge! We shouldn't be so hard on ourselves!
When you are experimenting with jewelry ideas you could use recycled wire snippets or base metal jump rings to hold your prototypes together so you don't have to worry about wasted materials should you choose to take your project apart and go another direction.
If you get stuck on an idea go as far as you can with it and stick it away in a plastic bag. Work on something else. You could get working on the new thing and suddenly get a bright idea about the project you are stuck on.

I thought these shoes were kind of cool. I found them above South Street in Philadelphia like someone just threw them up there kind of random over the power lines. In a strange way they sort of look like they belong up there like the art all around them.  We could view them as hopelessly stuck or we can view them as art!

Daisy Chain

'Daisy Chain ' by bajunajewelry

Sweet daisy chain

Wrap around my neck and back again

Brush my cheeks and warm my skin like the sun

A Team Fest Treasury

dessert stand pair clear dai... ARTfulSalvage $50.00	Leather Wrap Bracelet - Peri... WeAre1 $42.00	Orange Zinnia Impasto Oil artbymsr $75.00	Card, Happy Sunflowers PaintedLathees... $5.00
Lazy Daisy Crazy Quilt Plush Handmade3D $18.00	Sunshine Original Painting Paintingsbygre... $55.00	It takes courage to grow up ... awpphotography $15.00	Orange Flowers, Lampwork Dis... fragiacomoglas... $25.00
Sunflowers Faces bowlswithholes $60.00	Sunflower Double Original Oi... artbymsr $175.00	Hand Painted Sunflower Gour... natskreations $29.95	Here Comes the Sun Fabric Po... zizzybob $7.00
Child's Sunny Yellow Flo... katsv13 $4.00	Coming Up Daisies Signed and... kellywarrenpho... $25.00	Big and Beautiful Flower Rin... cjBlue $25.00	Pop Daisy Full Apron with He... pamwares $32.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

How to Make a Textured Cuff from a Plain Blank or Sheet Metal

Wide Hammered Brass Cuff Bracelet

I made this pretty pounded cuff bracelet from a very plain wide cuff blank and just a hammer, steel block, pliers and with the metal bits and pieces laying around my bead board.

You could make one using your own design of course by using a piece of sheet metal you cut yourself or a metal cuff blank made flat.

I like raw brass or copper because these take a patina but you can use any metal and experiment.

First take cuff blank and flatten it a little by bending it.   Don't flatten using a hammer because you are going to make it cuff shaped again. 

You are going to lay your metal cuff blank on top of your steel block and put pieces of metal between your blank and the block.  These have to be reasonably flat or they will slide around when you start hammering.  You don't want them to slide because you want nice print in the metal and not a distorted one. 

Very Wide Textured Brass Cuff

I used several flat brass heshi beads, washers, and 12 gauge brass wire twisted into the shapes I wanted.  You place your little metal objects one piece at a time under the bracelet blank on the side that will face outward when you finally bend it back into a bracelet, and hold the blank firm and still while you hammer directly on top of your little metal thing. 

You want to hit hard enough to see a dent make a raised form on the place you are hitting the hammer.  That's how you know you hit hard enough.  Move your pieces around and check your impressions as you go so you can see what you like.  Experiment with very hard hits and some softer ones.  You can use pennies and other small coins.  Hardware like little flat nuts or the heads snipped from screws would look good too.  Don't use anything that will shatter.  Don't use rocks, glass or gemstones.  Use protective eye wear and keep your fingers away from the sharp edges of your sheet metal.

Don't try too hard to make a definite design.  Plan you design with flexibility because since you are doing this by hand the pieces slip a little sometimes and the dents are not perfect.  My design looks a little like curling vines and I am sure my next cuff will look very different.

When you are finished with your design turn the blank over and add dents, shapes or texture  by hitting it directly on the good side.  You could add scratches with a nail or your dremel tool if you want. 

Wide Brass Cuff

 Finish the bracelet by bending it back into a cuff again with your hands.  I like to bend the edges on mine with a pair of pliers but you leave yours flat or use what ever method you want to finish the edges.  I pound the edges to thicken them and also to work harden the shape of the cuff.

The edges on my cuff are pounded hundreds of times so they are thicker than when I first started and smoothed with my dremel tool. They don't have that cut feeling.  The cuff is held on the bottom edge on the block while you hit the top edge.  I shape the cuff with my hand and set it on my block in the "c" shape and pound the edges.  This is very very noisy!  It takes a long time and my edges would be thinker a little more if I would have done this longer. 

A lot of work went into this bracelet as well as punishment to the family and neighbors with the pounding noise.
Finally I removed any sharpness with my dremel tool and felt around the edges for any places that might snag. I applied a light patina with liver of sulfur and it was so vivid with color I decided to leave it that way. It's sealed with Renaissance Wax on the inside and out.

This cuff is very wide at 3" and will fit up to a 7" wrist.   I can make a thinner one by special request.

Enlarge Your Photos Before You Publish Them!

How often are you in a hurry when you compose an ad and post your pictures on Etsy?

I know my pictures have much to be desired on my jewelry sites but this is not the angle I am going to discuss today. When I learn to take better pictures that will be another post!

This is about checking your work. I mean check your jewelry for obvious flaws in workmanship like scratches on stones, wires sticking out, mismatched colors, dirt, etc.

I got the idea when I was bringing my jewelry to work and the girls were bringing it to the bathroom. They weren't just trying it on. They were scrutinizing it really up close behind those closed doors!

This is what happens to our work on Etsy. We all publish our pictures so they will be enlarged. Etsy will let you publish a picture that is 1000 x 1000 pixels. That's pretty big! It's about 7 x 7 inches! (abouts) You can see everything! Everything! EVERYTHING!

Sometimes we all get in a hurry. That's why I am bring this up. Enlarging the pictures before and immediately after you post will save your butt from a lost customer, Regretsy, laughter, and out right humiliation or embarrassment!

You are putting yourself in the seat of the customer. You will find those deciding factors that make them buy your jewelry or not!

I clean my vintage jewelry well but I have enlarged pictures only to find that there are hairs stuck in a brooch or earrings. Or gross makeup caked on the side of a rhinestone. Ewwww!

I've made earrings using briolettes only to find a flaw in the front of the glass or the stone. This is my opportunity to remake the earring again and hide the flaw in the back behind the filigree. If I would not have enlarged the picture like the customer would have; I don't think I would have found it. (I constantly change glasses between bifocals and magnifiers.)

If you forgot to tuck in a wire in your wrap this is your chance. Tuck it in and take another picture. If your forgot that little bit of glue, well here's your chance to see it magnified 8 times! Enlarged pictures show all. ALL!!!!

Enclosed you will find another fly in the ointment so to speak. I take my pictures outside sometimes. I don't mind the occasional ant in the picture, those can be funny. I will even get a dragonfly to flirt with my dragonfly brass stampings. Take a look. What do you find?

If you love this little clown brooch he is clean and still available in my shop with several other figural type brooches!

The Orange Hotel

'The Orange Hotel' by bajunajewelry

If I ever owned my own hotel it would be the Orange Hotel.
It would be one of those fancy ones that has cotton linens and all the frills!
No extra charge for a TV and a clock by your bed.
Oh, did I mention the coffee pot!

Dottie's Uncle Tangelo b... symmetricalpot... $45.00	Reception - Acrylic Mini Pai... FinePointStudi... $300.00	I remember you well - Fine a... irenesuchocki $30.00	Orange Dream: Vintage chenil... WoollyMammothV... $42.00
Orange Retro 70s Bathroom Se... SeeJaneChoose $17.50	Vintage Peach Big Ben Alarm ... retrotreasureh... $24.00	Orange disco flower upcycled... anw02c $60.00	Waiting, Fine Art Print scrufmeisterk $25.00
Retro 1960's sofa/armcha... noorakali $150.00	vintage floral picture rusty... thevintagelamp $17.00	Vintage Orange Regal Poly-Pe... VintageFamilya... $11.99	Color Tv, 3 8x10 Metallic P... RoadsidePhotog... $55.00
Vintage Florida Postcard - L... savannahsmiles... $1.00	Watching TV- Fine Art Photog... siobhanphotogr... $38.00	Vintage Vinyl Sofa/Daybed In... LOOKINGforYEST... $255.00	Orange Dream rainydaydreamc... $11.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Make Your Own Wire Guards and French Wire

I wanted to show you all an easy way to make your own attractive beading wire protectors that you can do in any type of metal. This picture here is taken with 20 gauge wire as the base wire and 24 gauge wire as the wrapped wire. You can make several wraps of your smaller gauge wire around wire that is at least 20 gauge wire. Use the 20 gauge because you can get your beading wire through the coil when it's done. Use a flat nose pair of pliers to hold the wire in place and use your fingers or another pair of pliers to do the wrapping. I recommend using the second pliers to help you because then you can pull the wraps nice and tight and close. Make the wraps nice and close. Your finished work will look like a tight little spring when you are done. The coil wrapping should be at least 14 mm for your finished piece until you get used to working with it then adjust according to your preference. Trim the excess and slide off the thicker wire. Use just like you would french wire or Accu-Guards. Slide on to your beading wire followed by a crimp and secure the crimp behind the loop you made. See my Dragonfly necklace as an example.

Have you had your Fiber? From Team Fest Etsy Team

Have you had your fiber, felt, wool, fuzz, fabric or string today? Keep these beautiful creations in your Etsy diet for a healthy organic Team Fest shopping experience!

'Have you had your Fiber? From Team Fest Etsy Team' by bajunajewelry

Soft Peruvian Wool Textured ... Rhianana $35.00	Shabby Chic Pistachio Fabric... zizzybob $12.00	Wiber Leaf Copper Bracelet AudreyGardenLa... $27.00	Spinning Fiber Batts - Kindl... jeweledclaws $12.70
Eco Friendly Wool Coffee Tea... InYourBones $12.00	Bashful Sheep Merino Sock Ya... thelazylambyar... $22.00	Mended Heart Takes Wing Red ... Armillatadesig... $22.00	Gorgeous Green Simple Little... cjBlue $12.00
Crocheted Beaded Necklace - ... LittlePeachFuz... $8.00	Hammered Copper Necklace - L... Seaphemera $48.00	Upcycled bracelet/cuff sassycrafter $55.00	Nuno shawl, silk and wool fe... BlindSquirrel $195.00
Multi color green scarf SassyClass $32.00	Easter Baa baa brown needle ... MeSweet $24.00	Artisan Silk Wrist Cuff - Re... loclava $44.95	Felted Beaded Ring TallyFiberwork... $22.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.