Saturday, July 06, 2013

Texture Focus on Life


Copper headpins on 20 gauge copper wire

This week our prompt from Sally Russick for the Focus on Life One Week at a Time is TEXTURE.
I have been so busy for the last weeks keeping up with the weeding in our veggie garden due to all the rain we have been getting and  preparing for two jewelry making classes that I am teaching later this month that I have not posted for awhile.  But this week the texture prompt fit right in with what I was doing, making balled end head pins for one of the classes.

I thought I would contrast two different metals and illustrate the different textures they create when heated into a ball with a torch.  The first picture is of copper headpins.  They often make a kind of shriveled up ball which I really like.  In order for mine to get them red like many in the pic I have to be patient and let the ball fully form and them I pop it into cold water.  When I hear the sound of the hot metal hitting the water I know that it will be red.  I love that red color.

Over the winter I read a blog post by Silver Maple Designs by Andrea discussing the merits of Argentum silver wire.  When the price of silver went down I purchased some.  The headpins below were one of my first tries.  It balls up very quickly and is SO smooth. Thank you so much for showing me the way with Argentum silver, Andrea.   I love these headpins.  BTW if you do not know Andrea you can see her blog here.  I love the jewelry she designs!!!



Argentum silver balled end headpins

I hope you will take a look at what the others have photographed for texture this week.  You can get all of the links HERE




13 comments:

  1. I love both - I have a great necklace with a copper fringe like your first pic!
    have a blessed week :)

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  2. Cool, I never knew you could make your own headpins, wonder if you could share the process, I don't know that I would ever really do it but it'd be neat to see!

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  3. Beautiful headpins!! I love seeing the contrast between the two metals.

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  4. Both metals came out looking great! The silver really does look smooth!

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  5. I use fine silver for my silver balls.. may have to try argentium I notice that silver is under $20 but the Canadian $ is way down too....

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    1. Hoping the CDN$ dollar will recover a bit myself. I lucked out and ordered some silver when the price went down, and before the CDN $ tanked. Wish I had bought more now.

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  6. Ooh, I love the red ones too! That's a great choice for this weeks prompt!

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  7. I love the red ones too. Thanx for posting about the argentum wire. It sounds like I need to try it.

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  8. Very cool contrast of textures! I really like the red too!

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  9. Your photos are great showing the contrast between making head pins out of two different metals. I like them both.

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  10. I love copper headpins - so pretty against so many different stones

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  11. Mary, so glad I had a metal 'tip' for you; as a newbie, I need to soak all YOUR teachings in. Looking forward to your class next week for sure. So excited to see you!

    Argentium sterling was my first metal to try at balling up headpins. It was so super easy. I had to use my smaller micro-torch for the thinner gauges. Can't wait to compare notes with you on how you found it, and to see what creative fun we will be up to in your bangle course.

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  12. Mary, both colors of metal look fabulous - those balled head pins are sure fun to make. I enjoyed catching up with the happenings in your neck of the woods in your recent newsletter. You are up to all sorts of great stuff this summer, both taking classes and teaching your own. Your bangles class this Friday looks like so much fun, and very beautiful too. I'd love to join in if I lived closer!

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