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August 29, 2013

Wire Snake Charm - So Proud!

Do you ever make something that is ridiculously simple, but of which you are extremely proud?

That's today for me with the silly little snake charm.  It took way too long to make for what it is, and it probably could be done ten times better, but... it is what it is and I'm very satisfied with it.



It didn't even start off to be a snake.  It was going to be some nice copper hoop earrings, similar to the heavy copper forged earrings I've made before. Unfortunately, I jumped ahead and made the hoop before hammering the wire.  My next thought was to see if I could make them into more of an ancient style hoop by filing the 12g wire thin enough to make it into an earwire.  This thought came from watching a great wire wrap tutorial video by Dennis Hardy on YouTube.  He starts by filing the wire to taper it, and I realized I never tried that - so I dug out my neglected files and started tapering the wire.

At some point, I decided I was never going to file enough to get to ear wire thin - maybe they could be gauges - those ear wires that people use to expand their ear hole size, but they wouldn't be wearable earrings for me.  Then the snake came into my brain.  I've always loved snake jewelry, so it seemed like the easiest thing to do.  I added a few curves, flattened the head and pulled out my letter stamps to add texture (another thing I've rarely used).

The 'X' letter was the obvious choice for the snake skin, but it didn't work as well as I would have liked.  Admittedly, I wasn't trying very hard, but next time I would use a W or M.  I just think the design would be fuller without having to fiddle as much with the stamp.  I also would anneal before stamping too.


So, there you have it.  I'm already getting over the little fella, but I do feel like I learned a few new skills and had some fun making it.  And my kids could tell right away what it was supposed to be (which is not always the case - lol!).  I suppose this is a perfect project for wire scraps or mistakes.  And I think it will be perfect in a group of wire wrapped charms - possibly on a leather cord.  Or maybe attached to an earwire?

And, on another note, I'm right back to taking pictures with my i-Phone on my kitchen counter.  I've cleaned up an area to be my photo studio, but I just haven't had time to set up everything and practice.  Again, it is what it is, and I'm sure I will get to it soon.  I just hate not posting just because the pictures are no better than they've always been.

7 comments:

  1. I love this little snake-y guy! I think you were supposed to arrive at this end anyway - ♥ thanks for all the info, Lisa!

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    1. Thank you. I often feel silly with my little triumphs when I look at the amazing wire work so many of my jewelry friends do, but I can only do what I can do - so I might as well enjoy it!

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  2. Hi, Lisa,

    Nice snake!

    I've been using my new iPhone pretty much exclusively for taking pictures the past month since a pal told me about www.picmonkey.com to do the editing. Bonus is it's free. There may be other sites out there, but this is perfect for my needs because it's faster than fast.

    Drag and drop your photo in, use the sliders on the left to see exactly what changes happen as they happen. No more endless mouse-bound clicking through dropdown menus and "apply" to see a minute change. I can crop, colour correct and sharpen a photo in less than a minute -- it's the sharpen feature that's most valuable when using the iPhone; second is the colour temperature feature to warm up or cool certain colours of stones that are really hard to correct for like turquoise. The blue-purples elude me, but that could be a function of the background the items are photographed on.

    It allows me to save in three sizes. I use the one around 400 to 600 kb for posting photos online.

    Barbara
    www.artefaccio.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you Barbara. I will look into that, because my progress on the photography is definitely stalled. I appreciate your help and experience!

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  3. OK, I'm a fan of the little fella, too :)

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    1. Thanks Sherri! :)

      I love that you are making macrame kits now. I definitely have that on my list of things to try. I love your bracelets and especially your color combinations. So glad you could make it easier for us newbies!

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