Crafts

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I made this little heart as an experiment…and now it reminds me that I am falling behind on all those stars! I am anticipating creating a larger piece using an ocular that I am hoping to carve into the shape of a heart without shattering it. Thus I took a scrap of sea glass and carved a heart to see if I could actually do it without any accidents.

Sure enough, it was entirely possible, and easier than I thought it would be! So of course, I couldn’t just let this little heart go unfinished, thus I experimented with scalloping silver. Not exactly mathematically the best job in the world, but with each piece I learn something new. I am pretty happy with the results.

The matte finish is from running the silver plate through a press with 350 grit sandpaper – it’s a fine velvety finish. Also, this was the first time in a while I made a prong setting; on this one I melted the tips to a round finish, something I have wanted to try for a while. This heart, by the way, is what I call “celadon” which is my favorite color.

While in Hawaii, at a friend’s wedding, I picked up a few celadon glass beads and decided to make an initial “J”…also a quick experiment. I had wanted to try stamping the actual bezel. It says “PERSNICKETY” which is how I was feeling at that moment.

The font used for the “J” is Hoefler Text. A simple ball-chain was added and voila! A beginner’s project with a few experiments thrown in. I think I am going to add some beads to the bail just to spice it up.

At any rate, I hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Footnote: for those of you who like to collage, even digitally, my husband introduced me to this great application called Shape Collage, where you can create something like the “Fairman Studios Heart” you see below. Pretty neat if you have a bunch of pictures of kids, or pets, or…medical illustrations…
;)

© 2009 Willow Street Creative.