I haven't even taken it out of the box, let alone started torching things. But the fact that I now own my own blowtorch gives me a silly sense of pride and and excitement. Right now, I am hoping my skill can keep up with my ambition and creative ideas.
Hello, and welcome to my blog. I'm Liz, and I'm glad you stopped by! Today I start writing, keeping a record of my trials and errors, successes and adventures. Adventures doing what, you ask? I'm starting to craft with copper. Copper plating small objects, etching it, hammering it, coloring it, jewelry making, whatever I can think of! As a small part of that, I also plan on making jewelry incorporating dried herbs - adding the subtle dimension of smell to pieces. Understand, I've never done ANY of this before. But I've always had a creative streak, and I love copper. So, I decided this was what I wanted to do, and this is the time to do it!
Why now? I just got my renter's tax rebate in the mail. Disposable income - huzzah! And I have a steady job, my own place with room enough to work, and the free time to put effort into what I'm doing. So this weekend, I hit up some stores, to start getting what I need. It felt almost empowering, walking around Harbor Freight Tools knowing what I need, and picking up other random things on impulse. No, thank you, I don't need help - but I'll let you know if I do! A trip to Menards and a trip to Target rounded off the weekend, with the stuff I remembered to buy, anyway...
I've gotten sheet copper and lacquer, weed killer and brass brushes and a ball peen hammer, paint brushes and electric leads and plenty of other things. Two VERY important pieces of equipment I did not have to buy. One was a CD player. I expect to be playing great music as I work; the right music can be greatly inspiring (once I start working, I'll let you know what I'm listening to!) The other is a pair of safety goggles. What I have are actually welding goggles, but I assume they will serve the same purpose. Normally, a pair of goggles wouldn't warrant more than passing mention, but these goggles... These goggles are the same type worn by my favorite evil scientist - Dr. Horrible. I hope you agree - that makes them worth praising!
Sadly, I still have more things to buy or acquire before I can get started. Most of the things I need can only be ordered from specialty stores, or will require some searching on my part. For example, I need a chunk of wood to use as a hammering surface. I need to find ferric chloride, too, and liver of sulfur. If I'm successful enough, I'll even get a digital rectifier!
For now, though, I close this initial post thanking you for stopping by. Please come back again soon. You may either see some of my first attempts in crafting...or pictures of me after I accidentally burn off half my hair with a blowtorch. Either way, it will be worth it!
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