Trading Ska for Fairy Wings

I was planning on going out tonight. I was going to go to a bar, have a couple drinks, and listen to some local kids play ska. I've heard them before - I like them! But I decided to do a bit of crafting before I left, and by the time I looked up at the clock, it was 11:00. *sigh* I guess I'll need to catch them again in September.

Good news is, I made some stuff! Or at least, got a good start. And I experimented, too. This is going to be a learning process, for sure, but a fun one. I started out with finishing drilling the holes in the copper moon shape. That went well, though I was covered with copper dust by the time I was done. My black tank top looked very pretty! (As an aside, this made me google the effects of breathing in copper dust. Luckily, seems like I've got nothing to worry about. Anything that it's gonna do to me, is likely already happening to me anyway. And it's not like I'm making THAT much dust. Anyway...)



After I made the holes, I used a grinding bit to try smooth out the inside curve a bit more. It went well, until my hand slipped and I left a scratch in the front. :( I though I might be able to sand it out, so I put a sanding disk on the dremel, and gave it a once-over. It left a very cool wobbly pattern, though the disk got a little chewed up near the end. I wasn't able to buff out the scratch I gave it, and actually put some new scratches in the back. Oops! Then, I tried blowtorching it. Now, I did get it to turn colors, but not that much. I mean, not the vivid and astonishing colors that I've seen before on copper pieces. I might get down to the library tomorrow and see if I can find any books on metalworking that might be helpful. I did manage to get a very faint patina, though. After that, I decided to put that aside, and start working on something else.



I have a neat (in my fanciful opinion, anyway) idea for a wind-chime-type thing. It involves these seed pods that look like maple seeds but bigger. I can copper coat them and string them and, well, hopefully I'll be able to show you as things go on. For now, though, I started preparing the seeds. I got a jump ring through them and laquered then, and now they're hanging to dry. They look very much like fairy wings - an effect I was not expecting. Next I need to paint them with conductive paint. Then plate them. Then, I've been thinking about etching them to give them a lacy appearance. But that's getting the cart MILES ahead of the horse.

For now, I'll be happy with what I got done. And hope that I didn't miss TOO much by not going out!