and a 3 foot length of 1/4 craft pine that has been sitting in my studio.

I roughly cut out the image and traced its shape on to the wood.  I also traced a larger copycat shape which will serve as the piece’s outer frame.  I then cut the piece out using my coping saw.

After much trial end error (and one broken but re-glued and repaired frame later), I ended up with the outer shape of the piece which was painted,

then gold leafed.

Next, on the top surface of the frame, I used a sgrafitto technique which is the process of scratching or stamping through the top layer of a surface to reveal the layer underneath.  You often see this technique used in traditional Christian iconography to highlight the gold leaf.  I will worry about the sides of the frame later.

For the next step, I cut out a solid duplicate of the frame from 1/64″ modeling wood.

I then laid the pieces together to get my first look at what the pendant will look like when assembled.

Happy with the results, its on to working on the back side of the piece which I will have to begin in the next post.  Right now, I have a 5 month old who is in dire need of a bottle and a nap.

-M

Examples include engraved metal tokens,

nice calling cards,

locks of hair,

or even pieces of jewelry.

For me, what began as a surprise Christmas gift to my wife several years ago

has blossomed into a whole series of pieces.

As of late, I have also started collecting antique paper lace Holy Cards.

These were also often given as tokens of affection, or to mark special occasions, such as first baptisms or holidays.  Most of the pieces are quite small, say something around 2″ x 4″, but the detail, and variety to be found, is incredible.

I’ve started on a new piece that merges the idea of the love token with paper lace cards, and I began by using the card shown above.  Here is the image as I have modified it for use.  For reference the final pendant piece will be roughly 2.75″ x 3.5″.

In the next posting, I’ll begin the process of taking you through step by step.

-M

What makes these so special is that they are non-toxic, very low VOC, and environmentally friendly.  This was always an important issue to me, but is even more important now that Jeremia is sharing his days with me out in the studio.

Not that I think I’ll be letting him near any of my chemicals anytime soon, but the less I can expose us to the better.  The company that sells these is Sculpt Nouveau out of California, and while not everything they sell is completely non-toxic, they do take that route as often as possible.

In the meantime while I’m finishing up this piece, I have also been working on two others that I am really excited about.  I will begin documenting their progress starting tomorrow.  I am also almost finished with the photography of all the other pieces, and should have photos of them up soon.

-M

I thought this also might be a good time to talk a little about the photo booth I am using- mine is made from a double thick furniture box.  The sides are lined with one layer of foam core to serve as light reflectors, and the backdrop paper is just a roll of bulletin board paper that I picked up at a local school supply store.  The clip-on lights came from Home Depot, and run about 7 bucks apiece, and I covered them with thin tissue paper to help diffuse the light.

Quite a simple set up, I know, but I just wanted to show it because I’m all about the saving-money-where-I-can-thing.  I’m a firm believer that you really don’t have to have an expensive set up to get good shots, and good images are crucial for good sales.

Until next time,

-M

I’m beginning with an antique cork-topped glass vial, and this brass Victorian drawer hardware piece.  For reference, the hardware is about 3.5″ tall.

Both are nicely naturally weathered, so a lot of the work is already done for me.

I’m making the chain out of annealed stainless steel wire and know that I want it to mimic the swirl shapes in the hardware.

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Here I’ve connected the hardware to the first part of the chain.  I decided to attach the chain on the sides of the piece so that it appears to float, but I’ve also connected it at the top so that it doesn’t move around too much.

At this point, I’m thinking about making a double chain  (a wonderful recommendation from my wife), and I believe I’ll hook it at both the sides and at the top.  Somewhere further up the necklace, I’ll bring the two chains together as one.

I’ll keep you updated as it progresses.

-M

I’ve been waiting on a couple of shipments of antique beads to arrive so that I could finish some of the chains; they came in this week so I’m good to go,

and I’ve also got to get all the custom boxes finished so that each piece has a snazzy place to call home.

I’m hoping to get most everything photographed this weekend so that they can all be up on Etsy by sometime next week.

I was also finally able to purchase some much needed toolery from Ornamentea-

I got a jeweler’s saw which will be great for working on some of the tin boxes I’ve recently gotten,

I also got a nice pair of magnifying goggles so that I can actually see what I’m doing,

and I got a good respirator so that I don’t die from the fumes and dust I’ve been creating.  Well the respirator came from Home Depot, but I had to work extra hard to find one with lovely “fuchsia” dust cartridges.

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Finally, on a completely unrelated subject-  I stumbled upon this shirt the other day on Etsy and think it must be about the coolest thing ever created- definitely have to have one.

Enjoy your weekend-  M

The first two things I’ve found are these awesome vintage compact cases:

They both are just oozing potential with all their openings and parts that move

Here they are disassembled-

This one is great because it has a piece that rotates a complete 360, and it has a wonderful clasp for closing the compact

This one, however, might just be the coolest shape I have ever found- it measures 2.5″ x 4″ which is perfect for a neck piece, and it has 2 doors that open, plus a nice recessed area in the top

I was also fortunate enough to find some good items this past weekend at the fleamarket:

The keys will make great clasps

And though this piece of antique celluloid would make a great centerpiece on a necklace,  I think I’ll resell it in my shop.

Last but not least, what has to be my biggest stroke of luck of all- to be the Dad of a kid who looks great in striped pajamas.

Until next time-

-M

The view at my computer

the other half

a piece already finished that I’ll tell you about later- well soon, as soon as I can get it photographed

and another view

More on the way!

-M

For example, what do you get when you combine an 1840s daguerreotype image of this lovely lady:

A scan of this 1860s ambrotype mat:

and an image of a big bowl?

Well after a lot of work in Photoshop, I came up with my latest digital piece:

The Star Collector

What’s great is that this piece will be a limited-edition series of prints, but I am also making it into a 3-dimensional illuminated piece as well.  Hopefully I’ll have photos of it up soon.

I’ve also been working on many many new pieces of jewelry; by a quick count I spied 23 pieces that are well on their way to being finished, plus several more in the works.  Maybe if you’re really good, I’ll sneak some “in progress” photos of them on to the blog in the next day or two.  Anyway, back to work!

-M

She makes beautiful flame-worked glass beads and I encourage you to check out her work.  Thanks Deborah!

I think I’ll pass the award on to the lovely clayfaery and her wonderful blog: The Pink Hare.   Enjoy!

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The Evening Star is now on to its new home, but before I sent it on its way, I made a box for it that I feel is a nice compliment.  I just can’t bring myself to send my jewelry in plain old containers.

And speaking of compliments- nothing is more flattering to an artist than when someone chooses to live with a piece of the artist’s work in their own home.

Thank you again to the lovely lady who purchased this piece-may you enjoy it for years to come!

-M