MAPP Gas: the Secret to Unlocking Maker's Block

Been feeling rather uptight lately about making stuff. So I sort of stopped. Then I got a canister of MAPP gas and a new torch head because I wanted to make some copper S-clasps and toggle bars (I like the hammered ball at the end) and the propane just wasn't cutting it on the 16 gauge wire. Apparently I melted right through my inhibitions! Nothing like a little FIRE and molten metal to get you stirred up. Here's my pile of melted stuff, and some more wrapped rings:

As I had mentioned in a previous post, the incomparable Shannon LeVart of Miss Fickle Media had posted on her blog about wrapping rings as an alternative to soldering. I really like how they look! She also--God bless her--shared some VERY handy tips in her "Color Drenched Metal" tutorial about using liver of sulphur. I was dying to get that rich, reddish brown color on my copper but all I could manage was black. I learned the secret from Shannon's tutorial of how to achieve that rich dark color! YES. I also made a couple of plain bars, above, for I don't know what, wrap around something, and some oval link chain (they were just going to be jump rings but then I thought--HEY! why don't I just link them all together and make a CHAIN. I'm effing brilliant. I don't know where I get this stuff.). To make the ovals I wrapped my wire around a couple kebab sticks (wrapping your wire around two round rods produces a nice oval shape--I'm too cheap to buy an oval jump ring maker), and then sawed it at the top with my jeweler's saw (first time I ever used it--didn't break the blade! ha! next time.) I use my flush cutters when I'm making round jump rings, but since you have to keep nipping off the chiseled end of the wire for each ring to make both ends flush, you can't use it on ovals (if you always want to have the cut at the same place. It sounds complicated, but trust me. Sharilyn Miller shows you how to use flush cutters to make jump rings in her "Ethnic Style Jewelry Workshop" DVD. Among MANY other handy things. Highly recommend.)

So after I got my jollies with the torch (it's much noisier than the propane torch and the flame is a little more...exuberant) I rifled through my purse for the myriad little notes I make throughout the day of things I think I should make. There were about 7 loose sheets of paper with scribblings and incomprehensible drawings and lists. One indecipherable hieroglyphic went in the trash (not sure what I was getting at) but the pendant below made it onto the workbench and into the shop (I was trying to keep it less ornate--this one involves no ball headpins). Deerskin lace in chestnut and buckskin colors, waxed cotton cord in navy blue, wood and lapis beads, pewter tulip-shaped endcaps, and silver-plated rolo chain from Lima. Hand-forged sterling silver S-clasp.

This is one of Happy Mango Beads' fabulous Celtic spiral pewter pendants. They also have some wonderful smaller spirals and triskelia (triple spirals). I posted a picture of this pendant to Happy Mango's Facebook page this evening and Rudi Taylor, Happy Mango's directrice, told me the winsome story of this pendant (I believe she is currently in Bangkok! having recently arrived from Nepal on a bead-buying trip). I post it with her permission:

"I know there are spirals everywhere, but this particular one has a story. We were in Galicia, Spain (the section of Spain that hooks over the top of Portugal), an entirely Celtic area, and we were driving forever and ever and finally came upon a village with a single bar - so we went in to get a glass of wine and some bread (that's all they had), and inside was an old guy making spirals to be used as some sort of decor for a celebration the village was having, he gave us this spiral (and permission) to have it cast in pewter. So as you can see, it's not just 'any' spiral :)"

Is that not the coolest thing ever? I might have to buy more.

I took some other pictures of this pendant on a cushion from my favorite chair my Mom gave me (she found it at a yard sale and gifted it to me when she replaced it with a posh club chair), and I just loved them because they MATCHED so perfectly and I was dying to use them as the main photo for my item on Etsy, but the pendant just seemed to disappear. I used one of them anyway for the second picture. This is my favorite one:

The Chair:

Pardon the mess. Is that not a fabulous chair? I SCORED. Men are not allowed to sit in it. Except on holidays. Major holidays. Not the minor ones.

I also made these a couple weeks ago--wrapped them at work on my lunch hour but I didn't get around to listing them until recently:

Czech "Picasso" glass in red.

Czech glass in orange with "Sunshine Dust" and Antiqued Brass.

Czech "Picasso" Glass in Turquoise with Sterling Silver.

Czech glass in Purple Luster Finish with Sterling Silver.

I was going to make a copper bracelet this weekend too but all my time got gobbled up with picture-taking/editing and posting stuff. I guess the next time I get all inhibited and angst-ridden I'll just melt more copper with my new torch. I'll probably have to open a second shop to get rid of it all.

Next post: Heat Vent Treasures (or, "The Ductwork Adventures of an Inveterate Renter").

Muppets: Bringing the World Together, One Etsy Shop at a Time

"...I take my lead from this immortal style icon--'I find that it is vital to have at least one handbag for each of the ten types of social occasion: Very Formal, Not So Formal, Just a Teensy Bit Formal, Informal But Not That Informal, Every Day, Every Other Day, Day Travel, Night Travel, Theatre and Fling.'"
-Miss Piggy

I recently came across the quote above in an Etsy seller's profile while reviewing her shop on LinkReferral. I immediately wrote my review and told the seller I loved her--she quoted MISS PIGGY (the diva's diva and my junior high style guru--God, why was junior high so hard?), AND she lives in Ireland, so she was double-ultra cool. And thus our little intercontinental friendship was born! Everybody, meet my new friend Rena Roohipour, of Lilycobweb at Etsy! I asked Rena to tell you a little about herself, and share some of her work:

Rena: I design and make crocheted and beaded wearable items and jewelry. I live in South Down, Northern Ireland in a very scenic area. I love music, art and craft. Crochet is something I have studied and developed since I was a child. I love its endless flexibility and sculptural qualities. I'm influenced by Nature and by Romanticism, with an occasional dash of Gothic glamour and a hint of Celtic twilight! I focus on that link between eye and heart and hope that this feeling is reflected in what I make. I love to make beautiful and functional pouches and purses as well as bead and wire jewellery. I occasionally make freeform crochet wallhangings which also incorporate beads and wire. What interests me about crochet is its ability to diffuse light, and still create a strong structure. It's fascinating, and for me, it's like drawing and painting with yarn.


I’m fairly new to selling online, but not new at all to crafts and crochet. I first learned to crochet at the age of eight or nine. I was taught by a neighbour of ours who did beautiful Irish crochet, and I used to marvel at her skill and patience. I gave up handcrafts and anything artistic for a long time. Then, when my eldest daughter went to study music in Boston four years ago, I went to visit her there. On a walk down Newbury Street, I visited the Boston Society for Arts and Crafts Shop. They had a jewellery exhibition there. That was the first place I saw bead and wire crochet jewellery! I couldn’t believe you could crochet wire! I’ve since gone back to yarn and thread, but I still use beads and wire a lot to make my creations. I don’t exclude any material, and I experiment a lot! Crocheting leather is my latest favourite thing!


Creating in the medium of crochet is very satisfying for me. Crochet always amazed me with its possibilities. It’s very sculptural and I love that. In a strange way, it links me to my childhood and my home.

At the moment, I’m obsessed with leaves and flowers and ways to crochet them. I want to do a series of leaf pendants connected with Celtic tree lore. I like to feel a link to nature, and I think that finds its way into my work.


This is one of my personal favorites currently in Rena's shop:


She's called it Pralines and Cream, and it's a "wristlet"--a nifty, whimsical, uber-feminine little purse you can attach to your wrist:

"For someone forever misplacing a purse, this is the perfect solution. Or if you're out 'socialising' (what purse? I had a purse?) this is what will save your dignity!

"A bag you can carry while holding a glass, a plate or loads and loads of shopping bags while answering your cellphone! A godsend!

"The crocheted handbag is designed to hold your keys, phone, money and lots more in a very secure and convenient way. The wristlet features three tiny magnetic clasps that are so easy to open and close on your wrist. Cream, mocha, walnut and caramel all blend deliciously with a cream cotton thread to make a great crocheted fabric. Vintage dark-brown leather buttons make the closure on the pouch and adorn the wristlet. Dark brown leather thonging forms a crocheted border. Very soft to the touch, yet so strong and functional. Perfect for summer evening outings. It has a lovely handsewn faux-suede camel lining."

These are some of my favorites from her sold items gallery:



I especially love her "Orange Lily" wristlet:



These wristlets are just the thing for me--I have left countless personal items in various establishments throughout northwestern Montana. My favorite black "Anna Karenina" faux fur hat, my bank card, my entire wallet, sweaters, coats, sunglasses, doggie bags (the kind with dinner leftovers, not dog poop), etc. Looking forward to seeing more of Rena's creations, and chatting on Facebook! Check her out!

Happy Mango Beads--A Happy I Can Live With

I am quickly becoming a rabid fan of Happy Mango Beads. Of course they sent me an email yesterday about their 20% off pewter pendant sale, knowing full well that it's their pewter pendants that sucked me in. I think that email was directed at me personally, and they figured if they caught a few more fish in their little net it would just be gravy. And it worked. I was reminding myself as I drifted off to sleep last night, "Go to Happy Mango tomorrow. Go to Happy Mango tomorrow." It's my new happy place. Well, actually it's my first happy place. I've never had a happy place before. Tried to find one, couldn't. (Made therapy problematic).

Here is an assortment of pendants I just bought at the 20% off sale, and a few I bought before. I haven't made anything with them yet, I'm sort of hoarding them. Whatever I make is going to have to be REALLY REALLY special. Which means it will take me three days of shuffling beads around (per pendant), staring at them, changing them, changing them back, more staring, putting them all away and starting over with other stuff and then deciding the first thing I had going was better and hauling all that out again. More staring. Some minor pointless changes. Mild anxiety. Some Klonopin. Maybe a brief spate of weeping. And then some tough love self-talk, "Oh for f$%&k's sake Keirsten, just put something together. Someone will like it." Do that, look at it critically, say "Eh."

So here they are, most of them--apparently Blogger has a per-post image limit and I hit it (sale is for a week, hurry!!!):

Tuareg Ring (is this not the coolest)
Tuareg Cross
Maori symbol (probably should find out what it means)
Squash Blossom
Fire Goddess

Good God, did I really buy all this stuff? Apparently I believe I'm going to be in business for several years.

Ethiopian Coptic Cross
Celtic Knotwork
Cambodian Spirit Lock (I don't know what that means but I probably need one)

Holy crap, there's even more. No wonder there's no money in my PayPal account.

Bonefish
Balinese Shield
Ashanti Cross
African Shield

Yes, I bought ALL of these (for ridiculously low prices, and FREE SHIPPING ALWAYS, $15 minimum order). Plus three more I couldn't fit in here, and I bought two of the brass Ethiopian Coptic Crosses. Getting ready for Christmas shopping season, don't you know. Not to mention all the other stuff I bought from Happy M--bone and wood beads, recycled glass, etc. I am choosing to believe the Great GREAT Depression will not start before I can unload all the finished products (several years from now, because I didn't mention the 30 gemstone pendants I bought for even more ridiculous prices from GemMall--sorry, you missed that sale by like, weeks). And I figure if the Great Great Depression comes before I can turn this stuff into wearable jewelry I will have lots of trinkets to trade for soap and firewood and I won't have to use sex to get that stuff which would be bad because antibiotics would be like GOLD during the Great Great Depression. You'd have to know someone. The only doctor I know is an ophthalmologist and we don't talk anymore.