Collaboration with Umbrella Prints

Modish and Scoutie Girl have recently written about the collaboration between Umbrella Prints and myself.

It has certainly been a lot of fun collaborating with these wonderful women. I feel honored to have been asked.

Danny's Last Vacation

we spent the last few days of april down at the beach house (our secret location: magic beach)

the weather was interesting, which made for some great photos.

we will always remember danny. especially when we are at his favorite beach.

Our beloved companion Danny (the howlindoggie)

Yesterday at 4.45 pm we had to give the ok for our wonderful dog Danny to be put to sleep. He had been losing weight for a few months now and the vet thought it was because of arthritis, but little did we know that he had developed many little tumors in his lungs. He had developed a cough which the vet thought was kennel cough (even though he was vaccinated annually) and was given antibiotics. He just got worse very quickly and stopped eating. No food for 3 days and difficulty breathing. So after xrays and an ultrasound, it was revealed that he had all those tumors in his lungs.

We could tell that he was suffering and had enough. The vet suggested a biopsy and that he "may" improve a little for a few weeks with some chemotherapy. We decided that we did not want him to suffer anymore and decided to have him put to sleep. He fell asleep in our arms and after having such a loving companion for 12 years, he is gone. Danny was the most beautiful dog we have ever met.

In honor of Danny and all beautiful doggies i will donate 10% of all my sales to the RSPCA in Sydney, Australia.

etsymetal doggie charms 1

etsymetal doggie charms 1
Originally uploaded by howlindoggie

We at etsymetal (a worldwide group of fabulous metalsmiths!!) do this charm exchange thing among us (charm bracelets are available for purchase on the etsymetal shop) . This is the third exchange. The way it works is that we (usually 20 or so metalsmiths) each make up 22 charms and then send them to one wonderful member who sorts them and then resends them (20 charms per participating member) tback to us so we can add to our 'charm' bracelets //chains etc. i participated in the first and third. You can also check out our flickr site (etsymetal) and see all the beautiful charms that we have all made.

This is so much fun that I have already signed up for the charm exchange #4!!!

Some Tips for Sawpiercing

Firstly, I'd like to say that these tips are my tips (found over years of trial & error) and other metalsmiths may have different techniques which are just as good , if not better than mine. So try them out, see how you like it...

Sawframe: Must be of good quality, otherwise you have a hard time sawing and break many blades! I use German ones, only because i find them the most comfortable for me. I have also found a really cheap one that some of my students use that I also find very comfortable. There are different 'throat' (how deep they are) sizes.

Sawblades:

These must be the correct size for the thickness of the metal used. a good guide is 4 teeth (approx) to the metal thickness.

Other stuff:
When you put the blade in, make sure the teeth point down (towards the handle, as I consider the handle the bottom. Also make sure that the blade is quite taught and should have a high pitched 'ping' when you pluck at it like a guitar string to see if it's not loose. Lubricate it with sometime of lubricant. I use bees wax or candles(old ones)or if i can't locate the wax and am in a hurry I use spit (YES , spit!!)

Starting off:
I usually 'mark' the spot that i am going to start on by running the blade in a upwards motion first. That makes it easier to start cutting (going up & down).

Litle tricks:
It is easier and smoother cutting if you make a paper pattern of what you are going to sawpierce. By that I mean, draw whatever you are going to cut out on a piece of paper and then stick it on to the metal with glue and then strt cutting. I find that the blades stay sharper for much longer and it is alot smoother cutting.

Oh yes, and most importantly PRACTICE A LOT!!

Hope that helps a bit.