Playing!

I love playing!  Sitting down at my jewelry work area (usually, my kitchen table) without any deadlines or projects that have to be done are usually the most creative times.  I look at what is laying around and pick something up and inspiration hits...or not!  In a previous post, I talked about letting yourself get side-tracked and stepping away from the projects at hand and just letting the creative process happen.

About a month ago, as I was getting ready for a show, I decided not to focus on all the production work that really needed to be done, but to just sit down and play.  I had some copper sheet on the table, so I decided to play with some simple fold forming.  I have Charles Lewton-Brain's book, "Fold Forming" and love it, but haven't delved very deeply into it.

I didn't document my whole process but took a few photos along the way for my facebook page.

Here are the shapes after being tortured into submission!

I really didn't know what I was going to make out of these pieces, so they laid on my table for a few days!  They were sort of big for pendants, so I decided to make fibulas!

All clean! Ready for LOS and tumbling.

The holes and curve were the hardest part.  I started with smaller punches, but decided to go larger.  The pins started as 14 gauge wire, but they ended up not being as strong as I wanted, so I went up to 12 gauge.  I used my bracelet mandrel to give them a slight curve.

They cleaned up nicely!  I actually sold one at my show that weekend and have the others in my shop.

I think they turned out great and I will definitely be making some more...I really want to delve into this technique and get more "outside the box" with it.

If I had just focused on "okay, I need to make 20 more pairs of earrings" instead of "okay, I am going to play today" these babies would have never been born!

So, go take a day off and play!!


Melissa Meman
Melismatic Art Jewelry
Art. Life. Love.