My New Tumbler

Santa brought me a nice rotary tumbler for Christmas, a Harbor Freight model with a 3 lb. barrel, and I am trying it out today on some of my copper pieces. Not just for polishing, but for work hardening and deburring. I don't need clothes snagging on my copper chain or scratches on skin.

I am using about 2 lbs of steel shot and some plastic pellets.

So, it has been going for about 1/2 an hour now. After an hour I am going to check it and see how it looks. I am not sure exactly how long I need to tumble the jewelry.

I have been reading up on tumbling instructions and all, but it is still a learning experience for me. And it's not nearly as loud as I thought it was going to be. Sounds like a little dish washer and is sort of soothing.

I'll post some pictures later of the finished products.

Frazzled

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but with Christmas coming up and the holiday fairs, I haven't had time to clean my own house, much less blog.

The last three fairs were a bust. There is just no money to spend in my area, I guess because no one is coming to shop. At one, there must have been 50 crafters/vendors, but a very slow trickle of customers. Half the crafters left hours before it was due to end. I made no sales that day either.

Right now I am working on three rosaries. Do you know how hard it is to find a St. George rosary center? Almost impossible. I am waiting on some rosary findings before I can finish them though. I am sooo behind.

Hope y'all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, or whatever you celebrate this time of year!

Last Week's Craft Fair

Our Lady of the Ridge school had a craft fair last weekend that I participated in.

Not much traffic = not that many sales.

In a country with such a bad economy right now, it's understandable that people don't do much shopping anymore, but it's not good for me and the other crafters as we can't sell our goods.

Anyway, I'll stop whining and get on with it.

I wanted to post some pictures from the fair. Enjoy.

Last Week

Unique Women in Business

Today I wanted to bring to your attention a blog called Unique Women in Business. I found it on Myspace, actually, and found it interesting in that it highlights many women who work at home or have their own businesses. So, of course I joined.

The other day they featured by Etsy store, Colors of the Woods.

Hey! Word of Blog is advertising. I got two sales yesterday.

Y'all go check it out.

Today is the Day

Election 2008.

America is impatient to see who will become her next president...a World Leader. Will he be Obama or McCain?

I know who I am voting for, and the decision came after many, many weeks of soul searching.

Good luck, America! I hope whoever wins is the best for our country. We need someone to look out for us, the regular folk.

New Items Up

I was in a creative mood today and thought I'd make some earrings.

Then, I felt like making a ring.

I just got in some 14-gauge copper and am having some fun with it. Luckily it is soft copper and can be manipulated relatively easily.

Now I am working on a copper and bead bracelet with some ceramic beads that I have in stock. I hope to finish it tonight and get it up on Etsy tomorrow.

Not Quite There Yet

I purchased a bracelet tutorial from gailavira on Etsy recently and thought I was up to the task...




It didn't quite go as I expected it to.

It was harder than I thought it would be. This weave is easy in itself, but I had a hard time keeping the frame wires straight. My end result came out messy and not uniform at all.

They say practice makes perfect...I guess I'll be practicing a bit longer on this particular weave.

Ya' Can't Kill Me, Copper!

On one of my jewelry-making groups today, they were talking about copper and a study done in England regarding copper's healing properties. Here is a sample of the article...

"Making door handles, taps and light switches from copper could help the country beat superbugs, scientists say.

A study found that copper fittings rapidly killed bugs on hospital wards, succeeding where other infection control measures failed.

In the trial at Selly Oak hospital, in Birmingham, copper taps, toilet seats and push plates on doors all but eliminated common bugs.

It is thought the metal 'suffocates' germs, preventing them breathing. It may also stop them from feeding and destroy their DNA.

Lab tests show that the metal kills off the deadly MRSA and C difficile superbugs.

It also kills other dangerous germs, including the flu virus and the E coli food poisoning bug.

Although the number of cases of MRSA and C difficile is falling, the two bugs still claim thousands of lives a year.

During the ten-week trial on a medical ward, a set of taps, a lavatory seat and a push plate on an entrance door were replaced with copper versions. They were swabbed twice a day for bugs and the results compared with a traditional tap, lavatory seat and push plate elsewhere in the ward.
The copper items had up to 95 per cent fewer bugs on their surface whenever they were tested, a U.S. conference on antibiotics heard yesterday.

Professor Tom Elliott, the lead researcher and a consultant microbiologist at the hospital, said: 'The findings of 90 to 95 per cent killing of those organisms, even after a busy day on a medical ward with items being touched by numerous people, is remarkable..."

You can read the rest of the article here. It is very interesting and raises all sorts of questions and possibilities.

I started a Creative Writing Club at the school that I am the librarian at, and so far it is going good. The kids seem to enjoy it and that's what counts. I gave them a writing assignment for tomorrow's club day and I can't wait to see what they have written.

Things to do Before Craft Fairs:

Buy longer tablecloth
table lighting
Buy earring cards w/logo
tweak display