Sterling Silver Birdcage

This is a sterling silver miniature birdcage I made when I was in my first year of art school, learning to become a metalsmith. I don't even want to think about how long ago that was now. I really learned to silver solder when I made this cage. It is built it out of 22 gauge round wire and 1/32 inch square stock and sheet silver. As you see it has a drawer that can be pulled out to clean it.

I drilled holes into the 1/32 inch stock using my Unimat (set up as a drill press) to thread the 22 gauge wire through. Every joint is silver soldered together (with a torch). The perches were turned out of ebony on my Unimat set up as a lathe.

It is not my finest work obviously but it holds so many memories for me which are more important than the piece itself. I think after all these years it might be time for a new news paper to cover the bottom.

For The Fairies?

Isn't this wonderful! I found it while I was doing a Google search. I wish I could tell you who made it so I could give them credit for their talent. I have seen these tiny outdoor cottages before but they are usually made out of stone.

There is a perfect spot for one of these at my house. I have a big court yard surrounded by high brick walls. It really is a secret garden with a locked iron door. This idea has to be added to my growing to do list.

Spring is in the air

I ordered this peony kit from VariAatje. Ria's kits are just beautiful! I still have a hydrangea kit to do but that will have to wait a while. PHEW! No one told me how much time some of the flower kits take to put together.

The hat and purse are made of congress cloth I dipped in strong tea. I didn't want to use the paper flowers for a hat so I stitched them out of 2mm and 4mm silk ribbon on gauze. Then they were glued on.

Maybe some of you remember Penny Weight Press. Barbara Raheb made such beautiful books. I am lucky to have several of them. The unabridged (fully readable) Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is on the table and E. B Browning is in the purse.

The lemons are polymer clay. My first attempt at making any sort of food.

Olszewski

I have had my first auction win on Ebay. It is a lovely Olszewski miniature from the woman's series titled Hunt and Hounds. When I first saw it I couldn't figure out what she was holding. It is a Falcon and she is wearing a leather glove on her hand.

Francis Whittemore blew the glass pitcher for me and I made the sterling silver pour spout and the silver tankards.

Spatula

I hope you won't mind an occasional post about bigger pieces of my metal work.

This is a spatula I have wanted to make for a long time to use in my kitchen. It is made of steel, with a African Blackwood handle.

I had to find a special type of steel for this project. I finally found it at an elevator company. The steel is almost as hard as the saw blades I used to cut out the house fly design. Because of that, it took forever to cut out my design and my blades kept breaking. I used 144 of them to cut it out, a gross of saw blades!!! I suppose I could have had it water cut rather than doing it by hand. I'm just stubborn I suppose. If I decide to make them to sell, I will have them cut.

The stem is all file work. The design in it is created by twisting the metal. When I turned the Blackwood I decided to turn it in the shape of the handle on my jewelers saw frame. A little private joke to remind me what a nightmare I had cutting out the fly.

I will never use Ebony again now that I have used African Blackwood, particularly in my miniature work. It is not brittle and the grain is just as fine. All I had to do was oil it after the sanding was finished.

Slippers!

I am a bit overwhelmed thinking about all the things I want and need for the inside of my dollhouse.

So... I have been exploring making new things out of other materials. Here are my first pair of slippers. I sculpted a right and left (interior sized) shoe shape out of polymer clay to form over. The off white slippers are leather, the green ones are made of Ultrasuede. I am not totally pleased yet. Maybe the next pair will be better.

Chandelier

This chandelier will be in the kitchen of the house I am planning to build. It is made of brass and oxidized black, hopefully it looks aged. The four arms were pierced out of brass and the center was turned on a Unimat. Yes, I can wire it.

Francis Whittemore blew the white shade and chimney for me. Thankfully, I still have a lot of the glass he made for me.