Charming

Tonight, I made some word charms. They are going in to the jewelry with the birdie beads. I made them a couple days ago and they are just waiting for some other goodies to go with them into the jewelry.

They are fun (because they require hammering) and easy to make. You will want to try it. Here's what you do:

Start with a blank piece of metal. I use sterling silver discs. You can get these little pieces in all sizes and shapes. Go to Beaducation, you can get everything you want here. I can't go there, because I want everything. (hint...for the next time we have a swap) Lisa Niven Kelly is the Queen of hammering. I took a class from her, it was fab.

This is called the Screw Down Punch. It is one of the greatest tools I own, and I own a million tools. It is for making holes in the discs. It makes two sizes of holes and is worth every penny I paid Lisa for it.

Put the disc under the screw and turn the screw down until it punches the hole for you. It takes no strength. It is amazing.

This is sometimes called a bench block. Your Dad would call it an anvil. Put your disc on it. The disc has to be on something really hard for the hammering part to work. A soft or flexible surface will absorb the hammer's impact and you will hammer all day and not make a good letter impression.

These are metal letter stamps. They come in many sizes. I bought these at the Harbor Freight store. They were inexpensive. If you want the nice ones that make really clean impressions and last forever, get some from Lisa.

Get out the letter you want to print, hold it steady on the disc, and pound it with the hammer. Use a heavy hammer, those pink handled things someone put in your Christmas stocking will not be heavy enough to make a decent impression. Spell out whatever name or workd you want on your charm.

Tweet. That will be great with the birdie beads. I also made some chirp. And splat. Not really on the splat although Imaginina said that was her favorite.

If you like to see the words better, you can color them. There are fancy jewelry maker kinds of applications, but I just use a Sharpie marker. I like black best, but you know I could not find one anyplace in the house today, so here I used purple. Sometimes I do use colors just for extra fun if the piece calls for it. Color in the letters and let it sit a minute or two. Sing a song. Do ten sit ups.

This is a Sunshine cloth. It is for polishing. Rub it over the surface of your charm and it will polish away the marker on the surface, leaving the color in the indentions.

Wowza. I did a really lousy job of polishing. I should have had my glasses on or something. You do a better job than that or I won't pass you. You get the idea, right? Even though mine is embarrassing? Don't show this to anyone.

Where is Imaginina when I need her?

Normal Girl