Friday 12 February 2016

More Handmade Hammered Chains & Some Tiny Hearts...

I got a little further on the Vertebrae Chain...



...and then hammered out a few shapes in 20 gauge wire, played with them in different positions, hammered and tweaked some more, and came up with these chain styles. All are about 8 inches long so far. The middle chain is a simple figure 8 chain, then I made the lower figure 8 chain more "8-ish" with a large and small loop. I added the filigrees based on the vertebrae links above; instead of hammering them while straight, I curved and spiraled them to the outside.

For me, the hearts are easier to make if first you loosely spiral both ends towards each other, then bend the wire in the middle until the spirals meet, rather than bending the wire in a V-shape first and then trying to make the curls. After I make a pile of them, I gently hammer the outside curves.



These hearts are about 1/2 an inch across and I'll be adding tiny pearl drops and sterling leverback earwires in time for the market tomorrow morning. Yeppers... It's Valentine's Day again and I am NOT READY. Oh, well... there's always next year, and the year after, right? But I do have lots of great gifts for everyone, including kids. Come and check out the Woodstock Farmers Market on Nellis Street, 7:00 a.m. 'til 12:00 noon.

Thanks for stopping by!

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