Saturday, February 26, 2011

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Chatty Metalsmith's Blog Jamboree... cha cha cha Change...

 Bye Bye, Etsy forums...


How do we handle the inner turmoil of dealing with changes in our life... on and off line?

In real life...
I create a wall of calm on the exterior
that foils the inner tornado that is swirling beneath...
 
Like the time...
I was asked on a job to make a very complicated recipe,
that had multiple parts and incorporated techniques 
that were completely unfamiliar to me...

I proceeded with a tornado in my head
and a calm, one foot in front of the next approach...

A few hours later
All was well with the world!

In my cyber life...
I'm more vocal about the impulses that push and pull me.
But, I have the ability to think about things before I press the enter button.
Some days I edit more... 
some days I just put it out there...

Change, good or bad
 will most certainly bring responses that have not been envisioned...
 I am a firm believer that good can come out of 
almost any situation.
Not all, but most.

Etsy has forced change on its members,
taking away our forums and forcing us to create "teams"
in order to continue our discussions.

On the bad side...
It has created a rift in our group and we have splintered apart.
~
People seem to be more guarded and less sure of Etsy and its management.

Is this good for Etsy?

On the good side...
Those of us who have moved over to the 
chatty metalsmiths team
have more tools to work with.
~
We have organized discussion topics that can be used for reference.
~
The ability to keep some discussions private.
In the end, we may become an even closer group... 
a "team" of people who support each other 
and help to build each others businesses,
in an organized way. 
~*~
I do miss the larger group...

I will wait this one out and see what it brings...

If you would like to read up on some of our 
"chatty metalsmiths" blogs...  
here are the links!

  
 


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Favorite objects on my bench...

A  simple little magnet...


 When it comes time to clean up my dust
and clean the silver filings away from the steel wool 
this simple magnet is the bomb!

A couple of sweeps from above and the steel
jumps up and attaches itself to the magnet.

Be careful... 
these magnets are very powerful 
and fragile...

Clear away all files, blocks and other steel tools...
or you will find that it takes a bit of persuasion
to pull them apart!


RAW52. 4,5,6... Ring A Week!

When life brings lots of work... 
compress 3 RAW posts into one!


These fun little gears gave me the idea to incorporate them into a series of rings.
And offered me the opportunity to work on some setting skills.


Each one has its own personality
but all share the collective steam-punk look.

If you would like to visit the RAW Flicker site to view other fun designs just...