Studio Solutions

by D'Arsie Manzella

Good Morning!

Patty's post got me thinking of studio solutions. Her gorgeous glass case is a marvel of beauty and function born of necessity. Many of us have created just the right tool or studio accessory to make our creative lives unique. Often those hidden gems go unnoticed, today I would like to share one of mine!

I often use letter stamps to make impressions in the clay that I use to sculpt my original designs. These letter stamps are tiny, rubber and generally unruly. Especially if the box of them gets shaken or stirred and heaven forbid- dropped!

In the search to keep my little stamps safe and sound, I was inspired by what generally surrounds them... Beads! I would "string" them on some wire, in alphabetical order and they would be by the ready and beautifully contained in a tiny bracelet configuration.

In order to do this, I used a very tiny hole punch to get a hole in each part of the non-usable black side of the stamp. Once they were on I connected the wire ends and voila!



My favorite part about this solution is that each letter can be twisted so that the one I am using to stamp with is separated from the rest.

What solutions have you created? Please share your favorite idea!

tool time (or introducing you to some of my closest inanimate friends) ~

by mary jane dodd

my grandmother had a goal of learning something new every day - and she was quite serious about it... if she got to day's end and felt she hadn't, she pulled out the dictionary or an encyclopedia... 

it is a quality that i admire & i try to emulate (emphasis upon try)... 

patty's post from the other day on her adventures with metal was really enjoyable... i love when people share themselves... like barbara lewis showing how she enamels...i think it tones down the initial fear people have of trying something new... you know, that 'oh, i can't do that' feeling... which is mixed with an excitement because you really want to do it... 

and how else can you create your own jewelry and components unless you try?!

i have become addicted to playing with metal - to the point that i am known to rush from whatever room i am in to my work area so that i can 'try something'... 'i just need to try something' has become a phrase my kids often hear... 

so i wanted to talk about tools a little bit - because outside of having sheet metal and wire, that is where it begins... oh, and a general idea of where you are headed is nice as well! 

my favorite cannot-live-without basics (we are going to leave out pliers and torches today) for working sheet metal ::

my hammers - jewelry grade to hardware store... and i have more... hammers for shaping, texturing, riveting, chasing, etc... and for striking - one of my most favorite hammers that i didn't even know i needed - the brass head... do you know that my pile of hammers is adored by the kids that come to my house? 'they are sooo cool!"... yeah, so now you know - em, alex, and nick's mom is so cool because she has this awesome pile of hammers... and while i am a mama bear when it comes to protecting my kids - i can get a little protective of my tools as well!

do you by any chance have a hammer whose face is marred? did your kids want to use the alphabet stamping set and unknowingly pick up the wrong hammer to strike them with? no? oh... well, mine did... and instead of setting this off to the side, i discovered that i got a great texture from it... stay open... 

disc cutter - saves time and money... swanstrom makes a big beautiful one as well... invest in the lubricant... 

dapping sets... these curve your discs... 

i happen to have both... different sets for different needs... 

5 lb. anvil... i love it... 

i just want to say that it is only in the past year that i have invested in some of these different tools... i do not have a big fancy studio... i had a very basic plier set for 10 years... but if you are interested in making your own components - even simple ones like bead caps, the tools you choose make a huge difference...  i know that they can be expensive... but they will save you money... a 6" x 18" sheet of copper is about $10 - that is it... 


** mary ann just brought up the question of where to get some of these tools - and it's a good one... i will honestly tell you that i forget the price comparisons for these... but some of the places i turn to are - my local bead shop (not read as 'large craft store chain' - nothing against them, i just like to support my local bead shop and the quality is usually higher), my local hardware store, rio grande, otto frei, fundametals, objects & elements to name a few.... please feel free to share any suppliers you know of in the comments section... **

more than the money, far far more than the money for me - the right tools are a ticket to freedom... they tap right into my lifeblood - at this point in my life, i cannot fathom being without them... 

'logic will get you from A to B.

imagination will take you everywhere.'

~ albert einstein