Stuff!

Ok so here's some more or less finished fairy things. As predicted the shoes were a disaster, the corsets came out ok though the "front loaders" didn't work at all so i abandoned them under pressure of time.

Here i used the pipe cutter to slice off 3/4" pipe solder that to flat plate cut round, used the grinder solder on a hanger, you get a sort of rough cabochon mount. The glass is those tacky clear glass "nougats" you once found everywhere but are now harder to find. I painted a heart on, used white builders adhesive and squidged 'em in...

Under the bench i found a whole girl band of Barbies and knock off dolls, so what could i do but use them in some way...

My son returned home from school to find me cutting the hands off dolls, he seemed horrified. These i made using smaller pipe and again the builder adhesive worked well...

My poor aching hands, feet, brain

Everyone likes a tool, i had burned two grinders out cutting holes in stuff far to hard for sanity. So it was inevitable i'd get another of these very useful jewellery makers tool. With tools i go for "use the biggest thing you have to hand" so a 4 1/2" angle grinds is ideal and only £20 from Screwfix.

I know proper jewellers use tiny things but i use this, this time i even remembered to wear my gloves so i retain my finger tips. Takes off a lot of metal.

Never ending work....

Heat.. bash...heat bash. these corsets are an interesting project the top and bottom have to be flared the waist shrank. So quite skill-full, as usual i just do it till it looks ok..

This is the bashing situation, if i was more professional i'd have a proper set up, but i just put the "boob punch" in the vice and bashed away.

 I wanted a sort of filly top and bottom to the corsets, i tried to solder wavy copper ribbon on but it all went horribly wrong, and the solder is to hard to bend and just sort of splits. Silly idea.

Here we go

Here what i charmingly call a front loader corset cut out.. I tried stamping holes through for laces and it worked! I just used a centre punch and it blasted it's self right through...

More pattens...one for a bodice and a 2p piece for the skirty bit...

Here's the unexpected shape of a heeled shoe with the cut outs in copper.

Stupid to try to make again after the last time, which was hell!

Here's the corsets cut out and "boob punched" suddenly they look "real".. boobs can do that.

Oddity

Ok so i've been doing things today but.... i took pics and fully expected they would be on google drive waiting, but for reasons of the world never really working, they are not. So i find myself wondering why. Meanwhile here's a pic i took at he week end in the car park of The Range (a chavy shop full of ex-trendy stuff f r us lower classes)

Yes its a pair of large well worn Chelsea boots, which raises questions, did the owner buy new shoes and just abandon them? Was he abducted by aliens? Hoisted by a people devouring flying serpent?....stranger things have happened

patterns

So cutting out copper time. First make some patterns though.

So here's what i think corsets look like if they were run over by a steam roller. One hopes without their occupants. Two sorts one a front loader one a back loader. I've cut out ten in total. It just remains for me to get out in the cold cold shed to mess around with real metal. At present how to make frills is on my mind and i have an idea, but that might not work. Stand by for action!
 ...why does this blogger thing apparently put a pic in and as soon as i turn my back it brakes it so i have to go back an put it back in?

Lets do some stuff!

Ok so the car thing is sorted, the new one is distressingly grey though and now awaits decoration!

However, lazy as i am people ask me to do things and now i've got myself invited to do a two day show in Falmouth with my partner in crime of last time...valentines week end no less so i'd better make something to at least show willing.

First it brass monkeys here, well frosty in the mornings anyway. So first light the stove, get it going well and the workshop is toasty despite its leaky door.

Now find some copper, not as easy as one might think, i toyed with the idea of squashing a bowl flat but that usually leads to a creased mess of a sheet of copper. So i set on opening up some re-cycled pipe of small section...To make it easier to cut i used the pipe cutter to slice off bits about as long as the metal sheers could handle.

Set about making them flatish....

Lucky i have just the machine to flatten anything right there in the workshop. Its he wife's etching press, with that one could flatten a Labrador. Have to watch your fingers though.

 Now i have plans, well vague ideas about just what i'm going to make. This requires some small flat ribbons of copper. This is got by stripping the insulation off some wires i had to rip out of the kitchen during a "weird flash bang"  investigation. Its solid core and pretty easy to do, sharp knife and pull.

Feed it to Mr Flatty and its sorted...a nice ribbon of copper. Look at the mess on that work top, box of surgical gloves, hub off the old car, belts of old car (they don't fit the new one dam it!) and of course the empty machine gun amo belt. (which to my surprise came inside a couple of amo boxes i bought as tool boxes, they were bullet-less)

All this flattening makes the copper horribly work hardened so i took the opportunity to try out my cheepo second hand torch, Severt, so a good make. I had low expectations because it makes a small flame but i was wrong. It fierce and melted bits of the copper ribbon.

Makes it nice and soft too.... so next .. a well earned rest, oh the life of a bone idle person is such a trial, shopping etc pulled me away from the warm shed.  I hope more latter.