Thursday, January 24, 2013

Jump Drive Jewelry

So not quite a month, but I did let a long time go between posts.

I'm sorry about that. I spent two weeks of that time being crazy so the only crafting I was able to do was under the direct supervision of a rec therapist. Yay! I did make a cute frog out of clay.

The rec therapist thought it was so cute, she asked me to make another one so she could have one, too. She tried to make her own, but she kept messing up the mouth.

So when I got out I was inspired to make some more clay art. I got out my clay and got to work.
This first one is for the dork in all of us:

 I want to make it into a keyring, but I'm not sure enough of it's durability. I wouldn't want to sell something that was going to break. So it might become a pin, or a pendant.

The next three are special, I made them to house small jump drives. They are all necklaces so you can wear your data where ever you go. I don't know, I think it is a good concept. I hope other people will like it, too



I got busy with my glass again today. I set the Coke bottles aside, I'm going to have to decide what to do with their ruined remains and I'm going to have to look into how I don't get the paint to burn off. I think a lower heat or changing the soak times would work, but I'm not sure. 

We got a heat gun and I was excited to try it on my labels. I had read that that was the best way to get them off. It worked great, except that it left an gluey film behind. I tried all the home remedies I could, nail polish remover, alcohol, cooking oil, lotion, re-heating the glue and scraping it off while it was hot.... Yeah, they were all failures. So I got some adhesive remover. Rubbed a little bit on the bottle, waited 30 seconds, and wiped it off with a paper towel. I came off right away. It did leave an oily film that I had to wash with soapy water, but all in all I think it took less than 6 minutes for the labels to be completely removed. And it will go faster when I figure out a system.

For now I'm just going to lumber along.

The cutting of the bottle I was using for my project cut very well at first, better than all the other cuts I made, but while I was using my tool to cut another line on the bottom the glass broke of two smaller pieces. I wasn't able to cut the bottom into the size I wanted, so I won't be getting a square with the bottle, but it should be interesting.

I think I over crowded the kiln:
 I'm afraid the glass might melt together, but that will give me an interesting outcome to use my imagination to make useful. I've got a stack of slumped glass that is just waiting for a second chance. That's the good thing about working with recycled glass, you can always try again and see what comes out next.


Those are all the products I used and I would highly recommend them.