Went for a short walk and Dave saw this little guy. He didn’t appreciate being shooed off the road but he was likely to get squashed where he was.

Snakes tend to startle me when I first see them but they’re amazing creatures. The way they move is just beautiful.

Not symmetrical but I rather like them this way.

I’m using it to do revisions on my first book. I want to finally FINISH it to the point I consider it done. There’s something about a goal with a deadline and other people working on the same thing that really helps with motivation.

Check out this printable Artist’s Survival Kit from Keri Smith, even if you’re not an artist.

It was worth a read and I think I may have to customize it and create my own.

This is a relatively recent pendant. The background is premo’s new 14k gold color textured with a handmade pattern roller ala Cat Szetu. (She did a great demo at our guild and Igot hooked on making them.) The color comes from Daler Rowney inks.

Some of the illustrations available are just gorgeous and are worth a look just for themselves.

I have been neglecting the website and blog a bit lately, but I really don’t want to lose it. So it was a bit disconcerting when my site disappeared and I saw placeholder ads instead.

The site itself and hosting were fine, but it turns out my domain name had expired. Last time we’d renewed it for five years and I hadn’t realized that time was up. I didn’t get the notifications because I was no longer using the email address I’d originally signed up with. I’m not sure if they sent a notification by mail and I tossed it thinking it was junk or I just never got it.

Anyway… It’s all set now, and I didn’t lose the site completely, which was my biggest fear. But I put a reminder on my calendar for next time. So, if anyone tried to contact me in the last couple days, try again It may take a little while for everything to get cleared up completely.

So I turned to Google…

http://users.lmi.net/~drewid/PWR_Pickles.html

Mix a solution of 2 parts hydrogen peroxide, 3 parts white vinegar soak the piece in ti for 20 to 30 minutes and the brass should be brass again. It takes the copper off the brass. do dot store this in a closed container. When finished dump it down the sink and flush with water. You may need to use a scrubbie to get the brown grunge off.

This worked. I gave it a try and my piece immediately started turning a brass color again, although it took 20 minutes or so to complete. I scrubbed the residue off with an old toothbrush and had the golden brass color back again.

I wasn’t sure exactly what it was doing so I did some more searching – I found quite a bit on the combination of vinegar and peroxide as a disinfectant but not much more than that… So, since I’m not sure how safe it is, if you decide to try it, use some basic precautions – don’t get it on your skin, make sure you’ve got good ventilation, etc.

If anyone else has info on what’s really going on, and how much you need to worry about safety when you’re mixing up a cup of the stuff, let me know…

http://myco-tek.org/archive/index.php/t-212.html?s=8a07d7af5c281aad9b4c089efa4cec89

Once again, never mix hydrogen peroxide and vinegar together in one container. The resulting chemical, peracetic acid, can hurt you when mixed together in strong enough concentrations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peracetic_acid

It also breaks down in to food safe and environmentally friendly residues (acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide), and therefore can be used in non-rinse applications.
Exposure to peracetic acid can cause irritation to the skin, eyes and respiratory system and higher or long-term exposure can cause permanent lung damage. In addition, there have been cases of occupational asthma caused by peracetic acid.

He’s the one who bought me my first pasta machine for polymer clay, when I still thought I didn’t really need it. (How wrong I was)

He brings home cool tools and wire and interesting metal bits if he thinks I could use them. He’s even created tools for me – like a specially modified caulking gun which allows me to use the metal clay gun without breaking my hands.

And in September, (just before NaNoWriMo so I didn’t gotten much of a chance to play with it before hand) he got me a Smith Little Torch. It may be mini, but it’s powerful. Speaking from experience, you can melt things quite well if you try. Fortunately, I was actually trying that time…

I’ve got it set up with the small disposable bottles of mapp gas and oxygen.

Mostly I’ve been playing around and practicing. Getting something soldered isn’t too hard. Getting the stupid little chips of solder to sit where you put them and flow into the seam where you want them instead of all over the outside of your piece– Well, that’s a little harder.

But that’s what they make files and sandpaper for, right? And I think I’m slowly getting better.