Learning Curve

I thought you might like to join me on a little learning adventure ...
You see, this morning I was cleaning out my handbag and found these ...

I had bought them at a market in the hills well before Christmas and they have been stealthily lurking in my bag ever since. These a roughish bits of quartz and whilst I fell in love with them at the time, I had no real idea about what I would do with them. Well, it is a new year and all so maybe it is time to learn a new skill? I wanted to capture the crystal in a way that would allow me to hang it. Somewhere in the blurry recesses of my brain I have an idea that I have seen some jewellery made using little tabs to hold things in place. How hard can it be I thought ... Well for better or worse I decided to go for it. Here is how I did it ...

 

I chose my crystal and decided which would be the uppermost side. Then I did a rough little trace around it. Then I added tabs that will eventually wrap over the crystal, and some half circles that will form the hanging mechanism.

I cut out the paper pattern and tested it on the crystal - notice how I have marked the top of the crystal - it is easy to lose track of what goes where ... I had to make the tabs a little bit longer as I had underestimated the crystals' girth - in much the same way as I often underestimate the girth of my butt!

Next up - pattern glued to some brass and we are ready to cut this baby out!

Okay - that is really just a gratuitous shot of me wielding my trusty saw and looking like a proper jeweller!

So, I have cut the shape out, files and sanded the edges and here it is being "antiqued" with a blackening solution.

 

The moment of truth - will it fit? Will it be secure?

Yessirreee Bob! It does take a little bit of manipulating and some very very gentle taps with a small rubber mallet, but it most definitely WORKS!  Bear in mind that I didn't measure anything so if you wanted a less "organic" (wobbly!) style you would need to rule straight lines and so forth - me, I think it works well with this less-than-perfect bit of rock! Now, to figure out how I am gonna use this component ...?!