And The Universe provides ..

So. I wanted to make some jewellery and I needed some metal. Those of you familiar with my work know that I am hardly likely to call up my nearest metal merchant and say "Hey people, send me a truckload of your finest sheet metal - better make it precious metal at that!" That is just not how this recycler rolls. No sireee - I need metal, I head to the op-shop. The thing is,I enjoy conceptual jewellery - I find it interesting and challenging but I am just not gonna be wearing a bracelet like this one by Nanna Welland ...

pic nicked from here

(yep that is a real animal heart)  The concept behind the piece ( a Memento Mori ) is a very big-brain idea. But I want wearable. I want tough and more often than not that means I want METAL. At least as a substructure. Mind you, I am not gonna wear GaGa's meat frock anywhere either so maybe it is just a flesh thing? No, it really is that I am sooper dooper simplistic and want to make stuff that can be worn. At this point in my life I am going to leave the big brain stuff to those with bigger brains and more interesting things to say.  I really like using pewter from old tableware etc but it is pretty soft and not all that suitable for brooches etc without some kind of support. I have a heap of pewter but a dig through my boxes of metal odd bods did not come up with anything inspiring so I high tailed it to the oppie. Here is where the Universe bit comes in - they had tubs of old metal trays that they were practically giving away. Serendipity? Fate? Or perhaps whoever is in charge isfinally tuning in to my brain and does that mean I should get an aluminium hat?  The oppie is apparently pretty keen to get rid of the trays going as far as placing a "penalty price" on them. If you buy 1 tray it will cost you two dollars. Alternatively, you can buy two trays for one dollar! This is what I picked up ...

Scrummy aren't they? And just what I needed. Deconstructing this stuff is hard yakka though - this is what it looks like -

My  trusty dremel and jewellery saw make a great team but it takes me an age. On the other hand the ManBeast cuts through this stuff with tin-snips - voila!

Now I am ready to go - stay tuned to see what these become! In the meantime don't forget to put your requests to the Universe and see what happens - Providence could be yours. Failing that, you will have a good excuse to hit up the thrift store!