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Simplicity

(progress not perfection is what I am after)

After years of buying crimp ends for leather I thought it time to start making my own.  I ran across this wonderful blog by Objects and Elements showing how easy it was to make your own ends for leather.  

I used 16 gauge copper wire instead of their suggested 14 gauge.  I had some 12 gauge bronze but was not going to touch that!  I find bronze hard to form but the tutorial said you will get accustomed to working with heavy gauge wire.  Okay, surrre. :-)

It was pretty simple to do and I like the look.  I did not want to ruin my leather with my liquid patina solution and so I left the copper to patina naturally.  The tutorial used Gilder's Paste to "mellow out the piece".  Hmmm...time to buy a new toy!  

Surprisingly the ends were secure.  Yay!





Milagros (mostly hearts)

These came from The Bead Shop. I went through all that they had with help from Sue and Sarah. There we were, all three of us, sifting through many, mini, Milagros, and picking out the hearts. What a great time I had with them.  Merci Beaucoup Sue and Sarah!  

Now time to make bottle cap Milagros.

NAMASTE
Kalaya

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Comments

  1. mairedoddFebruary 12, 2012 at 11:26 AM

    kalaya, your crimp ends came out beautifully! i agree about the bronze - it is really stiff and unless you anneal and have a nice big anvil or piece or railroad track can be hard to work... you can patina your wire before you work with it (i do that) or use the paste - which is quite pretty... the milagros are sweet (and you can use the wax on them too!) enjoy your sunday...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kalaya SteedeFebruary 13, 2012 at 11:58 AM

    Hi Maire, I'm soooo exited that you commented! Eeeee!!! Don't know if you can tell but I've been an admirer of your work for some time now. Question...what do you think is the most versatile color paste? Merci Beaucoup! And have a great Monday.

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