While my dad -- just as my mom -- always have encouraged my hobbies, he has never really be that interested in my jewellery-making. He has seen a few pieces and has spontaneously said about some thing that they look good (and I know he has told his sister, my aunt, about the quality too). That is in a way more feedback than many beaders get from their fathers, boyfriends or husbands. He is more interested when I talk about the tools I want than when I talk about jewellery: as he uses much tools he can see the value in buying them.
But the one time he got real excited about my jewellery was when I asked him for some o-rings -- of cause he has o-rings of all sizes -- and told him that it's possible to make jewellery out of o-rings, washers, copper tubing, nuts and all those other things he have laying around. So I made a few samples of o-ring jewellery, inspired by Susan Thomas and her book Link It!. His spontaneously reacation to these samples was Neat! (snyggt) -- first time he ever used that word about my creations. And after that he bought me more o-rings.
Later I showed pics of jewellery made using copper washers and asked if he had any. And that is how I got the loot you see above. Do you know where much of this comes from? They are actually spare parts that once was used to rivet an old-time threshing machine (I believe these parts predate the modern combine harvester, correct me if I'm wrong). They have been laying around for ages, as dad never became a farmer. He took over the farm in the 70's, a difficult time for farmers.
I haven't used them yet, but I'm especially fond of those cupped washers. I just must take the time to sit down and create something with these soon! And if nothing else, they are the perfect size and shape to make bead caps.
I accidentally found your page while searching the web for a specific type of jewlery piece. I make owls in macramé and the "beads" I use for beaks are almost running out, and I just could't find more of them anywhere...until now! Wonderful idea! The copper rings to the upper right of the first picture, what do you call them? And where can I find them?? :)
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThe rings are washers. Copper washers aren't as common as steel washers, but are used by many jewellery makers. They are used in cars (more specifically, the lights) so you might have luck looking into shops dealing with car parts etc. They should have several sizes.
If yo want smaller rings, this might be of interest: http://www.beaducation.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2036
Copper plated beads: http://www.fusionbeads.com/shop/productchart/6364/
Vintaj brass: http://vintaj.com/products/proddsp.asp?which=HW0063
Hope that can be of some help. Good luck!