Rivet first, think later

Ok, I think I really like riveting. (After all, I really liked hammering nails as a kid so this was probably a logical development.) But I think I might like it a wee bit too much. This is my second riveted flower. As seen before in the Flowers and leaves post, but now without the centre bead.

So what's the problem? Well, I've riveted these layered flowers together before thinking about what I wanted to do with them. If I'd been smart, I would've waited long enough to determine if I should've added some sort of finding, bail, metal blank or other part to the layers of metal before riveting them together. E.g. adding a brooch pin to the back or a bail so I can use it as a pendant without having to add a bail or drill a hole afterwards. Well, while riveting the second flower that did hit me. And now I try to plan ahead a bit more before hammering down that rivet.

Ah, yes, unlike with my first riveted flower, I can actually show you a pic of the back. I use pre-made rivets so it's only this one side of the rivet I hammer down. Not the best pic, but -- well -- at least you can see what a hammered rivet looks like if you're unfamiliar with the technique.

Finally! A riveted flower

So... I've been meaning to try riveting as I've been interested in the technique for some time. After buying Susan Lenart Kazmer's book Making Connections, I actually did make a rivet headpin (i.e. a headpin with a head hammered the way you hammer a head on a wire rivet). But never any riveted connections as I didn't have a drill, nor the right gauge wire to rivet together pieces with existing holes. Also, I have a long list of things I want to try so other things got in the way.

But now, finally, I've actually made a riveted object. The "cheat" way -- used premade rivets. I recently bought both some thick copper rivets and some smaller Vintaj antiqued brass rivets. So I took a copper rivet, which was exactly the right size for the metal flower parts (except the sepals/leaves where I had to ream the hole a bit, using a metal file), cut it off and hammered it down.

I did damage the enamel (paint) in the middle, being a tad too careless when hammering, but other than that I'm pretty pleased with how the piece turned out. The rivet formed a nice and even head. Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic of the back -- the side I hammered on -- so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Now I just have to figure out how I want to use this piece. My thought have been to add a bail behind one ot the sepals/leaves, but that means using glue and I wanted to avoid that in this piece (or else, I'd just glue the floral parts together). And I'm not going to make a hole in the enamelled pieces. So what's left? Making a seedbeaded creation and attaching the flower by stitching? Or wirework? So far, I've no idea how I'll use it.