Brass Pendant- How I Did It!

Heya! So with all the new jewelry going up in my shop, I thought you might enjoy a little behind the scenes peek on how some of it is made! The following is a pendant that I made for myself and I'll show you how I did it!

 1- Starting with a flat brass sheet. I believe it was somewhere around 18-20 gauge.

 

 2- I used my super nifty circle cutter (my Christmas gift last year!) and a heavy brass hammer to cut the circle for the pendant out of the sheet. The cutter can cut circles of many different sizes. You secure the metal between the two steel plates with the corresponding hole size you'd like to cut. You then insert the die (the cylindrical piece in the first and third pictures that actually does the cutting) into the hole and pound the ever loving crap out of it till it cuts all the way through the metal!

 3- Sand and polish till shiny! (I shall spare you the tedium by only using one picture. But please note, this takes FOREVERRRRRRRR!!!) Basically you work your way down through increasingly smoother grits of sandpaper (I use about three different ones) and then polish and smooth further with steel wool.

 

 4- I pulled out my metal stamps and used an ink pad to stamp the desired phrase onto paper. ("Here comes the sun" from one of my favorite Beatles songs) Cut up, it helps me decide the placement of the stamps on my piece and to make sure everything will fit.

5- Once I had decided my placement, I drew a guide line down the right side of the circle. I used this to line up my stamps starting from right to left on each line. The stamping is done on a steel block (which is the shiny silver behind the brass). This gives you a nice strong base. Wood and other softer surfaces have too much give and bounce and would not produce a clean deep stamp. When the metal is pressed between the steel block and the steel stamp, it is compressed rather than pushed outward thus keeping your piece flat.

6- A bit more sanding and polishing to remove the sharpie line

 7- Deciding I wanted it textured, I used another hammer with rounded head to essentially beat the metal into submission :)

This is also done on a steel block (which you can now see the entirety of) for the same reason as above. 

8- This nifty little gadget is a metal hole punch. Each end has a different size punch you use the handles to screw down into and cut the metal. Similar concept to the hole cutter only using the pressure from the screw instead of the hammer. (Also, much tinier circles) This is what I used to add the hole in my pendant that it will hang from.

9- Voila! With the addition of a jump ring and a chain, the pendant is ready to wear!

Deployment Survival 101: Tips For Keeping Your Sanity

http://www.joyzz.com/article-360.html

So, guys, I've been having a rough few days. As some of you know, I'm currently dealing with our first deployment. (Super fun. NOT.) On top of that, and all the issues going on inside my head, there's a freaking tornado like every other day. (Imma help you out here with a little piece of advice: do NOT come to Oklahoma in the spring). Stress. Heaps and bushels. Not to good for your health. I currently feel like I've been hit with a Mack truck. Repeatedly. 

However, instead of focusing on all that, I've decided to share with you some of the ways I've learned about to help cope with the ever looming stress of a deployment. (Excited, aren't you?!)

1) SET UP METHODS OF COMMUNICATION
Before your loved one leaves, set up ways you can communicate. Gone are the days of waiting weeks for letters or phone calls. Skype, Google Chat, and iChat are a few wonderful options that let you actually SEE your loved one even when they're all the way around the world! And don't forget email. Sometimes you or your service member are busy, or your schedules just don't jive. But you can write an email any time of the day! It's always wonderful to wake up to a little note in your inbox :)

2)FIND SOME WAY TO MARK THE PASSAGE OF TIME
Before he even left, I made a count down calendar. I printed out each month, colored and decorated, and posted the whole series prominently on my kitchen wall so I cannot help but see it every day. I then scrounged through the house and came up with every picture I had of my husband and I and posted those all around the calendar. Armed with a X shaped stamp and a red stamp pad, every morning when I get up I cross off the day before. 
At first, I'll admit, it's a little depressing. When you've only got a few Xs and a whole lot of blank calendar it may look like forever. Pretty quickly though, it becomes routine. Each red X brings the satisfaction of knowing you survived another day. And hey, if you did it yesterday, today should be a piece of cake. (That's the theory anyway. That is what we tell ourselves). And now, I've got two whole months worth of little red Xs and that makes me feel pretty good. Cuz hey, if I did it last month, this month should be a piece of cake.

I've also made paper chains the first time he left for training. Same concept. Everyday you remove a link. The shorter the chain, the closer he is to coming home!

Point is, find a way to mark the passage of time. It helps. If you can SEE the time trickling away it doesn't feel so much like forever. Here are some other fun ways I've seen to count down the time:
-Get two jars. Fill one jar with marbles (or other small objects) for each day of the deployment. Every day, move a marble to the other jar.
-Fill a jar with candy or some other small treat, one for each day. Every day, treat yourself and watch the candy and the time disappear! (I've heard this one is especially popular with the kiddos ;) )
-Get or make a countdown perpetual calendar with blocks you turn to change the numbers. Or a chalkboard you can change the number on every day.

 (Etsy.com has so many WONDERFUL options if you don't want to make your own! Find these calendars at: LEFT HERE, RIGHT HERE)

3)STAY BUSY

I had a lot of people tell me this before the deployment started. "Yeah, right" I thought "of course I'll be busy! I have to be two people!" What I didn't realize at the time was that what was really meant was 'Stay busy... WITH THINGS YOU ENJOY.' If its all errands, work, kids and cleaning the house... it will feel like forever. You have to have fun! I know it feels really weird at first. How can you be having fun when your loved one is over there doing what they're doing??? But really, would they want you to sit around and mope, feeling guilty the whole time they're gone? Of course not. Use the time you have to do or catch up on things you wouldn't normally have time for. 

http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=40156

Got a stack of books you just haven't gotten to? Read them. Is there a dish you love that your hubby hates? Learn to cook it. Do you have a beloved hobby that you just don't have time for? Pick it back up. Something new you always wanted to try or learn? Go do it. Planning for their homecoming can also help you stay focused on the positive. Plan a special meal or make signs. 

I once had a 'Seasoned Spouse' as they are called (ie: spouses with several years and deployments under their belts) tell me every time her husband left she went and found a new class to take. Currently, she told me, she was learning to play the trumpet. Purely because she could. And why not? Your life doesn't stop because your loved one is away. And it shouldn't.

4)SET GOALS

http://www.mudfactor.com/

Another great way I've found to keep myself occupied is to set goals for myself and work at achieving them before your loved one gets home. For example, at one point in my life I was 'a runner'. But the last few years I've felt like I just didn't have the time to dedicate to exercise. (Oh, the things we tell ourselves..) So what did I do when my husband left? I signed up for a 5k to motivate myself to get back in shape. I've been running for just over a month now and my race is this upcoming Saturday! 



I work from home on my own jewelry business so there was another place that goals could come into play. I've got monthly sales goals I'm working toward and before this deployment is over, I want to have 100 pieces in my shop! I had under 50 when the deployment started and now, two months in, I believe I'm up to 74! Another month or so should meet that goal!

I also had a lot of improvements and things I wanted to get done around the house. We moved here and bought our house about a year and a half ago now. I still had rooms that were undecorated and we hadn't even touched the landscaping. I am happy to report that I've got two rooms down and the front yard has never looked better!
 Perhaps another way to put this is to make what I've heard some spouses call a 'Deployment Bucket List'. Make a list of things you've always wanted to try, or things you want to catch up on. Remember to set attainable goals though. Climbing Mount Everest if you've never hiked a day in your life- probably one you should leave off.

So there you go. That's what I've learned so far. Do you have any tips? How do you survive deployment?

Many happy returns,
Lindsey