Wrapping it Up - Balled Head Pins

by Staci Smith

This is our last week to focus on balled head pins before switching gears.  Look here next week for a new Boot Camp.  Perhaps you will learn a new technique, or just have a chance to show off what you do with a technique you already use.  We love having this chance to interact with you all and see your creativity in action.

If you are new to Love my Art Jewelry, you can read about Boot Camp Here.

We are just wrapping up a Boot Camp that taught how to make balled head pins.  You can see that tutorial here.  (we also have a menu to the top left of the blog where you can find a link to all the tutorials we've posted here in LMAJ)

If you haven't had a chance, you can click here to go to the blog hop we had.  Everyone dug deep and did some really creative things with head pins.

 

 

 I liked this design by Lynda Carson.

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed our first Boot Camp and hope it is something you all join us in through the year.  I know we had a blast.

 

 

I also wanted to give a reminder that our Art bead Love Chain is still going strong.  If you want to read about it, click the tab to the right labeled Art Bead Love Tour that looks like this.

 

 

 

 

If you would like a chance to participate, click the "Follow the Love Chain" tab that is above it.

 

Thanks again for making our firt Boot Camp a Success.  Have a creative week!

Art Jewelry Boot Camp: Balled Headpin Blog Recap

by Barbara Bechtel

WOW! We're all so excited about the response to our very first Art Jewelry Boot Camp! Staci & I have worked really hard along with the other members here at LMAJ to come up with this new concept and there is always a little trepidation with putting your new idea out there in the Universe to see if it will take root!

Just in case you missed it, last week was our first blog hop, and we invited you to share what you have learned or challenged yourself to based on our current challenge, the balled headpin.

Not just for wire wrapping dangles, we challenged you to innovate with the balled headpin: begin making your own, double balling them, trying different metals, and using them in other ways!

Let's take a look over some of my personal favorites from the blogs and see what neat solutions and challenges were made and conquered!

Gaia Copia made these stunning organic and sparkly combination polymer heapins with balled headpin embellishments!


Love the subtle and sweet complexity of these handmade chandelier earrings by Libellula Jewelry!


I think turning balled wire into its own element and giving a bit of texture is a wonderful and creative solution! by silverniknats

If you missed participating, stay tuned! We'll be revealing our next new challenge in a few short weeks, followed by lots of tips and tutorials to inspire!

Art Jewelry Boot Camp: Balled Headpin Blog Hop

Welcome to our first Art Jewelry Boot Camp Blog Hop for the Balled Headpin Challenge!

Balled Headpin Trilobite pendant by Staci Smith

If you've been following along on our blog each Monday and throughout the month, we hope that you will join us by posting your pieces on your own blog! Don't worry if you don't have a finished piece! Perhaps you're just trying to hone your skills or conquer a new technique! We would love to see what you have accomplished with the posts and inspiration we have provided!

If you would like to show your work, please post on your personal blog and add the link below to Inlinkz. Check our our rules here.  This is a hop for learning and sharing, not flagrant self-promotion. We're hungry for the INSPIRATION and INNOVATION behind your design! 

Remember, your post should be on topic, but DOES NOT have to be a finished project. For example, this month was a BALLED HEADPIN challenge, but perhaps you are just getting up the courage to make balled headpins! THAT'S OKAY! That's what we want to see! If you're more advanced, perhaps you took balled headpins to the next level! WE WANT TO SEE THAT TOO! If you don't have a blog, consider adding your photos to our Flickr group, or on other social media using the hashtag #AJbootcamp.

In the event you have trouble linking your blog post with Inlinkz, feel free to add it in the comments and Barbara will add as many as possible.

Waiting for the ball (not to drop)........

Since there wasn't much going on, I thought I would find myself a nice tree limb to rest on while I waited for my friend to join me.....

It's a semi-long story. My friend Lucy didn't make it through production quite as easily as I did. While the artist worked so hard at getting her just the right shoes, they kept falling off. I guess that is what happens when you are learning to do something that is new to you or even doing something that you have not done in a very long time.

The good news is that Lucy will not be given up on! Later this week, she will join me on someone's ears and we will be able to travel together forever.....

Here Lucy is before being disassembled.... Her legs (and arms) got a wee bit short in the balled headpin process.

And.... here are some attempts that failed.....

headpin attempt at the bottom of a bowl of water.....

Moral of the story: Well there's a few.....

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Practice makes perfect.
Patience is a virtue.
Learn from your mistakes.....

I could go on and on, but I think you get my message. Have you been experimenting with balled headpins?

I was definitely inspired by Barbara's post on how to make rose colored headpins. I decided to break out the wire and bring back some little people that I have not made in a long time. What have you been making? Feel free to leave comments sharing your experience and you can also upload your pictures to share here.

As always, thank-you for supporting those who create handmade and those who create using handmade,

MaryAnn

Art Jewelry Boot Camp: Balled Headpins Week 2: Rosy Copper Headpins

by Barbara Bechtel

Welcome to Art Jewelry Boot Camp Week 2!!!

I hope Staci inspired you last week to dig out that torch and make your own headpins! Libby and Stacie added some wonderful posts to help fuel the fire beyond just wire-wrapping!

Today, I wanted to talk about making copper headpins and specifically, my favorite Rosy Red headpins!
by quenching your headpins immediately after they ball, you can achieve a beautiful rosy red color that I love to use in my work!

Important tips to remember when making these headpins:

*Dip your glowing red headpin IMMEDIATELY into the quench pot.
*DON'T pickle your headpins! You'll lose that beautiful color!
*Once the copper starts to ball, remove and reinsert into flame to control the size of the ball and it's shape.

As Staci mentioned last week, we do not cover torch safety or precautions, so please use caution and your own common sense.

Please feel free to ask questions and we will be sure to answer them for you, either in the comments or another post, or both.

Art Jewelry Challenge: Balled Headpins

by Staci L. Smith

The first Art Jewelry Challenge of the year will be on making your own balled head pins.  (see last weeks post for details on our new challenges).  However, it’s not just about making the headpins; we want to see how you use them, and how creative you can be with them.  If you are unable to make your own pins, then we encourage you to still participate, but please, you must handmade head pins from another artist.  Here are some links to sellers offering handmade ball head pins.

Like these from Miss Fickle Media

Or if you are in the UK you can get these nice silver ones from Cinnamon Jewellery

Anyhow, to play along, your headpins MUST be handmade.  That's it.  The only rule to this challenge.  This gives you the freedom to be as creative as you can.
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Head Pin Tutorial:

I think everyone who has made any sort of jewelry, has at one time or another, used headpins.  I personally always loved the ball head pins best.  When I learned how to make them myself, my design possibilities tripled!  Today I am going to show you how you can easily make them, with a butane torch, in your home.

Materials:

Butane torch (filled with butane)

A solder station- some place you can use your torch, non-flammable surface, heat resistant, a solder brick, pizza stone, ect…….

Wire (copper or silver)

Flush cutters

Tweezers

Quench dish filled with water

Pickle and pickle pot

Steel wool

Liver of sulfur

1.  Cut pieces of wire in varying lengths, so that you have a variety of length of head pin.  I like to go through my scrap wire and use pieces from there first.  I typically use 24-18 gauge wire to make headpins.  I also tend to make them long, and if I don’t use it all, I use the snipped ends for other headpins later on.

PLEASE NOTE: Silver filled wire will not ball due to the fact it is two metals in one and they heat at different rates.

2. Once you have all your pieces, lay them out some you can pick them up with your tweezers. 

3. Ignite your torch, and hold the torch in one hand, and tweezers in your other hand.

4. Pick up a head pin by the end with your tweezers, and hold it in the flame of your torch until it balls up.  Remember the hottest part of your flame is just past the blue cone in the center of your flame (the inner cone.)

5. Heat your pin until the end balls, drop it in the quench dish and do the rest.  You can either heat from the side; perpendicular- or you can heat from below the wire; vertically.  Either way works…do what you are most comfortable with.  Heating from the bottom will give you the most evenly rounded ball head pin, sometimes heating from the side makes the ball off to one side a little bit.

6. Sometimes I pickle them at this time.  Other times I just rough them up with steel wool to remove some of the oxidation.  It depends on the look I am going for.

7. If you pickle them, rinse them, and then you can use liver of sulfur to antique them.  Buff them with steel wool for your desired finish.

I made a short video so you can see the actual process of making head pins. Please note, this is to teach you to make headpins. This does not cover torch safety and use.  If you have never used a butane torch before, please make sure you understand the safety precautions and how to use it before trying this tutorial.

We encourage you to not only try this, but to then take it a step further and use your head pins in creative ways.

One way that I have used head pins in the past, is to attach center drilled sea glass to my rings.

By going through the hole with the head pin (I use a long pin for these) and wrapping it tightly around the shank, you create a rivet of sorts.  You can use this to also attach beads to wire loops or donut beads. 

Next Monday's post will have more information for the challenge, and a NAME for it as well!  Please feel free to ask questions and we will be sure to answer them for you, either in the comments or another post, or both.

We are excited to begin this creative journey with you all!