Charm

Charm
Originally uploaded by queenoffools1974.

I had orginally decided not to post this because I considered it a failure. Then I realized that maybe my failures could be as helpful as any other sort of tutorial I could post.

I had a bunch of flat-backed glass marbles laying around and wanted to try to make something new out of them. I've made magnets and even hair pins with them, but I saw this technique to make jewelry charms out of them in Josie Cirincione's book Collage Lost and Found.

It involved gluing an image to the back of the marble (which I had already been doing for the magnets) and then soldering the back with a small hook. As you can see from the photo, I put the foil tape and the hook on just like the pictures in the book.

My trouble involved the soldering. I had to use two different soldering irons because the first one kept blowing fuses in my house. The second one I used was made for automotive work, so the results were less than pretty. I tried my best to smooth it out, but the whole thing has a generally lumpy appearance.

It's passable as a charm and I guess it would be considered "rustic". I haven't given up yet, though. My next attempt at soldering involves only straight lines. Maybe that will help.