Adventures in Soldering

Spring means I can get out the soldering iron at last. This is probably because our old house didn't have a kitchen vent fan, so I could only solder when it was warm enough to open the windows for ventilation. Now we have a fan over the stove, I could in theory solder all year round, but this was the first time I actually had the time and the inclination to set up.

I am semi-self taught having read Lisa Vollrath's Metal Mania and her Metal & Glass Jewelry how-to CD and received an impromptu lesson from my big sister who does stained glass. The microscope slide pendants above use images from the CD. I also wanted to experiment with the flat glass bubbles you find in the floral department of the craft store.

These were tricky because they tend to spin right round, baby, right round (got that song stuck in your head yet?) until I could get the pendant holder soldered firmly so I had something to grip with the pliers. I used the Ten Two Studios Black & White Rounds for these two.

Lisa had also challenged the Ten Two Studios design team to do something with microscope slide mailers, and I had a very literal interpretation, turning it into a holder for a soldered microslide pendant. I cut out the back so both sides of the pendant would show. The ladies are from the Fashionable Jewels microslide set with a French text background. And I didn't even burn the house down!