busy months

Wow! A lot has happened since my last post.
I got a job. working full time but with different hours. Its still working with kids but a very different population.

My creative outlets have become therapy for me in some ways. My job can be frustrating and overwhelming at times so coming home to twist and manipulate metal and literally bend it to my will is a nice thing. Copper wire is my latest medium.One of the reasons I have gone to the direction of playing with copper wire is we have accumulated quite a bit of it from salvaging electronics and transformers and motors and such. While some of it will go to a recycling center much of the rest of it I can re-purpose to jewelry and decorative items to sell at bazaars.

A nice feature is that I have many different gauges of wire to work with. And that lends itself to a broad range of creative uses. Just looking through the coils and twists in their gleaming heaps whispers to me of things to try.

While there are many times a creative idea comes to me that I have to go out and buy materials so I can realize it , there is something very satisfying in being able to be inspired by what I already have. The tricky part is to make sure that the gathering of stuff does not become its own obsession. I do seem to pick up every stray set of beads I find, from salvaging them off discards at the dumpster to an occasional purchase of "grab bag" of jewelry at the second hand store.

Fabric is another pile that grows from other people's cast offs. I seem to find some of the most amazing fabric in the form of discarded clothing that I salvage. Since most of my sewing is either small work or quilting I do not need fabric in big chunks.

And now of course there is the wire. Dissecting the electronics is almost a meditation. As the screws come out the bits and pieces suggest other uses. And those pieces we do scrap are easily salvaged by others who want to recycle them or use them. The copper wire has some value at the local metals recycler and many folks snatch up every inch of old copper they find with this in mind. But my profit margin is much higher. With 24 inches of 14 gauge copper I can create an object to sell for $10-$15 where the recyclers will get about $.50 for the same piece. I'm not just creative, I am smart. LOL