More Snow and Work

We had a couple of inches of snow again Tuesday . . .

Last week was busy for both of us.  I surprised Pat by casting the two bronze flasks Monday.  I was actually cleaning the sprues off in the quench bucket when she came home!  I had meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday.  When I got home Tuesday she had finished coating our river pebbles and had formed and soldered the step-bezels for five of them!

(They're on a sheet of white paper!  Color drift because I didn't set my lights up.)

We both took the weekend off.  Which was good, because by Sunday I was coming down with something!  So Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was pretty lazy ~ following Doctor Pat's orders!  I'm much better today and raring to get everything caught back up!

So here's where we are right now . . .

Both flasks I cast last week turned out.  But the ferns arent going to be usable; I had some porosity in each one . . .  But I do know why and what to do about it!  Which is really exciting to both of us.  (As soon as I compared the castings to the photos I had taken as I was working on them the causes were immediately obvious!)

The lichen flask worked beautifully and Pat is in the studio cleaning them up right now!  The technique I developed for them worked perfectly on my first try.  And yes, maybe I am crowing a little bit.  But hey, I think I've earned it!  The textures and shapes are amazing.  I'm really looking forward to these pendants becoming real.

And yes, I have to cast more ferns as soon as the weather warms up enough for me to do so!  I also have a custom ring's wax waiting to be cast.  (It was being approved when I cast last Monday, and it's been freezing ever since.)

Pat finished the wax for A.'s Anniversary Brooch today!  Here's the original design he choose

Here's the finished wax for A.'s Anniversary Brooch

If the forecast is right we might just get up into the 50s this weekend.  If it does warm up that much I'll have at least two custom pieces to invest and cast.  If tomorrow goes well I just might have some ferns ready for Pat too!