Dan’s Art Metals « Stoneview

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Boredom

When your son gets bored in art metals class you might very well get some really cool stitch markers. He came home with these for me Monday afternoon although he did take them right back as they are carbonized on the back and he wants to buff that off. They’re made from copper so they’ll be just as pretty on the backside as on the front. He’s also working on some fishy earrings for me.

Happy Halloween!

Last night I spent the evening snipping and ironing a "Black Knight" t-shirt for spirit day at school today. We got up extra early this morning so there’d be time to apply black makeup and hairspray- it took quite awhile to get it all done but I think he was happy with the result despite the ho-hum look on his face. The ring is his latest art metals project which involved cutting out the shapes with a jeweler’s saw and soldering the pieces together. The finished ring was then polished. His outfit will be completed with a plastic crusader sword and a borrowed helmet.

In between the snipping and the ironing I made the slightly delayed taco salads for dinner. There’s ground pork cooked with onions, salt, cumin, chili powder, granulated garlic and granulated onion. I warmed the tortilla chips then topped them with the meat, refried beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheddar cheese, green onions and a homemade version of ranch dressing. It was very quick and easy, just what I needed on such a busy knight, err night.

Here there be dragons

Dan made the mistake of leaving his artwork around where I could snap a picture of it. This fire-breathing dragon was about doing the cutouts, how to join them, and then the enameling process. If you look closely you can see a dent where the eye cutout is beneath the black enamel. This is formed of three layers of different metals.

Knock Knock…

Orange
Orange who?
Orange you glad to meet me?

Here’s the latest bag. This one goes to Carole who’s name I drew from among the folks donating to my Relay For Life fundraising campaign. I love the little stripey pocket. Thanks again Carole! I’ll pop it in the mail today.

Now it’s time to draw another name.

When you have teenage boys, you never know *what* you’ll get as a Mother’s Day gift. Chris called me Sunday morning in the midst of finishing a 30-page paper for one of his classes. He was a bit punchy and hyped up on too much caffeine but it was lovely to hear from him. Daniel made this ring in art metals- it’s a skull and crossed knitting needles. Hmm…

The stitch be lost unless the thread is knotted

So many folks expressed an interest in buying some stitch markers like Dan made me for Christmas that he’s embarked on constructing some sets to put up for sale. This is the first set he’s completed- black with yellow lines. They are copper with a glass overlay and the penny is for size comparison. Tomorrow is his "long block" so he should get quite a few done. He came home with some lovely blue ones and some light purple with yellow swirls but a few of the holes got plugged with glass so they need to be reheated and the hole reamed out.

And there’s still more sewing going on. I made a set like this for Debbi as a thankyou and presented it to her last Sunday, I think she liked it. Just her colors!

This morning I baked some more of these chocolate cookies (half of them as a thankyou and the other half are coming for a late knitting session tonight). These are the same chocolate cooking that I baked for the picnic last Saturday. When he saw them he wanted to know why I always bake good cookies to take somewhere and weird cookies for home. Weird cookies? I have no idea what he means by that.

Chocolate Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Transfer butter to the bowl of a mixer and beat together with the sugar at medium speed 2 or 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat another 2 or 3 minutes until the mixture emulsifies. Gradually add the dry ingredients a little at a time until they are all incorporated. Chill batter about 45 minutes.

Form mixture into balls about 1-inch in diameter and space about an inch apart on a nonstick cookie sheet. Press them with a fingertip to flatten slightly. Bake ten minutes. Cool 5 minutes on the pan and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Does she looks smaller?

I didn’t think so. Gabby got a trim yesterday- mostly the belly and a bit up the sides. I’m sure I removed an entire cats worth of fur from her but it’s hard to tell. I left more on the top than I do in the summer, I don’t want her to get too cold and the top doesn’t really matt easily. She’s been bathing herself like mad. Perhaps she thinks that’ll make it grow faster?

Daniel’s been working hard in art metals class. The ring on the left is a sword he was making that didn’t turn out so he bent it and created a ring. The white one is some sort of a shield that was then shaped into a ring but I can’t recall what type of shield he said it was. He’s got some other nice projects but those are Christmas gifts so I won’t show them yet. This week they are learning to anneal glass powder onto metal by firing in a kiln. It looks amazing.

Thanks Jennifer!

Jennifer sent me this lovely crochet scarf for Celia’s scarf exchange. Gabby says it’s very warm and cozy, we love the colors too. Thanks Jennifer! I can’t yet crochet and I sure couldn’t have done this myself, it’s wonderful.

Yesterday I put together a Chinese takeout bag for Jena’s pink auctions. I had done the pink and white knitted bracelet but the end came undone as I was giving it to her. I don’t want someone to pay for something and have it come apart so I’ll save the bracelets until I work out the kinks and stick to things I have more experience with. This pattern was a first for me and it’s got a few little kinks but nothing fatal I think. There are some flaps on the inside that I’ll modify next time to make them smaller and this was my first attempt at a hand buttonhole. I like the hand-done one much better than machine ones so I think I’ll keep trying at this and hopefully I’ll improve. It seems much sturdier, I’ve always been annoyed by the machine ones that invariably fray.

Daniel is taking art metals this semester and the first project was a cuff. His teacher was very complimentary and he’s really pleased with how it came out. I think he’s really going to enjoy that class. He’s already drafting out a design for the next project.

I’m really going to miss the CSA pickups when they are over. So often now I base my Wednesday dinner before knitting on what’s nicest in the box. Yesterday I used some leftover brown rice for a stir fry.

CSA stir fry

2 cups cooked and cooled brown rice
1 summer squash, chopped
4 beets, peeled and chopped
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small red onion, peeled and chopped
garlic seasoning
2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
olive oil

Saute onions and veggies in olive oil until soft, season with garlic salt. Toss rice with a bit of olive oil and soy sauce and add to the saute. Cook until heated through.