Friday, September 18, 2026

cloisonné process photo essay

in which our plucky heroine shares the way that my cloisonné enamels are created...

Here is the start, bending the wires to create the outlines of the design

And here you see the all the wires for the design

The first several firings locate the wires on the backing

Then more enamel powder gets added

and the colored design is gradually built up

There are many more steps in the process before the enamel is finished and ready to be set as part of the pendant

Once enough layers of enamel are built up, the irregular surface needs to be ground smooth. Here you can see the beginning of the process, which I find the most tedious part of enameling. The grinding is usually done with a white aluminum oxide stick, by hand, under cold running water.

and here it is further ground down, almost ready for firing

After the first "flash-firing", there are often small areas that need a bit of extra enamel to bring it all up to an even surface. This is preferable to grinding down too far, and maybe losing some of the carefully applied shading.

And here is the piece, ready to have a suitable setting made for it...



Just in case you wondered where I do this kind of work, here is a picture of my kiln (nicknamed "Mr Hot" by my friend Heather when she was about 9 years old), and a bit of one of my workspaces, much less messy than usual

Thursday, September 17, 2026

elderberry efforts

in which our plucky heroine agrees with William Morris...

The black elderberry planted in the parking strip is both beautiful and useful. The white flowers and dark foliage look wonderful in the springtime, and the cooked juice of the berries are known to be a good and tasty support for human immune systems.
※※※

~ homegrown immune tonic ~
The five tubs of black elderberry cooked yesterday, then drained their juices into a pot overnight. Today they were cooked again with added sugar and lemon juice in a waterbath safe recipe. Since I want to make syrup, I left out the pectin which is only there to turn the juice into jelly and has no effect on the safety issues...

and oops, I just now at midnight Wednesday finished putting up a dozen + small jars of elderberry syrup, all sealed for shelf storage, and only then realised I had miscalculated the amount of lemon juice added by almost half. Bah! I now need to open all the jars, dump the contents back into an open pan, add the additional lemon juice, and re-process all of them with fresh lids. Annoying to deal with, but food safety is not negotiable. As exhaustion has set in, my plan is to tackle this first thing in the morning, since two different extension service websites say that re-canning (with fresh lids) within 24 hours is okay.

11am on Thursday, and the re-canning is in process.  Lesson learned: do not do projects that require calculation after 10pm. (not sewing, not cutting out fabric, and now, apparently, not preserving) 
 
(elderflowers in the springtime)

※※※

The additional rayon batik fabric to complete the summer popover dress has arrived and looks great. I am very impressed that the shop snipped and tore the yardage instead of just whacking away with shears, so I get the full amount I paid for and don't lose inches in straightening the grain! It will be a fairly quick task to make strips of the new fabric and extend the length of the dress to a better length, and if all goes well I will be able to have it finished in time for our Sewing Nomads meeting on Saturday morning...
※※※

Rode my bike to the launderette early this morning to preshrink the rayon fabric in the electric dryer, and since I was halfway to the big grocery, continued on there to pick up some more of the small size canning jar lids. The kindly cashier gave me the "3 for the price of 2" discount even though I don't have a loyalty card for that shop!
※※※

September SMART goals (x=extra)
# THINGS MADE THINGS FIXED THINGS GONE
1 8 sm jars plum sauce plums in freezergreenwaste bin
2 3D print Dala hrseextension cords coiledrecycle bin
3 3D print plant standswind chime suspension recycle bin
4 3 pr dolly boots more plums frozen greenwaste bin
5 12+ jars elderberry syrup- -
6 x x
x
7 x x x
8 x x x
9 x x x

today's gratitudes -  
- Past Me thoughtfully planted black elder
- fabric to finish batik dress arrived early, and looks suitable.
- was able to buy a few more boxes of small canning lids
- a dozen small jars of elderberry immune support syrup

Time of Isolation - Day 2253 

proportions for elderberry syrup:
650 grams elderberry juice (about 3 cups)
130 grams bottled lemon juice
1,100 grams sugar
¼" headspace, process 10 minutes

criss-cross proportion solve for p:
A = C
B     p

Ap = C x B

p
= C x B
          A

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine is feeling marginally better...

being finally past the various side effects of my shingles vaccine, and thereby also with less sleep debt... Also this morning while looking in the mirror realised that although there are lines on my face, they are pretty much all lines of smiling. Much better than the alternative.
※※※

~ makerspace miscellany ~
On Monday there was an introduction to the Glowforge (laser cutter) workshop at the library. The "beginner" project suggested was to make a keychain, but instead this aide-mémoire for the 3M abrasive bristle wheels was my choice. With this next to the workbench, it will be easy to pick the correct color, and not require tracking down some random scrap of paper which was my former strategy. Not entirely sure what all else I might want to laser cut (other than it would be a great way to make a set of tablet weaving cards, if there is ¹⁄₁₆ plywood) but it is worth further thought.

This afternoon, remembering the earlier suggestion that there are sometimes no-show spaces, and since my usual Tuesday afternoon social time was cancelled, I headed over to the library again, in the hope of getting more time on the Bambu 3D printer. In luck, was able to start learning to print out the miniature RÅSKOG cart. It is a challenge in part since all the interfaces are Apple rather than Android, but perseverence is a given. My overarching goal is to learn enough to remember how to do the steps necessary to print. 

The first attempt to print out RÅSKOG failed, through no fault of mine... the parts at 1:12 scale are so small that they were not sticking to the base plate and ended up in various spots around the interior of the printer. Fortunately I noticed that most of the pieces were not there after only about 15 minutes, so we could stop the job and start over with some changes to help the bits stay attached. There was not enough time to print the entire set though, so that will have to wait until a different future workshop.※※※

Experimental cookery - shrimp rice paper waffle bites... had read somewhere online about this idea, but rather than spend much effort looking it up, decided to wing it. chopped up half a dozen frozen shrimp with a bit of seasoning (powdered ginger, garlic granules, sesame oil, and tamari) Heated up the tiny waffle iron. Moistened a rice paper disc, added half the shrimp, and enfolded it into a small rectangle. Added a second layer of rice paper and popped into the waffle maker. Took a bit, but it gradually cooked and partially crisped. Did it again and had a very yummy snack! and well worth repeating in the future
※※※

Well dang, trade issues mean it is no longer feasible for me to re-order my longtime of many years favorite planning calendar pages from the Etsy seller (who happens to be located in Germany). Not their fault that the shipping+tariff cost has skyrocketed to over 60 USD since my previous purchase. Guess I shall have to DIY my own option, since there is nothing at all similar domestically available. Sigh and Grrrr... I hate this timeline.
※※※

Last night Mischa helped figure out the difficulty I'd been having with the layout of my new Discord server... Turns out it is possible to edit "categories", which was the largest missing piece in my conundrum. Now need to decide how to arrange the space, what to call the various sections, and where to put the sub-groups I already know will be helpful.
※※※

September SMART goals (x=extra)
# THINGS MADE THINGS FIXED THINGS GONE
1 8 sm jars plum sauce plums in freezergreenwaste bin
2 3D print Dala hrseextension cords coiledrecycle bin
3 3D print plant standswind chime suspension recycle bin
4 3 pr dolly boots - -
5 -- -
6 x x
x
7 x x x
8 x x x
9 x x x

today's gratitudes -
- Mischa helped answer my Discord server setup questions
- there was space in the 3D printer workshop today
- complimentary words from the person who received the medallion I made earlier this month
- managed to get the 5 Talenti tubs of elderberries out of freezer, simmered on the stove for a suitable length of time, and they are now hanging up above the sink in a cheesecloth bag dripping into a large bowl overnight. All part of the plan to turn freezer contents into shelf stable stuff, so as to make room for more plums

Time of Isolation - Day 2251