How Tuesday: Commitment Phobia

My hands are sore. Like, hurt to bend my fingers sore. My arm is tired from lifting my hammer. It is like a good workout...it is a good kind of sore. I am back in the saddle, although it has taken me a few tries each day to really get into the groove. 


Nothing, though, is permanent. I may be able to stay on the the streak and make new pieces everyday. I got a fun new tool today that will pique my interest for the immediate future. I may not though. Nothing is permanent. Okay, maybe one thing is... tattoos. Lots of my friends sport a little ink. I would, but I am not a fan of pain...or very confident about how it would age. 


I figured if I wasn't going to get one myself, I would make one. Inspired by vintage motifs, it is a tiny piece of nostalgia around your neck. I come from a line of sailors, so it seemed appropriate.

Inspired by my grandparents. My grandpa was in the Navy and
I regret never seeing his actual dog tags.
The piece is an aluminum dog tag, a copper banner, and copper rivets.

This piece is a copper heart, brass banner, and vintage chain.

First, I stamped the words onto the banner. I used a
pre-cut banner piece, but you could cut your own.
I started from the center of the piece and stamped out from there
to keep the phrase centered. 

I used my chasing hammer to deckle the edges and then
used my round nose pliers to give the banner movement.

After a dip in the liver of sulfur bath.

I used my Crafted Finding rivet tool to attach the two pieces.
I added a vintage heart charm that also reminded me of an
old-school tattoo.

The rivets from the back. Check out the finished piece at
the top of this tutorial.