beth Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 here are some of the things ive made for a kind of garden crafts type thingy next week, they are stakes for holding climbing spreading shrubs up, and victorian style plant supports, and also some of the little curled round candle holders for the indoor bit. ive also made some rose trellis things but they will be finished tomo. i wonder if they will buy them!... ive not tried this before, where you just make a little pile and you have not actually got a customer... we will see.. :) i tried making the stakes with smoother curls at the end and i prefer them. Also i tried the just doing one side of the material like phil suggested before, and i dont think ive done what he meant :) but it was my first attempt, has given me loads of ideas, and i RRReally liked the way it made a beautiful natural curve in the steel. and i love the texture - i could not get a good photo, the sun is very bright today, but the texture is very expressive has much potential and looks very pleasing :) thanks for that phil :) the photo on the end i have to show you, my 8 yr old daughter thought up and sewed this coat for one of the dogs whilst she was up early last week making my mothers day breakfast - her creativity and confidence to try to make things makes me laugh my head off, i absolutely love it in her!! i learn continuously from the children, and their attitude.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzonoqua Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Beth it all looks fantastic, you will sell lots!!! How have you finished the plant supports? I like the big open curls too, but they're all good. Good luck with it, hope the sun shines for you, people spend their money when the sun is shining!!! It's like Blacksmith Gambling isn't it??? --make a batch of something and guess if people will buy it!!! It all sells in the end but some things go faster than others. I reckon you will get a few commissions!! Have you thought about prices? If it's at a garden centre you can probably charge a bit more, though you might have to educate people a little if the garden centre sells cheap imported ironwork. I love the spotted candles!!! The dog's coat is fab!! very sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Beth your work is teriffic! I really like your designs. How in the heck did you manage to forge a dog :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Very nice. Can you give us a picture of one of the candle holders (or a link if you've posted pics of them before)? I like the looks of those quite a bit and wouldn't mind trying my hand at one. Don't know if I can pull them off with my limited skill set yet, but they look at least theoretically doable. :) PS - love the dog's jacket. Very smart, and he's suitably dressed for dinner almost anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike R Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Hi Beth I really like how you textured the round stock. Looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Beth, First class all the way! No problem selling those goodies. If there is a problem then get your hubby to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backwoods Blacksmith Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Beth, I really like the texture on your hangers, The nature look really comes through. Your trellises look great. I am trying to get away from the early american, colonial look and more of the plant, nature, curvey, twisty, leafy stuff. Hope to post pics soon. Great work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 thankyou you lot for kind encouragement - woody i wish i could forge a dog in a felt jesters coat... ;) private entrance i got the idea off something glenn put on here for the candle holders, its very easy, i used about 4 ft of 8mm for the bigger ones and about 3ft of 5mm for the smaller, and you just make the end of the handle how you want, i did a curly end, taper the other end to a point, knock it over so it will stick up out of the holder for the candle to go on, the start your coil at 90 degrees to where the tip is pointing ( i am SO bad at explaining - there Will be a better explanation somewhere!!) coil it up till your about a foot or so away from your handle end, make the handle what shape you want( you will have to experiment with balancing it) and fiddle about to get it upright. if you want a little design on the handle like i did its a bit harder to orient, i would suggest do the pattern first, and then in that case make the handle before you coil the other end up, so you can plan where the pattern lies. sorry that was rubbish! here is a photo minus candle :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I want to see the plant stakes in action. I get the texture, but not the application... Are those candle holders supposed to hang inside a canning jar? Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 well phil its a vague application much like a hair grip or something, where your just holding something out of the way :)... so you have stakes (hopefuly handmade decorative ones ;) ) pushed in the ground in front of an unruly climbing plant or any bushy plant that needs holding up or back off other shorter plants or path etc. when it dies back you have something pretty still over winter. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Masterful work Beth. Doing a little speculative work on occasion is good for the soul, it really helps your mind's eye to atune to the public's tastes. I'm going to FWD the pic of the dog's new coat to my wife, Deb. She's sewn more clothes for our half chihuahua, half miniature doxy than I have and she'll love it. I love having kids around while I'm working so long as I get the safety rules through to them well enough, they ask the BEST questions and have suggestions untainted by what won't work. I've tried to cultivate the inner child in myself my whole life but still don't know how well that's worked. Various different opinions abound. <grin> Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 well phil its a vague application much like a hair grip or something, where your just holding something out of the way :)... so you have stakes (hopefuly handmade decorative ones ;) ) pushed in the ground in front of an unruly climbing plant or any bushy plant that needs holding up or back off other shorter plants or path etc. when it dies back you have something pretty still over winter. . I get it...my yard maintenance scheme is to leave the wild, wild. Mow the spaces in between, and remove anything offensive to my sensibilities in the maintained areas.... (I don't even mow an acre of my flood plain, can't walk through it after it starts growing. Find the wildest things in the spring after the snow melts, river recedes, and before the vegetation takes over.) Drives my wife nuts. Except in the veg garden where I can never tell what I should do to organize the plants, which drives me nuts because I always want to tear it all out except for the delicious veggies! Maybe you are onto something there... The jester coat needs a matching hat ~{:-p Very nice. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Well I really like your stylish little garden bits! That doggy coat is my favorite though! A canine "coat of many colors"! I can tell that the dog is very proud of it! Nice work Beth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Really fun stuff for the garden! I think your goods will sell, I'd like to see em in thier natural setting.......One handsome pooch, he looks very dignified..... B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
34557564 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Very cool stuff for the garden, I love that one in the second photo! Pretty nice candle holders as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron quake Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Nice work Beth. I don't know how they will sell in the UK but in my area, they would go over very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knots Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Very nice Beth. If I am understanding correctly we are looking at several individual pieces sort of piled together and ready to go to market. No doubt that they will sell as individual pieces . However, I think I also like how thes seperate pieces work visually when assembled in gorups. I guess what I am saying is that I see an opportunity to put these kinds of pieces together as sculpture. When I look at those random assemblages that is what I see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyancarrek Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Nicely done work as usual Beth! Your pieces will do fine for sale - just remember that it may take more than one event for them to go to new homes but fun ideas, well done, always attract an eye! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seldom (dick renker) Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 nice job beth. interesting designs for the garden. does the sun shine over there :P when i was ther 50 years ago all it did was rain. dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Thanks for the pic and the explanation, Beth. Looks relatively straightforward if I start with the right stock. I will give it a go when I have a run of weekends next month that I can have the forge out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 thank you all :) when you work on your own it is nice to get some feedback. sometimes i just get blank expressions from real people who i live and work with! private - yes they are very simple, and you could do lots of variations in handle size height length shape, which would make them individual. look forward to seeing what you make :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimsShip Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I always enjoy seeing your work Beth, and this is no exception. I recently came across a picture that made me think of you, and the way you use old items to make new art.shovel.bmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimsShip Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Not sure why that didn't upload using the regular loader, but at least you can see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 thats beautiful jim! who made that? is it the girl who cuts out all kinds of oil tanks and stuff and makes them beautiful? thankyou ! and thanks for the very kind comments too :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillon Sculpture Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Now that some production! Not sure about the doggie dress though :wub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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