The Plague!

My plans to get stuck into lots of projects over the Xmas break really didn't go to plan. Just before Xmas we were wiped out with the flu/cold bug that was going around this year, and still haven't really got over them even now. It did rather put a damper on the festivities too, as we didn't go anywhere but alternated between lying on the sofa or bed! We got in a few treats to nibble on, but a lot of the nice rich food has gone to waste as chicken soup was about as much as we could manage. Unfortunately it seemed to go to my chest, and next trip to the bottle bank won't see me taking lots of post new-years champagne and beer bottles but cough mixture bottles!!!

This has put a delay on working on the shaver handles and big-holed silver cored beads that I wanted to have ready in the new year. I did manage to get this little bit done on my Steampunk radio project before I got too wiped out. The paint effect on the brass plate has been drying for about two weeks, and needed a little bit of touching up where I took the masking away, but it's looking quite good. I originally was going to have it flat, but couldn't remember how I did that so went for this stippled texture which I think makes it stand out a bit more. There is green and blue in there to give a slight peacock iridescent effect.

The box will need a few more coats and rubdowns to get it right. I am using ruby shellac varnish, which I mix up myself. It needs gently rubbing in with a cloth, followed by rubbing back, then re-applying. The more layers I can add the better to give that feeling of age and depth. I need to leave the plate at least another week now for the touch ups to dry, so it'll give me time to keep adding layers before I start assembling it. I am not sure I am yet up to sitting over a hot torch with large lump of hot glass to make shaver handles so I think the next job will be the silver cored beads. I've got some test beads made, so now I need to anneal then core them, then hopefully I might be up to getting back to glass!