Time Less

When I knew we were moving to Louisiana, I stockpiled the metals for the pewter blend and had a lot on hand. That was almost two years ago now, and it's time again to get more metal. I've almost used up all that I brought with me. The price of metal, as I'm sure you've noticed, has gone way up lately, so I was concerned how much the cost would be. And the shipping, since metal is very heavy.
     I decided to try a new supplier that's closer to me, to keep the shipping prices down. So I placed a first order, and I'm waiting for it to arrive, so I can test out the new source and see how I like it. I have my fingers crossed about the new metal supplier. I'm sure it's not returnable, if I'm not too pleased. I only made a small first time order, so if it doesn't work as well as I'm used to, I'll just order again, this time from the usual metal supplier, and pay the extra shipping cost. Pewter is an alloy, a blended mix of metals, similar to sterling silver, which is silver blended with copper. With pewter, there are many ways to mix the metals, to get a certain patina or durability in the blend.
     In the meantime, while I'm waiting to cast pewter, I want to make some new charms like the ones pictured above. For a while there I was making them fairly often, but I don't think I've made any since the relocation. For one thing, during the move something happened to one of the drawers of my lateral file cabinets, the one that's full of my vintage papers and collage materials. It's jammed somehow, and I can't seem to get it open. You can imagine my frustration there, I'm sure.
     To make the round charms, I use my glass grinder to shape the glass, making an oval or rounded shape. So many things I want to do, think about doing, but I just haven't done.
     I like the look of them, and the way they work so well with the cast pewter elements. Maybe when the studio warms up just a bit more, since there's no heat on over there, I can spend a long Saturday making some of these charms.