Helping Angels : Socks For Japan

I guess by now everyone would have known about the devastating disaster that hit Japan. It saddens me a lot just reading through the news on the latest update.

Makes you realize once again how fragile life can be and you never really know what is going to happen tomorrow.

Torinoumi on the eastern coast of Japan before the earthquake and tsunami disaster (left) and after.

Japan's disaster reminds me a lot of a Malay language's proverb I learn in school back then; "Sudah jatuh, ditimpa tangga".

The literal translation means to have the ladder leaning against the wall fall on you after you have fell on the floor yourself. Loosely translated as just bad luck! One disaster after another befall upon you.

It started off with the earthquake and because of the earthquake you later on get the tsunami and then the nuclear accident and snow snap. It makes me cringe just at the thought of it.

And another malay language proverb comes to mind; "malang tidak berbau".

Literal translation to mean upcoming disaster has no smell and loosely translated as you'll never know when bad luck's going to hit you!

And now, is you would like to extend a helping hand to Japan, this is what you can do


.

Helping Angels is a volunteer organisation founded by Poesy, a dear friend of mine. Poesy and I shares quite a bit in common. For one, we are both involved in making jewelry and secondly, we share similar life experiences such that we can relate to each other but that's anonther story. You can find out more about Helping Angels through their Facebook Group here.

American author Jason Kelly, through Helping Angels  is collecting socks for earthquake victims.

Why socks?  Because it's one way you can help Japan, directly and meaningfully. Do spare some time to find out more on how you can send the earthquake victims a pair of warm socks here.

 

I just realize that you'll need to sign in with your Facebook account in order to view more. So, for the benefit of those who don't, I shall copy and paste the info here :-

Dear Angels,

I am sure each and everyone of us are concerned and would like to find ways to do something for our Japanese neighbours. After days of wondering what to do while I stared in horror at the terrible news images on German television and the internet, I found something we can all do as a random act of kindness. It seems like a great idea for those of us who aspires to bring comfort and joy to those inflicted by such magn...itude of loss. If you do end up participating in this tiny movement of empathy, do sign off your package as a 'Helping Angel' below your name so we pass on our aspiration to grow this goodness network, one day may your recipient be an angel too. I shall sign off here while you can read on. Let us all exercise our compassion.


Love & Aspirations For All.
Yours, P



American author Jason Kelly, who lives in Sano, Japan, is collecting socks for earthquake victims. He writes:


Here’s a way you can help Japan, directly and meaningfully.

Hundreds of my readers in the United States and other parts of the world have asked me how they can help the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Japan on March 11. There are many places to donate money, and that’s a wonderful thing to do, but direct aid is also cherished by victims.

My office location is perfect for managing a direct-aid operation because it’s close enough to the primary damage zone that we can physically get there to help, but far enough away that mail delivery is working. So we quickly set ourselves up to run this operation, called Socks for Japan.

Guidelines:

- Send only new socks.
All human beings are comforted by a fresh, clean pair of socks. Other advantages socks offer this operation: their sizes are easy, they don’t break, people need lots of them in disastrous times without running water, people can keep them forever and remember that somebody from far away cared. Please do not send any other items of clothing, food, etc. Just socks, but go ahead and choose nice ones that will brighten somebody’s day.

- Group similar socks in one package.
To help our inventory management, put all socks of one type in a single package. For example, “men’s large,” “girls’ medium,” “boys’ small,” “baby girls’,” and so on. Different colors and styles are fine in the same package, but keep the gender and sizes consistent, please. If you include several different groups in a single box, please pack the groups in clear bags with a description enclosed, facing out.

- List package contents on the package.
To help our inventory management, write on the outside of the package exactly what’s inside. For example, “ten pairs, men’s medium socks” or “one pair, girl’s small socks” and so on. This will enable us to quickly group inventory for efficient distribution without opening packages.

- Enclose a short care letter. Japanese people treasure letters, especially ones from foreigners. Victims of the 1995 Hanshin quake in Kobe said that care letters were among the most uplifting items they received. If you enclose a care letter, provide a copy of it for each pair of socks you send. This will enable us to hand each recipient of your socks a letter from you. Please keep your letter brief. You can save us time by enclosing a translation of your letter into Japanese, which you can make easily at Google Translate, then copy, paste, and print the result to attach to each copy of your English version. Machine translations are imperfect so be sure to send your English version in case we need to tidy up the Japanese. If you send only English, we’ll translate it to Japanese and include your information that the recipient can use to respond later if they would like. No guarantee on that, of course, and any replies will probably arrive months or possibly more than a year later. We’ll translate replies from Japanese to English.

- Write your email address on the package. The most efficient way for us to keep in touch with you, and track the status of your package once we receive it, is via your email address. Please write it on the outside of your package so we can communicate with you without opening the package.
Please ship your package to my office:


Jason Kelly
Helping Angels : Socks for Japan
Plaza Kei 101
Wakamatsu-cho 615-6
Sano, Tochigi 327-0846
Japan


Thank you for your support! When your package arrives, we’ll send a note to you at the email address you wrote on it.

 

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Close That Perfect Ring

 

Well, ok, to be honest, I don't know what makes a perfect ring but have you sometimes experienced the difficulty of closing a jump ring?

It's like no matter how, there's this little gap hanging, which I think is rather common in 'cold connection' cases.

Alright, just in case you are wondering, 'cold connections' means no heat is involved in connecting pieces together. In traditionally silversmithing, jump rings are meant to be soldered in which case there's probably not such a big deal with minor gap. I think!

Anyway, this is something I picked up during the Beginners' Silversmithing class. Well, it wasn't taught to me literally but just something I observed and reckon how it's done.

So, okay, in circumstances like this, what you do is to reopen the ring.

Alright, now I give you a top view of how it's actually going to be reopen.

As you open the ring as you normally would, at the same time, apply pressure on the sides by pusing the two ends towards each other.

In other words, as one hand pushes one side of the jump to the back and another hand pulling another side to the front, simultaneously with the strength of your palm pushes the two sides towards each other.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to make them clear in words but I did try with drawing arrows on the picture which I hope would be better illustration.

What we're trying to do is kinda to get the ends to be slightly overlapping on each other.

Compared to how we would normally do it where both ends are more or less in tandem with each other?

Now, try closing it again.

As you pushed the two sides closer to each other, you'll see that the two ends of the jump ring overlaps, but that's ok. Just try to 'push it in' nonetheless.

And you should be able to 'get rid' of the gap.

And now, back to the front view.

There you go!

Hope this works for you like it did for me. :)

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TWR066 Checker Bracelet Tutorial

Like the checkerboard, eh? Heheh......

In this tutorial you will learn how to make this Checker Bracelet where squares sections; made from bugle

bead and embellished with Swarovski bicone (think checkerboard? heheh..... ) are joined together with netted seed bead.

I did not list the exact number of beads you need because as far as bracelet is concerned it is very much a

matter of individual sizes; since the size of wrists from one to another varies greatly and also a matter of
preference; in that whether you like to wear your bracelet snug fit or loosely. I, for example have a small
wrist and prefer wearing bracelet that fit a little snugly.

The size of the bracelet that I made in this tutorial is 6” long using 80 bicones with 5 squares link. I didn’t specifically numbered the amount of bugle beadsand seed bead you’ll need because I assume that these would have been bought in packets or shanks which I believe should be more than enough for one bracelet.

Tools & materials used:

• 4mm Swarovski crystal bicones
• 6mm bugle bead
• Size 11/12 seed bead
• Clasp of your choice (I use magnetic clasp here)
• Crimp bead
• Fishing line/Monofilament/Supplemax or equivalent
• Scissors
• Chain nose pliers

Number of steps: 39
Page count: 17

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

1. This tutorial is in PDF format and you will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them.
2. File size: 931 KB
3. The PDF file will be sent to your email address registered with PayPal within 24 hours or less.

PLEASE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE, LEND OR COPY. DO NOT MASS PRODUCE. PLEASE ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT TO THE DESIGNER. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING DESIGNERS' COPYRIGHT.






 

nb: Prices may be subjected to change without prior notice.
Malaysian buyers, please contact me by email for quotation in RM and payment by local bank transfer.

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A cool jump ring trick!

Well, at least I think that it is! Heh! :P

It was in my previous post that I realized I've not blogged bout the basic of opening and closing of jump rings and so just for the sake of completion? collection?, I shall blog a post about.

I'm sure most of you would have know bout this already but I'll just share with you how I normally do it and a cool little trick that you can do with jump rings.

For those commercial jump rings that you can buy off retail, you will either find them to be closed or open jump rings. Meaning to say that they are either well,......closed or open.

A;ternatively, you can also make your own, heheh! :P

And so here, we have a closed jump ring.

You'll notice that the ends of the jump ring on each side kinda overlaps with each other but that's alright. It can be sorted out just by opening and closing it.

I think it's probably due to the way the cut out the rings from the coil.

Anyway, with your pliers gripping onto each side of the jump ring..... (here, I'm using chain nose plierss on the left and round nose pliers on the right but you can use any other pliers that you are comfortable with)

And pull each side apart from each other in opposite direction simultaneously.

Okay, the key word here is simultaneously cuz I've realized it sometimes doesn't quite closed nicely in a circle if you don't do it simultaneously.

Well, what I mean is that I sometimes have the habit of gripping on one side in a stationary position and let the other side pull away. Erm, know what I mean?

In those circumstances, I've noticed that they don't open up nicely.

*shrugs* hhhmmmm, or maybe it's just me? o_O

And to close the jump ring, very easy. Just push two sides of the ring towards each other.

And, voila!

Actually, this is not my favourite method because for some strange reasons I sometimes can't grip them steadily. Well, I reckon it's more a matter of my personal idiosyncrasy rather than anything else! :P

So what I do is actually grip onto half of the circle rather than just at the sides of the jump ring.

(hmmm.... I still can't decide whether I'm crazy about how the Panasonic Lumix LX5 takes macro shots where it's sharp at where it focuses and blurry on the surroundings. o_O)


And then use another plier to grip onto the other half of the circle in opposite direction before pulling it apart from each other.

Heh! Just how I like to do it. :P

Ouh, actually, I just remembered another trick on opening and closing jump ring! It just came across my mind as I was typing just now. Don't think can fit into this post now, so I think I'll share it in future posts.

Anyway, that was just the warm up. What I really want to share in this post is this little trick that you can do with your jump rings. More like a design trick if you ask me.

You'll need to link many many jump rings together.

You'll also soon realize what a tedious job it can be to link many many jump rinhs together one by one.

This is how I do it when I need to link many many jump rings together. I don't exactly do it one by one cux I found another way which I find is faster.

I've never exactly timed myself but it did feel like it was done a wee bit faster.

So, this is how I do it.

I first closed two jump ring.

Then, I open one jump ring and slide the two closed one in...............

And close that ring.





And that's how you get the 3 jump ring link shown in the above. I find it's a faster way of linking the three together than say, if you open and close one by one to join them together.

And to continue joining jump rings to the link, close one jump ring.

Open one jump ring and slide that closed one in.

And slide on the longer link (in this case, the three jump ring link earlier on). Close the ring and it feels like you have just joined four jump rings together in 2 steps. Well, that's what it always feel like for me! LOL... :P

That is how you'll be continue adding on links until your desired length.

Next is where the trick is. :)

Now, take a piece of wire and slide the wire randomly through each jump ring.

Okay, key word here is through and each until you've passed through the end of the link like the very first picture.

After you have pass through all, next is where I think is the fun part!

You slide all the rings down.

See how the rings all clump up together that gives it that grunge look?

I think it works quite nicely when you incorporate them into your design like what I've did in the two bracelets below here.

Pretty neat, huh? ;)

The one above was done in wire sections whereas the one below done with memory wire.

Have fun trying! :)

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TWR065 Flexi-'O' Tutorial

This is another version to the earlier sparkly ‘O’. Just like the earlier sparkly ‘O’, you can use it on its own as
a pendant or like how I like to use these ‘O’s best is by making your own T-bar and use it like a toggle clasp
which in the end also doubles up as a pendant.

This is a relatively easy tutorial where you’ll learn how to make this sparkly ‘O’ in less than 10 steps using teardrop bead. This is a very flexible tutorial in that it works with any size of teardrop beads or even using different sizes together to achieve different effects.

I will also be suggesting alternative design that you can do. You can easily vary the size of the 'O' using more or less bead. Design possibilities are endless!

The 'O' with the red teardrop bead is bigger and uses 30 beads whereas the crystal ones are alightly smaller using only 24 beads. As far as the sizes of the teardrop beads are concerned, the crystal ones are 11mm and the red ones are smaller, 6mm.

This tutorial only teaches you how to make the 'O'. For adaptation of the 'O' into these necklaces/pendants, you are expected to know the basics of making a loop, a wrapped loop, opening and closing jump ring and also wrapping a teardrop bead. Any additional material will be needed accordingly depending on how and what you want to adapt this 'O' into.


Tools & materials used:

• (30) teardrop beads of any size
• Size 11/12 seed bead
• Fishing line/Monofilament/Supplemax or equivalent

Number of steps: 9
Page count: 10

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

1. This tutorial is in PDF format and you will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them.
2. File size: 479 KB
3. The PDF file will be sent to your email address registered with PayPal within 24 hours or less.

PLEASE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE, LEND OR COPY. DO NOT MASS PRODUCE. PLEASE ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT TO THE DESIGNER. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING DESIGNERS' COPYRIGHT.

nb: Prices may be subjected to change without prior notice.
Malaysian buyers, please contact me by email for quotation in RM and payment by local bank transfer.

Read More...