My Latest Obsession

For those who don’t know me, here’s a little fact I’d like to share. Whenever I learn something new, I usually become obsessed with it until I’ve mastered it, then I move on to something else.

As I mentioned in my last post, I received a soldering iron yesterday as a gift from my friend Denise. This has become my obsession du jour – and I think I can blame this one directly on Denise. 🙂

I tried to hold off experimenting with my new toy yesterday afternoon, but I just couldn’t do it! I’ve been DYING for months now to create these little ornaments and jewelry pieces using microscope slides!

My first two attempts last night ended up in the trash (and resulted in a small burn on my middle finger), but I NEVER give up! So I spent last night scouring the Internet (specifically YouTube) looking for videos to help me figure out what I was doing wrong.

After about two hours in the ‘net, I found some great examples of how to solder correctly (and without burning yourself!). I wanted to try again, but Mike talked me out of it. He told me to “Walk away from the craft room!”, so I did, though reluctantly.

All night I kept thinking about soldering (did I mention I’m a bit obsessive?),what I was doing wrong, what tools I could use, what other supplies I need – all the while, fighting the impulse to go into my craft room to melt metal…

So…this morning, I let Mike sleep in while I snuck into my craft room. He gets to sleep in; I feed my obsession – a win-win situation, if you ask me!

To help while soldering, I grabbed a brick (so as not to set my craft table on fire) and a pair of ‘helping hand’ tweezers from my handy Stampin’ Up! Crafter’s Toolkit (so as not to set my fingers on fire). These tools plus the videos I watched helped tremendously and I have two finished pieces to prove it! These are VERY simple, but at least I proved that I can solder without causing a trip to the E/R or a visit from the Pitman Fire Patrol!

I could only find frosted microscope slides in my stash, so I had to start with them. I made this little Christmas ornament using a vintage image I had on-hand:

I placed the image between the two slides, taped the edges, applied flux (I’m learning a whole new vocabulary!) and applied the solder. I also soldered a small jump ring to the back so it can be hung as an ornament (I got the jump ring from an office supply tag). This is so simple – as my skills improve, I want to add smaller jump rings and beads to the bottom – but one step at a time, right (did I mention that I’m a bit obsessive?).

As I was cleaning up, I saw today’s SpitCoastStampers challenge.  It is an inspiration challenge where the inspiration piece uses vintage Halloween images – perfect!  Another reason to make a project!

I found some adorable vintage Halloween images in my stash and I made this little pin (all this before 9:00 AM!)…

I used the same method as the ornament, but instead of a jump ring, I soldered a pin backing to the back of the slide.

I’m done soldering for the day – REALLY – I have to get ready for my Scrapbooking Ministry this afternoon…