Tender little *&%$ blossoms

Silver melts. I knew that, in theory, and it had even happened to me once or twice. But today, it seemed to be melting with very little provocation. Or heat. Must've been gremlins, or the heat index, since it clearly couldn't have been MY fault!

Much like the flower I formed the other day, I took up some wire this morning and formed beautiful, delicate little five-petalled blossoms. Once I got a pair with a similar size and shape, I carefully soldered them closed. So far so good.

Then I pickled them, hammered them, and got ready to solder on a bead cap I had. Instead of the solder melting, the petal melted onto the bead cap and created an unsightly mess. Hmmmm... and grrrr....

Second try: formed another, went through the same process, started to solder....and this time the bead cap melted. Okay, okay, clearly I have to try a different tactic.

So, formed yet another *&%$# little blossom, soldered, pickled, hammered and, before it knew what was happening, I soldered a nice little spacer bead right in the center, right where it was supposed to go. Aha, she thought to herself in triumph: one down, one to go! Somehow, this next earring went off without a hitch, probably having witnessed the whole procedure and deciding it was in its best interests to behave.

All that was left was making some earwires and headpins for the glass beads that I thought went nicely, pickled those, tumbled them along with the blossoms, and then carefully wired the glass beads onto the blossom. The end result was lovely, even though the process felt grim at times! And, as with all experiments, I learned a lot! I would have provided pictures of the little metal carcasses, but they were really pitiful, plus I forgot, so you'll have to settle for the finished product!