Ohhhh friends....soldering was A LOT harder than I thought. I had these grand ideas in my head, I was going to make tons of memory pendants for my friends, give them away during coffee Monday morning and be done. But nooooo, It didn't work that way...hahaha...first of all I am not even sure if I should be using exacto knives (which I got some really cool ones for Christmas) because whenever I tried to cut the paper into tiny pieces, the paper wouldn't cut! I had to run the knife several times for the paper to cut, thank goodness for the large trivet, its all scratched up now but it sure did come in handy. I guess I need one of those plastic mats for crafting??? THEN...it was mastering the copper tape...hahahah....beading is a lot easier than this. That copper tape tends to bend all different ways, but I was finally able to conquer the d**n thing. Now mind you...during this whole time, I am running back and forth to the instructional You tube videos! Sigh....I was finally ready to solder, my hubby showed me how to light the cute little torch. And during that time all of my 3 men encircled my craft area (kitchen counter) to see how I was going to do..NO PRESSURE THERE! Friends....it wasn't a pretty site, my hands were twisting all weird directions (no 3rd hand yet), I was getting the solder wire stuck to the memory glass, getting instructions from hubby, running back to the "how to solder" You tube videos, the solder getting hard too fast, my boys wanting to try it too. LOL...it was an ordeal...it was UGLY. Thank goodness I started with MY pendant, I dont feel bad messing that up. Yes I am embarrased to show you my work, I even considered not putting my watermark on the pictures but hey....I am not going to sugar coat here, you are getting the facts and nothing but the facts. I will be practicing how to solder before I tackle the cute pendants I made so I am off to the big orange box store for more soldering wire. Happy New Year... P.S....all graphics in my pendants came from the
Graphics Fairy, a very cool site with lots of beautiful pictures.
Ohhhh friends....soldering was A LOT harder than I thought. I had these grand ideas in my head, I was going to make tons of memory pendants for my friends, give them away during coffee Monday morning and be done. But nooooo, It didn't work that way...hahaha...first of all I am not even sure if I should be using exacto knives (which I got some really cool ones for Christmas) because whenever I tried to cut the paper into tiny pieces, the paper wouldn't cut! I had to run the knife several times for the paper to cut, thank goodness for the large trivet, its all scratched up now but it sure did come in handy. I guess I need one of those plastic mats for crafting??? THEN...it was mastering the copper tape...hahahah....beading is a lot easier than this. That copper tape tends to bend all different ways, but I was finally able to conquer the d**n thing. Now mind you...during this whole time, I am running back and forth to the instructional You tube videos! Sigh....I was finally ready to solder, my hubby showed me how to light the cute little torch. And during that time all of my 3 men encircled my craft area (kitchen counter) to see how I was going to do..NO PRESSURE THERE! Friends....it wasn't a pretty site, my hands were twisting all weird directions (no 3rd hand yet), I was getting the solder wire stuck to the memory glass, getting instructions from hubby, running back to the "how to solder" You tube videos, the solder getting hard too fast, my boys wanting to try it too. LOL...it was an ordeal...it was UGLY. Thank goodness I started with MY pendant, I dont feel bad messing that up. Yes I am embarrased to show you my work, I even considered not putting my watermark on the pictures but hey....I am not going to sugar coat here, you are getting the facts and nothing but the facts. I will be practicing how to solder before I tackle the cute pendants I made so I am off to the big orange box store for more soldering wire. Happy New Year... P.S....all graphics in my pendants came from the Graphics Fairy, a very cool site with lots of beautiful pictures. 
4 comments:
I am so sorry you were so disappointed. Never tried this but I know it would be hard to do. Just hang in there and soon you will have the look you want. But I am afraid we can all relate to how you felt having so much trouble.
Thanks for sharing
Maggie
Happy New Year
Hello! Thanks for visiting me today and following Filigree Moon. So sorry you were discouraged with soldering. I've never used anything but a soldering iron for making pendants. I can't imagine trying any other way. Feel free to email me and maybe I can provide some useful input. I am not an expert, though. Happy new year ~ Angela
Hi Sylvia,
I know exactly how you feel. Soldering is hard as heck! How about when you have to solder the little jump ring to the top of the pendant? This is the worst. It brings out all kinds of not-so-nice words in my vocabulary. How is it using a torch? I use a soldering iron and have a hard time getting the solder nice and smooth and not bumpy. Oh, well, with a bit of practice we can get better! Keep trying.
Sincerely,
Melinda
Hi Sylvia,
DON'T GIVE UP!!! When I find the time to make a photo, I will show you my first charms, they are just as ugly as yours (lol). You just need some practice. I am still in the learning process myself, but I can tell you what helped me. I started using a smaller size copper tape and especially the one with the "waves" (I don't know the name, but you can see them on my blog) gives a very nice result. When the copper tape is neatly wrapped around the glass, you have done half the job. And don't use too much flux and solder. The soldering itself is just a matter of practice, you will see that every charm is better than the one before. I cut my paper on a piece of glass from an old frame. And last but not least....when you have made a charm which is really too ugly to keep (I had LOTS of them), you can remove the soldered frame. The glass is a bit dirty from the flux, but can be cleaned easily, this saves the glass and the image.
Hope this helps!
Natacha from Luxembourg
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