Five Great Gifts to Give List 37

Good Morning,

Instead of Five Great Gifts, today we will look at five ways you can help others this Holiday Season.

Donate to your local Humane Society or Animal Shelter.  Food, Blankets, Toys, are always appreciated.  Contact your local shelter and ask what they may need in the way of supplies, every little bit helps.  If you have room in your home and your heart, you might also adopt a little furry friend of your very own. You could love them, and pet them, and call them, “George”.

Idaho Humane Society Needed Items

“Miss Nora”, the Boss-Lady Fur-person, adopted from the Idaho Humane Society in 2000.  Yes, she is 13 years-old. 
The Alchemist’s Cat, or rather The Alchemist’s Owner.

Donate a toy or your time to Toys for Tots.  Our economy is terrible, and many children do not get a Christmas or the opportunity to celebrate other Holidays.  There are lots of places that have inexpensive toys, dolls, books, race cars etc., that any child would love to call their own.

Coats For Kids:  When this California Girl moved from the sunny surf-washed beaches of San Fransisco, to the high desert of Idaho, she was not, I repeat NOT PREPARED for the Winter weather. Here in Idaho the Winters can be brutally cold, the temperatures can dip into the Below Zero degrees, -3, you bet that’s COLD!    Not every place is as cold as Idaho, and many places get colder, this year (locally) Bruneel Tire Factory and Idaho Youth Ranch Stores are a couple of the donation locations here in the Treasure Valley Area.  Bring your gently used coats or outer wear and drop them off, the coats will be handed out during school hours to Elementary and older children.

Food Banks / Soup Kitchens:

When we think of Soup Kitchens or Food Banks many of us think of the old Depression Era images we have seen from books and History reels.  Just because we don’t call it a Depression, don’t think for a moment that this country isn’t in serious trouble, there are hundreds, thousands, that go without a meal every day in this great and bountiful land of ours, let’s make sure every one gets to eat at least once a day.  Donate canned goods, or your time to serve at one, for one weekend a month.

Senior Citizens are sometimes the most in need and usually the first to be forgotten.  There are so many things that one can do for our elders, the people that came before and paved the way for us to do and be what we are today!  There are lots of wonderful ways you can help a Senior, whether it be your own Parents, Grandparents or the Neighbor down the street, a small gift of your time can change a life and be worth it’s weight in more than gold.  Here are some links to check out how you can help in your area.  Nursing homes, hospitals, other care facilities might be in need of volunteers to read to or just sit with and be company for those that are alone.  A trip to the grocery store, a ride to a doctor’s appointment, simple things that cost you nothing but a bit of your time, and we can all afford to give some of it to someone else.

Seniors Helping Seniors
Seniors in Need
Boise Senior Center

 Thank you for stopping in and having a look.

The Alchemists Vessel would like to wish you a pleasant day.

Thursday Tutorial – European Speed Maille Weave

Good Morning,

As usual I am a day late and a dollar short, only backwards.  Unprepared for the post today, because I thought it was Friday, a tutorial will just have to suffice.

European Speed Maille Weave is a shortened version of the European 4-in-1pattern for which individual units are created and then linked together with a single jump ring.  There is no difference in the appearance of the chain, just in the way it is woven.

European Speed Maille

Materials – Enough for a nice practice piece or it makes a neat Key Chain or Purse Charm.
2 Pairs of Pliers (Flat Nosed)
39 *10mm Aluminum Jump Rings in Teal by Darice (6mm ID)
AR 3.7

*These rings are purchased from a local Craft Store and manufactured by Darice, in packages of 135 rings.  One package is plenty to create this short tutorial.  We do not recommend these rings for finished projects, but they are great for practice and color design.

Begin:
Open 13 jump rings
Close 26 jump rings.
Set one open ring aside.

Place four (4) closed rings on one open ring and close the ring.  Set the unit aside for the moment.

Set up the rest of the rings, pair two closed rings with one open ring.  There will be 11 sets of rings.

Or you may place the closed rings on the open ones.  Either is fine.

Take the unit you created earlier and arrange the four loose rings so the unit looks like this.

  

There are now Top and Bottom Rings.

1.  Slide one open jump ring DOWN into the bottom ring and UP through the top ring.

The unit looks like this.

2.  Add two (2) closed jump rings to the open ring and close the ring.  *If you placed your closed rings on the open jump ring before sliding it through the unit just close the ring.

3.  Fold or flip the rings you just added in the same position as the previous pair.  The unit will look like this.

 

Repeat Step 1.

Slide one open ring DOWN into the bottom ring and UP through the top ring.

Repeat Step 2.

Add two more rings, and close the open ring.

 
Fold or flip the rings just added to the correct position and close the ring.  *The rings will kind of go there on their own once the chain begins to grow in length.

Pattern Notes:  The Open jump ring when added, will sit beneath the previous ring in the row.

Each of the closed rings added will fold to either side of the center ring and lay on top of the previous pair in the chain.

When you have added all of the sets, slide the last open ring (the one you set aside) down through the bottom and up through the top ring and close the ring.  This completes and locks the chain pattern into place.  Done!

I turned the tutorial into a Key Chain.

If you would like to try this pattern in other sizes or materials you can use the chart at zlosk to check out the required AR sizes.

Thank you for stopping by and having a look.

The Alchemists Vessel would like to wish you a pleasant day. 

In My Studio – Earring Tutorial

 

Happy Wednesday!Here we are in my studio, that must mean it’s time for a project.  Wonder what I do at the workbench?   Wonder no more, below is  Earrings 101 a tutorial video. 

 

As promised, I have finally managed to create and upload a video on crafting a pair of very simple dangle earrings.  You can definitely try this at home!  The video covers, materials and how to’s for finishing and attaching the parts and pieces to make and  complete a pair of earrings.

 

If you would like to participate along with the video or perhaps make a pair afterwards you will need the supplies listed.  Expensive tools and supplies are not required, you can find the wire cutters and other things at your local Walmart for about $5.00 each, I bet most you have pliers at home, those will work just fine.  Beads can be any material and color you like, you can also find the Headpins and things at a local craft store for around $2.00.

 

Tools:

1 pair of Flat or Chain Nose Pliers

1 pair of Round Nose Pliers

1 pair of Wire Cutters

 

Supplies:

2 Head Pins

2 Fish Hook Style Ear Wires

2 4mm Jump Rings (optional)

Beads of your choice (any color, size, shape to your liking).

If you are experiencing problems watching the video on the blog you can also try clicking the links to your right or following them from the links below,

Earrings 101 on The Alchemists Vessel (Official Website)

Earrings 101 on Youtube

Earrings 101 on Daily Motion

*Earrings 101 on Facebook

 

*NOTE:  This link will take you to The Alchemists Vessel Fan / Business Page on Facebook.

There is no pdf or written instruction, if I have requests for this I will write one out for downloading later.

I hope you enjoyed this brief tutorial on creating a simple pair of earrings.

Thank you for stopping by and watching.

The Alchemists Vessel would like to wish you a pleasant Wednesday.