I made a thing! – The Vagabond Tabby

It’s been far, FAR too long since I’ve made a BIG piece for Trickster’s Trash. I knew more-or-less what this piece was going to be when I picked up the already-twisted bucket handle that frames it, so using this as a place to dip my toes back in was kinda perfect.

This is where I started. It’s rare that I have this much of an idea of where I’m going to wind up this early, & even rarer that I stick this close to what I’d envisioned. I’m not sure what, if anything, that means — but I’m happy with the results!

First up, framing things out. Look, I’ve spent most of the last year building things, the jargon’s gonna carry over. It still works.

I would’ve taken a picture of just the framing, but I needed to strip the cover off of the thinner wire & I, er, hadn’t brought a box cutter. I HAD a knife — of COURSE I had a knife — but not, alas, the right one. I wound up using my sewing scissors. I only stabbed myself twice, I’m pretty happy about that.

ANYWAY once I’d accomplished that, I wanted to keep the momentum, so I grabbed a piece of creek glass & turned it into a leaf. This is the first time I’ve done a wrap ANYTHING like this. There was … a certain amount of fumbling. They’ll likely be much neater as I get better at this, but for now I’m embracing the messiness.

… who am I kidding, this is me, I will ALWAYS be embracing the messiness.

But, you know, it works.

In my hand: a leaf-shaped piece of green seaglass. It is wrapped in copper that follows where a leaf's veins might go.

& here’s where it fits into the frame I’d already made — along with the frame itself. I wish I’d taken a picture before I started the leaf, but, well.

Also you can see where the leaf needed another vein or two before I felt it was stuck firmly enough in place. Winging it FTW!

The bucket handle has copper twined around it in several places, and one long length of copper traces a winding path, like a vine, up through the space in the middle. The wrapped sea glass is attached to the vine & to the bucket handle by winding copper wire, twisted around itself.

Another leaf! Slightly more confidence in what I was doing! Really not very much though!

Another sea glass leaf! The thicker copper wire runs up the center of the leaf, & the thinner one runs from the center one out to the edge & then around to the back in several places, angling upwards the way veins do on a leaf.

This one needed more veins before I was happy with it, too. I had more fun putting this one on, though. & I’m really glad I was fascinated by honeysuckle vines when I was a kid.

Both sea glass leaves are attached to the vine, branching out to either side of it.

I mean.

A close view of cucumber tendrils winding their way to a supportive metal framework, & then twining around it.

After that I got on kind of a roll & stopped taking pictures of every leaf. I was getting the hang of it though!

Of course things didn’t wind up quite where I’d thought they might, but that’s how that goes.

The mostly-finished piece. The bucket handle acts as a frame; it's broad at the bottom and narrows to a point at the top where the two ends are twined together. A long vine of copper winds its way up the middle, with five green sea glass leaves, wrapped in copper, emerging from it.

I want to poke at it a bit more, but right now? Yeah, I’m pretty happy with it. Look for it to be listed soon!

This was posted originally to my Patreon, a little over a week ago.

If you want to see these posts sooner, & not incidentally help support me & my cats in our travels & such, the way to do that is to sign up as one of my Patrons for as little as a buck a month.

I’d REALLY like that.

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