I'm not a dork, I'm a devotee

It occurred to me just now that when we throw around terms like "nerd" or "dork," we're simply referring to someone who is devoted to a particular hobby, idea, etc.

So, put another way, dorks are devotees.

In related news, I've been making a lot of headpins recently.


This is for a few reasons. First, selling headpins seems like a practical way to rack up some sales. Also, I need headpins - lots of them - for my own creations.

But most of all, it's just fun to fire up the torch and play around. When learning something new like this, I like to get a little obsessive. It helps me refine my techniques and gain some muscle memory.

Here's what I've learned so far making headpins:

1. Don't overcook them. Especially with fine silver, it's easy to get lazy and let the balls get too big and gloppy; I ruined a bunch of headpins this way. Now I chant "medium rare....MEDIUM RARE!" to myself as I make them.

2. Making uniform, non-lobsided balls with sterling silver is difficult at first, but after a lot of practice it's second nature. Hang in there, or just buy headpins from me!

3. And an actual, perhaps useful tip...

At first my biggest challenge when making headpins was making them a uniform length. Anything less than 1" is unusable, and anything more than 1.75"-2" is a waste of wire. But measuring and cutting wire is a big pain. So, try this:

From your spool of wire, cut several sections of 4-5 feet each. No need to measure; just estimate the length by counting each time around the spool as the wire comes off.

Let gravity help you straighten the wire. Line up the ends so you have three (or more, depending on the strength and size of your wire cutters) long strands of wire bundled together in your hand.

Starting at the edge you've lined up, measure and cut away. I do all my beading on a mat with measurements on it, so I just lay down the wire on that and cut the wire to sections a hair over 2". I find this lets me create headpins of 1.5-1.75 inches. As you reach the ends of the wires, pay attention so you minimize waste. (theoretically, the longer your sections to start with, the less waste you'll end up with.)

Does that make sense? All you're doing is dividing your time by a factor of three or four, and maximizing that satisfying SNAP! sound you get when cutting wire.

I've found I can chop up a full troy ounce (~75 feet) of wire in a few minutes using this method; best of all, the pieces are totally uniform.

Warning: be careful as you cut the wire, or else the pieces will fly all over the place.