Zoe is turning 16 tomorrow. It's actually her "golden birthday" because she is turning 16 on the 16th (and she would add that there are 16 letters in her name, thus making it extra, extra, extra special). She made this sweet little silver bird a few months back - it's less than an inch wide (but looks much bigger in the photo) - because we were designing a bracelet together and she loves birds. She kept waffling back and forth about what quote to put on her bracelet, and I think she finally gave up, because this silver bird has been sitting all alone on my work table for several months. I've had this idea in mind for a bracelet incorporating an adaptation of a Victor Hugo quote that I love, (changed the pronouns to be feminine), and that suits Zoe perfectly right now. So, I borrowed her bird - traced it, sawed it, filed it, sanded it, polished it, and soldered it - to work it into a beautiful birthday surprise:
"Be as a BIRD,
who, halting in her FLIGHT,
on a limb too slight,
feels it give way beneath her,
yet SINGS,
knowing she has WINGS."
Here's a closer look at the copper quote (but, not too close!):
This is actually my second attempt at this bracelet - the first little bird slipped when I soldered it, leaving what I call a "ghost mark." You can see it in the photo below. So, being the semi-also-not-predictable-perfectionist that I am, I started over. To say that this was an easy project would not be truthful. But it is soooo rewarding. I'm planning to give it to Zoe in the morning to start out her birthday in a special way. Here's to hoping that she likes it! Here's to her Golden Birthday!
I made a companion necklace to go with the bracelet.
It is the same sweet little bird on a copper disc that says, simply, "FLY."
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