I can do most forms and shapes. We have 1,000s of molds and cutters
in our warehouse (it isn’t mine, but it is mine to use all I want).
So I am filling an important nitch in the market. We cut blanks, and
form things like endcaps, and do other custom work out of copper,
brass, nickel silver, bronze, and sterling silver (not as often). I
have a etsy store at the moment and working on my website to open
there at a later date…
I can do anything (just about) that you see there in any metal. I
cannot seem to do it all, but I am trying.slowly to go through our
warehouse and use all the forms, cutters and shapes. I also have
helped others that needed a form that could not be found by making a
cutter to do this. One lady had been purchasing a teardrop with a
center cutout, it was narrower at the top than at the bottom, almost
an egg shape, that was coming from China, she had been purchasing
Copper, but they started sending her copper plated iron, and she
wasn’t happy. I made the cutter for her and now she gets pure copper
shapes. She is very happy and so am I. The cutters cost us quite a
bit to make, but sometimes if the form is desirable for the warehouse
they will make it for me for free. If not it would be something like
$80 or so, but it would be in my own possession for your use until
the cows come home…If there is anything at all someone is looking
for usually I can get pretty close. Just let us know!
My project is located in Mexico, in the state of Morelos. I help
young ladies here that cannot get jobs other than working in fields,
the American Company here rents the fields, and grows Basil, Thyme,
and other herbs, they work the women up to 16 hours a day, but 14 is
more normal, they work them 7 days a week. They get real substandard
pay due to no jobs in this area. One of the girls and the reason I
opened the workshop was born with a cleft palate, she was part of a
group of 8 babies born at the same time due to pesticide use (DDT I
suspect). She had been made fun of all of her life, suffered 8 badly
done operations, she was highly intelligent, I found out about her by
being picked to give her a certificate of excellence for being the
best student in our state of Morelos and a Scholarship from the then
President Fox, I never forgot how impressed I was by her. She was so
poor that she could not use the Scholarship which required her to pay
for her room and board. I then later found out she was working in the
fields with this company. I had this plan years back with my husband,
but I had lost my husband just about the same time, I didn’t have a
financial leg to stand on, I was in a foreign country, alone, in
grief, depressed over my loss, so I decided to help myself and use
what limited funds I had to go ahead and try at least. We have
struggled now for 5 years. It has been hard, at first we had no idea
where to get metal, it seemed impossible. No one would talk to us or
tell us where to buy metal. I had a lampworking background so we
started with that. Mr. Carpenter kindly donated to us a small
assortment of enamels and tools after UPS lost our initial order (it
was everything we could spend and more) we fought UPS for 2 years
before our order was partially replaced (about 85%) due to their
misand lies. So now we had enamels and some tools. But
the person who was to show us how to use them bailed out on us
because of the financial loss of the use of our money for 2 years and
because he didn’t want to be responsible for his part of the order
(so I ended up paying for that as well). We were hit with many
problems, issues and even cruel people who didn’t like it that we
had gotten the donation from Mr. Carpenter and others. Lampworkers
had been very generous to us in the past so I was erroneously
thinking that others would be similar. My job here with these young
women made it my goal to make this work. So yes we asked for
donations, used tools, supplies, whatnot. I knew a lot of people
loved Mexico and this was a real work of love. Richard Hart donated
an important amount of tools recently to us. I do not profit from
this project. These young women have gotten operations, built small
homes (1 room, 1 bathroom), and even purchased cell phones. I have
taken them to the movies for the first time in their lives, out to
eat Japanese food, Chinese food, and Indian food. They are learning
about the world, staying with their families instead of going
illegally to the US for work, and they have also learned about birth
control and more. Anyway, so we found metal finally! Then I found
this warehouse, and it occurred to me that making these shapes and
forms would fill a wonderful place in the market. We do some
enameling, lampwork, and now this. It is working well, and each day
the workshop is on a firmer footing. So if you do send forms to be
cut or made, you are helping these fine young ladies who never miss a
day of work, I have to shoo them home often, and they are very
applied, but never more than 8 hours they are in the workshop. I
guide them, manage their money, and they are thrilled to work with
dignity and fair pay. That is our story in a nutshell.
Sincerely
Laura & the Girls