Breathe

These little soldiers are my charms for the charm swap I'm participating in. They are about 1.25" tall. Inside each capsule is a dangle that has a copper rectangle with the participants initials hammered into it, dangling from a jump ring. The jump ring is attached through the top copper wire spiral, ending with a twisted loop for hanging on the charm bracelet. A colorful bead is dangling on a copper jump ring through the bottom of the little copper metal rectangle. The whole dangle is about .75" long and does not hit the bottom of the cartridge so it swings freely inside. The charm is closed on the bottom with another copper wire spiral. Here is a closer look:

What are the little capsule tubes, you ask? Well, my husband is currently using a nicotine replacement therapy - the Nicotrol Inhaler:

The little capsules are inserted into a mouthpiece and when he inhales using it, a small amount of nicotine vaper is released into his mouth and lungs. This helps with his nicotine dependence without the tars and toxins of a cigarette. When he has used up a cartridge (about 80 puffs - takes him a few days), the foil ends are punctured and there is a litttle cylendar that looks like styrofoam inside.

Of course, I've been having him save the used cartridges for me since he started - not having a clue what I was going to do with them. When the charm swap came along, I thought, what do I have 25 of that I can make into charms? I took one of the used capsules and pushed out the little white cylindar leaving a plastic, open-ended tube. The plastic cylindars are not totally clear, but not quite as cloudy as they look in the scan. The printing on the side is from the company -- dose, lot, and batch numbers etc. I used nail polish remover to take off the word "nicotine." (That word just seemed nasty to me! LOL) The rest looked kind of funky, I thought. What do you think? Hope the girls in the swap like them.

Comments

[Michelle]

Very cool! They have a futuristic look to them like something out of Bladerunner or Gataca. I'm sure the girls in the swap will be charmed! :-)

[Sharon @ NorahS]

Well Sally,
These are just smokin hot. So clever. So original. Wonderful.
Sharon

[Lorraine]

Sally, I LOVE these! They will be a great contribution to the charm swap. You are oh so clever!

[Deryn Mentock]

Oh my gosh girl!! Leave it to you to do something wildly creative with garbage! (I mean that as a compliment!).

[Ruth Rae]

amazing, I can believe that you lined them all up! they look great! I guess we can all learn from your creative recycling :) I can't wait to see them in person.

[Miz Carla]

WOW WOW WOW what a brilliant idea Miz Sally! I love your creativity! Look how you made wonderful little tops and bottoms for all of them..and all the pretties dangling from the inside.

Bravo!
I can't wait to see all of these charms in person.

[JoAnnA]

Sally, these are amazing. I can't wait to own one. You just added more to the conversation piece this charm bracelet has become. So creative!
JoAnnA

[liz smith]

oh i LOVE these sally!! can't wait to wear one on my wrist!!
liz xx

[Crystal]

Sally these are amazing! I can't believe the extent of the details in each one. Our own individual initials hammered into and dangled inside?? Wow! I love it!!
Crystal

[debra]

These are soooo cool! What a great idea for recycling! I bet they had no idea when they designed those things ;-)

[Rande]

Who would have thought? These turned out so great, and what a ingenious idea. You always do some of the neatest artwork.

[Roberta]

Hello,

I found your blog (and picturetrail albums) while I was searching for altered books related sites. Your art is fascinating and I really love what you're doing. Envelopes are awsome... but so are all other things as well.
I'm going to start with my first altered book today. Thanks for inspiration!

I wish you all the best.

[christine]

Ooooohhh -- how cool are these? You are so clever -- what a great bracelet you'll have!

[claudia]

totally cool!!!!

[kathywas]

OMG, girlfriend...I had NO IDEA what these little soldiers were until I read this post!! Hmm...just goes to show you that cigarette smoking can't be ALL bad..LOL!! Look at the cool charms you were able to make! I didn't realize, until I received mine, that you had everyone's initials inside. Too cool!! I LOVED them!!