Nina Gibson Designs

Blog Carnival: Other Artistic Endeavors

2011-02-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

February Topic: Non-Metal Creativity

Tell us about other kinds of art and craft you do. What other media do you work and play with? How often do you get to create? Does it relate to or inspire your metalworking?

I don't have a lot of time to do arts and craft outside of silver-smithing, but I do enjoy being creative. I like knitting, sewing, water colors, papier-mâché, and paper crafts. I have done some counted cross stitch with beads, quilting, and embroidery. These are what I would consider hobbies, and I wish I had more time for them. Occasionally, one of these activities will find its way into my jewelry making.

Here are some knitted gauntlets I made - I love them and wear them when it's chilly:

Knitting has made its way into jewelry. Several of my RADs were knit last year, and then there's this bracelet:

Here's an example of counted cross stitch done in seed beads:

close up:

Embroidery made its way into jewelry in this brooch and some others that have not been photographed:

Quilt Squares done in the style of Baltimore Quilting. This is a project that has been ongoing for a number of years. I have hopes of one day finishing and having a completed quilt, but for now its just for fun.

At the moment I have very little time to play with craft and hobbies. I am volunteering at my kids' school, facilitating an in class lesson once a month. The program is "Art Masters". There are a variety of techniques and materials used for the projects. In January, we worked in pastels on paper using the work of John James Audubon for inspiration. I love to see what the students come up with. Their talent and creativity are an inspiration for me.

Check out what other EtsyMetal members are blogging about their artistic endeavors outside metal:

kate jones
kathryn cole
2Roses

Twigs and Heather
Erin Austin
Thomasin Durgin
Nodeform
Beth Cyr
stacey hansen
elizabeth scott
Evelyn Markasky
Amanda Conley
Jenny Baughman

Catherine Chandler

Blog Carnival: Business Success Secrets

2010-11-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

What does it mean to you to be "successful" in business as an artist? How do you walk the line between creativity and profitability? What is the best thing you've done for your business?

At this point in the evolution of my business, "success" is something that falls between creativity and profitability. I chose this business because I can be creative with the hope of being profitable. I spent a lot of time working in a non-creative atmosphere for a paycheck. When I left that career, I did so because I wanted to stay at home and focus on my family. I still want to do that, but can't do only that. I need to be able to both take care of my family and contribute to our finances. Success means not having to go back.

Creativity leads to profitability. When people shop of the kind of product that I make, they aren't presented with loads of exactly the same thing. If I can't pull them in with something creative, they are lost to me. In that way, there's no "line" between the two. Instead one feeds the other. Most of what I find fun and exciting, they find interesting. Sometimes, they don't. There are those times when I am excited about something and I make it, and it doesn't sell. Hopefully, I haven't made it into a piece of production work before testing the market. This creative business is something that feeds on response; response from peers or clients. When that overlaps it's really nice, so if I don't get a response, I usually lose interest as well. I once read that retailers should have 50% of their items be completely new each year. I'm not sure I'm that creative yet, but I try to keep it fresh.

Most of the time, I follow my business where it leads me. I browse sites and articles that offer business advise, but I don't worship at them. If I find an idea that could work for me, I might follow that lead, but I can't let that take up all my time. I suppose the best thing I've done to help my business grow is to be brave. I am nervous to try new things, but I don't let fear stop me. I have a long to do list, so I don't plan on running out of ideas for business or for creativity anytime soon.

Blog Carnival

Here are the EtsyMetal team members participating in this carnival:

stacey http://wildflowerdesigns.blogspot.com
victoria takahashi / experimetal http://vtakahashi.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-carnival-november-2010.html
2Roses: http://jewelrytutorial.blogspot.com/2010/11/etsymetal-blog-carnival-font-face-font.html
Jenny: http://ridgeschool.blogspot.com/
Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/2010/11/etsymetal-blog-carnival-11810-business.html
Twigs and Heather: http://twigsandheather.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-carnival-etsymetal-team-what-does.html
Purified: http://purifiedart.blogspot.com/
Nodeform: http://nodeform.blogspot.com/

Gaby / India y a la Luna: http://indiaylaluna.blogspot.com/

Risotto

2010-10-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

Here's an update to my earlier "Food for Thought" post. The picture above is shot of the risotto I talked about - almost finished. It has butternut squash instead of mushrooms. It was yummy. The chicken I've been using in this recipe is from the frozen section of Trader Joes - I think it's just called 'roasted chicken'. You defrost it in the microwave, cut it up into small pieces and add it with the last cup of broth to heat it up. The squash is a great addition to anything. I take a butternut squash, split it long wise, spread olive oil on the cut parts (facing up), salt and pepper, and back for 40 minutes at 375 degrees. easy. Then I let it cool in the fridge, and later peel it and cut it into bite size pieces. I just keep it in a tupperware until I need it. I added half of a single squash to this risotto. The rest I actually ate cold as a side to a sandwich for lunch with some more salt and pepper on it. Yum!

Blog Carnival: EtsyMetal & Me!

2010-10-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

This October marks the 4 year anniversary of the street Team EtsyMetal. Our blog carnival this month asks about the group:

When/Why did you join?

I am proud to be a founding member of our team. There was a forum post in the EtsyForums asking for interest in a metal group and I was eager to join. I'd been selling on Etsy for a few months and teams were brand new, so I was excited to exchange ideas with other metal jewelry makers. In those days, there weren't established tags for jewelry items, so it was difficult to find a way to set our items apart from the many other jewelry making techniques, and teaming up was a way to figure out how to do that. There was a period of contact through group convo, and then a private forum and then a better one. Our contact with one another is almost exclusively online so it's nice to have a well organized place to ask questions, make comments, ask for advice, complain and have some fun

Is it what you expected?

It's been much more than I expected. I have grown to have some really nice friendships inside the group. Before I had any online presence, I thought only crazy people had relationships online, but much has changed! There have been some bumps along the road, but it is going great now. I have learned a lot and my work has grown thanks to the influence of my EM friends.

What does it mean to you to be a part of the team?

This team is particularly great because we all work in the same medium. I belong to some local groups, but there isn't the same feeling among the members. I have access to this team 24/7. I can always count on replies to a question within a very short period of time. Since leaving school and having kids, I am not surrounded by people who want to discuss jewelry for very long. My friends here are interested and are my best customers, but they can't tell me what I'm doing wrong when I'm stuck with a good design idea and can't figure out the right way to execute it. I love the monthly challenges - some of my best work has emerged from them. The charm swaps have been great! I learned how to blog and be a craft faire vendor from my teammates. They've helped me to aim higher in my business goals. I hope I've contributed some of the same to my fellow members. We are professional as well as a load of fun!

Check out what other members say:

Catherine Chandler
Danielle Miller
Victoria Takahashi
Inbar Bareket
Stacey
Caitlyn Davey
Beth Cyr

Charm Swap VI!

2010-10-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

The charms for the EtsyMetal team's 6th charms swap (CS6) are finished. I waited until the last minute as usual. So here is the process for making 22 charms. A small production line. It started with a butterfly sketch I swiped from my good friend and artist, Michelle Byran. Butterflies are everywhere in jewelry, but I was attracted to the great feeling of flight and movement in the tiny sketch on a post it note. I made a prototype to see if it would work in metal. Michelle will be getting a charm. Maybe she'll give me some more sketches :)

I shrunk the image down and traced it. Then adhered the tracings to sheet copper.

Cut out all the little butterfly shapes.

Cut sterling silver half bead wire for the bodies and balled up the ends of silver wire for the antennas. Then the pieces were soldered together and I put a bend in the butterfly bodies to give them more dimension.

All that was left to do was add a patina, tumble, and seal with a little bit of wax.

All done! I am the partner of the curator, Inbar Baraket for this charm swap and have been receiving all the charms over the past couple of weeks. There are still several to come in, but it promises to be a fantastic bracelet. Everyone has done lovely work.

Blog Carnival: Food For Thought

2010-08-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

The topic for the etsymetal blog carnival for August is Food: What do you eat? What won't you eat? Do you suggest any interesting pairings? What is your favorite studio snack? Optional: Include a favorite recipe.

I don't have any food restrictions. I am not a vegan, vegetarian, locovore, non-dairy, non-carb, low-sodium, or anything. However, if I am given a choice, I will chose organic, and I love it if its locally grown. I only buy hormone free foods at the market, but I confess that I have no idea what's in my In and Out hamburger or where it comes from. I am not picky, but there are a few things I dislike, like raw peppers, eggplant, and asparagus - yuck! And there are some things I avoid like ice cream - I wish I could eat it, but I can't - it is no longer my friend. I love milk chocolate and guacamole but not together. I do think that most things are better with cheese.

My work bench and computer space are located in my home studio, which is in my kitchen, so I always have access to snacks while I'm working. I try to keep fresh fruit on hand for snacking. Todays choice is cantaloupe. I also always have a pot of coffee going so I can have it throughout the day - I like it hot or iced and I also often splurge on fancy latte drinks from coffee stores when I am out and about. I usually have a coffee cup and a cup of water within arms reach of my workspace, but I don't snack while working because salty, greasy, and sticky fingers don't work well with what I am doing.

My husband, Patrick is the breakfast chef of the household. Weekends and holidays we have "real" breakfast, but the rest of the time, it's toast, cereal or frozen waffles. I like to cook meals, but don't usually have time for anything elaborate, so I make a lot of things that are fresh, but half-done from the store - like tortellini from the fresh pasta aisle with broccoli pesto (over-steamed broccoli with brown butter). Occasionally I feel like something that will take some time to make and is super yummy. I made this recipe up and its great on a cold day:

Risotto with Everything:

1 cup arborio rice

1/3 cup minced shallots or small onion

1 cup white wine

1 carton of chicken or vegetable broth

1 package of crimini mushrooms

butter

olive oil

salt & pepper

1 cup of frozen peas

1/2 - 1 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese

leftover cooked chicken, or vegetables

Slice mushrooms and saute in a little butter or oil with salt and pepper - set aside. Over medium heat, add 1 T. butter and olive oil to cover the bottom of a heavy sauce pan. Add shallots to pan and cook until translucent. Add arborio rice and toast, trying not to burn the shallots - You may want to lower the heat a little. Add white wine and stir. When the wine has been absorbed into the rice, begin adding broth, one cup at a time, stir, and wait until the broth is absorbed until adding another cup. You might not use the entire carton of broth taste it to check. With the last cup of broth, add the frozen peas. Add the reserved mushrooms and cooked chicken or other cooked vegetables available. This is where the "everything" portion comes in. While the rice is cooking, I rummage through the fridge and pantry looking for leftovers. Last, add the grated cheese. Let it cool for a couple of minutes or you will burn yourself. Dig in!

I wish I had a photo of the Risotto to show you - I may add one later.

*UPDATE* here's the promised photo: :)

Click to see what others are blogging on this topic:

vic http://vtakahashi.blogspot.com/

stacey http://wildflowerdesigns.blogspot.com

tomi http://metalriot.blogspot.com/

ann http://annhartleystudio.blogspot.com/

cynthia http://cynthiadelgiudice.blogspot.com/

caitlyn/discomedusa http://discomedusa.typepad.com

Inbar http://www.inbarbareket.net/

Lauren/Creative Dexterity http://www.creativedexterity.com/Blog/Blog.html

Maria/Fluxplay Jewellery http://www.fluxplay.blogspot.com

Beth Cyr http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com

Studio Mascot

2010-06-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

This is Ozzy. He's a betta fish that my youngest son brought home from a birthday party last year. He is named Ozzy for Mr. Osbourne by the small boy who loves loud music. In our family we have a little bit of history forgetting to feed animals who don't bark or meow for their food, so I have him on the counter in front of my bench. If I look up, I see him and remember to drop the small pellets of food into his vase, which he eats audibly. Yes, he lives in a vase because when you get a fish for a birthday party favor, you don't get a fish bowl, and I couldn't find anything better to put him in. He never complains. In fact, Ozzy is quite animated. If you look at him, he reacts by swishing around - it kind of looks like he's talking. Over the past few months I have begun to show him pieces I'm working on and asking for an opinion. Ozzy is always positive. I've grown fond of the little fish that I groaned over when he first came in the door. Our dog makes a mess and doesn't care for anything I'm working on or doing unless it has to do with tennis balls or food. The cats are mad at me because of the dog and they only come by the house to see what's for dinner and beg for some cat nip. Ozzy doesn't roam or make too big a mess, so I'm pleased to give him the title, Mascot. He's hard to photograph, though. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

For other thoughts on mascots, please see:

Ann Hartley

2 Roses

Victoria Takahashi

Blog Carnival 5/3/10 - What Motivates You To Create?

2010-05-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

The truth is that I have more ideas than time when it comes to inspiration, but motivation is something different. How do I go from concept to fruition? I am, I confess a natural loafer. I must take after my grandfather because I remember after he retired from a career he seemed to love, he said, "I have done a lot of things in my life... but I am best at doing nothing at all." I was probably 10 years old and I thought, "Yeah, I get it." I really enjoy being creative and busy- I do, but I also tend to get lost along the way. I am the queen of procrastination as well. The loafer and the procrastinator in me can find lots of excuses to do nothing. However, there are those moments when there is a proverbial fire lit under my butt that I find exhilarating and productive. So how do I keep the fire burning? What is the kindling? I find that if I tell someone I'm going to do something, their expectation gives me accountability, and I get up and go.

My customers have expectations and deadlines for me - that's helpful. They call me, they email me, they sometimes text me. I love that they want to buy jewelry that I make. I have a couple of friends who sing me the jingle to a major commercial jewelry franchise, "Your personal jeweler..." They enjoy having a personal jeweler. So I am motivated by my clients. Being a business owner is motivating!

I also really find being involved with the group that this blog carnival is sponsored by. EtsyMetal has a number of challenges going on all the time. The challenges have deadlines, and yes, I procrastinate and I'm sometimes late, but I really want to be a part of them. I was recently given the job of team leader for the challenges, and I thought I should join the blog carnival as part of those duties. So, here I am - motivated to write on my blog, which I've neglected lately. But I am going to find my way back to it and this blog carnival and some of the other challenges I'm working on gets me going!

My Family is a great motivator. They give me encouragement and support. I do NOT want to be a person whose spouse comes home and wonders what I've done all day. My jewelry studio is at home and there can be the temptation to nap instead of work, but I feel a responsibility to my family. My business makes money that contributes to our family's income. Since both of my kids are in school during the day, I have to do something besides housework while they are at school to justify my not having a traditional career. I like being a WAHM (work at home mom) - it gives me the freedom to drive on the kids' field trips, teach their art classes, and be there for them in a way that moms and dads who work traditional jobs struggle to do. Gone is the time of a single family income. It takes two working adults to make it. I know very few housewives who don't contribute to the family economically.

Success helps get me moving too. Presenting something really great is a goal. I know that I shouldn't need the validation of others to feel successful, but I do love it when I wow my clients and my fellow jewelers. They're encouragement and my own internal drive are fantastic motivators.

I love what I do. I've got tons of inspiration. I like the process of going from A to Z with a piece that I'm working on and I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to do it. I owe it to myself to keep it up! I give myself breaks, and try to pace myself so as not to burn out - that's important! Being at home with the studio and a stack of orders comes with a sense of responsibility to not quit - work all the time - but I also have to relax and enjoy it too.

Here's what some other people are saying on the topic of motivation:

Stacey Hansen

Danielle Miller-Gilliam

Blog Carnival - The Creative Process: How do you plan and organize for design?

2010-04-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

The blog Carnival is a group of metal artists belonging to EtsyMetal who blog on the same topic on the same date. For April 1st 2010, the topic is

"The Creative Process: How do you plan and organize for design?"

Here is a photo of my work bench as it is at this moment in time. It is situated in the middle of my kitchen, in the middle of my tiny house, in downtown Anaheim, CA. The photo was taken a few minutes ago after a tiny amount of tidying up. I like the location as I am frequently interrupted and it's nice to be able to enter and exit the "studio" without effort. As far as organization and planning for design, I have several steps. I sketch, and notate a lot. Laying a few materials I'm interested in working with helps too. I put a few things on a blank page in a sketch book and start brainstorming. Often those original materials are discarded for new ideas, but it's a starting point.

Organization helps with design too. If I find I'm stuck for a design idea, I will often start by cleaning up my work surface and organizing and re-arranging tools and materials. I won't get very far if I can't find what I'm looking for. Jewelry makers must have tons of compartments and tiny boxes and little bowls to keep every little component findable. We are notorious hoarders of stones and little bits, and I fit the profile neatly. Since I have limited space, its a constant battle to keep everything I need in a way that doesn't spill out everywhere. It's imperative to organize and label everything. When I buy a new material, the first thing I do is find a spot for it and label it with what it is, how much it was, where I got it, and the date, and it's dimensions. I have learned that if I skip this step, I have trouble later when I'm pricing a finished piece or trying to duplicate it.

Please visit the other EtsyMetal members blogging in this carnival:

Victoria Takahashi/Experimetal http://www.vtakahashi.blogspot.com/
Thomasin Durgin/metalriot http://www.metalriot.blogspot.com/
Su Trindle/QuercusSilver
Inbar Bareket
Stacey Hansen
Danielle Miller
Corliss & John Rose/2Roses
Maria Whetman
Beth Cyr

RAD Week #12

2010-03-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

This was week 12. The most popular one was the safety pin, which I photoshopped onto my finger. It's a bit revolting. The last little ring "WRING" was a little something I put together after talking with another participant about neck wringing. :) Rings, rings, rings. I've got quite a pile of them now. Send me encouraging thoughts so I can keep going.

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge 7.7: Four Elements

2010-03-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

Earth Water Fire or Air. Well I chose fire and made these earrings. I like how the dirty, sooty heat patina came out on the copper. The silver accent at the base of the flame gives the earrings depth. There were only three participants in the element challenge!

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge 7.6: Adult & Children's Look

2010-03-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

Oops! I just realized I forgot to blog about this challenge. This was from March 5! The assignment was to make a piece for a child (or pet) and a complimentary one for an adult. I have two boys. They don't have much use for jewelry at the moment, but they are always collecting rocks. I find them in their pockets while doing laundry, and throughout the house. Sometimes they bring me tiny stones they've found on their various activities. I decided a tiny box to put their tiny rocks into would be appropriate for a boy, and I wanted a ring to put a rock from each of them for the Adult look. Copper, fine silver, stone, silver tubing & wire hinge. Here is what others came up with!

I skipped the next challenge, Hardware Store. I didin't have time to go to the hardware store to shop and was uninspired by what I have lying around the house, so I gave myself some time off. A few years ago, EtsyMetal had a monthly theme of "from the hardware store" and I made a copper pipe bangle. This bangle was heavy and clunky, but cool looking and I listed it for sale. I was a little surprised when it sold!

Please check out the EM blog to see what other participants created!

RAD Week #11

2010-03-19T17:22:00.001-07:00

Week eleven. Four days of paper and three days of metal. I have a love/hate relationship with paper. I love it. I go to shops like Paper Source and other craft stores, spend hours looking at pretty paper, and I could easily spend lots of money on things like paper flower kits and stationary. There's something really nice about a pristine piece of paper. I hate paper too. I have loads of it. It comes in the mail, it comes home from my kids' school, it comes as packaging and I don't know where else. It is stacked up on tables and desks. It seems like I put tons if it in the recycle bin on a daily basis. My efforts to go green and paperless seem futile. I keep trying everyday to eliminate the excess of paper; online bills, email subscriptions - everywhere I can go paperless, I do. And yet, my paper problem remains. I re-use it and recycle it, and dream of a day when it's not stacked on surfaces in my house; when the only paper I have is for creative endeavors.

As an art medium, there's something wonderful about paper. Regular old paper isn't meant to withstand time. Unlike metal, it breaks down quickly, rots easily, tears and disintegrates. But seal it and layer it together, and it's great to manipulate. I like paper mache, made from newspaper. I love paper sculpture, and paper crafts. The four paper rings I made this week won't withstand any test of time, but I do like to explore the medium of paper for jewelry. It's lightweight and pliable and fun. It's also fast and easy and gives me a break from making metal rings when I can't get to the bench!

RAD Week #10

2010-03-13T10:42:00.001-08:00

Here are the Ring A Day offerings from last week. Toward the end of the week, with I focused mainly on using scrap. I have a tray full of sterling silver bits that are pieces that didn't work out or leftovers from other projects. I am reluctant to send my scrap in to trade for credit to buy fresh metal. I love melting it down into balls and blobs and hammering it into disks. It has when I do this, it creates this fantastic, rustic surface that looks organic and old. Pitted, slightly rough, cracked, and imperfect, recycled silver has a depth that machine milled silver does not. The last few rings are dapped recycled silver just simply attached to a square wire band. I love how the edges are ruffled like old flower petals. It's a little bit time consuming to melt down, hammer, anneal, put through the rolling mill, anneal, mill, anneal, mill... until I get a disk of silver that is a nice shape and thickness - but quite satisfying.

RAD Week #9

2010-03-06T12:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, I admit it. I'm getting a little weary of rings. Each time I get excited about a ring, the excitement can't be sustained for long because the next morning comes along and I have to do it all over again. I don't want to skip a day because I'm afraid if I do, I'll lose my momentum. I have to find things to get excited about, that will amuse me for a few moments - hence the cookie holder ring. I am always excited to get a couple of boxes of thin mints from my friend's daughter every year. The twisty wire one was boring - I was in a rush. I always have to have a few like that each week that aren't terribly interesting, but get it done for the day.

The shoes amused me. I dress up nice a few times a year and have cute but torturous shoes for the occasion, which end up kicked off under the table or to the side of the dance floor. My husband thinks its nice. He's nice.

I cleaned my youngest son's room last week and found all sorts of strange toy items, including the plastic bone - which slipped on my finger nicely. I guess the bone is to make your cowboy play more authentic. but I thought it was weird.

Here's some cool rings from other participants:

1. ETSYMETAL CHALLENGE RAD020110 32/365, 2. RAD 19/02 - 23/365 - Imperial Topaz, 3. ring 17, 4. RAD #19a 2010, 5. ring 26, 6. RAD 59/365 2.28.10 Weather vane, 7.RAD 62 of 365 1, 8. Ring a Day, 63/365, 03.04.10, 9. R-A-D #23 2/28/10

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge 7.5 Design for your Star!

2010-03-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

Beautiful. Dirty. Rich.

We had the week off from Project Runway this time - Thanks, Olympics! So I have an extra week on the last assignment and a little time to catch up on blogging. This assignment was to design a piece with a celebrity in mind. The PR crew had to design something for Heidi Klum for a magazine cover. I'm really pleased with how my Lady GaGa Earrings turned out. I wanted to choose someone who was not just a celebrity, but one who's fashion is outrageous. When I remembered Lady GaGa in her bubble costume, I also remembered my hollow glass beads. The silver element is recycled scrap, melted down into blobs, hammered, annealed, and rolled out into disks and then domed. I love the uneven, ruffled edges the recycled silver ends up with. I never get around to sending my silver scrap in for cash because I love to melt it down myself. It comes out irregular and pitted and a little uneven. When its sanded to a matte finish, it's just about perfect. Anyway, I love these earrings, and I think my green display head even looks a little like Lady Gaga! Thanks for the inspiriation, Lady G!

RAD Week #8

2010-03-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

This is Week 8's group of rings! I am pleased with how the photography is coming out. Doing a ring every day also means taking a photo every day and cropping, and other little edits. Sometimes the photography takes longer than the ring! Even when I take a photo on a black background with a shadow behind, I still need to make adjustments to the exposure in photoshop to get the black right, which often makes the ring darker as well, but I'm getting better at it. I have used the saturation effect on my hand several times as well - as in the post-it note 'ring' above. It's an actual hand in the photo, but it makes it look like a black and white photo with something color on top of it, which I find interesting, and makes what is colorful stand out. I always want my hand to be secondary if it's in the photo as I am not the best hand model and I often have to fix cuts, bruises and other weirdnesses that are on my hand in photoshop - Thank goodness for photoshop!

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge 7.3:The Met

2010-02-21T08:19:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I forgot to make this post! Challenge 7.3 (2 weeks ago) was to look through the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and make something inspired by a piece in their permenant collection. Luckily they have photos online as I can't swing a trip to New York at present.

I chose Joan Miro's Constellation: Toward the Rainbow as my inspiration piece. I am a parent helper at my children's school for their Art Masters Program and they recently did an amazing project based on Miro's work and I thought I could apply the same techniques to metal as they did with paper and color. So the bangle is the main piece. I took some square wire and made the simple bangle and added some bits from Miro's painting to it. I like how it turned out.

The 2nd piece is a squiggle with a Miro-style star which slides on the lower part of the pendant. It's my favorite of the two.

Please look at the EtsyMetal blog to see what everyone did for their Met inspired pieces!

RAD Week #7

2010-02-20T09:35:00.001-08:00

1. RAD #43/365 02122010, 2. RAD #44/365 02132010, 3. RAD #45 02142010, 4. RAD #46/365 02152010, 5. RAD #47/365 02162010, 6. RAD #48/365 02172010, 7. RAD #48/365 02172010, 8. RAD #49/365 02182010

This is week seven of the Ring a Day Project! From 2/12 -2/18 I made four metal rings. The 5th metal ring is just one of my bubble wands on my finger, which I did make, but technically isn't a ring. The red rick rack ring is great looking and I have plans to make a silver version soon as the fabric on is too floppy to wear. The candy ring was leftovers from Valentine's Day. I love the pink tulip ring! I have blue and green glass tulips that I can use for these too. I love the leaves at the sides. The turquoise ring is mine! The other two are leftover bits from other projects soldered onto a ring band, and both turned out nice. RAD has taken over. I feel like I must not fall behind and make/post a ring each and every day, lest I never pick it up. So far I'm still doing it! I just need the same attitude about blog posting. I'm caught up on RAD postings now! I'll catch up on other things soon and maybe even join the EM blog carnival for March - I hope!

EtsyMetal Jewelry Challenge 7.4 Design Your Heart Out!

2010-02-19T16:27:00.000-08:00

I skipped blogging last week about the Project Runway Jewelry Challenge, so this post is to catch up. The theme for our challenge based on Episode 4, was "Design Your Heart Out"; to make something about hearts and a secondary challenge to make a complimentary piece to be donated to the American Heart Association. I wasn't super excited about this one as I had just completed my St. Valentine's Day orders that were all hearts and love, so I left it to the last moment and then finally decided to make a funky, untraditional looking heart bracelet. The hearts are squashy and fun and not syrupy sweet, so I started to get into the challenge. I stamped stripes, and spirals on two of the hearts (one side only) and then made dots in the third heart by drilling part way into the surface of the metal. I gave them a rough, scratchy oxidized finish and connected them with some square wire cable. I really like how it turned out.

I mirrored the shape of my squashy, funky heart in sterling silver wire for a pendant. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the pendant will be donated to the AHA. If you are interested, please check it out in my shop!

Please check out the EtsyMetal blog for to see the other participants' work!

RAD Week #6

2010-02-17T09:33:00.001-08:00

I'm still getting caught up on blogging about the RAD (Ring A Day) project. Here are seven more rings from week six of doing rings everyday! I love the car ring. The little mini van travels around the road ring. It's super fun to wear. I'm not sure about making some for the shop, but it might be something I'll do when time permits. The duct tape ring is fun. It's kind of floppy, so not so great to wear, but perfect for this project. I'm working through all the weird materials I have little by little. The orange sequins are cool, right? Someone custom ordered some sequin earrings in orange, and I found some great neon orange vintage sequins for them. I couldn't resist wrapping them around my finger. As promised, here are a few of my favorites from week 5 and 6:

1. RAD 20/365, 2. Ring a Day no. 28 (explored), 3. RAD 2/2 16/365, 4. ring a day 24 - january 24, 5. RAD 33/365 020210, 6. Mini Citybird, 7. RAD 33-red-resin-and-silver, 8.RAD ~ #7 ~ 4Feb2010 ~ Modern, 9. RAD 37-Pleat, 10. R A D #37 02-06-2010 "OUCH!!!!!!!!!", 11. Wild Wild West - ring a day 20/365, 12. ring 6

RAD Week #5

2010-02-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

I'm very behind in posting to my blog, so this is me trying to catch up. These are my week 5 rings for the Ring a Day project. The green reflector ring was featured by flickr in their "explore" area of interesting shots, and has gotten more than 275 views and a lot of comments. I'm thrilled that the original size 6 ring sold from my etsy shop. I have a few more of these vintage glass stones, but not many, so I'm now trying to get my hands on some more. The two square wire rings are fun. The log cabin one is a little to snaggy to wear, but it looks great! I love the burlap ring. Just fun and a companion piece to the project runway burlap jewelry challenge which is blogged here! When reinforced with super glue, burlap is a nice, sturdy material. I'm not sure it'll catch on for jewelry, but it was a fun project anyway! I'll put some favorites of other participants in my next RAD post!

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge 7.2: Burlap

2010-02-01T09:23:00.001-08:00

Burlap is a challenging material to work with. It unravels very easily without it's selvage. The natural fibers split and break and shed off the fabric. The burlap that was available in my local fabric shop was terrible, but one of my EtsyMetal friends offered to send me a bit of hers, and I accepted - hoping that it would be better than what I could get. It was. (Thanks, Victoria!). It was very tightly woven, however for the idea I had about playing with the warp and weft of the fabric, and replacing some of them with metal wire. I finally figured out that I could easily and selectively remove threads from the middle of the pieces of fabric with tweezers. In order to keep the remaining threads from coming unraveled, I applied a little super glue around the edges, just where the threads met. This worked great, and stiffened the burlap as well. I wove four flattened silver bits of wire into the warp and weft. The backing is a piece of copper sheet, which had roller print of metal screen on one side, which mirrored the weave of the burlap nicely for the back of my pendant. I oxidized the piece and made scratches in the front to also mirror fabric a little and riveted the burlap/silver to the front. A bit of silver tubing for the bale and a simple silver chain completes it. Also Check out the ring that got the burlap treatment for the RAD project.

Here are the other participants in the burlap challenge:

RAD Week #4

2010-01-30T09:19:00.001-08:00

1. RAD #22/365 01222010, 3. RAD #23/365 01232010, 4. RAD #24/365 01242010, 5.RAD #25/365 01252010, 6. RAD #26/365 01262010, 7. RAD #27/365 01272010, 8. RAD #28/365 01282010

I can't believe I only made one metal ring last week. I really like the mini-series of take out dinner order trash rings. The Salt & Pepper, Chop Sticks, Fork, and Straw Wrappers were fun to do. The fork (stabby) ring got over 125 views and over 20 comments! That was fun. My knit and felted wool finger cuff was a challenge - I wasn't sure how much larger than I needed to knit it. I put it through the hot wash and dryer about 4 times (I got a lot of laundry done that day). The spaghetti was after a long day and just trying to get the dinner leftovers put away. My metal ring is of coarse my favorite. The petal shaped hollow form with a garnet on top, which goes with my Project Runway Challenge entry, Petal Keeper. This was a busy week without much time at the bench, so hopefully I'll be able to make more in metal this week! The RAD group on flickr has over 200 members now! Here are some of my favorites from others last week:

1. RAD 21 Mother and child ring, 2. * {25} defenders of the rose, 3. day twenty four, 4.Kyanite ring RAD #17 1/20/10, 5. Chrysocolla RAD #15 1/18/10, 6. Ring a Day 25/365, 01.28.10, 7. Ring a Day, 24/365, 01.24.10, 8. RAD 24/365, 9. ring a day # 24

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Season 7.1

2010-01-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

Project Runway, season seven has begun and the EtsyMetal Jewelry Challenge is on again, following their assignments for fashion and translating them to metalworking jewelry. The first episode of the new season started out with contestants choosing five fabrics to make a garment that represented them as designers. Our missive was to create a piece that incorporated the number five in some way. My submission is the Loves Me Keepsake Box Necklace, a hand fabricated sterling silver box, a keepsake for love notes or flower petals. It has five copper flower petals on the front of the "loves me" box and five garnet beads incorporated into the chain. It's my new favorite design and I hope it will sell for Valentine's Day. This piece goes with a group of pieces I make that I think of as, 'things I said when I was a child' - like the See a Penny Necklace, and a few others. Here are a few of the other Project Runway Jewelry Challenge 7.1 submissions:

Sara Westermark, Shannon Conrad, Kathryn Riechert, Victoria Takahashi, Mark Kaplan, Mike Stromberg, Rachael Stromberg, Kira Ferrer, Nina Dinoff, Alisa Miller, Stacey Hansen, Inbar Bareket, Jo Hollingsworth, Kathryn Cole

RAD Week #3

2010-01-22T07:46:00.000-08:00

Another seven days, another seven rings. This has sort of taken over my life. I have a milk pull tab and cake sprinkles (adhered with honey). Bubble wrap and the fruit stripe zebra tattoo were fun ones. I made my first attempt at torch fired enamel with the little heart ring. The ruffle ring is my favorite, though. I see that coming to the shop very soon. Finally, #21 was a fiasco. That little butterfly cabochon was a pain. Thanks to photoshop, I can use the picture, but the ring is a mess - to the scrap pile with it! It's a really great project, and I love to look at other people's submissions. Here are some favorites from this week:

1. R-A-D, #11, 01/16/2010 "Silver Spool", 2. ring a day 16...spread ring, 3. RAD 18/365 011810 , 4. RAD #8 01.20.10, 5. rad 20 "wing nut" (unscrewed), 6. Mike-012010-3, 7. * {19} lucky in love, 8. RAD 20.365 Turquoise ring, 9. Ring a Day 2010 1.21.10

Rad Week #2

2010-01-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

Another fun week of rings in the Ring A Day Challenge. This week, I did three metal rings, one found item unchanged ring, two found item manipulated rings, and one that was handcrafted, but not metal. They don't go together in any kind of theme. The process is that I don't know what I'm going to do until the day that I am working on that ring. Sometimes I leave it until the last thing I do before bedtime, and sometimes I work on it for several hours. Its amazing how this project has transformed the way I look at everyday objects. In the back of my mind (and sometimes the front) I am thinking, "Can it be a ring?" about everything. I hope I don't get tired of it over the coarse of the year! Above are my rings this week. See my flickr for more photos. Here are some of my favorites from other artists last week:

1. orbit {RAD 11/365} 1/11/10, 2. Prehnite ring RAD #9 1/12/10, 3. Ring A Day- 9/365, 4.RAD | 13/365, 5. rad 12 "meow", 6. R A D #9 01-09-2010 "The Bunny", 7. RAD 14/365 011410 Bad Mood Ring, 8. RAD 13/365 01.13.10, 9. Rachelle-011210

RAD Week #1

2010-01-07T16:43:00.000-08:00

This first week of RAD has been seriously fun. If you haven't done so, please check out the flickr group to see what everyone has been up to. We at EtsyMetal have been thrilled to have so many participants and such interest in the project. I confess that every time I type "RAD" as a tag and title into my flickr upload descriptions, I say "Radical!". What I dork I am, but I love making a ring everyday. It's only been a week, and if you read my last post, I was unsure I'd be able to come up with a new ring every single day and was only committing to the 31 days of January. I'm now up for the entire year! 2010 will be the year of the ring.

Here are some of my favorites from the past week!

1. RAD5 5/365 "slider", 2. R A D #7 01-07-2010 "Ahoy Matey!" (with water ring), 3. Mike-010610, 4. RAD 1/365, 5. RIng a Day | Day Five, 6. RAD 4/365.2, 7. 1.4.2010, 8. Ring a Day, 4/365, 01.04.10, 9. * {2} wee peanut snack box, 10. Green Blade (RAD #3 1/3/10), 11. Ring A Day- Jan 2nd, 2010, 12. RAD 1/365 010110

Ring A Ding Ding!

2010-01-01T08:53:00.001-08:00

I have accepted a challenge from Nina Dinoff along with several others to make a Ring a Day. She's hoping we'll make it for a whole year, but we're starting with the 31 days of January. I'm not sure I'll make it every day, but I love the idea. Not all of the rings will be saleable - some may be made out of unconventional materials, it should be fun to do and fun to see what others come up with. You can keep up with the challenge by looking at the flickr group - Ring a Day, and anyone is welcome to join, so please do and post your photos!

New Year's Eve was a quiet one for me, so I took a few moments and made a ring for day 1. It's just a simple stamped band and it's available in the shop! So happy 2010!

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

2009-12-26T10:19:00.000-08:00

I hope you are having a wonderful Holiday Season!

Intermediate Stone Setting

2009-12-22T07:53:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I took a two-day workshop given by Wayne Werner through MASSC on intermediate stone setting. We looked at flush, pave, and prong setting diamond cut stones. These are things I "know" how to do, but am not practiced at, and don't own all the tools for, so I thought it would be good for me to practice with a master. Mr. Werner was funny and great to learn from. The photo above was him demonstrating pave setting using a large, green, diamond shaped, glass paperweight and setting it into a tub of vanilla ice cream using a spoon graver to raise beads of "metal" over the edge. That was on the 2nd day of the workshop. The first day was spent entirely on flush setting. After the demo, it was the attendees' turn to try it out. I actually got the stone to "pop" into the setting I made on the first try, so Wayne gave me a sticker for my optivisor. It says, "Rock Star" on it. He didn't see the part where the stone fell out after I thought I had it burnished in place.

I did manage to get my three CZ's flush set into my a bit of copper and one pave set into a bit of silver. The pave one is a mess, but it's in there. I need a lot more practice with a graver. obviously. I didn't have time to attempt the prong setting at the workshop, but I will work on it. I now have a wish list which includes a huge assortment of setting burrs and stones. We did make two burnishers - steel and brass - I love making my own tools! Mr. Werner also gave a presentation of his body of work and of Foredom tools - I have a wonderful Foredom Flex Shaft, but there are so many great accessories for it and some other fantastic toys I cannot afford nor have space for, but covet greatly. The hardest part of the workshop was writing the article for the MASSC newsletter, which I volunteered to do. I hope I got everything right in it.

Favorite Finds

2009-12-04T09:22:00.001-08:00

For me? Pour moi?

I should be shopping for Christmas gifts, but I keep finding fantastic things that I want to fill my home and closet with. Here are just a few of them.

1. earth sky shino bowl recycled glass matcha chawan tea bowl

There's something wonderful about drinking tea from a tea bowl and this one has a gorgeous glaze. I could look at it all day.

2. jigsaw kimono jacket

I love this jacket. The satin ties and the rough cotton are perfect together.

3. Little Goth Riding Hood Cape organic linen simple and sweet cape from down de bayou

I may need to invent a reason to need a blue capelet.

4. dent de lion

This photographer's work has a dreamy quality that I love.

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Finale

2009-11-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

Silver and Brass Filigree!

We wrap up our Project Runway jewelry challenge with "mini collections". Five pieces representing a cohesive collection including a necklace, earrings, ring, bracelet, and another item to chose to make. My collection is inspired by the Getty inspiration piece from a couple of weeks ago. I love how the yellow, raw brass filigree looks against a background of sterling silver, so I went back to my local vintage findings shop and rummaged through their bins for interesting little bits of brass. My five piece collection includes five different selections of brass in five different shapes and sizes.

The necklace is a hollow form curved rectangle with a square filigree and a hidden tube bale on the reverse. I wanted the square piece to be featured dimensionally and it's size to be enhanced. The width on the sides of the brass gives it that enhancement and the convex curve of the front makes in dimensional.

The earrings are made from two parts of a large medallion of brass filigree that a cut apart and soldered to tear shaped silver. They are 1 1/8 inch long and an inch wide.

The ring is a simple 1/4 inch wide band with a single spray of leaf filigree as it's feature. It is suitable for a man or a woman to wear. I considered making a more complicated cocktail ring, but I am happy with the way it turned out.

The bracelet is the piece that I grappled with the most. I thought about affixing these two shapes of brass filigree to a cuff style bracelet. The 'X' shapes are perfectly suited to the diamond shaped filigrees. I decided on the cut out shapes as a link bracelet as I thought It would go better with the rest of the collection. Each of the seven pieces has a slight curve for comfort and dimension.

My final piece is a pair of cufflinks with some small scrolled filigree on circles. I am trying to include more men's and unisex pieces in my line, so this was a great opportunity to put cufflinks in!

Check out my and the other participants final interview and a look at all of our weekly designs here and please take a look at the other fantastic mini-collections!

Beth Cyr

Kathryn Riechert

Thomasin Gurgin (metalriot)

Victoria Takahashi (experimetal)

Rachelle Stromberg (mikeandmary)

Sara Westermark

Stacey Hansen (wildflowerdesign)

And it's a wrap! Here's the EtsyMetal post!

EtsyMetal Jewelry Challenge: Pop Challenge

2009-11-20T12:03:00.000-08:00

Before the final challenge - a five piece, cohesive collection for the Project Runway Jewelry Challenge - is due (next Friday), we were given a pop challenge to make something using a 1" by 3" piece of sheet metal and three feet of wire - any gauge or size, copper or silver. I used 24 gauge sterling silver sheet and 18 gauge square wire. This is a two sided pendant. I cut the sheet metal into two pieces and curved them in a forming block. I added the square wire in a geometric spiral on one piece, and a bee's path to a flower on the other. The two curved pieces are joined to make a pillow shape and more square wire and sheet are used for the pi bale. I have a 1"x 1/4" piece of sheet and 2 feet of wire left over. If I had had another hour, I could have used the wire for two more geometric spiral earrings.

More Pop Challenges:

Experimetal

MikeandMary (Rachelle)

bcyrjewelry

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: The Getty!

2009-11-12T17:58:00.000-08:00

This week on Project Runway, the designers had their last challenge. They were given the Getty Museum as inspiration. They took a 30 minute tour, and had 30 minutes to choose an inspiration piece and sketch. I'm lucky enough to live nearby the Getty and I could spend all day there and not see everything. It took me longer than 30 minutes to look through their online collection photos and choose something to work on. I found a group of silver bowls of an unknown artist from the Parthian (modern Iran) made in the 1st or 2nd century AD. I selected the Bowl with Leaf Calyx Medallion as my inspiration for this challenge.

My interpretation of the bowl consists of a sterling silver disk, dapped into a tiny bowl and given a brass filigree medallion of leaves similar to the gold inlayed calyx medallion on my inspiration piece. The tiny bowl becomes a necklace with a tube bale and chain. I gave it a matte finish to reflect the aged silver of the Getty's ancient bowl.

More Getty inspired work:

MikeandMary (Rachelle)

Kathryn Cole

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Companion Piece

2009-11-05T22:01:00.000-08:00

Tall Palm Earrings

These Tall Palm Earrings are the companion to last week's Palm Lined Street Necklace. There wasn't much time for me to devote to this week's project as I am busy with what seems like a zillion other projects, but I think they're cute. These palms are much taller than those in the necklace - they do get super tall, while keeping their skinny trunks - Amazing trees, I think. They don't provide much (if any) shade from the hot sun, but the bushy tips of the trees dot the sky wherever I look.

More Companion Pieces:

MikeandMary (Rachelle)

bcyrjewelry

idreamicanfly

The EtsyMetal Blog

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Pick a Place!

2009-10-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Southern California!

Most palm trees are not native to the area, but they thrive here here and the tree lines streets of Beverly Hills and Hollywood have become iconic symbols of L.A. and Southern California. I am an Orange County native and grew up seeing Palm lined streets everywhere - including the street I grew up on and where my parents still live. On the green belt of the side walk, planted every few yards is a Palm. They don't provide much shade, but I still like them. They have tiny orange 'coconuts' that come down a couple times a year and in the Fall, sometimes the palm fronds turn brown and hang low. As kids we used to swing on the fronds like a Tarzan vine - into the street and back to the sidewalk. Here's a photo I managed to take from the sun roof of my car down the street from my house today.

So the Palm Trees of Southern California serve as my inspiration for my Project Runway Jewelry Challenge. The necklace features a row of palms decorating a slightly curved strip of sterling silver. A 'road' of copper is riveted to the silver along the bottom edge.

Visit some other jewelry places:

Catherine Chandler: Australia

Experimetal: her favorite place

Delias Thompson: Greece

Sara Westermark: Pisgah Forrest (NC)

Mike & Mary Rachelle: Ocean City Beach

MetalRiot: City Park

Cory Howard: Glaciers

The EtsyMetal Blog!

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Sparkle, Shimmer & Shine!

2009-10-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

Feathery Earrings

Last week's project runway was fun. The designers were to create a glitzy stage costume inspired by Bob Mackie's designs. An over the top garment that would stop the show. The EtsyMetal Jewelry Challenge was streamlined to simply create something with sparkle. I wondered what Mr. Mackie had done with jewelry so I did a search and didn't find much - some Christmas pins was all I found, but Bob Mackie did design a line of furniture, and I've always thought that hardware on furniture is quite jewelry like. There was one piece that I found especially show stopping. Just look at the inlay of wood surrounding the simple hardware on this chest. Very Cher and feathers, right?

I will admit that I left this until the last moment, so my entry may not have pushed the envelope outside my comfort zone, as those projects tend to take time. The feathery earrings do have shine. Using the feather motif, I've attached six pieces of hand cut patterned brass feather or leaf shapes to strips of sterling silver as if they were sequins, pinned with a bit of fine silver. They move freely on their pins and catch the light nicely. I am letting them dangle from ear wires so they can swing with the wearer's movement.

Other Sparkly, Shimmery & Shiny things:

See them all on the EtsyMetal Blog!

PRoject Runway Jewelry Challenge: Weddings

2009-10-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, project runway designers had to re-work a wedding dress for a recently divorced client into a non-wedding garment. Well, our leader re-worked the challenge and gave us the directive to design something for a bride.

I have been intending to make a set of wedding rings for some time now and bought these rough, uncut diamonds a long time ago. I love them and have finally put one into a ring that could be an engagement or wedding ring (or both!). I used sterling silver because with the price of gold soaring to new heights and the current economy, I think many couples might chose silver for their rings. It's a simple wide beveled band with the diamond bezel set. The diamond I used is yellow and is cube shaped. I paired the bride's ring with a more masculine ring for our bridegroom. It is a nice, chunky and heavy, beveled band in sterling silver with a small square of 14 kt. gold. The gold square mirrors the shape of the diamond setting in the bride's ring.

Here's a story about my own engagement ring I like to tell. My then future in-laws had set aside three diamonds; one for each of their children to give or have as their engagement ring. A lovely thing for them to do. All we had to do was to select and buy a setting for it. (No there wasn't a ring present at the actual proposal). So, they knew this guy who was a jeweler for a fine jewelry store and he wanted to give us a deal without the jewelry store taking their cut. So, he met us in the gas station across the street from the store and the three of us sat in the back seat looking at samples of settings and having my finger sized. I selected a very simple white gold four prong setting, and then the jeweler sat back and threw his arms around us and said, "Marriage is forever!" in a heavy Italian accent. The whole scene was like something out of a silly movie and my husband and I have often giggled about it. This was the last time I purchased jewelry out of a car, but as I don't have a storefront, I occasionally meet people in various parking lots to exchange a jewelry order for payment, so it isn't the last parking lot jewelry transaction I've been involved it.

And now for our our other submissions:

and the EtsyMetal Blog (thanks Victoria!)

PRoject Runway Jewelry Challenge: Blue

2009-10-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last week, Project Runway designers were to design something incorporating the color blue for the I.N.C. clothing brand at Macy's. Many moons ago, I worked for Macy's Department store and have always loved I.N.C. They have a simple, classic style, and a sleek silhouette. I don't know if my Blue Ring fits in with their line as it might be a little fussy for them, but I love it. I used a beautiful, marquee shaped, light blue, vintage glass cabochon with some lovely swirls. It is set into sterling silver (silver and blue go so well together!), which I've embellished with a wavy line of silver made with my fun tube wringer. I set it horizontally to make it more modern and gave it a plain rectangle silver band. For fun and a touch of whimsy, I stamped "blue" on the inside of the band. The result is this blue ring, which is now available in my etsy shop!

Check out the other Project Runway Jewelry Challenge Participants!

And here's the EM blog for a summary! Thanks, Victoria!

Little Soldiers

2009-10-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

This is what I have been up to lately. These rings are off to Uncommon Goods where they will hopefully all find homes. There's something satisfying about seeing them all lined up like little soldiers. Today, I'll start on a batch of necklaces. I'm in good shape for the deadlines, so I'm happy. Off to the studio!

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Hollywood!

2009-10-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

Millie's Memories

Millie Gray boards a bus bound for Hollywood in 1940. She has no beau in the army training camp to stay loyal to and only her mother to disapprove of her pursuit of her dream of a career as an actress. She arrives with her single suitcase and no one to meet her. After finding an apartment to share with several other girls, she is lost in a sea of young, beautiful actresses hoping for any role in any movie. She can sing and dance and lands several auditions, but has trouble staying off of the casting couch. She finally gets cast as an extra in a war propaganda movie. Excited in her new found career, she shows up on the set and gets into costume. Her military uniform includes a drab olive green skirt, blouse and a tie. The only flash of color on her costume is a chevron brooch with a lipstick red stone. She doesn't get shot close enough to the camera for the brooch to show up on screen, however. On the last day on set, she kisses her fellow extras goodbye, and slips the pin into her handbag to save as a memento of her film career and boards the bus going back home to help her mother with her victory garden. Her grand-daughter, Millie, a successful actress, always wears the pin on her movie auditions in Hollywood, 60 years later.

Last week on Project Runway, the designers were to chose from a list of move genres to design a costume for a movie star. I chose "period piece" and selected WWII war for my piece. The trend for jewelry during war time drifted toward patriotic pieces and some fashion mirrored the military uniform in style. My piece is reflective of that influence. A lipstick red, vintage glass deco cabochon is set into a sterling silver bar brooch with chevrons at either side. The back of the brooch is covered with patriotic stars.

Here are the other participants in this EtsyMetal Project Runway Jewelry Challenge:

Mike and Mary (Rachelle)

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Newspapers

2009-09-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

The Project Runway designers had to design a garment using newspaper this week. Using newspaper and other kinds of paper in jewelry is not so unusual. Holly Ann Mitchell has made it her signature style, and Carol Windsor does amazing things with paper. I love how newspaper looks in paper mache. and have been inspired by it before.

For this project, I was inspired by Christopher's dress. It had a hard shell paper mache bodice, which I love. I wanted to make a piece of jewelry using that hard shell. I built an armature for a bangle bracelet using copper wire and paper mached over that using wheat paste glue. The shape of the armature turned out really well, with a ruffle at one edge and a wider lip at the other. I wanted it to have the look of a ruffled sleeve.

I had experimented with water color paints on the paper and really like the effect of the color paints, which allow the newsprint to show through, but in the end I decided on black, leaving the inside newsprint peaking out, especially at the ruffled edge. I used the Financial Times, (which my anglophile husband subscribes to) because it has a pink color to the newsprint. I really like the matte look of the wheat pasted paper mache and water color, but I needed to seal it as the black was coming off and it would be unwearable otherwise. I used Mod Podge Matte Finish, which still has a little shine, and I am very happy with the result. The layer of glue makes the paper have the look and feel of leather.

Here are the other wonderful EMJC participants:

MikeandMary (Rachael)

Experimetal

tffnynelson

EtsyMetal Blog!

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Picked from a Hat!

2009-09-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

Fly Barrette

Last week on Project Runway, the designers had their models for clients. The models gave the designers an idea of their style and their preferences for a garment. At EtsyMetal, we were a little short of runway models, and so Victoria, our leader for the PR challenges, put different jewelry types, materials, and styles into a hat and blindly drew our pretend clients' preferences. Here is my mission:

Type of Jewelry: Tiara / Hair Ornament

Material: Glass

Style: Industrial / Steampunk

We would be allowed to have one category re-drawn if we wanted. I decided to stay with what I got, although I went back and forth about the style for a couple of days. The industrial/steampunk style is outside my comfort zone, and I'm not sure I accomplished it as my piece does not have any machinery, clock parts, keys or machine looking bits on it. But I've seen many pieces of jewelry with brass findings classified as steampunk, so I went in that direction. I paid a visit to a local store called Gilding the Lily, which has loads of tiny treasures to chose from, and picked up a few little things. I have glass cabochons - one of my absolute favorite materials to work with - and for the sake of steampunk, I focused on black. The floral cabochons I have seemed too soft and feminine to work with this theme and when I noticed the faceted one sort of looked like a bug eye, I got excited as I had picked up the vintage brass flies the day before. They just had to go together. This is the first time I've made a barrette and making the mechanism to snap in and out of hair was a good lesson in construction for me. I see more barrettes in my jewelry making future. Here are some more photos of this fun piece.

Other Project Runway Jewelry challenge participants and their "clients":

Metalriot: Ring - Wood - Organic/Natural

Catherine Chandler: Ring - Fabric/Thread - Upcycled/Green

Kathryn Reichert: Necklace - Leather/Fur(faux) - Tribal/Ethnic

rubygirl: Bracelet - Steel - Organic/Natural

Beth Cyr: Ring - Aluminum - Victorian/Byzantine

Delias Thompson: Ring - Plastic - Upcycle/Green

Experimetal: Bracelet - Wood - Steampunk

Sara Westermark: Bracelet - Bone - Victorian/Byzantine

Check out the EtsyMetal blog for everyone's photos and for next week's challenge: Newspapers

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Surf's Up!

2009-09-11T08:36:00.001-07:00

Project Runway was fun this week! The designers were asked to create a garment suitable for surfer girls, and then also asked to to create an avante garde look to go along with their more casual fashion. This week for the Project Runway Jewelry Challenge, inspiration was easy and I have several pages of sketches that may turn into more jewelry!

The Wave Necklace

I made three pieces to go along with this theme. The first is my more avante garde look. I didn't have time to make it more avante garde, but I imagine about 30 more of the sterling silver wave curls on that chocker to make it so. It's fabricated from 18 gauge sterling silver. The outside of the wave is hammered and distressed to look like the surface of the water. It is oxidized black for depth. The inside of the curl is smooth and shiny, like the glassy surface of a tube wave. The bail mirrors the curl of the piece and it is on a sterling silver choker cable. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Spiral Shell & Waves Necklace

This next piece is a more casual look. My family and I make a habit of heading to the beach at least once a week during the summer months. When I am not relaxing on my chair chatting with friends, I am in the water, where the waves lap the shore searching for shells. This is a shell shard I picked up this summer. The perfect spiral looks like the waves at the beach and so I've set into sterling silver and carved the bezel out to look like a set of waves crashing all around the shell. The back of the pendant is stamped with a flock of seagulls in "V" formation, and my mark. The bail is a spiral, and it hangs from a lovely deep blue silk cord with a handmade hook clasp.

Surf's Up Necklace

Finally, I've made a surfboard for our surfer girl - or her boyfriend! This unisex pendant is fabricated from sterling silver with a center line of copper. The leather cord it hangs from makes it another great casual piece. Look for all three to appear shortly in my shop!

Other Participants in The Project Runway Jewelry Challenge:

Please check out the EtsyMetal Blog for photos and information!

Blog Carnival: First Piece of Metalsmithed Jewelry

2009-09-06T17:52:00.002-07:00

The very first piece of finished metalsmithed jewelry I made may have been this piece. It is certainly from my first class. My mother has another piece I made which may have been slightly earlier, and I was unable to photograph it, so I'll talk about this ring.

What did it mean to you?

This ring would have been one of the first times I worked in sterling silver and I remember being terrified of making a mistake. I had purchased a very small piece of sterling silver sheet and making a mistake meant driving an hour to only local store I knew of that sold jewelry supply.

What materials?

This ring is made with 20 gauge sterling silver sheet, a purchased prong setting, and a blue faceted stone (I don't know what stone). The assignment was to make a band ring.

Were you in class/home?

I took my first metals class as an undergraduate at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA. I was a Theatre Arts major and looking to take an art class as an elective. I saw "Beginning Jewelry Design" in the coarse catalog and didn't hesitate. I didn't even read the description, and when I showed up for class, I remember being slightly surprised that I would be working with metal. My instructor was Sue Dorman who talked about materials as if she were in a dream. I loved it.

What would you do different now to it?

Oh, so many things! If I was making this ring again, it probably wouldn't resemble this ring, but if I had to re-make it to do so, I'd use much thicker metal to fabricate. I would clean up those saw marks. I've never had much patience for sanding, but it doesn't look like I did any at all here. It looks like I had some trouble with the sizing as there are lots of hammer marks on the back, like I needed to stretch the ring. So most of the things I would do have to do with clean up and finishing, but the design isn't very interesting. I think now that when you're learning a new technique, that simple is better - first, learn how to do it, then design around the technique.

What did you learn making it?

I would have learned band ring construction - how to spring a ring and solder. I had learned piercing on practice sheets of copper and brass, but that was new as well. Here's a picture of my first piercing and sweat soldering exercise - not a finished piece of jewelry, but fun to look at.

Here is a list of other wonderful jewelers who are participating in this blog carnival!

Sara Westermark

Danielle Miller-Gilliam

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Maternity

2009-09-04T08:32:00.003-07:00

Week 2 of the Project Runway Jewelry Challenge was tricky! I mean from the standpoint of jewelry, the needs of pregnant women are mostly the same as those who are not. We all want great jewelry! When I designed my piece, I thought I was going to do something totally different. I thought about jewelry that someone who just found out they were pregnant would want to receive as a gift - including birth stones, or jewelry representing family - but I already have a line of Mother's Bracelets, so I didn't want to repeat that. I found myself sketching circles and ovals and and thinking about the very feminine Georgia O'Keffe paintings. This design is really more representative of femininity, fertility and pregnancy than I had originally planned.

The oval back plate is, of coarse the belly, and the U wire that becomes the necklace bale is very fallopian looking. I added four fine silver dots as well, which can be customized to represent the number of people in one's family. The feeling I really was going for is the heaviness of pregnancy and the support needed. That "fallopian" line is lifting and supporting. I am pleased with how it turned out and although it may represent pregnancy, it can be worn without any reference to fertility at all as just plain adornment.

Here are some of the other submissions - they are amazing!

Kathryn, Amanda, Shannon, Victoria, Sara, Nina D, Sophie, Beth, Cynthia, Jamie, & Tiffany!

Here's the EM blog Post summarizing everyone's work - Thank you Victoria!

My Summer Vacation

2009-09-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

Since School is back in session for the kids, I thought I'd write an essay about my Vacation. I did lots of relaxing and loafing, but I also went back to school. I took a class at a local community college. The class was called "stone setting", but it was more lapidary than setting. I've never cut and polished cabochons before, so it was fun to play with the studio's tools and meeting people who are interested in metal arts! Above are some of the unset stones that I finished. I did not attempt to use the slab cutter, but had some slabs to play with, so I cut them into shape and then ground them down. I have no idea what the stones are and no way to identify them, but I think they turned out quite nicely. The flat lap grinder and polisher is a great tool - which is now on my very long wish list! I didn't finish polishing all my stones, either:

I did manage some metalwork as well. Using some of the stones I cut - and a couple I didn't. Here's a cab cut by me made into a cloudy pendant. The stone was white, swirly and reminded me of a cloud. My son's sixth grade science class studied cloud formations in May, so I learned about clouds, too:

These earrings were also inspired by the stones, which wanted to be leaf shaped:

I just love this ring. I didn't cut the turquoise, but I did finally get a chance to play with my tube wringer:

And finally, my first attempt at tension setting. It's rough, I know and the green CZ is in there a little wonky and off kilter, but I'm pleased that I was able to get it in there. The hardest part is cutting the grooves with the hart burr - one side went perfectly and the other was very crooked and the grooves are not of even depth. I need a lot more practice with the flex shaft.

And that's what I did for my summer vacation!

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Red Carpet

2009-08-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

Season 6 of Project Runway has begun and Victoria will be leading participants through the EtsyMetal Blog in a jewelry challenge - although we hope for wider participation than just EM members. The first challenge - Season 6, Episode 1 -for the designers was to create a look suitable for a red carpet. These sterling silver post earrings are made using square wire to make the top bit and chain with some light blue topaz wheels to add some extra sparkle. Why are they suitable for the runway? Well, they dangle two inches in length, and so would be great with an up-do. The chain element gives them a great deal of movement. They are subtle enough to leave the attention on the face while drawing it there.

Check out some other fantastic designs from this challenge and stay tuned for next week!

Shannon, Maggie, Kathryn, Sara, Victoria, Beth!

Favorite Finds

2009-08-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Fall

1. Make A Wish 2 - Mini Photo Block

Dandelions are special, and I love this photograph mounted on a little wooden block. I would love this little photograph on my night stand.

2. Small Acorn Canister

I have to have to have sugar, salt, and coffee on my countertop for frequent use. This clay artist has captured the Fall Season with acorns on this canister perfectly. I may need a matching set!

3. Scary Girl Earrings

These are just fun and fabulous! I've been a fan of Harriete Estel Berman's line of teapots and teacups fabricated from tins. These earrings are so great - perfect for Halloween, and all year!

4. Blue Nebulae Tiny Tea Bag Bowls

The colors on these tiny bowls are wonderful and mesmerizing. I don't use many tea bags, but every jewelry maker needs a set of tiny bowls to keep bits and pieces from rolling off the table.

Charm Swap Four

2009-08-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

EtsyMetal's fourth charm swap is underway, with 20 members each creating 22 charms for the swap - one for each participant, one for the bracelet and one to be sold singly in the shop. It's exciting to participate in the swap, but also nerve-racking to come up with a design. I was limited by funds this time and couldn't do them in silver. I love the warmth of copper and have used that. I'll post some process photos showing the production of the charms.

The copper is cut into rectangles, and the silver tubing into tiny lengths and the tube rivets are placed.

These are the punches I will use to stamp the dandelion design. After stamping, the metal is all curved and needed to be pounded flat with a mallet.

Here they are before I've added the oxidation to blacken the design and after. The jump rings are left unsoldered so they can be added to a charm bracelet. I also added a tiny seed pearl wire-wrapped in fine silver - a tiny escaped seed of the dandelion.

Calder Jewelry

2009-08-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

When my husband was scheduling our summer trip to San Diego, I told him, "Any time after July 25th!" so we could see the exhibit of Alexander Calder's Jewelry at the San Diego Museum of Art. There are 92 pieces on display in two rooms, which represent only a small example of the 1,800 plus pieces he made! There was no picture taking allowed inside the exhibit, but I did sneak a photo outside the exhibit, which shows the portrait of Anjelica Huston wearing The Jealous Husband, which appeared on the cover of New York Times Magazine shortly before Calder's death in 1976. There are also some large photos of Calder hammering wire on an anvil and in his studio on the walls between the jewelry displays. The collection includes many initial brooches that he made for his family and friends. The jewelry is made with continuously coiled wire, sometimes riveted and wrapped, but never soldered or treated with heat. The exhibit really underscores his love for family and friends as most of the pieces shown were gifts to loved ones especially his wife, and the artist is evident in each piece, through visible tool marks from hammer and pliers. I think my family enjoyed the exhibit, maybe not as much as I did (I went back for a second look while they looked at paintings).

I was struck and inspired by the elements I didn't expect, like a wooden box with a brass spiral closure, which Mr. Calder used to transport and ship his jewelry inside of.

He would put a bunch of pieces into these boxes and send them to friends and shops with a book that included pencil drawings of the unnamed pieces for jewelry parties trunk sales. A red check mark indicated a sale and sometimes a name was included. The host of the jewelry party would pack up any unsold pieces and the cash back into the box and send it back to him. Calder also made his own jewelry bust displays, which were very Piccaso-like in facial feature, and suit his earrings perfectly. These are the elements that indicate the business side of his art. He received several offers to duplicate and mass produce his jewelry designs, but rejected them, wanting his pieces to stand on their own as one of a kind objects, like his sculpture. And I couldn't leave without stopping by the gift shop for the Calder Jewelry book, which I have been coveting and have been studying every since. So, if you are in the area, please go see the exhibit, which is on until January 3, 2010. If you can't here's a video I found showing a little of what I saw, while it was in Philadelphia.

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge: Color!

2009-07-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge was taken from Project Runway Canada, season 2 episode 3, where contestants were to use L'oreal's spring color pallet to inspire their garments. The challenge was interpreted as an opportunity to incorporate "Blazing Color" into our piece.

I perforated a piece of sterling silver sheet with many tiny holes, made an interesting bale to turn it into a pendant, and then sewed tiny colorful seed beads into the holes. The colors gradate from orange to pink with shads of red in between. There's something great about the texture that seed beads make when sewn snugly together that I've always loved, and I've wanted to use seed beads on metal like a cross stitch pattern for a while, so here it is!

Other participants:

Victoria WOW!

Here's Lora's post, but pay special attention to her amazing enamel piece!

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge

2009-07-14T16:46:00.001-07:00

This weeks challenge was taken from season 4, episode 8: En Garde! Designers were teamed up to make an avant-garde garment based on their model's hairdo as well as a ready-to wear design based on the avant-garde creation. I was stop and start and almost didn't do this, but I got my rear in gear and managed to do both pieces.

I've been thinking about using papier-mâché made with newsprint and combining it with a metal framework for a while now, so it was time to use the idea. When I was thinking of avant-garde, I think immediately of a head piece of some kind - that's certainly out of the realm of the norm for me - no, I'm not a big tiara wearer. The framework for the tiara is made from blackened copper. The paper-mache is held in place with fine silver head pins which are wrapped around the edge of the paper. It's surprisingly comfortable and light to wear.

The ready to wear version of the tiara is a pair of earrings. Simple ovals of with framework made of the same blackened copper and fine silver. The earrings got some people in their collage of newsprint just for fun. They're quite large, 2 1/4" long by 1" wide, but because most of their make up is paper, they're lightweight and comfortable. Here's some more photos which include the back side of both pieces:

Check out what Victoria and Lora did! I'll post more links as soon as I get them!

A New Toy

2009-07-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

This is a fun new tool! The Industrial Tube-Wringer is meant to squeeze the very last little bit out of a tube of something like toothpaste. But we can use it to pleat thin gauge metal sheet and wire. I tested it with some paper card stock and then dove into my scrap to try it out on some little bits! It's fun and easy, but you must anneal the metal first. Time to design some jewelry with bits of pleated metal!

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

Bicycle Parade!

Hamburgers, Corn on the Cob, Potato Salad, Popsicles on red & white checkered tablecloths.

Icy beer and soda in coolers by the door.

Fireworks and Sparklers!

(wait till dark)

Good friends and fun.

Sleep in on Sunday.

I took these pictures at Disneyland. Enjoy the holiday!

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge

2009-06-29T08:20:00.001-07:00

This week, on Project Runway...

We went Canadian! All the fun without the painful scrutiny of Iman - she's mean! Mean and Great! Our challenge this week was taken from Season 1, Episode 8, where the contestants had to chose their models based on iconic period costume dress as their inspiration for swim wear. The choices were Marie Antoinette, Greek Goddess, Gypsy, Flapper, 80's debutant, British Punk, or Geisha. The hardest part for me was choosing the period. I have a number of sketches that I may work on at another time, but I landed on Greek Goddess.

The earrings I made are inspired by ancient Greece, Mycenae. One of the motifs I saw while looking up the jewelry of this period was the coil. I used copper because that was what was at hand, and the geeks did use copper, but I see these coils in bronze or gold more likely. So, I played a little in photoshop with metal choices. You can tell me what you think:

The coils are hand formed and hammered, and attached with a simple wire wrap. Interestingly, the shape of the earring turned out similar to the shape of the earring I sketched for the Marie Antoinette style - only that would have been made in platinum and diamonds in floral motifs (sorry I was fresh out of both platinum and diamonds). Once they were made, and I looked at them I thought of Alexander Calder's jewelry and now I wonder if he was thinking of Greek goddesses, too.

Other Participants:

Favorite Finds

2009-06-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

1. Tiny Bakelite Picture Frame

There's something wonderful and luminous about vintage bakelite. The colors are vibrant and it's smooth to the touch. This is an ingenious use of vintage buckles. I want a whole collection of these tiny frames.

2. Linen Pinafore

Pinafores are not just for children! I'm often drawn to clothing designed for children and wish there were an adult version. Fantastic linen and beautiful hand embroidery - I'm not sure which is my favorite part of this beautiful piece of clothing.

3. Chim Chim Cheree

My boys gave my husband the Fully Operational Death Star T from this seller for Father's day and he loves it! I love the Mary Popins T for myself. My birthday is coming up: Hint Hint.

4. The Stand

These great wooden stands make me want to turn my fruits and vegetables into a modern sculpture on my kitchen counter. A plain old bowl of fruit seems boring now.

Project Runway Challenge

2009-06-22T08:07:00.001-07:00

I'm very excited to be participating in a challenge based on the program, Project Runway! This week's challenge was taken from season 2 episode 9: Flower Power! The contestants were to create a dress using natural materials from the flower district. We are using their guidelines for jewelry.

I used leaves from my guava tree which are sturdy for the base of the cuff bracelet and blossoms from my neighbor's bougainvillea vine. A little hot glue to keep it all together. The bracelet is large and dramatic. I love the bright color of the flowers. The leaves and the flowers will actually dry nicely - the colors will not be quite so vibrant, but I think it will continue to be wearable.

This was a fun challenge and thank you to Alisa Miller for letting me join in. Please check out her blog for more information on the challenge!

Here's Lora's!

and Victoria's!

and Alisa's!

Mike & Mary too! Wonderful!

Signature Piece - Blog Carnival

2009-06-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

I was asked to write about the inspiration behind my signature piece for the 2nd installment of EtsyMetal's Blog Carnival. I hesitated to write anything because I don't know if I really have a "signature piece" - one that represents my work. I have a number of lines of jewelry and some pieces that stand on their own, all with different inspirations and variations. I finally decided to use the Loopy Link Bracelet above for the purpose of this entry. It's one of the first pieces I started making and the basic design hasn't changed very much over the years. Each time I make a Loopy Link Bracelet, it is unique. Each link is fabricated and stamped with one of the variety of design stamps on both sides. The larger loops are curved and then they're put together to form the bracelet. The inspiration for the bracelet came from my own need for a bracelet that would lie nearly flush against the wrist, and not be something that would interfere with other work I was doing.

The design stamps might be my favorite tools. I love to use them to texture metal, and with the hammered links I use for this bracelet, most of the stampings are partial. Some I use to make a recognizable pattern and some are more all over texture. It's a simple and satisfying process. I make the links without any plan for size and shape and when they are complete, I lay them out to see which shapes go together. I like the combination of irregular shapes and the addition of circles, squares and hearts. I use a variety of gauges and shapes of sterling silver wire. I keep the making of the bracelet interesting because each shape and stamping is different. It's my favorite piece in my own jewelry collection as well and I usually wear it every day. :)

Check out the other members of the EtsyMetal Blog Carnival:

http://cynthiadelgiudice.blogspot.com/
http://andescruz.wordpress.com
http://daniellemillerjewelry.blogspot.com/
http://sarawestermark.blogspot.com/
http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com
http://ashleyakers.blogspot.com
http://tangerinetreehouse.blogspot.com
http://ninagibsondesigns.blogspot.com/
http://discomedusa.typepad.com

Pendant Swap

2009-05-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a wonderful past couple of weeks with these lovelies coming to my mailbox every couple of days. EtsyMetal's first Pendant swap is complete! Libby (erosasjewelry) decided she'd like to do a smaller run than the charm swap where the participants have to make 22 charms. A great idea. I made my little Matryoshka pendant, and we sent pendants to each other individually. I can't ever seem to meet the deadline for these swaps, no matter when it is. I think the pressure helps me to get them done. Just look at all the great pendants I get to wear! The hard part is choosing!

MASSC Demo Day 2009

2009-05-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

The Metal Arts Society of Southern California held their annual demo day on Saturday. This is an event I've been attending for the past few years and it's always a fun and interesting day. I apologize for the awful quality photos I took with my phone, but I'm sharing anyway. It's great to be around people who have like interests, to network a little, learn a little, and be in a college metal studio with all their big and yummy tools. It was held El Camino College, which is equipped with several rooms full of tools, which makes me want to go back to school just to have access to everything. Thanks to all the volunteers who hosted demos and organized the day! I saw 5 demonstrations throughout the day:

Broom Casting - Fold Forming - Kumihimo (Japanese Braiding) - Acid Etching - Electrical Etching (Etch & Kvetch):

Inspiration - Blog Carnival

2009-05-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

The object of art is to give life a shape. [Midsummer Nights Dream]

William Shakespeare
1564-1616, British Poet, Playwright, Actor

Linquistically, the word, inspiration means "breathed upon." For me, that means the merging of the dichotomy of my life, my feelings, and the images in my mind with my chosen medium of metal, which by itself, could be seen as being cold and unyielding. Metal is, however a great carrier of heat, greatly reflective, and malleable.
Form
When working with silver and copper as raw materials, I am concerned with the form it can take. I draw inspiration for form from the things I see; shapes, figures, people, and other works I view as I go through my day or have filed in my memory. The feeling those shapes evoke can bring fluidity and motion to design.
Materials
Beyond the metal, I also use other materials which inspire design and form. What draws me to obtain those materials? Beyond beauty and color, I like things that have a sense of history. That history may be present because the material might be vintage, I may have found an item for which I can imagine a story, or it may be a stone that made itself over years and is now unearthed. Even the mundane, everyday object can take its place in a great story and be recognized for it's beauty.
Words
I am a big reader. The books I read and the stories I hear often leave me with images that can be translated into what I make. Being able to use words and incorporate them into design through stamping, gives me the ability to be inspired by a unique phrase or something I said when I was young that evokes nostalgia or humor. Words give me some measure of freedom in design.

I am a researcher at heart, trying to find a story to tell through form, materials and words. I love to be able to tell the story behind a piece. That story often helps me to reach out to others and make connections.

To read more stories of inspiration, read these blogs, whose authors are posting on the topic for 5/8/09:
http://www.chris-parry.blogspot.com/
http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com
http://cynthiadelgiudice.blogspot.com
http://deliasstudioinc.blogspot.com

Custom Work

2009-04-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

I love custom work and am lucky to get a fair amount of orders from folks who have some great ideas. This badge is a great gift from a bride to her maid of honor. I got to draw the shape of it by blending two styles she liked and the CZ was her idea - it adds an elegant touch. I am also excited to be making some class rings this year. People want to commemorate their graduation, but don't want the typical ring. What fun! So, I'm grateful to my clients who keep me busy and have great ideas!

Spring!

2009-04-06T11:35:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it's been spring for a little while now, but I live in Southern California, and we get nice weather a lot, so I get excited when I go to the market and find they have cut daffodils for sale for a buck a bunch. Now they're fully open on my mantle and they look so pretty and happy. So here's to Spring!

Charm Swap Three! (CS3)

2009-04-01T14:19:00.001-07:00

The new charms have arrived. My little tea cup is now among friends. It's so exciting again to receive the charms - even after seeing their photos on flickr and in the etsymetal shop, it's amazing to see the work of my talented friends from EtsyMetal!

Production Line, part II

2009-03-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

The teacup charms are finished, but I have more production line photos to share. When I left off, I had finished cutting out the basic shape. I then twisted and hammered sterling silver wire for both the handle and the steam swirls.
Those elements were then soldered onto the back of the teacup.
And then they received their patina and were cleaned up with a sanding pad and steel wool. They went for a ride in the tumbler, which makes everything nice and shiny.
And finally they were done. Packaged and shipped out to Sara Westermark, who is in charge of the whole CS3 project for EtsyMetal. We have been busy listing individual charms in the EtsyMetal Shop for sale, and a bracelet with all 20 charms will soon be available! I also have those extra two charms which will soon be making an appearance in my shop.

Fire Men!

2009-02-22T16:00:00.001-08:00

Fire Men!
Originally uploaded by Nina Gibson Designs

Every weekend, the folks from the City of Anaheim Fire Department bring their trucks and hoses and clean and flush them out at the park across the street from my house. Here they are untangling some hose. It looks like they might be putting out a fire, but really they're just watering the plants at the park. We love to watch the ladder truck with the ladder fully extended. Sometimes they flood the street. They are always nice to the kids and families at the park and are happy to talk about their equipment.

Leaves

2009-02-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

I was looking at my "Green Garden Necklace" the other day, which is a one of a kind piece. I really liked the leaf element to the pendant, and decided that part could make some great, but simple earrings, which aren't so one of a kind. So "Leaves" which are inspired by the "Green Garden Necklace", but are not made to necessarily go with it, came to be. I love them and they are perfect for today's New Release Thursday!

Production Line, part I

2009-02-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

EtsyMetal's Charm Swap #3 is underway. I am mid-production on my "Tea Cup Charms. Here you can see the design sketch, template and metal selection. I've decided on a floral patterned brass. The pattern is nice for a tea cup and the brass is fairly inexpensive for a production of 24 charms. The 20 participants of this swap will get 20 different charms to do with what they please, Two charms will be donated to the EtsyMetal shop for use in bracelets for sale, and I will keep two to sell in my own shop as charms or necklaces.

Next, I used rubber cement to glue the traced pattern to the back of the brass. This gives me guidelines for cutting without marking the metal. The paper will simply peel off the finished cut pieces. The shape of the cup is nice as there is very little metal wastage. I cut the straight lines with a break shear and the curvy lines with a jeweler's saw.

The edges of the newly cut tea cup shapes are filed and smoothed and then stamped the back with my name marking. My next steps will be to fabricate the handle and steam swirls from sterling silver wire. I will be posting photos of that process soon. I rarely make this many of anything at one time. Usually I make less than 5 of one item at a time or one of a kind pieces, so the production line I'm doing here is an interesting process, which takes a bit more planning than I'm used to. It's interesting to see what other members are coming up with. Charm Swap charms are a delightful, eclectic mix of treasures from a talented mix of metal artists.

2009-02-14T13:28:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Day

2009-02-02T17:55:00.001-08:00

My Yard
Originally uploaded by Nina Gibson Designs

It was a beautiful day today. This tree is in full bloom in my yard. The next windy day will blow all the petals off the blooms causing snow flurries in my yard. The kids will go out and scream and dance around and shout, "Snow, snow!". Maybe tomorrow, but for today, the honey bees are very busy.

2009-01-30T15:29:00.001-08:00

My etsy shop was featured for this weekend's shopping deals in the storque (blog) and in their shopping email. I am offering free shipping on my sale items which are already 30-40% off their original prices. Come SHOP!

EtsyMetal Charm Swap II

2009-01-15T15:50:00.001-08:00

My doorbell isn't working. So, when I heard a the piece of paper being slipped into the jam, I walked over to see what it was. The mail carrier had been trying to deliver a package and had left me one of those slips that says he'll be back tomorrow. I had an idea of what it was, so I eagerly ripped the door open and chased him half way down the block to get my package. They were here! The long awaited EtsyMetal Charm Swap 2 charms! I greedily tore open the box, and was absolutely delighted with new discoveries. Treasures to be handled and worn. A lovely reminder of my online friends in EtsyMetal Thanks to the participants of CS2! A Charm bracelet will soon be available with all these charms in the EtsyMetal Shop, and check out the CS1 bracelet now available here.

Count Down to Valentine's Day

2009-01-14T15:37:00.000-08:00

One month from now, the romantics of the world will have their way. Do you have something in mind for your sweetie? Start thinking about it now! It'll be here before you know it.

New Work Thursdays

2009-01-08T11:38:00.000-08:00

I have been participating in the Etsymetal New Work Thursdays and this is the first one of the New Year!

This ring is a new addition to my garden series and the first ring I've made for it. The Cabochon is a vintage milk glass made by the Cherry Brand Co. in occupied Japan. The molten glass was pressed into a floral mold by artisans more than 50 years ago and I've set this one into oxidized sterling silver. It is now listed in my etsy shop here!

Urchins & Anemonies

2009-01-07T22:16:00.000-08:00

Urchins & Anemone.

New Year's Day we took a trip to the Crystal Cove Tide Pools. We arrived late in the afternoon, but just in time for the receeding tide to reveal it's goodies.

So, in the spirit of the New Year, I have decided to return to blogging. I hope it will serve to inspire me to move forward in my business. So even though I am a week late in posting about the New Year, I am still determined to not leave this resolution behind. So as we were too late to spend too much time on the beach, we did see some jewels of the ocean. Apropos to the beginning of this blog. So, Hello 2009!