Etsy Metal Blog Carnival

Etsy Metal is a talented group of metal smiths from all around the world. Every month we hold a blog carnival where we all blog about the same thing and attach links to each others blogs so everyone who reads one can read and find everyone elses too.This month's Etsy Metal Blog Carnival is

Topic: "Nobody's Perfect!"Care to share a piece of your work that did not turn out quite as beautiful as you had planned?
Perhaps you have an interesting experience that went awry...

I have quite a few items I can post about for this but I have picked to blog about my "happy accidents". Boy do I have plenty of things that went awry and have ended up as scrap but these 2 pieces were lucky! They were almost scrapped as well but things worked out for the best in the end.

Happy accident #1

First is a one of a kind ring that I designed. Yes, I said "ring". After all I am such a ring person! I had a great idea to make a large ring from the green conichalite stone in the photo below. But by the time I had finished building the cage around the stone it measured approx 2 1/2" long and 1" wide. A bit too large for a ring even for me and I LOVE big rings! Needless to say it has become quite a fabulous pendant instead and is for sale in my Etsy Shop!

Happy accident #2
The other piece that didn't turn out quite as planned was this heart pendant below. I was going to make a "puffed" sterling silver heart that was hollow inside. I haven't reticulated sterling silver in a while so I thought I would give it a try again and give the silver some texture and it came out great! I then put the silver in the hydraulic press to give it its heart shape but when I took it out the sterling had a tiny little crack in it. It added some interest and was still usable so I attempted to solder the to halves of the heart together. That's when things went wrong. The little crack had turned into a big hole when the sterling started to melt while soldering it! I hate to waste anything so instead of scrapping the piece and starting over I came up with the idea to add a piece of copper under the sterling to make the piece stronger and so it showed thru the hole to give the piece more depth. The piece actually came out better than I had planned and I ended up keeping this one of a kind necklace for myself! I wear it all the time. Happy accidents are the best!

To read about what some of the other Etsy Metal members have blogged on this topic:

1. Silentgoddess - http://silentgoddess.blogspot.com

2. Gracebourne - http://gracebourne.blogspot.com/

3. The Silver Pearl - http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com/

4. 2Roses - http://jewelrytutorial.blogspot.com

5. Inbar Bareket - http://www.inbarbareket.info/blog

6. Anne Walker - http://creativeinclinations.blogspot.com/

7. Beth Cyr - http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com

8. wildflowerdesigns - http://wildflowerdesigns.blogspot.com

9.  TK Metal Arts - http://tkmetalarts.blogspot.com

10. Evelyn Markasky - http://markasky.blogspot.com/

Etsy Metal Charm Swap 9

This is my third charm swap since being a member of Etsy Metal. Etsy Metal is a juried group of metal artists from all around the world and every 6 months there is a sign up list for the charm swap. Last time around I curated the swap with Victoria Takahashi. I did all the blogging on the Etsy Metal Blog and Victoria received the charms, repackaged them and sent them back out the other swappers once they were all complete. This time around I am doing the receiving and Laney Clark has been doing a great job of blogging the progress of everyone's charms. All the charms are due by March 30 and so far everyone has finished and shipped their charms. I am waiting for one more package to come in before I divide them all up and resend them out again. I can't wait to start opening the boxes! Here are the charms I made for the swap:

They are hollow formed and made from copper, sterling silver and set with a vintage blue glass cabochon.  Eventually the charms will become a charm bracelet and will be for sale in the Etsy Metal  team shop along with a individual charm from each of the swappers. Keep an eye out for all the new charms to be listed soon!. In the meantime check out the team shop to see charms and bracelets from past swaps that are currently for sale!

Etsy Metal in Philly

This past weekend the BMAC show was held in Philadelphia. It's a wholesale show at the convention center that is only open to the trade. The show brought some of the Etsy Metal members to Philly and some of us had a chance to meet up and actually have some real face time instead of just chatting with each other online. Below is a photo of a few of us that met up for dinner on Saturday night. We had a great time and it was so nice to meet everyone! Now I am able to put a few faces with the names I have come to know over the the past year or so being a member of Etsy Metal!

Clare Stoker, Kirsten Denbow, Renee Ford and me (Michele Grady)

Etsy Metal Secret Santa Gift

Every year Etsy Metal (a group of very talented metal artists from all over the world) does a "Secret Santa". Members who want to participate sign up and give their jewelry preferences (ring size, bracelet length, i don't like this or that, etc). Names are "pulled from a hat" and each member is given another member to send a gift to. You do not know where your gift is coming from and you are only given the info on who/where to send your gift to with that person's jewelry preferences.  Your item is supposed to stay within a certain dollar amount so everyone gives/receives items with the same value. This year there were 47 participants. I have been checking the mail daily since the deadline and today my Secret Santa gift finally arrived! It was this mixed metal necklace made by Kirsten Denbow from Englewood, CO and I LOVE it!  I especially love the handmade chain with the little flowers randomly placed on it. Thank you SO much Kirsten!

PS....I would show you what I sent but I haven't heard if that person received it or not yet so you will have to wait!

Etsy Metal Blog Carnival

Etsy Metal is a talented group of metal smiths from all around the world. Every month we hold a blog carnival where we all blog about the same thing and attach links to each others blogs so everyone who reads one can read and find everyone elses too.This month's Etsy Metal Blog Carnival is "Holiday Previews". The Holidays are fast approaching! Give us a preview of what you are working on for this special time of year.


This year I have been working on a lot of mixed metals. My top selling cuff over the summer has now become a full line. I have been making cuff, earrings, necklaces and rings all from sterling silver, copper and brass. Each with different textures and patterns imprinted into the metal. The new line is reasonably priced and perfect for holiday gifts! You can see some more of my mixed metal pieces in my Etsy Shop.

To see what other Etsy Metal members have created for this holiday season....
Erin Austin: http://www.metalmusing.blogspot.com/
Cynthia Del Giudice: http://cynthiadelgiudice.blogspot.com/ 
2Roses: http://www.jewelrytutorial.blogspot.com/
Nodeform: http://nodeform.blogspot.com/
Rebecca Bogan: http://www.AdobeSol.com/blog
Danielle Miller-Gilliam: http://daniellemillerjewelry.blogspot.com/
Panicmama Jewelry: http://panicmama.blogspot.com/
kate jones: http://katejonesdesign.blogspot.com/
Evelyn Markasky http://markasky.blogspot.com/

Etsy Metal Anniversary Sale

Etsy Metal is having a birthday! And to celebrate each of the following shops will be having a sale the week of Oct 16 thru Oct 22, 2011. Check out the shops below, including mine, and use the code "ETSYMETAL" or check the shop announcements for other codes when checking out to claim your discount! I am offering 20% off!


Michele Grady Designs
discomedusa
metalriot
Inbar Bareket
markaplan
bcyrjewelry
BethCyrWeddings
Juju By Sarah
Maria Goti
wildflowerdegsigns
AdobeSol
Silentgoddess
Shirlee Grund
Lichen and Lychee
Under Distress Jewelry
Hartleystudio
ReaganHayhurst
Panicmama Jewelry
alisa miller
LaJoailliere
Cynthia Del Giudice
L. Sue Szabo
Erin Austin
Jennifer Lawler
Karla Wheeler Design
NRjewellerydesign
LivelyHood
Victoria Takahashi
SimplyAdorning
Quercus Silver
Kathryn Cole
Ruby Iacuaniello
Sarah Hood Jewelry

Etsy Metal Charm Swap 8

As you may already know by following my blog, or following me on facebook and/or twitter, I am helping to run the Etsy Metal Charm Swap this time around. Check out all my blog posts on the Etsy Metal Blog about this fun and exciting challenge! There are only 6 weeks left until all the charms are due and since I still have not come up with an idea for my charms that I am happy with I am kind of starting to freak out! The last Charm Swap I participated in only happened for me because someone dropped out the day the charms were due. And since I already had an idea for what I was going to make I was able to pop out my 22 charms in 1 1/2 days of non stop work....I am hoping I will not have to do it again this time around! Check out the charm bracelet made with all the Etsy Metal Charms from  Charm Swap 7. It's for sale in the Etsy Metal Team Shop along with all of the individual charms including my charm from the bracelet.

Project Runway Challenge: Season 9 - week 2

This is the second week in the Etsy Metal Project Runway Challenge. Here are the details:

Episode 2: "My Pet Project"

In this episode, the challenge was to create an outfit using pet store supplies. They were allowed to use muslin as well, but were encouraged not to.

For our Etsy Metal Translation:

To make a piece of jewelry using pet store supplies! We were told to try to limit our time in the pet store to 30 minutes. We may use some metal in the piece but must try to use as little as possible.

I went the pet store on Friday of last week but really couldn't look at anything except for the animals since I had my 7 year old nephew with me. Not having a chance to go back since Friday, I stopped in Walmart today and had a quick look in the pet section. The pickins were slim compared to what they had at the pet store. I ended up with these cat toy replacement feathers which I turned into earrings.

A simple project with not much imagination used but with the short amount of time I had  to work on them I think they turned out pretty good!


To see the what everyone else participating in the challenge has created check out the Etsy Metal Blog.

New challenge...Project Runway Challenge Season 9 - week 1 (RAW 17)

As if the RAW (ring a week) challenge wasn't enough for me to handle.... which by the way every day life has made me fall slightly behind in that challenge.... I have decided to participate in the Etsy Metal Project Runway Challenge as well. How it works is we watch Project Runway, which airs every Thursday night, and then their challenge is translated into a jewelry challenge which is due the following Thursday night. This week the designers had to use the clothes they slept in the night before plus one of their bed sheets to create a new look. Taking something old and making it into something new. They also had access to dye and trimmings. This translated into a jewelry challenge is to make something only from scrap material that is sitting on your bench. Since the designers got a sheet, we get to use some extra sheet metal. We also can add stones from our supplies since they got use dyes and trimmings. I found an old ring band from a ring I took apart last week, a piece of scrap wire and a piece of scrap silver sheet left over from another project.

 

I cut the ring band down and made it thinner. I also added some texture to it. I used the wire to make the "stilts" and the scrap sheet became the top piece of the ring. The only other things I added was another small piece of silver sheet and a stone and this is what I came up with....

I am hoping to be able to combine some of my RAW and Project Runway pieces so I can get caught up on RAW and participate in Project Runway challenge as well.This is one of those pieces...So far so good!

You can see some of the other Etsy Metal members Project Runway Challenge pieces here.