Etsy Metal Charm Swap 10

This is my fourth 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. The way it works is the swap is limited to 20 members (there are approx 100-150 members of the team). We each make 22 charms. 20 to swap with the other 20 swappers, 1 to sell in the team shop as a individual charm, and the other is put on a bracelet  for a total of 20 charms each made by a different member to sell in the team shop. The money from the sale of the bracelet is donated to a children's art organization chosen by the member who is running the swap at the time. (Each swap is run by a different member, I ran charm swap 8 and when that bracelet sells the money will go to Fleicher's Art Memorial in Philadelphia). Below is the progress of my charms for the current charm swap. They aren't due until the end of this month so although mine have shipped out it will be a while before I get all my new charms all back and I can't wait to see them!

My charms this time around were inspired by my patchwork necklace. They started with a piece of 1x1" copper.

 

Kind of like a puzzle,  I had to cut and fit together 9 little pieces of copper, brass and sterling onto each piece of copper. The little pieces were roll printed with various textures and patterns and each charm had 9 different patterns.

 

Once they were all cut and laid out they are ready to solder.

 

 Here are a few after soldering them all together.

 Then comes some filing, drilling, oxidizing, polishing....and then....the finished charm!

 

 Here is a group shot of all 22 charms. Each one is different from the next.

To see the progress of other members who are involved in this swap you can check out the Etsy Metal blog. Eventually the charms  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!

Haddonfield Crafts & Fine Art Festival

Mark your calendars....The Haddonfield Crafts & Fine Arts Festival is around the corner! It will be held on July 9 & 10 on Kings Highway in Haddonfield, NJ. The show opens on Saturday at 11am and will go until 7pm. Sunday's hours are 12 noon to 5 pm. You can find my booth on the smaller side of the street (for those of you who have been in the past you know what I mean) down by the PATCO speed line. This is a really great show and with all the talented artists who participate there is definitely something for everyone! Hope to see you there!

"Once again Kings Highway, the businesses and residents in Haddonfield are set to host their nationally ranked Arts Festival. During the borough's premier event, Kings Highway and Tanner Street will be closed to vehicular traffic. What is a usually a busy main artery through the center of town is transformed into a festive corridor, alive with a panorama of artist's tents and various crafts on exhibit to Haddonfield residents and visitors. Area restaurants will set up outdoor cafés and musicians will entertain the crowds as they view the unique work from artisans from across the country.


This year's show will feature many fine artists and craft persons who come to Haddonfield to exhibit and sell their work. Artisans will exhibit a wide range of arts and crafts including ceramics, glass, jewelry, wood, fiber, metal, paper, drawings, paintings, photography and wearable art. This year's show brings a wonderful mix of new and old artist, with exhibitors who have come as far as Israel to participate once again."

RAW #5 (Ring a Week)

This week for my RAW challenge ring I wanted to make a container ring (also called a poison ring). I knew I wanted to make a ring that opened but due to my busy schedule and lack of ideas for what the ring should look like, I decided that I would keep it simple this week. I ended up messing around in the studio and came up with these "saucer rings" instead. Each one has been textured via the rolling mill and then shaped with a slight curve or dome giving them their saucer shape. Each ring is finished by setting them with 3 semi precious stones. I am pretty happy with the design and probably will tweak them a bit and then add them to my production line.

the rings are set with lapis, peridot and amythyst stones

lois' birthday gift

I went to my cousin Lois' 40th birthday party last night. My cousin lives in CA but her parents (my aunt & uncle) live in PA and since she was coming for a visit they decided to throw a party for her. My sister Jennifer, a graphic designer, made the invitations. They had sunflowers on them since is Lois' favorite flower. I had no idea what to get for her birthday. I kept coming up with ideas but all of them were shot down by other family members. Everyone told me to give her cash because it was easiest to travel back home with. But to me cash is the easy way out. I wanted to give her something that would remind her of her 40th birthday. So the night before the party I came up with idea. A sunflower necklace! So i sat down and started sketching....this photo of the finished product. It is also stamped on the back "happy 40th birthday" and she loved it!

Etsy store

I have added a new section to my Etsy shop since reopening it 2 weeks ago. I am offering some of my enormous inventory of jewelry making supplies as well as my beautiful handcrafted jewelry. Here is a sample of a few of the items that are and will be for sale.

lot of 10 rubber cord necklaces

butterscotch amber cabs


ring sizer

freeform hand cut jasper cab

Artist retreat in Mexico

Would you not just love to go away somewhere warm and tropical to learn how to make jewelry? I wish I had a place like this where I could teach my classes!

It's called Hacienda Mosaico and its in Mexico. They offer many different jewelry workshops and also give you a place to stay! It's an artist retreat and I love this idea!

Turquoise is the color of the year...

I just read that according Pantone, the worlds color authority for the past 45 years, the color turquoise is the color of 2010. Good thing to know after making all my new turquoise jewelry! Little did I know but I picked the right stone color for some of my new work!

Wearable Art & Craft Show 4/17/10

Packing up the car for the Wearable Art & Craft Show that takes place tomorrow. Not only is show 5 mins away from my house it also supports a great cause. Come check it out!

My favorite pair of new earrings...

Just wanted to share one of my most recent creations with you that once again was created from some pieces headed for the scrap pile and turned out to be one of my new favorite designs!

Fabulous Finds....

I just found my jewelry listed as a fabulous find! (Although I am a day late) Thanks Ollie McKay's Chic Boutique! ...check it out here: Ollie McKay's Chic Boutique Blog: Fabulous Finds on Tuesday!

Happy accidents

Not too long ago I sat down at my bench and spent time working on some pieces for my Heart Collection. When using the hydraulic press to "puff" the sterling sheet I "pressed" too hard and put a nice big tear the silver. "OK that sucks. This better not be one of those days where everything I make turns to crap" I thought to myself because I have had days like that in the past. So I looked at the piece again and thought "Maybe I can still use this. What's the worst that can happen? It's already headed for the scrap pile so I can't really do any more damage." So I continued on. I cut, filed, "puffed" some copper pieces for the back sides of the pendants, etc, etc. Then it came time to solder all the pieces together. The first few went together perfectly. But the fourth one had solder run the wrong way. "Not that bad I can fix that" I thought to myself. Now it was time to solder the torn heart. I set it all up, turned on the torch and began to heat the piece. Before I knew it the solder flowed and so did the silver. I accidentally melted some of the silver around where the tear was. "Just great" I said out loud. Threw the piece in the water to cool it off before I put it in the scrap bucket and went back to the other pieces. When I finished with the "perfect hearts" I went back to the one I was now going to be scrap. I pulled out of the water and took another look at it. This might not be as bad as it looks. I cleaned it and finished it like I did the other pieces and in the end it became one of my favorite pieces that I ended up keeping it for myself and wear all the time! Gotta love happy accidents!

New Beads

I just got some great new beads right before Christmas. They came from Auntie's Beads. Now I just have to figure out what to make with them! my studio is torn apart right now due to the construction and moving it from one room to another so as soon as i get back to work I'll post some photos of my new studio and new work!

New work...Petals & Twigs

Since I'm finally trying to update my website I figured I should update my blog as well.....Besides enameling, I also made a bunch of new pieces with all my yummy beads and stones I bought back in March. Here's a few of the many pieces I made. Check out my website in the next few days to see more!

Smoky Topaz Twig Necklace

Amethyst Petal & Twig Necklace

Carnelian Petal Earrings

Enamel jewelry sampling....

As I stated in an earlier post I've been working with enamels. Well I now have some brand new enameled jewelry and I thought I'd share a sampling of it with you....I'm really LOVING the color I can add to my work and the enamel is a lot easier to work with than I had thought!

Turquoise enameled double chain necklace

Enameled triple circle necklace

Enameled "Leaves" necklace

I don"t have a ton of these items to sell as of yet but I am sure little by little they will be working their way into my booth over the next few months!

I'm tired....

What a grueling week it's been! I haven't posted in a while because I've been getting ready for a show. I just got back from the BMAC show (Buyers Market of American Craft) at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Phila., PA. It's a wholesale show that happens twice a year where buyers from all over the US and Canada come to shop for their galleries, gift shops, boutiques, etc. The show runs my life for 5 days straight every February and August. This time around it went from Wednesday (which is set up day) thru Monday. It may look beautiful to all those who come through the show, but trust me, It's a LOT of work dragging all my stuff around, setting up shop, being there all day (and into the night) only to then breaking it all down and take it home again....The one thing I do love about the show (besides the making money part) is that I get so inspired by talking with other artists and seeing what they are doing. We trade ideas, info, contacts, etc. It's a great place to network with others who do what I do for a living.

I did introduce my new "twig" collection at the show. It's so new that I haven't even posted it on my website yet! I started designing and creating this line exactly 1 week before the BMAC show so I didn't have time to make everything I came up with. The samples I did have time to create and bring to the show seemed to go over pretty well and I took orders for those pieces so you will see them popping up in a few stores soon. Below is one of the pieces in this line.

There will definitely be more items to come in the "twig" and in the "rose" collections this year so keep your eyes peeled!