Its been a while....and it's Charm Swap time again!

I know its been a while since my last post....my blog has just gotten away from me! I am trying to get back into it again so I have offered to post weekly for Etsy Metal in hopes I can do multiple posts for multiple blogs....including mine!

I have been a member of Etsy Metal for quite a few years now and I am now co-curating the Etsy Metal Charm Swap again with Laney Clark of Silent Goddess. This is the 14th charm swap (CS14). Laney and I curated Etsy Metal Charm Swap 9 together and had a great time! The charm swaps work like this: we have a sign up sheet of 20 Etsy Metal members. Each member has roughly 6 mos to make 22 charms... 1 charm is for each of the 20 participants, 1 is to sell in the team shop, and 1 is to be hung on a bracelet that is sold in the team shop and consists of one charm from each participant. Once the charms are made they are shipped to one of the curators who divide them up and ship them back to each of the participants. You can see some of my charms from past swaps below. Check out the team shop to see and purchase items from past swaps and to see more of my jewelry you can check out my shop.

mini constricted heart charm CS7

mixed metal charm CS8

sunburst charm CS9

patchwork charm CS10

mixed metal eclipse charm CS11

mixed metal rose charm CS12

Lucky # 13 charm CS13

Etsy Metal Charm Swap 11

This is my charm for the current Etsy Metal Charm Swap.... these charms are made from copper, brass and sterling silver and set with a blue glass cabochon. I use a lot of color, shape and texture in my jewelry so these fit in perfectly!

 

Here are some of my past charms from other swaps....

 

 sterling silver, copper and brass.

 

copper and blue glass

 

sterling silver, copper and brass

 

copper and sterling silver- a mini version of my larger hearts

 

You can find all of these charms for sale along with other pieces in the collections in my Etsy Shop!

 



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!

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 Charm Swap

As you may already know I am helping curate the Etsy Metal Charm Swap this time around. The way it works is there is a sign up list for the Etsy Metal members who want to participate (limited to 20). We each make 22 charms, 20 to swap with the other members on the list, 1 to sell in the team shop, and 1 will go on a charm bracelet along with 19 other charms and the bracelet is then listed in the team shop and the proceeds go to a non profit organization of the curator's choice. Not only is it a great way to raise money, but it also is very cool to receive charms from other metal artists from around the world. This time around charms are shipping from Israel, Spain, New Zealand and well as all over the USA!

The charms are due in by Sept 30. I finished my charms on Friday and have shipped them out as of yesterday and can't wait to get all the rest back from everyone else! You can see my charms below....

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.

Photo Etching

I have decided that for my Etsy Metal Charm Swap 8 charms I am going to try some photo etching which I haven't done in quite a few years. (You can see a "how to" article on photo etching here with more info on the process.) I have wanted to make a piece of jewelry that was in the form of a sugar skull for quite a while. But due to all of the detail on these skulls I have put it off because it would be a very time consuming to cut each piece from metal and solder all the pieces together. Since I haven't photo etched in years and have wanted to try it again I thought the sugar skull would be the perfect design. And not to mention the charms will be shipped just in time for Dia de los Muertos (Mexican Holiday of Day of the Dead).

Here's a bit of what I did yesterday....First I sketched out my design.

I then scanned it into the computer so I could shrink it down to the correct size and print it on the special transfer paper I needed. I then transfered the image from the transfer paper onto the copper. Here you can see the original sketch, the image on the blue transfer paper and the image on the copper.
 

I then put the copper into the etching solution. It is attached to a piece of tape so I can pull it out easy and check the progress.



After about 30 minutes the image was etched into the copper. But because I have not etched in a long time I forgot that the image transfers backwards onto the metal so the parts I had drawn in solid black on my sketch were not hollowed out like I wanted them to be. They were actually raised. You can see here in the prototype the eyes, nose and mouth are solid and not hollow.
 

So after all that I had to go back to step one and start all over again with a modified sketch which I edited on my computer. This is the second version.

After retracing all of my steps with my new version of my sketch I ended up with this (the one on the left), which is much better than the first one (the one on the right). You can see in this photo that the detail of the nose, mouth and eyes on the one on the left look much better than the one one the right. Especially the teeth.

Although I am not sure what I am going to do with it next, I am pretty happy with the results of this process so far.

Etsy Metal Charm Swap 7 Charms

As you may know, at the last minute I was invited to join the Etsy Metal Charm Swap 7 .  I made a bunch charms that were the mini version of my "Constricted Heart" Necklace. I sent my charms in and received back a box full of new charms, one from each of the participants in the swap. I was so excited to open my package! This awesome photo is of all the charms from all the participants from all over the world. It was taken by Victoria Takahshi who takes way better photos of jewelry than I do!

left to right, top row

1. Victoria Takahashi of Experimetal

2. Michele Grady of MicheleGradyDesigns

3. Shae Freeman of CitizenObjects

4. Inbar Bareket of InbarBareket

5. Ann Jenkins of Tuizui

middle row

6. Lynette Andreasen of Assymetry

7. Kira Ferrer of KiraFerrer

8. Reagan Hayhurst of ReganHayhurst

9. Elizabeth Scott of ESdesigns

10. Meg Auth of SimplyMega

11. L. Sue Szabo of LSueSzabo

12.Andrea Ring of AmuckDesign

bottom row

13. Su Trindle of QuercusSilver

14. Maggie Joynt of MaggieJs

15. Nina Gibson of NinaGibsonDesigns

16. Ruby Iacuaniello of Iacua

17. Stacey Hansen of WildFlowerDesigns

18. Shannon Conrad of RubyGirl

19. Kathryn Cole of KathrynCole

Multitasking....

Today I am multitasking and actually working on two blog posts...one for is for this blog (you are reading it now) and one for the Etsy Metal blog, which I will post tomorrow. As you may know I have become the curator for the next Etsy Metal charm swap (CS8). Well, part of my job as curator is to keep the world updated on the progress of the participants. I post every Thursday on the Etsy Metal blog and there is a lot going on so don't forget to check out tomorrow's post! In the meantime if you have not read any of my prior CS8 posts you can catch up here and here :) And while you are there, don't forget to check out all the other great posts by other members as well! There is a lot of great info, tutorials and all kinds of jewelry related posts being blogged about daily by members from all around the world!

EtsyMetal Charm Swap 7

Well, not only did I find out last Thursday that I was the next curator/host for the EtsyMetal Charm Swap 8 (CS8) but I also found out that that they were short a "charm swapper" for Charm Swap 7 (CS7) due to unforeseen circumstances. Although Thursday was technically the last day for CS7, I was the next one on the alternates list, so I was told I could still participate if I wanted to. And of course I wanted to!  Even if  that meant I only had a few days to make 22 charms and get them shipped out! So needless to say the last few days were spent working on charms with little time for much else. My charms were modeled after one of my signature pieces, my "Constricted Heart Necklace", only smaller. They are formed in the hydraulic press to give them a "puffed" look. I then solder them together, wrap them with wire, which is also soldered on, then they are oxidized to bring out the detail. They are the cutest little things and maybe sooner or later they might be added into my jewelry line. But not until my fingers heal from all the work they have done over the past few days!

I'm the new EtsyMetal Charm Swap Curator!

Well it's official! Myself, along with Victoria Takahashi, are the next curators of the upcoming EtsyMetal Charm Swap! For those of you who do not know what I am talking about here's a little more info....EtsyMetal is a group of over 100 jewelry artists from all over the world that work in metal. There is a sign up list for members who would like to participate. The number of participants is limited to 20 but each person has to make 22 charms. 20 of those charms are swapped among the other artists who have signed up for the charm swap (so each person on the list gets one from every other person on the list), with 2 left over. At the end of the swap not only does each participating artist have 20 new charms from people all over the world but a completed charm bracelet and extra individual charms will be available for sale in the EtsyMetal Team shop, hence the reason for extra 2 charms. Also, half of the proceeds collected upon the sale of the bracelet will go towards our EtsyMetal Youth Outreach Program. We will donate 50% to the curator’s choice of a Youth Art Organization (TBA). You can see photos and read more about past charm swaps here. This is the 8th charm swap for the group but my 1st since I have only become a member of this group in Jan 2011. I think this is the coolest idea and I am very excited to be curating this event as well as participating in it. And I can not wait to put my own charm bracelet together at the end of the swap!

Bracelet from Charm Swap 6 you can purchase it in the EtsyMetal Team Shop