2018 ~ 52 ring challenge - week 10 &11

I was on vacation the first week of March, so I had to play catch up this week. Then I forgot to post, so here are weeks 10 and 11 in one post. :)

I'm teaching a class this saturday on alternative stone setting techniques, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to make some pieces and take photos for my hand outs- here are the two techniques I did- Faceted bezel set stones and 'Fenced' stones (i know there has to be a name for that kind of setting, but it reminds me of those old little wire fences people would have around their flowerbeds back in the day... )

Lab grown alexandrite set in sterling custom stepped bezel

Dichroic glass set in sterling with stamped band

2018 ~ 52 ring challenge - week 9

This week's ring is also a simple one. I started out with 5 White Water turquoise mini nuggets stacking rings (as the plan) and wound up with only one after a variety of mishaps, including sticking a bur into my thumb.
But that's ok, i'll remake the tiny bezels and get the stack made this week.

i also finally made the scrying pendant i've had bounching around in my head for months and did my first stone-on-stone setting, so i would say it was a productive week. Even though some of it was frustrating, i learn from my mistakes.

I'm excited to be working on the instructions for my Bezel explorations class next month and for another step-by-step article for Metal Clay Today. :)

2018 ~ 52 rings challenge - Week 8

Last week was filled with last minute work on my Halstead Maker's Challenge piece- it turned out pretty ok (although I crashed it on Saturday during class- i think the succulents survived)

This week's ring is nice and simple -it's a little infinity midi ring. not all pieces have to be 'works of art' and day to day rings are important to make too. so here it is :)

  

2018 ~ 52 rings challenge - Week 7

This week's ring is kind of a dud only because there was some silver solder on my brick that I didn't see and it got on my pretty copper bezel wire and messed up the pattern. I guess that will teach me that I should always tap off my brick between silver and copper projects! The back of the stone is open though- it has a little shelf inside the bezel wire from square copper wire that the rounded back of the fossil sits on. I used my whetstone to flatten it out some so it wouldn't jab the finger, but the open back allows the ring to be lighter on the hand and I think it's a good technique to use when you have a stone that is irregular or interesting on the obverse. 

This is my new burl wood statement necklace- I cut the slice of wood from a chunk of burl, sanded it to make a nice smooth surface, shaped the edges and then oiled it to make the figuring pop. I created the frame in a minimalistic way to show off both sides of the wood- they're equally enchanting. The chain is handmade, but not by me. I have a front clasping toggle to make it very comfortable to wear. I'm not sure i'm going to be able to part with this one, but i am DEFINITELY going to be making more!

2018 ~ 52 rings challenge - Week 6

Red River Turquoise in sterling silver

This week's ring was truly a challenge! for the life of me, I couldn't saw a straight line, they all slanted to the right- which I guess is ok since they were all slanting at the same angle, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

This lovely Red River turquoise has soft blue-greens (matches my studio) and a kind of hazy, dreamy pattern. I like the way the 24 gauge wall with slight texturing on the edge contrasts with the smoothness of the cab too. I think I'll leave this one bright silver, although it would look nice with a dark patina as well.

I'll be teaching a less frustrating version of this in my class in March- Bezel Explorations.

2018 ~ 52 ring challenge - week 5

I meant to post yesterday, but I had a bad day. Those happen and it's important for me to let myself have them and then deal with it than to try to put it off and turn one bad day into several.

I had a great class on Saturday though- people made some really awesome stuff. My class sample somehow turned into a pendant once I got back to the studio after class, but i think it's pretty swell anyways. :) The turquoise is Treasure Mountain, the CZ is a green garnet and i think the succulent is a cast Hen-and-Chick (?)

But since this is the 52 ring challenge (and I'm up to 9 in 5 weeks) let me present this week's ring. 

It features a petrified limb from the Mississippi Petrified Forest (i didn't know this was a thing until i bought this) that i purchased in New Orleans. The edge is raw and shows where the bark was. I've set it in a hybrid bezel/prong setting (which i will be teaching in my March class at BMB designs). the band has a subtle wood grain texture. I'm super thrilled with it. :) 

2018 ~ 52 ring challenge - week 4

Snow days last week forced a more relaxed schedule. I did not make it into the studio as much as I would have liked as my street, specifically, the span of my street right in front of my house, was a sheet of ice for many days. I did get this lovely ring made though. It's also a sample for my class coming up this Saturday the 27th, at the Memphis Botanic Gardens.

This lovely has an agatized fossil coral teardrop, three white CZs, and a fancy pattern wire band.

And here's a lovely photo of the snow and ice that kept me housebound for 5 days in a row! *stir crazy*

2018 ~ 52 ring challenge - week 3

Ok- this has been a frustrating week. I was supposed to go out of town for the 3-day weekend and spend some time communing with nature. I need it. I need to get down and take up close photos of turkey tails growing on fallen logs, bark textures from bare trees, black reaching branches silhouetted against a crisp blue winter sky. Unfortunately, mother nature had something else in mind and instead of heading out Friday night after work (Saturday morning if I was too tired), I worked from home Friday as I was iced in. I was outside trying to scrape the ice off my car when I watched a much larger, heavier vehicle go sliding through the intersection down from my house. After over 30 minutes of working on my car, and I still couldn't see through the windshield, I gave up. In time to watch another car go sliding past my house and fishtail as they tried to pull into the driveway across from me. I decided NAH..

So.. I was stuck at home. I made it out on Monday and wandered the gardens to get a little bit of nature (and I did at least get a few photos of cool textures and the Big Bugs were still out) And thankfully I worked some studio time in.

Unfortunately, snow moved in again and we got some serious little drifts here at the house. The street was completely covered and I again, enjoyed/cringed-at the sound of cars sliding down my street as I worked from home again today.

Week 3's rings:
1st set were technically done at the end of week 2 as I forgot I was doing this from Monday to Sunday- two men's bands done in 16 gauge sterling silver. they're high polished and quite shiny.

And the other 2-

Ring 1- Bronze cast piece (leaf impression) on hand stamped sterling rectangle band

Ring 2- Unicorn creations Dichroic glass satin finished bead, torch pinned in a sterling silver stamped 16 gauge U band. The bead (and two sterling side beads) spin around in the setting and the bead is reversible with lovely flashes of purple on both sides. The wire that holds it in the U frame was balled up with the bead in place with my Little Smith torch- I think this is the first time I've successfully pinned something with wire this thick.

And because I'm not *just* making rings in 2018, here are some other pieces I've made this year:

Small sterling nebula pendant. It's reversible. I'm trying to decide if I like it shiny or if it needs some patina.

Sterling and Bronze pendant- currently unnamed (but leaning towards Shattered).

The back is as fun as the front. The bronze bits are held in place by oversize textured prongs.

2018 ~ 52 rings challenge - week 2

(Note- also back dated due to issues blogging from my phone and forgetting to do it when i was at a computer. lol)

Here's my ring for week 2 of my challenge:

Sterling silver with rainbow dichroic cabochon from Galaxy Glass (on etsy). I made it so it could be easily worn with stackers (as seen on my finger)

2018 ~ 52 rings challenge - week 1

(note- I backdated these as I had the rings made on time but forgot to post- going forward, they'll be accurately dated)

I've decided to do another annual challenge. Things have settled down on the travel front for work and I honestly shouldn't be traveling more than 3-4 times, at most, in 2018. I'm sad and happy about it. Sad, because I enjoyed those face paced, 24-hour turn around visits to random cities- exploring them in the middle of the night and sleeping on the plane coming home. It was like speed dating for cities. Pack as much interesting and local stuff into 17-36 hours as possible.

It's good that I'm not traveling like that because it allows me more time to plan my personal trips. I'm doing a class with Sarah Perkins in June and one with Victoria Lansford in July. I'm trying to decide what to do for my birthday this year, as the last few have pretty much been suxxors for various reasons- last year I was flying back from LA on my birthday and the year before, we were in Arizona with the kids and my aunt. And while my birthday itself was good, it felt really off too for some reason. the year before that was awkward for reasons I won't go into. And I get to go to a beach this year and actually do more than stare at it for 20 minutes and take some photos and scoop up a few shells. :)

So- since I think I'll be around, I'm going to try this 52 ring challenge- and if I make more than one ring in a week, I'm not going to save it for another week, unless it's because I'll be at a trade show or out of town.

Without further ado- here's what I made on New Year's Day.
1- larimar heart with fancy gallery wire and a wide, textured band
2- Mokume gane oval cab (made by me) set in plain silver bezel and on a thinner, pattern band
3- Mokume gane round cab (made by me) set in plain silver with a plain half round band
4- Tabasco geode from Mexico set in a plain silver bezel with a thin rectangle band