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Friday, April 27, 2012

Messy Workshop Blog Hop

My messy work space is a ten by twelve room plus some other spaces. This is exactly how it looks every day. And from the chaos on the bench and the controlled chaos in the boxes on the rack I pull together the pieces that I sell in my shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/oscarcrow 

Every thing I need is at hand sometimes organized like these boxes. Ready to pull out and add to the pile...my method of working is to try combinations of stones, mounts, filigrees and other odd parts to create original art jewelry pieces. I often buy in multiples so if I like the way some item works I can grab another stamping or ring shank and create a similar piece.

Above and below are more boxes of brass,copper,silver and gold components, yards of wire,and stones in every color of the rainbow.

In this same little room is the stock for my shop. All these drawers hold ceramics ,doll parts and handmade jewelry . I have almost 750 items listed at Oscarcrow.

When I need to work on metal, solder or cut and drill this little 6x8 room is where I go.

In the foreground is a metal hammering station. In the background is my homemade light box where I photograph the incoming porcelain dolls and the finished jewelry.

This is my ceramics casting area I make molds and create and recreate the vintage pieces into art dolls. In the furnace room around the wall is a kiln. That is where I fire both ceramic and PMC.

This is a tray of the rings I have produced this year in my messy little shop. I hope you enjoyed visiting my messy workshop. Here is a list of the participants please go visit them.

Messy Workshop Blog Hop Links

Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques

http://www.bsueboutiques.typepad.com/

Robin Delargy, LooLoo's Box

http://looloosbox.blogspot.com/

Kim at CianciBlue

http://cianciblue.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Jazwick-Smith, Hudathots

http://hudathoughts-jennifer.blogspot.com/

Mary Shannon Hicks

http://www.uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com/

Tracy Swartz

http://tracyswartz.com/category/blog

Jacqueline Marchant

http://jaacquelinesjewels.blogspot.com/

Lynnea Perry Bennett

http://designsbylynnea.blogspot.com/

Terry Matusyk

http://pinkchapeau.wordpress.com/

Laurel Steven

http://laurelsteven.blogspot.com/

Dr. Brassy Steamington

http://drbrassysteampunk.blogspot.com/

Pamela Takeshige

http://www.crittersandthings.blogspot.com/

Kris Lanae Binsfeld

http://www.cherishdesigns.wordpress.com/

Outre Art

http://theartistspaintbox.wordpress.com/

Linzi Alford

http://www.magpieintheskyspoilheaptales.blogspot.com/

Deb Davis

http://naturaltreasuresbydeb.blogspot.com/

Tamara Jones

http://irrysistablejewels.wordpress.com/

Harry Wood

http://www.oscarcrow.blogspot.com/

Gerry Nickerson

http://gersgems1.blogspot.com/

Elizabeth Owens-Dwy

http://www.thepolymergeek.blogspot.com/

Georgene Lockwood

http://sylvanavintagedesigns.wordpress.com/

Charisa Sloper

http://www.blog.obsidiansoda.com/

Jennifer Justman

http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/

Beanzie

http://the-vintage-heart.blogspot.com/

Mary Deis

http://mdeis.blogspot.com/

Cheri Reed

http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/

Sondra Kolner

http://scrappybydesign.weebly.com/index.html

Sonya Ingersoll-Stille

http://www.dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com/

Lori Anderson

http://www.prettythingsblog.com/

Sandra McGriff

http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.ca/

Shelly Joyce

http://www.aujourlejour-shelly.blogspot.com/

Joan Williams

http://www.lilrubyjewelry.wordpress.com/

Kashmira Patel

http://sadafulee.blogspot.com/

Deb Beechy

http://beetique56.blogspot.com/

Ginger Bishop

http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com/

Kelli Jacobson

http://creativemoonjewelryandthings.com/

Natalie McKenna

http://www.grubbi.co.uk/

Andrew Thornton

http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/

Mary Govaars

http://mlhjewelrydesigns.com/

Kate Mulligan

http://mulliganstewjewelry.blogspot.com/

Lisa Lodge

http://pineridgetreasures.blogspot.com/

Tami Luchini

http://ssprocketsmetal.blogspot.com/

Monique Lula

http://www.moniquelula.com/blog/

Lee Koopman

http://stregajewellry.wordpress.com/

Jayne Capps

http://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com/

Susan Lloyd

http://designsbysusan-dbs.blogspot.com/

Cynthia Wainscott

http://www.exoticperujewelry.blogspot.com/

Stephanie Amanti

http://www.stephaniesjewelrybox.blogspot.com/

Alicia Marinache

http://www.allprettythings.ca/

Sam Hamp

http://hampgirl59.blogspot.com/

Lennis Carrier

http://www.windbent.net/

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Ring made from scraps

We all have these small leftover pieces from past projects sitting on the bench or in a box. Its easy to turn them into a ring with just a little heat and beat. I chose a strip that is able to go around a finger twice and a square about 1 inch in diameter. If you don't have a ring size chart you can just wrap a piece of paper around your finger or a mandrel and mark where it overlaps  then double or triple the length.

Round the ends of the strip and smooth the edge with a file or emery cloth. Next mark a circle on the square if you want a round flower like shape.or leave it square if you want a more random form..

Sharp dividers mark the line and leave a center point to drill later.

I used a cross peen hammer to texture the metals pieces.

Here you can see how the rough hammer makes a petal like texture somewhat like a poppy.

The strip is also beaten to texture it.


Then using a torch anneal the strip. Note the color of the glowing metal..you want the color to be a dull orange red as you pass the torch back and forth along the strip. Let the strip coll for a few seconds the using tongs or fire tweezers transfer it to a container of cool water to quench it.

Do the same procedure with the disk. Next I put the disk in a dapping block to curve it.

When the strip is cool hold it against the mandrel with your thumb and wrap it around then pound it with a hammer or mallet to set the curve.

If it is a little wonky like this is , just adjust it with your fingers until it has a pleasing shape.

I next punched a hole in the tip of the strip through all layers and riveted it.

With the cup dapped its time to punch a hole in the bottom and then a matching one in the shank and rivet it together.

Before riveting I decided to polish the metal a bit and flattened the bowl shape. At this point it is time to decide on a treatment for the center. You could add patina or paint or fill with resin and add elements.

I had some cutoff wire pieces made of sterling wire and put the onto the soldering pad and heated them to the melting point at which time they became little spheres. Putting them and a little soft solder in the cup I heated the whole ring to melt the solder.

After pickling the ring it is time to finish. I used rotary tools in my flex shaft to polish the band and bowl.

This is the result. A simple ring made from scrap that you can copy and make in your own choice of metal and decoration. I will add patina with Swellegant products to further enhance the ring.