Friday, December 31, 2010

It's Finally Here......

Ring #365/365

Well, with my last name being Ring there just had to be an Andrea Ring ring don't you think? I've known for quite some time that this would be my final ring for the year but it wasn't until Christmas eve when I decided to watch A Series of Unfortunate Events( I really like the visuals in that movie) that I came up with the idea to create an entire scene for that last ring. I hope you've enjoyed the day by day play of this week.





The glow didn't show up on the video but I got a good still shot of it.

Happy New Year and I will see you in 2011 with a Sketch-A-Day!

ring A Day-#364



Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Ring A Day


Ring #363. Only two more rings to complete my little scene and the year!



Rings #360-#363 worn together.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Sunday, December 26, 2010

FINAL WEEK!!!


I've made it to the final week for the Ring A Day challenge,woo hoo!

Most of the rings that I've made have been done very spontaneously without much thought prior to making. I decided to plan out this last weeks rings and do something really fun.

So, here is ring #360 (part 1of 6).

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Ring a Day #352 and #353


Steel wire and metal from a King Leo peppermint tin.

Steel wire and tin from a candy container.Only 12 more to go!!

For some reason I have decided to do another challenge next year and will be doing a Sketch-A-Day for 2011. They will mostly be jewelry sketches Im sure but I have enjoyed the discipline of making myself do something everyday. Bryan even said that he may join in on this one!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Hallmark cards turned clothing



Check out this video about our xmas windows/decor that we built this year!

Also, if you didn't see the post where I show the step by step making of one of the dresses scroll down this page a bit.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

What have I been making lately?



I made this little metal collage for my friend Rayane's wedding gift. I will definitely be experimenting with more wall pieces.

This was a commissioned piece by Max(Rayane"s fiance, now husband). He gave this to her on the wedding day,very sweet. It took me a couple of months to really figure out just how I was going to build a peacock but out of nowhere while I was sitting at the coffeeshop one night the design popped into my head!

And this necklace is a secret santa gift that I just finished this evening for one of my fellow EtsyMetal team members. I can't wait to send it to her.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Ring#336/365



I am into the final month for the Ring A Day project and I find that so aPEELing!!!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Making a Paper Cocktail Dress


I've had so much fun making the props for our Christmas display at work this year. So, I thought I would take some step by step pics of the last dress that I built; in case you have a couple hundred cards lying around and want to make one yourself! I first started with brown craft paper and constructed a pattern.

Cut up the back of the dress where a zipper would normally go and reinforce the edges with some cards then add velcro dots. Now you have a dress that can be taken on and off the form.

Cut the greeting cards in four pieces then fringe. No, I did not sit and cut each individual fringe. Martha Stewart sells a great pair of fringing scissors that cuts four fringe strips at a time. It went pretty quickly to cut up this box of cards.

With a hot glue gun and LOTS of glue start gluing the strips on the paper pattern starting from the bottom edge and working your way up and around the form.



I made a cute little flower pin for her dress using a flower pattern from Paper Source.

Her shoes of course needed to match!


Here is our cocktail girl set up between the escalators on the first floor of Halls(Crown Center) department store. She is holding a string of cards that zig zags it way up three levels of the store.


All the cards used in our displays were reprinted from Christmas cards in the Hallmark archives between the 1920's-1980's. This installation is in honor of Hallmark Cards 100th Anniversary this year.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Finished



The clown is finished. Wore him to work today, just felt fun to have this on!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Amuck in the Northwest


We are very excited to now have our jewelry at the Mary Lou Zeek gallery in Salem,Oregon. This is what we recently sent to Mary Lou. Think we may have to plan a little vacation in the spring to Oregon and see this great gallery in person. Neither Bryan or myself have ever been to that area of the country and we always hear raving revues about how beautiful it is.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Progress on Clownin Around


Got the main link of the necklace finished tonight. The tab setting was Bryan's idea and I think it came out beautiful.


I added the star and rivets detail to the back. Should be able to finish this tomorrow evening. I actually got the studio cleaned up a bit this weekend along with some of the house. Sure feels good to start getting this house back in order. I still have boxes in the dining room from the when we did the Plaza art fair. Sometimes it takes quite awhile to completely unpack from doing shows!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Paper Gowns


Iam so excited to finally be able to show you what I've been working on since July at my day job. We are setting up our xmas decor at Halls Crown Center. Everything this year is made from Hallmark christmas cards in celebration of their 100th anniversary.
This lovely lady is Holly, as viewed when you first enter our store. The trees and platform are covered with cards as well.

A close up of her vest. I made everything removable with velcro closures. If you happen to be the same size as Holly this vest is totally wearable. I can put it on but sadly I can't close it shut!


The lower back of her dress has an accordian fold detail and they are approximately 200 little red flowers on her skirt.


I will share LOTS more photos of our card creations. I made 3 dresses and a pair of men's pajamas. I will also share a step by step tutorial on how I built one of these dresses. Stay tuned!!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

New work,new retailer and work in progress...


A new heart brooch made from copper and a vintage aluminum drinking cup. Love the way this came out,very eye catching I think.

I'm working on another large piece that will be called Clownin Around. The chain will be similar to what I did on the Sugar Skull necklace. The tin with the clown pattern was once a noisemaker, I love using those!!


Amuck jewelry is also excited to announce that our work is now available at The Eclectic Collector in Katonah,NY!!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Ring#307/365


A custom Roger skull ring. The most detailed of the skull rings that I've done so far. Have I mentioned how excited I am to be nearing the end of the Ring A Day project! Oh, I will be so happy on January 1st to not have to make a ring.