EtsyMetal Blog Carnival- Studio Tours

This month we are taking a visit through several EtsyMetal team members studios. I always find it so interesting to see where other artists work, don't you? Here's a glimpse into mine and Bryan's workspace. We've been doing some re-arranging and everything is not quite in place yet. We recently bought a second workbench just for stonesetting and engraving.

just recently scored this anvil from my father in law. Makes the studio look official I think!

Stone setting and engraving space. One of these days I'll get all the bits and bobs put into these drawers.

enameling and soldering to the right and forming to the left.

 A jumbled mess of tools, buffing and pickling area.

Beads and do-dads fill this old vintage cabinet. Eventually I'll label all the drawers so that I don't have to pull out 6 drawers before finding the one I actually want.

I like to leave parts and scraps on the top of this cutting bench, it helps give me ideas for future pieces.

 

To check out some more studio space click on each of the following links, enjoy!

1. Laura jane Bouton http://laurajanebouton.blogspot.it/
2. 2Roses http://jewelrytutorial.blogspot.com/
3. Fenton Design http://www.fentondesign.ca/whats-happening
4. Beth Cyr http://BethCyr.com/blog

Interfering with my productivity...

I am seriously having trouble wanting to be in my studio lately, the mess has just overwhelmed me. Went down yesterday to start cleaning and just seeing the little bit of tabletop in the last photo in front of the buffing machine is making me feel better already! Figured I'd post this cause if I show you my mess I need to show you the clean-up/after photos right!!!? Thats the plan anyway. :)

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!

Clowning Around

These noses are kinda hard to breathe in!


Some new earrings in the Etsy shop this evening. These were cut from a vintage tin noisemaker then set in sterling.

Chicken earrings!

Well, not literally, but that's what my aunt Julia calls clip-on earrings! This was the first time I'd ever made a pair, and of course I messed up the first ones. Thank goodness I ordered an extra set of earring backs. The second set came out even nicer so it was all worth it.

double hearts

Just wanted to share this custom heart necklace that I was commissioned to make for a 1st wedding anniversary present. The couples initials are stamped on the back, very sweet!

sugar skull

Another large piece in the making. Inspired by Native American Squashblossom necklaces. Here I have all the metalwork done and the sugar skull pieced together.

street sign and noisemaker pieces setting in their places.



Finished! Iam really enjoying making chain now,wish I had more time before the Plaza art fair to get more made up. After this piece though Iam thinking I want to make a concha belt with the look of the links that have the street signs in them. The price of silver will definitely have to come down though before I start that project!

rock on

Now we come to the mad rush to finish up jewelry for the Plaza art fair. This is one of the new ones, mostly sterling with a few strands of vintage chain. Skull and bone are cut from street signs with license plates for the eyes. I also tried my hand at some chainmaking on this piece. There will be lots more of that in future pieces!

Project Runway 8.2

Sterling silver, cafe du monde coffee can and copper. click here to see the other pieces that were made for this challenge.

Baltimore here we come!

We got new postcards and line sheets printed up and our crate just got picked up and is on its way to Baltimore for the BMAC show.

it's so exciting to see a big truck pull up and load your crate( a few neighbors even came out to see). Last year when we did this for the first time we felt really nervous/sad to see that crate being loaded up but this year its just plain exciting!

Happy Fourth!

This Citybird that I made last week really is very patriotic looking even though I didn't have that in mind while making him. I love him paired up with this red Street Heart necklace.

I bought some old tin noisemakers at the antique mall a few weeks ago and used those for the wings in this Citybird grouping. I just had to make a little charm with the "made in USA" portion of the metal.

I'm pretty good with not getting so attached to pieces that I don't want to sell them but this one is making it hard for me to let go(although I will). This is one necklace with four strands of chain,citybird and street heart. I LOVE it!


And a black and white Citybird(a rarer breed!).

These birdies will all be flying over to Columbia,Missouri mid week to hang out at Poppy, they just love going there. If you are interested in any of them the ladies at Poppy would be glad to help you!

Ideas and work in progress

I was commissioned recently to do an eyeball ring. I've been contemplating and sketching how I would make this. Tonight I started messing around with the metal. I'm really liking what I(eye) see so far.

It's so fun when one idea combined with other pieces sitting on my bench spark a new design. How cool would a skull with big bulging eyeballs be?

Other stuff that I'm working on this week.

Rock On

The Rock Star bracelet is finished! We will have this piece along with others in this style at our upcoming show on July 2nd(first fridays in the Crossroads) at Elements of Green. If you haven't been to Elements before it's a fantastic store of sustainable/eco-friendly building and remodeling supplies. So of course Bryan and I just LOVE it! Hope to see you out there.

* find the address to Elements on the right top side of the blog

Craft Challenge results are in!

The Ink craft challenge that we participated in is on stands now. Here is our friend Emily on the cover.

Our photo shoot/story on page 29.

I wanted to give you some shots of the pieces up close. I really like this little "prize" brooch. It was constructed from a necktie,copper and the lid from a plastic container that held pantyhose.

The necklace was made from a toothbrush,copper and some vintage chains.

The ring is also from the same toothbrush. Some of you may recognize this from my Ring a Day project.

The safety glasses and first aid kit were made from a video cassette and its box.

Always where those safety glasses in the studio!!

click here to see the whole story and all the cool pieces that were made by everyone.

Works in progress

I'm working on a bunch of new earrings for our upcoming show at Elements of Green on July2nd, I made this pair today. Bezel set speed limit sign in sterling silver with vintage chain and bead dangles. This pair will actually be posted in my Etsy shop tomorrow evening.

These next few photos are a bracelet that I've been working on for a few days now.



Finally finished the clasp today,hoping to finish the rest tomorrow night after work.