November Challenge-TEXTILES

Cynthia Kurth/ Schmuckburg

To give the silver a structure, I pressed it with various old lace doilies through the roller.
With some handmade stamps and the spinner rings, which also look like cords, there are great patterns.

 

Instagram

Etsy shop

 

 

 

 

 

Elise Worman/EMWmetalworks

 The first, a fossil coral piece that reminds me of old Japanese silk kimono textiles. The second is a forged pendant with a dinosaur bone, here the ruffle in the silver reminds me of tulle. This was a great challenge!

 

Instagram

Etsy shop

 

 

 

Su Trindle/Quercus Silver

The Hem Stitch Brooch:  It is the latest in a series of pieces which celebrate the fun I had learning to sew when I was young. It gave me a lifelong love of making.
Materials: Sterling Silver and resin.

 

Instagram

Etsy shop

 

 

 

Debbie Ritchie/ Fenton design

Copper and Sterling Silver mounted on a cedar board which has been burned and polished with stainless steel wool in the manner of shou sugi ban.

 

 

Instagram

Etsy shop

 

 

Andrea Ring/ Amuckdsign

An old snippet of lace from a dress forever captured in sterling and brass.

 

Instagram

Etsy shop

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monthly Challenge- Halloween

Happy October! We are starting the month off with a few Halloween inspired pieces, enjoy.

    Cynthia Kurth- Schmuckburg

     Instagram

     Etsy shop

That´s why I love to be in the etsy metal team. I create things that I would never have done alone. In fact I don´t like Halloween so much. It's so easy to scare me.
And I´m really scared about spiders. And now take a look: I even made a spider with fat black legs on the backside - and enjoy it!

    Elise Worman- EMW Metalworks

     Etsy shop

     Instagram

I was inspired by Halloween to make masks. This was so much fun! These pieces are made from sterling silver and can be worn as a pin or a pendant. Most of the metal I used came from my scrap box.

Michele Grady- Michele Grady Designs

Instagram

Etsy shop

 

Black onyx skull set in handmade sterling bezel. perfect for Halloween or really anytime of the year!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrea Ring- Amuck

Instagram

Etsy shop

 

For me the kick-off to Halloween is buying that first bag of candy corn as soon as the Halloween candies hit the store shelves!!

 

 

May Monthly challenge

"FOUND"

Our challenge for May was to take a walk and pick up some found objects along the way. You never know where you'll find awesome supplies for jewelry!

Rusty Washer bezel set in sterling silver with a turquoise.

 

Whale bone fossil bezel set in sterling silver with rainbow moonstone.

 

Shell from NC set in sterling silver.

 

Elise Worman

EMWMetalworks shop

 

Instagram

 

Elise already had some found objects she'd gathered and made three beautiful necklaces from her treasures.

 

March monthly Challenge-Cocktail Ring

For our March monthly challenge we made "Cocktail Rings" and I can tell that everyone had fun with this one!!

Kirsten Denbow

Kismet designs

Instagram

Dendritic opal with opals.

Cynthia Kurth

Schmuckburg

Instagram

Blue Topaz in sterling silver.

Beth Cyr

Etsy shop

Instagram

It features a beautiful piece of Gary Green Jasper, a rough green sapphire set in 18k yellow gold and a teal colored diamond flush set in to the sterling tree bark textured element.The elements all work together to create a lovely harmony. Not your everyday ring, but definitely something special.

 

Elise Worman

EMW Metalworks

Instagram

Forged sterling silver fork tines with labradorite, green flash.

Nina Gibson

Etsy shop

Instagram

This lapis ring was made during a recent workshop taught by Joanna Gollberg on the Smith little torch. The ring band is hollow, made with a ring bender. And the lapis is a large, straight edged cab. It was a great workshop and my tool wish list is much larger now!

Anna Severina Fell

Severin Metals

Instagram

Druzy and sterling cocktail ring.

Leslie Zemenek

Etsy shop

Instagram

Pierced silver luna agate cocktail ring.

Suzy Louise

Wild Thistle Jewelry

Instagram

Su Trindle

Quercus Silver

Instagram

Curvy geomtric shapes and forms recur frequently in my work but I love the way this new stripes design changes the dynamic. These Graphico stripes rings are in the 'new@devonguild' exhibition which runs until 30th April at The Devon Guild in Bovey Tracey, here in the UK.

Debbie Ritchie

Fentondesign

instagram

Sterling silver with prehnite and four peridot.

 

 

 

 

Evelyn Markasky

Markasky

Instagram

 

 

Dangerous cocktail ring - forged, formed, and torch fired enamel on a silver band.

 

 

February Monthly Challenge- Tiny charms

                                       

Our challenge for February was to make a tiny charm 1/2" and under and I think we have some darn cute entries! I hope you enjoy this months pieces and if there is an idea you'd like to see us tackle in our monthly challenges please drop us a note in the comments section.

Down To The Wire Designs

instagram

 

 

A tiny sterling wild rose with a pink topaz center.

 

 

 

 

 

Amuckdesign

instagram

 

Sterling silver hollowformed charm with skull.

 

 

 

 

Severin Metals

instagram

 

A tiny 1/2" green tourmaline and sterling charm.

 

 

 

 

EMW Metalworks

instagram

 

February tiny charm. I had so much fun with this one! I made a couple. Tiny bird nest with blue egg is my favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nina Gibson Designs

instagram

 

Tiny Charm Bangle. A dozen charms, all under 1/2 inch, slide around a simple silver bangle. The charms are all made using stamps from my collection of handmade Navajo tools.

 

 

 

 

Schmuckburg

instagram

 

I have to do three at a time - not sure why. But I think one is not faster.
Anyway, you like to believe that small things get done faster. But the opposite is often the case.
And you have to use such small tools. Or you can hardly hold the piece of jewelry.
That was a great challenge! I love the etsy metal team for that!

Sterling Silver, 18 ct Gold, peridot, rhodochrosite, lapis lazuli

 

 

 

 

I'd like to thank my teammates for playing along this month and hope they will join in the March challenge of making a "Cocktail Ring".  If you'd like to play along with us in March post your ring here in the comments section by march 26th.

 

 

 

January Challenge- "NEW"

It's a new year so what better theme to start with than "NEW". This could be a new technique, new tool, new materials, etc. I believe we have some knock-out entries for this month and hope you think so too!!

 

 

 

 

EMWmetal (shop)

Instagram

 

 

I'm so excited about this new series of work. I took a workshop 2 summers ago on "Metal Painting" from a former professor. In this process you use directional sanding and patinas to develop your image. One of the materials we were able to work with that day was copper plated nickel. You could sand through the copper and expose the nickel in areas and use liver of sulphur to color the copper... I could not find this material anywhere. I was just gifted some at Christmas. Having fun in January! So here is my first couple of landscape paintings using this process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kirsten Denbow (shop)

Instagram

 

I bought some copper PMC a few months back to experiment with. Hats off to you PMC artists! It was harder than it looks! I've only used it once before so it was challenging. This was the best flower of the bunch! I am also creating a new body of work with more gemstones so this was a perfect challenge! I'm in love with these colors together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beth Cyr (shop)

Instagram

 

 I'd been really attracted to this style of hoop, but hadn't made anything like it. the mechanism takes longer to make than I think it should, even after 3 pairs! part of what changes it is fusing the little curly loop closed and getting the angle just right with that little detail on the "hinge" side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cynthia Kurth (shop)

Instagram

 

Trying out something new also means risking something. For example, that one is not satisfied with the resulting piece of jewelry. I wanted to bring stamped jewelry and simple settings together. But is that the right way? I'll probably try more ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nina Gibson (shop)

Instagram

 

I got a Fretz mini forming stake set for Christmas. I have no idea what I'm doing. They turned out okay though - double up on the earring challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amuck design

 

I've always wanted to try making my own ear nuts but have never stopped to take the time to try this out. Now that I've done it though I think this will be a permanent addition to my earrings!

 

 

 

 

 

Our February challenge will be to make "Tiny Charms" 1/2" in size.  If you'd like to play along with us post your tiny charm in the comments of this post by February 26th.