Adventures in Metal

Recently Etsy co-hosted a contest with NASA. The contest called for handmade art designed and produced to commemorate the end of the NASA space shuttle program which is scheduled to be terminated in 2011. Now it just so happens that my etsy team, The Aspiring Metalsmiths, also does a monthly design challenge and this months theme required that we step outside our comfort zone and make a non jewelry metals piece. I took this opportunity to design and build a mixed metals collage/sculpture which I submitted to the Etsy contest and will also submit to the AMT monthly challenge as well.
For my entry I designed a nite-lite that features a couple of set stones and an "orbiting" space shuttle and planet. I hand punched the back drop and set a red sea sediment jasper in the upper left hand corner representing a planet, perhaps THE red planet i.e Mars, and a white mother of pearl shell on the lower right to represent the moon. I then etched a small space shuttle and a ringed planet and attached them to opposite ends of a clock hand. By inserting the battery into the clock mechanism, the space shuttle and the planet "orbit" around the etched earth foreground piece.  As the shuttle descends behind the earth the planet is just rising and beginning its journey across the sky. Lastly, I attached a small light fixture to the back of the piece that takes a typical 7 watt nite lite bulb. When the light is turned on the light shines through the punched "stars" and casts a myriad of constellations onto the wall.
I had alot of fun making this piece and will probably try to make more non jewelry items in the future. Until then take a look at these pics and let me know what you think.

Take a look at a video of the rocket and planet in motion at this link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32112936@N02/5193630953/

Show and Tell - The Aspiring Metalsmiths Monthly Blogroll Project

As I mentioned the other day, I am a member of a wonderful team of jewelry and metals artists called The Aspiring Metalsmiths. This is a great group of metal artists of varying skill levels and years of experience in the craft of handmade jewelry and metals art. The group gets together daily on the Etsy forums to share ideas and inspiration with one another in all aspects of jewelry design and small business marketing. In addition to the daily doses of camaraderie in the Etsy forums, the team shares a blog and flickr pool on which we share pictures of our recent designs and hold monthly design challenges etc. Recently the team decided to begin a monthly blogging project. The way it works is, team members will blog on the 10th of every month on a predetermined topic. At the end of each post the author will include a list of links to team members who have chosen to participate in that months topic so readers can get a variety of unique points of view from a group of like minded individuals. This being the very first installment of the Blogroll Project, the chosen topic is sort of a meet and great with the challenge being to show our workspace. So ready or not, here we go.

I know some of the chatter in the forum the past couple of days has been about teamies cleaning their work-spaces in preparation for this blog challenge. Well be forewarned, I am totally keeping it real and to borrow a phrase from my teammate Clarity, you're getting to see my chaotic workspace in all of its "ghetto-fabulous" glory. LOL  But seriously, this is what the work room looks like currently because 1) I have been extremely busy trying to get ready for a show during the last few weeks and 2) I have been having a flare with my MCTD so every bit of energy that I have had over the last month has gone into actually making new items and working on preparing listings for my etsy shop. So without further ado....
 
I'm really quite lucky because I have an entire spare room that I have been able to dedicate to my work area. Within the room I have set up three basic stations/areas. The first station is my design layout and etching area

The second area is my beading table with all of my many beads and baubles, my hammers, pliers, and other miscellaneous items that always seem to land there.

The third station is where I play with Fire! If you look in the lower left corner you'll see my handy plumbers torch. If you look really close you'll see my two small butane micro torches setting on the table on the right. In the back corner is a bunch of long neglected glass rods for making glass beads.(Note to self: Make some beads already!!! LOL)

Well that's basically it. The only thing missing is the computer station with my desktop computer and my bookcase which is full of magazines and books on jewelry making. So now you've had a glimpse into my chaotic little corner of the universe. I know from the looks of it it's probably hard to believe I ever get anything done at all but I promise it's organized chaos honestly it is.

Now take a few minutes to take a look around the studio spaces of some of my esteemed teammates. Just don't rub it in if theirs is all nice and tidy. LOL

• All Wired Up Jewelry Designs - http://allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/
• Brandy, The Frogs Pond - http://thefrogspond.wordpress.com/
• Carole Axium - http://www.caroleaxiumdesigns.com/journal/
• Clarity, Scrollwork Designs - http://www.thesquarepegnation.blogspot.com
• Esmeralda, SilverBlueberry - http://jewelry-by-silverblueberry.blogspot.com/
• Golden Water Creations - http://www.goldenwatercreations.blogspot.com
• Jessica Lopour - http://www.abellablue.com/blog
• Joy - http://joypeckjoy.blogspot.com/
• Nancy Creations - http://nancysjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/
• Stacy (Form and Funktion) - http://formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/
• Steph Stargell Designs - http://stephstargell.com
• Sylvia Anderson - http://www.SylviaAnderson.blogspot.com
• Lisa, SandyToesJewelry -   http://sandytoesjewelry.blogspot.com

Back to Blogging

Well I've really neglected the old blog this year. I noticed my last post was way back in March. With the year almost at its end I have vowed to revisit the blog-o-sphere. I'm gonna try to get things back on track here and begin to post again on a regular basis.

So why the long hiatus? Well, it's been a crazy year around here. I am very happy to say that my dad is still recovering very well. This month is the one year anniversary of his laryngectomy surgery. This time last year we were so busy with his nursing care and recovery my mom and I barely had time to breath much less do anything else. He was a very sick fellow but he is improving everyday and is cancer free as far as we know. He is eating now and hopefully the feeding tube will be removed next month. We have been very blessed.

As for me, things are about the same. I have been trying to learn more advanced metal smith techniques to apply to my jewelry. I've been learning to make bezels and set cabochons which has been a lot of fun. I found this wonderful group of artists on Etsy called the Aspiring Metalsmiths. They are a wonderful group of exceptionally talented artisans and have been integral to my learning new jewelry and metal skills. They are so very friendly and forthcoming with wonderful advice and encouragement. Please take a few minutes to check out their beautiful work in there Etsy shops. You can find a list of members and links to each one's shop here:
http://www.etsy.com/teams/5627/aspiring-metalsmiths  
Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

So bear with me and we'll see how this works out. I have some new pieces that I'll be sharing on occasion. I want to try to share some of the neat techniques that I'm learning as well so hopefully there will be some techniques posts coming. I'll try to keep things as interesting as I can and not bore you all to much. I would like to introduce you all to some of the great folks in the AMT and do some feature posts to showcase their amazing work. So hang in there and hopefully we will have a fun and informative blogging year.

Till next time.........

Getting Centered and Reoriented: I Need Your Help

I just checked in on my blog for the first time since my last post which was oh so long ago. I noticed right away that unfortunately I have lost a few followers during my unfortunate hiatus. I have been taking some time during the last couple of months to try to rest and re-center myself. As you know, if you have read any of my last 4 or 5 posts, my family has been dealing with some health issues involving my father. I am so glad to report that he is doing quite well now. His surgical site has healed very well so he is not currently requiring the extensive dressing changes and wound packings. They finally removed his temporary feeding tube that was in his nose and replaced it with a more permanent peg tube which has helped him to be more comfortable. He is slowly regaining strength and is trying to participate more in his own care and feeding. Now that he and my mom are both feeling more comfortable with his care, I have been able to return home. Now, I can provide my nursing services via telephone, which I do on average about once a day ;). (You know I love you mom and dad).

So now I am slowly trying to get back into my routine. I want to get the blog going again and I have been reading up on all of the Etsy storque and forum posts about blogging and improving blog content. So I am posting this evening to ask for your help. Just prior to my forced hiatus, I had developed a blog plan which I was attempting to incorporate. What I would like from you guys is suggestions.

What do you look for in the blogs you follow?
Why did you choose to follow MY blog?
Please help me out here guys. Help me to get my flow going again. I am open to all suggestions so let them rip.

Thanks so very much.