Vacation and Ring A Week Number 9

I am back in the studio after spending a lovely week in Park City, Utah. It was a wonderful and much-needed break. Since I was away, I didn't have the opportunity to create a ring this week for the Ring A Week Challenge, but I did recently finish this special ring for a customer. It features the words "well behaved women rarely make history" which I've handwritten in calligraphy and etched around the hand fabricated sterling band. I've oxidized it and I've given it a brushed finish. I'm really happy with how this ring turned out. The very tiny etched lettering is deep and crisp.

Below is a photo from the trip. The mountains were beautiful.

Ring A Week Number 8

This past week was a busy one, which included a quick trip to visit family in Michigan, so there was less time for ring-making. I did manage to create this sterling silver spinner ring for my eighth ring in the Ring A Week Challenge. The wide band is encircled by a thinner seamless band etched with a portion of my hand drawn rose garden design and oxidized. I etched the silver flat before forming the seamless band. The thin band rotates freely.

Ring A Week Number 7

I'm not sure why, but design ideas often come to me in the shower. My seventh ring in the Ring A Week challenge was one of those ideas. I was thinking about this small peridot cabochon that I've had for awhile and wondering how I might use it in a ring when this image of the peridot encircled with leaves popped into my head. I began drawing and etching the leaf design right away and the finished piece is exactly as I envisioned (which is not always the case, so I was very pleased). Below are some photos of the ring in progress.

This is my favorite ring (so far) that I've made for the challenge and it reminds me that spring is just around the corner.

Tree Stump Ring :: Ring A Week Number 6

My plan for this week's ring was to create a silver ring that resembled soft, fluid folds of fabric. However, as I worked on this piece, it began looking more and more like a tree stump. I decided to shift focus and allow it to be the tree stump it wanted to be. It wasn't an easy decision since I was making progress with my fabric folds idea and what if I went in this other direction and completely ruined the ring? I decided to chance it. I painted a textured bark design onto the ring and began etching the design into the metal. A while later, I went outside to help Mark chop the ice/snow mixture (from this week's storm) off of our driveway and promptly forgot about the ring. I left it in the acid far too long and by the time I finally realized it the acid had eaten through the resist resulting in a piece with random bumps on the surface rather than the etched bark design I intended. I felt sick to my stomach. I had indeed ruined the piece . . . although . . . what if. . . . I decided to work with the bumps to try to create the bark texture in another way. After several tries, I was actually very happy with the effect I achieved using liver of sulfur and wire brushes. Below you can see the ring in progress before I decided to shift course and turn it into a tree stump. I love the soft, satiny texture and form (which was nicer in person than in the photos), yet the ring lacks the character of finished tree stump ring above.


I intend to pursue my original idea with a future ring but for this week I am quite pleased with the Stump Ring.

You can see what others have been creating as part of the Ring A Week Challenge here.

Ring A Week Number 5

I've wanted to make something with this green druzy agate cabochon for some time. Its surface reminds me of hills and valleys and its color and sparkle remind me of fresh, rain-kissed springtime. As I look out my studio window at gloomy skies and a snowy yard, I yearn for spring. I found a line from a poem by Alice Duer Miller that sums up what comes to mind (and what I long for) when I look at this stone: "the light of spring on the emerald earth." (read the entire public domain poem here). I've hand written and etched these words into the sterling band of this hand fabricated ring. I've also etched the author's name on the back of the ring, above my maker's mark. The words are lightly oxidized for contrast.

I enjoyed making this ring for the Ring A Week Challenge. I don't do a lot of stone setting, so this was also good practice for me.

Family Craftsmen and Ring A Week Number 4

My dad is a talented woodworker as was my grandfather. I am fortunate to have really beautiful wood pieces made by both of them. Inspired by the abilities of these men in my family, I've been experimenting with a bit of woodworking myself, considering possible ways to incorporate wood into my jewelry designs.

While visiting my family over the recent holidays, my dad gave me some pieces of walnut wood leftover from my grandfather's workshop. Over the past few weeks I've enjoyed experimenting with the wood, learning to work with it and respecting its differences from the metal I am familiar with. For my fourth ring for the Ring A Week Challenge I have made this ring from a piece of walnut and I've riveted my sterling silver heart design to the walnut band.

I wanted to also try cutting an intricate design in wood so after finishing the ring, I hand cut this walnut heart with a design similar to the sterling silver heart:

I look forward to continuing my experiments with woodworking.

Ring A Week Number 3

For my third ring in the Ring A Week challenge, I've created a Floral Branch Ring to add to my Floral Branch Collection. This hand fabricated ring was hand cut from a sheet of sterling silver using my jeweler's hand saw, formed and then soldered. I really enjoy cutting intricate shapes and find this work to be meditative and relaxing. I was happy with the result, although there are modifications I would make to a second ring.

Below are some photos of the ring in process, showing the various stages of piercing, freeing the ring from the silver sheet.

And here are some other pieces in my Floral Branch Collection:

The Ring A Week Flickr pool grows with each day and there are many wonderful rings being created for this challenge. Check it out here.