Green Amethyst :: Ring No. 52

My final ring for the Ring A Week challenge features a 10mm cushion rose cut green amethyst that I've set in sterling silver. I've given the ring a brushed finish. I fell in love with this pale green stone.

Participating in the Ring A Week challenge has been an incredible experience. At times, with a full schedule, it was hard to keep up but I'm so glad I was able to finish in time. I've really enjoyed seeing the creations of other challenge participants. You can see the entire pool of Ring A Week rings on Flickr.

Tension Setting :: Ring A Week No. 51

This is my first attempt at a tension setting, in which the stone is held in place solely by spring tension. I formed the ring from square wire, allowing the two ends to bypass each other to hold a 3mm faceted peridot between them. The shape is not perfect, the band twists just a bit and does not flow quite as I would like, but I still think it looks nice on the finger, since the back of the band is not the focus. It was challenging to spread the two ends apart and insert the tiny peridot, yet incredibly satisfying to hear it snap into place. It seems very secure.

Ovals :: Ring A Week No. 50

For my latest ring, I decided to start with the same basic components as the previous ring, solder them together in the same sequence, but alter the components and finish to change the look of the second ring. After cutting five circles and then cutting smaller circles out of the larger circles, I rolled each piece through my rolling mill to create ovals. I then soldered them together. I oxidized the larger, open ovals for contrast and gave the small ovals a bright, brushed finish. I really like the effect. Below are the two rings side by side.

Circles :: Ring No. 49

For Ring 49, I've cut small circles from larger circles of sterling silver and soldered them all together to make this simple ring. I've given it a brushed finish.

I've fallen just a bit behind with my Ring A Week challenge. (Thanks to my fantastic customers this holiday season has been very, very busy, with not much free time for creating rings!) I still intend to meet my goal of creating 52 rings by year end--three more to go! Stay tuned....

Walnut Nautilus Ring :: Ring A Week No. 48

One of my first rings for the Ring A Week Challenge was a ring made of wood. As I near the end of this year-long challenge, I've again revisited wood for one of my final pieces. I've hand cut and shaped this walnut ring, giving it a soft, smooth finish. I then etched my tiny hand drawn nautilus shell design into a small sterling silver circle. It is soldered to a post that is inserted and secured in the wood shank.

Feather Ring :: RAW 47/52

Similar to a recent leaf ring (RAW 43), Ring A Week 47 features an imprint. This time, I've imprinted a small feather into sterling silver. I then hand cut and fabricated the ring, and oxidized and hand finished it to show of the delicate lines of the feather.

Let it snow :: Ring A Week No. 46

I've continued with the snow theme for a second ring, etching my handwritten words "Let it snow!" into this hand fabricated band. The background texture is interesting and also a bit of a mystery. I have a particular strip of silver that reliably produces these textured lines when etched. I've etched a lot of silver and always clean and prep it in the same way, yet whenever I cut a piece from this particular strip to etch I get this result, no matter how well it is cleaned and prepped first. I find it more interesting than troublesome and really enjoy the effect.

Below is a Let it Snow! necklace, with a smooth background (available in my shop):

Snowflake :: Ring A Week No. 45

I love the delicate beauty of snowflakes, and at this time of year I cannot resist drawing them. I etched one of my hand drawn snowflake designs into silver to create this ring. I oxidize most of my snowflake pendants to show off the delicate designs, but I loved the frosty appearance of this ring and decided to instead burnish the delicate lines of the etched design to create subtle contrast against the frosty, brushed background.

Hydrangea Blossom :: Ring A Week No. 44

I've had a lot of fun imprinting whole, dried hydrangea blossoms into sterling silver. (Necklaces are available in my shop.) For this ring a week ring, I imprinted a four petal hydrangea blossom, hand cut and formed it, and soldered it to a hand fabricated sterling shank. The oxidized finish highlights the delicate veins of each petal.

Leaf Imprint :: Ring A Week No. 43

As I was walking my dog this week, I noticed some lovely fallen leaves that happened to be just the right size and shape for a wrap around ring. I collected a few and this weekend I imprinted one into sterling silver using my rolling mill. I hand cut it from the silver using my jeweler's hand saw, following the fine, serrated edge along one side of the imprint. I wanted the ring to feel comfortable on the finger so I chose to create a smooth bottom edge. I love how the tip and the stem of the leaf overlap and envisioned that detail being the front of the ring. However, I think it actually looks nicer on the finger with the overlap to the back.

Go and wake up your luck :: Ring A Week No. 42

Every now and then I visit my mistake drawer for inspiration. For my latest Ring A Week ring, I combined two pieces residing in that drawer. The etched piece, which reads "go and wake up your luck," was originally to be a pendant. I wasn't happy with the shape or the etched lettering and so it went in the drawer. I made the wide band from a piece of silver into which I had attempted to imprint some grasses for texture but didn't love the result. I sanded away the texture before fabricating the band and soldered the the organically shaped etched piece in place. I then gave it an oxidized, somewhat shiny finish. I am glad to have found a use for a couple pieces that had not turned out as I intended. It feels great on the finger and is a ring I will likely wear from time to time.

Curl Ring :: Ring A Week No. 41

For this latest Ring A Week ring, I challenged myself to make a ring out of a piece of scrap silver from a failed rolling mill experiment. I first cut the piece into a freeform organic shape and then smoothed the sides and edges. I formed it into a ring shape and then curled the ends. Finally, I gave it a soft matte grey finish. It reminds me of ribbon.

Pressed Petals :: Ring A Week No. 40

Inspired by some lovely dried hydrangea blossoms, I've created this ring by overlapping five hydrangea petals and imprinting them into sterling silver using my rolling mill. I then hand cut the silver, following the organic contour of the petals. The oxidized finish highlights the intricate veins in each petal.

Below are individual petals that I imprinted in sterling silver and 14K gold and turned into pendants. Both necklaces are available in my Etsy shops.

The fall of a leaf :: Ring No. 39

I recently came across this Russian Proverb: "The fall of a leaf is a whisper to the living." I love the sentiment and I immediately knew I had to somehow incorporate it into a new piece. I hand lettered the quote in calligraphy and then created smaller versions of my maple leaf design to dance above the words. I hand cut around the tops of the leaves for an interesting jagged edge. I had thought of separating the leaves from the text to make a set of two stacking rings that would fit together along a jagged edge at the bottom of the leaves, but it was turning out so nicely as one piece that I didn't want to risk messing it up. I may experiment with the idea though. I did try a mock up, cutting the two stacking rings out of paper which actually turned out well so I may give it a try in metal sometime soon. In the meantime, I'm pretty happy with how this ring turned out. Below of are some progress shots so you can see a couple stages of the process.

Ring A Week No. 38

For my latest ring, I imprinted both sides of the sterling silver with the soft, subtle texture of 100% cotton paper. I wanted to give the edge the appearance of torn paper so I hand cut an organic, rough edge around the entire piece and then formed it into a wrap ring with overlapping ends. To finish it, I gave a subtle, polished shine to the rough edge, all the way around the ring. I like the substantial feel of the ring but for a more papery effect, I'd consider using a thinner gauge of silver the next time.

Ring A Week No. 37

This latest Ring A Week ring features a purple, teardrop-shaped, druzy agate cabochon. It is set in a hand cut, scalloped bezel. I've oxidized the silver and I think the grey patina looks quite nice with the purple druzy. I received this stone free with another purchase and I really like the sugary purple crystals in its center.

Tiny Butterfly :: Ring A Week No. 35

A tiny etched silver butterfly perches atop a sterling silver band. I've oxidized the ring and hand finished it to show off the delicate etched details of the tiny butterfly.

I'm hard at work preparing for an art fair next weekend so this week's ring is simple and sweet.

Luna Moth Twins :: Ring A Week No. 34

My hand drawn luna moth design is a favorite nature motif in my jewelry collection. This week's Ring A Week ring features twin luna moths etched into sterling silver. Their antennae entwine and encircle a small, bezel set 3mm peridot cabochon. I had first intended to incorporate a moonstone cabochon, which would have been appropriate for the luna theme. The moonstones I have in stock were just a tad too large, so I went with the peridot instead. Since luna moths are a similar shade of green, I felt it was a nice second choice and I really like the tiny pop of color at the center of this ring.

Ring A Week No. 33

For my latest Ring A Week ring, I've created a sterling silver band that matches my previous ring. The etched design is so detailed and delicate that I wanted to make a simpler piece to show off the detail of the etching. I like how it turned out.

Garnet Ring :: Ring A Week No. 32

I really enjoyed making this ring. I've set a 6mm almandine garnet cabochon into the center surrounded by my hand drawn etched vine lace design etched into a sterling saucer. The shank is also etched with the design and cradles the saucer. It is oxidized and hand finished and I really like how the patina shows of the delicate, lacy etched vines. I've recently created some pendants with the lace vine motif as well, which you can see in my shop.