and now, number 7!!!

Hi everyone,

It has been a busy couple of weeks....after I got back from Carol's I had to get ready for my two day class with Jeff Devers. We were going to making boxes with lids....Jeff does some of the most amazing boxes out of polymer clay. We started by making a box out of card stock and then covering them with clay and baked them. We used these as our interior molds. We built up our boxes in layers with a lot of baking and sanding in between (good thing we had a day off to catch up on our "homework"). We then learned how to make two different kinds of fitted lids. It was interesting to see how Jeff works and how he pays so much attention to detail. I would show you a photo of mine but I loaned it to my gal, Gloria, so she could work on her next step.....when I get it back I will put on a decorative layer, bake and sand again...then I will post a photo of the finished piece! Something to look forward to!

In between getting ready for the workshop and the couple of days after, I have been busy in the studio when I haven't been in bed with the flu. I finished off 4 rings that I had in various stages of being finished, and 1 completely new one, so now I am not behind on my RAW!! So, I will start with the new one.....really simple...I had a wonderful piece of copper metal clay that I had textured in Gordon's class with the tearaway method last Feb. I antiqued the surface with acrylic paint and then heat set it before sanding the surface lightly with sandpaper to bring out the details of the little angel. I also had some little bits of already fired metal clay and one of them was a #7 and was just the right size to use on the surface, so I antiqued that with the same colors of acrylic paint. If you look closely, you will see that the little angel looks like he is holding the big ball with one hand and throwing a little ball up in the air with his other hand. The little ball is actually the rivet that holds part of the ring together. Since I don't solder, I needed to figure out how to attach the shank to the band. I decided to use the holes in the #7 disc and the upper right hand corner, which worked out to look like he was tossing a ball in to the air. I liked the way a bit of the band peeked out of the far edge and decided to keep it and then added a little amethyst stone to the sterling band. The little tab also holds the ring in place and keeps it from spinning. It is quite comfortable to wear even though it is off center.

So, for ring number 8, I had a ring cut out from a Faux Bone blank and had experimented with coloring the surface last summer. It has been sitting on my worktable just waiting for the right little something. When I had found my little number 7 disc, I had also found some of the long fragments that I used to make for earrings. I also had a large disc...I hammered that into a bowl so I could set one of those rivoli stones into it and I had a purple one that worked with the surface of the already dyed faux bone ring, so I started assembling the ring. I used two long fragments on the sides and used some sterling headpins to attach everything together. I then found a smaller fragment that fit in between the two that worked out well. When those were attached, I drilled a hole in the faux bone with a round tip bur and set the bowl into it after doming the center section in a smaller divot to conform the bottom of the bowl. I then set the rivoli in and chemically bonded the whole thing together. Yes, I know, it is the easy way out, but have you ever tried to rivet on a ring band? It is hard to flip the ring and hammer on the inside of the band....and since I had to use epoxy to glue the rivoli into the bowl, I really didn't mind.

So, while all the epoxy was drying, I pulled out some rings I had made in a class with Tim McCrieght. I liked the idea of the rings but they were too big, even for me, so I thought about what I could do to shrink the interiors so they would fit. I had made a polymer sheet that looked like slabs of wood and it ended up being the right thickness to close up the interior so the rings fit nicely. I love the natural patina on the two rings. The third was in a plastic bag, so no patina as of now. I am still playing with the idea of setting some small white topaz in a couple of the rings. Well, that is all for now...hope you like some of the rings....let me know if you can...I would love to hear from you...have fun in your studios....Kelly

Number 6 on board!

Hi everyone,

It has been a busy week and a half! I went down to Va last week and cooked and partied and made a silk felted scarf, which I can't show you since I left it in Va (I think Carol's doggies wanted me to stay and one of them stole it out of my pile of things to be loaded into the car...the little stinker! I bet it was Marly!)

I started the weekend out at my little groupie, Terresa's house for her big birthday party! I helped her cook some of the buffet...made my paprika chicken with saffron rice! YUM!! Stayed up til 3:30 partying with the guests....and then we went to a international market on Sunday and got some steaks for dinner (yeah, the pioneer women recipes!) steak bites with mashers, YUM again!

On Monday, I went over to Carol Hamilton's house so we could play with her embellisher.....Terresa joined us and we ended up going to Alexanderia to the Fibre Space store for silk and wool roving. I also got some beautiful silk yarns to do kumihimo with. We also hit another international market..(that's what happens when Terresa is driving....) got some rose water and orange blossom water for some Moroccan recipes that I have been wanting to try. Lucked out and found some ginger cookies with lemon filling.....and YUM again! Great weekend so far!!

We all went back to Carol's and started our felting with the embellisher. It has 10 needles and no feed-dog so you can free sew with it. We worked for several hours working the roving onto the silk chiffon so we could then put it in the felting machine to felt. I got to wear mine to the local PMC guild meeting. Finally got home on Thursday and started work on my RAW for the week...

So...started one ring and everything was going fine until....dom, dom, dommmmm, the top piece broke into three pieces.....frustrating.....time to start a different ring....started that on Saturday....incorporated three of my favorite mediums...silver sheet, epoxy and polymer clay....my idea of stacking rings....I haven't written in silver so that was a experience that I need to practice, but I do like that it looks hand written...went through 3 drill bits and 5 saw blades. I realized that I should have written everything out with a smaller marker so my lines would have be more spot on and Bur Life would have helped, but all in all, not too bad... I was just going to use a polymer clay sheet that looks like flames but I decided to slide in a sheet of epoxy that had some gold glitter and red ink as a tint. It added a little bit of sparkle behind the openings in the letters. I then fit the polymer sheet so it shows the epoxy sheet as a border. I chemically bonded the whole thing together and then filed down the edges and applied 24kt gold leaf to the polymer edges. I buffed the polymer and I love the way the pattern looks 3-dimensional. I am going to try to finish another ring in the next couple of days since I have a 2-day class with Jeff Devers. My girl Gloria is taking the class too...we are going to have sooooo much fun!! It has been a while since I last saw her...she has been playing in Tucson for a month or so. Anyway, hope you like the ring....and that you are having fun in your studios...Kelly

P.S. I thought I would show you the photo Morgan took with my camera on Saturday morning before I started my second ring...I didn't find them until I downloaded my ring photos...I love the way the sunrise matches my ring colors....too funny, huh? K

Here we are again....

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all keeping warm and having fun in your studios! I have....and now you can see what I have been doing....

I am still playing with these epoxy cones...this time I decided to use the bottom half. I wanted to set one of those fancy rivoli stones that the bead workers are using in their latest pieces and I do love the sparkle! Major bling! So, I thought that by using the bottom, I could make a bezel that the rivoli would fit into and live up to the color of the rivoli. Well, the best laid plans of mice and men....after I had cut out the cone shaped opening, I decided to change my design...again...I had these lovely pearls from my friend, Carol Hamilton, and I decided to use one in the center of the bowl. That was when I decided to use some of the 24ft gold sheet inside the cone. I love the way it makes a halo of light around the pearl. I had planned on using just the cone for the ring...but...it looked so lonely by itself, so I dug around for something I might use to bump up the idea of a raised bezel. I had some small metal clay discs and I domed them and then decided to slide in a epoxy disc in between them. I think it looks like a Dr. Suess stack of plates and bowls (think green eggs and ham)....

I don't solder so I am always looking for creative ways to attach things together. I didn't want to use a wide band but in my scrap, I did find a gold band that a friend had given me when he went out of business about 12 years ago. Did you know that if you smack the crap out of a size 5 gold band with a chasing hammer, you can bring it down to a size 9 with a bit of work?! By beating it so hard, I cracked off the solder and concentrating on the heavier area where the bezels where, I was able to move some major metal. I then made one big spike type rivet out of 16g sterling and used that to hold everything together. I did have to chemically bond the pearl since a 16g piece of wire isn't going into a pearl without a lot of trouble.

I had a lot of fun making this ring. I love when the light shines through the resin and makes the gold glow! I must have smacked the gold band a bit too much because it is a bit too big and sways back and forth on my finger, although, that could also be because it is top heavy!!

And as a last comment...wait until you see what I did with my other epoxy bits....I guess you will have to come back next week to see! I will be hanging out with my friends down in Va for a couple of days....playing in a couple of different studios...making some bronze clay sheets, some felted silk bits....maybe some silk paper for some future rings....just thinking....trying to be open to all the possibilities! Hope you are being open too! Have fun and stay warm! Kelly

TAAADDDAAAA! Number 4!

Hi everyone,

Here we are again...wondering what is happening! Well, my latest ring also had a mind of its own and decided what it wanted to be and nothing I could say would change its mind...maybe it was my muse and not the ring, hmmmm......anyway, I was still looking for that etched metal sheet I told you about last week and still haven't been able to find it, but have found alot of fun things to play with in the future! So, I had to come up with a idea that would translate into a cool ring!

I have been playing with some epoxy ideas....coated some rose petals to stack, made some cones that didn't work, made some that did....I had gotten so excited about the way they looked while I was making them, that they tended to grow bigger! At first the cones were only about 1/2 of a inch tall and then I started to make the molds longer and longer!!! I then had fun with all the different things I could add into the epoxy after pouring it into the molds! I think my favorite is the flake glitter! Thank you, Martha Stewart! I chose the green for this project but I have all sorts of other colored cones waiting in the wings! So, after waiting two days for all these epoxy experiments to cure (one batch didn't make it) I had some do-dads to play with!

I had thought to use a smaller cone and turn it upside down and then drill out a cone shaped hole so I could chemically set a large CZ into the epoxy, but since in my excitement, I made the cones so large, I didn't have any stones that would fit (need to get those big stones from Barbara Becker Simon!! Well, maybe not that big!!!) Anyway, I had to come up with another way to show off the epoxy cone. It was my son, Morgan, who finally saved the day! He laid the cone down flat on his finger and said I should make a girlie ray-gun for making slow drivers get out of my way! I am sure you will all want one!! Making the blowing up sound not included!!

So, I got out some sheet metal and made the band with overlapping ends to hold the entire kit and kaboddle. I then scrounged up some metal clay discs that I had made last year and used them as a way to add some metal accents but still show off the cone. I bent the discs to fit the cone and then drilled the hole in the cone for the rivet. Everything is held together by the one rivet.....I drilled the hole smaller than my wire and then filed the wire to fit to make sure it was nice and tight. Getting a really long rivet into a smaller circular band is a pain but it worked out in the end. I decided to add the end accent at the last minute and am glad I did....it just finished everything off and holds the whole design together. For the end piece, I just drilled a small hole in the cone and doubled over a head pin and after placing a teeny bit of glue in the hole, I placed the disc on the end and stuck in the doubled head pin which then sprung on a little bit to hold everything securely in place. Done! And comfortable to wear!! I love that the whole ring is held together with one rivet...how cool is that? Anyway, I hope you like it....I am going down to the studio to play with my other cones and epoxied bits...have fun in your studios...Kelly

The latest experiment!

Hi everyone,

Well, I have had a very productive week!! Actually designed some rings for the RAW challenge and went down to the studio to make the one I choose, but couldn't find the etched silver I wanted to use. I had put them away for "safe-keeping". Of course I couldn't find them (3 lovely sheets with a lace pattern etched into them from 13 0r 14 years ago when I attended a class at Penland) and thought the necklace I had designed for them was too kitschy....it was the beginning of my metal experiments...I also found out that I wasn't crazy about soldering....which is probably why I love metal clay!

Anyway, I ended up cleaning the studio trying to find the sheets and ended up against the deadline....so I looked around to see what I could do. I had just suggested to a friend about doing a epoxy ring with rivets but she wanted to use her own idea (although my idea got her started)...a couple of hours later, I called her and told her if she wasn't going to use my idea, I was.....so I did...with a few changes!

I have sheets of epoxy just lying around, so I chose the most flexible one and then I went looking for some cute little brass tube rivets that I have...and, guess what...couldn't find those either, but found these cute nuts and bolts that I have been saving for a project that would show them off...I think they are so cool! So I decided to use them. Since they are black, I looked through my stock for something to put between the two layers of epoxy for a bit of interest. I have these cool rub-ons that were small enough to use and of course, curlie-cues...so, I had to use them. They are in between the layers of epoxy so they won't get rubbed off. I then worked to put the nuts and bolts into the ring...which ended up being tricky since the epoxy wanted to heal almost as soon as I put the hole into it. It ended up being a race between how fast I could poke the bolt through before the hole closed up tight....I won! Three times! Actually one of the fastest rings I have ever made and I think it is pretty cool too! And is comfortable to wear, believe it or not!

So, I am going back to the studio to look for those etched sheets again to work on next weeks ring. Probably end up cleaning some more of the studio, which could be a problem, since I can never find anything afterwards...which is why I am still looking for those dam---d metal sheets! Oh, well, I will just plug in some great music and dance my way through it!! Have fun in your studio....hope you like my ring....Kelly

Next Experiment....

Hi everyone....

This has been a week full of experiments! And most of them turned out well. Several of my friends told me about a great site, The Pioneer Woman, and she has great recipes! We decided to try out her steak bites and potatoes au gratin....made a double batch of those...yum! Going to make them again tonight! I strongly suggest a look at her recipes....you may find some you like!

I also experimented in the studio...my second Ring A Week was due...I have been wanting to make some more hollow polymer beads. I also wanted to use some tearaway sheets with inlaid color. So, I decided to make a "stone" to set in a ring. I also wanted who ever was looking at or wearing the ring to be able to see the back of the "stone". As I was working on the stone, I felt it looked like lace and decided to put a molded face into the stone surface. I inlaid the tearaway texture with purple and teal and blended the colors where they overlapped. After I had built the top and sides, I cut out the opening and made a mold of a face and pressed it into the opening to fit. After the face was baked, I put it in the opening and then fit the back into place.

While I was working on the "stone", I wired up the shank. I used 16g sterling and wired it up with some 30g purple wire to hold the shank together. Once the shank fit my finger, I wrapped the purple wire around the top where the six ends met to hold them together. I then bent up the arms and fit them to the "stone" as prongs. Before I bent them around the stone, I hammered them out so they would be thin and not compete with the stone. I then bent them to hold the stone in place. I am pleased with how it turned out. It is very lightweight, even though it is about 1 and 1/2 inches high and it sits high enough off my finger so I don't have a problem using my hands while I wear it. I already have my design for next weeks ring.....woohoo!

Anyway, I hope you like the ring....and I hope you are having fun in your studios...Kelly

Look at what I did this week!!

Hi everyone,

Well, it has been a busy week.....I decided to give myself a goal that I had to produce for. You know, instead of a project to be made sometime in the future, I joined the RAW (ring a week) group on Flickr. So, I have a week to produce a ring of some kind and to post the photos....otherwise, I am out. I think this is a good way to try out all the little experiments I have been wanting to work on.

This week, I focused on epoxy set into a frame of some sort. I had some metal clay sheets with tearaway images of earth spirits on them that I thought would be great for the front and back of the ring. I also wanted there to be a tree reference for the earth spirits to be connected to.

I had this rod of molded plastic that I ordered last year and it is a lovely ivory color and I can cut it as thick or thin as I want to. It takes a bit of time to cut it...it is too big to go under the blade of the bandsaw, and I would lose too much material if I use the power mitre saw, so I had to do it with my jewelers saw and a big spiral blade. So, I cut it (it took about a half hour) and then sanded it a bit so I could draw my pattern on the surface, drill my holes and then cut out all the leaves and the hole for my finger.

I decided to use some of the copper metal clay sheets that I had made in Gordon's class last Feb as the outer sides with the "french ivory" sandwiched in between. I cut the sides out and filed the edges.

I then fit the "tree" frame to the sides so I could cut out the outside edges. I then sanded everything and put packing tape on the one side and went on to mix up my epoxy and ink to get my leaf color. I used one drop of a pea green and 5 drops of a blue to get the color I did. I was trying to make the epoxy color work with the paint patina I had demo-ed on the metal sheets (at the PMC Conference this past July). I filled the spaces with the epoxy...some were over-filled and some had a little less than needed, so on one side of the ring, the leaves look thick and thin and on the other side, they are all the same level and sanded to a matte finish. I then riveted all three pieces together. Not my best riveting, but I haven't done any in about a year, so I am not going to cry over it.

It is a comfortable ring to wear even though it is quite tall...about 2" and about 1&1/2" wide at the leaf edge. It is a little thicker than a quarter so just about right. I can't wear wide bands.

I learned a lot on this ring....it was the first time I had worked with the "french ivory" and was happy with the way it was easy to cut and carve, but after I saw the spaces with the epoxy in them, I saw where I could have been a bit more careful at the points of some of the leaves. I also should have waited to cut the sides of the "french ivory" until after I had riveted everything together.

I am already to start my next ring....toooo many ideas and not enough time....I am thinking about using this shape ring for all my rings to see if I can work myself out of a corner.....well, maybe not all.....Hope you like the ring and please, post some comments so I know what you think works and what may not have...it is the only way to learn....thanks, and have fun, Kelly

the photos are....1. a close up of the "Flora" side with the sun shining through the epoxy.

2. a close up of the "Earth Spirit" side and you can see the difference in the leaves.

3. a over all view of the ring, "Flora's" side.