Yet Another Ring!

You all are probably tired of the ring thing, but I can't seem to stop! I guess we can call it A Ring A Day. They're just so easy and fun to make. This one is 5/16" wide. I used a small piece of sterling silver tubing in the center, and set it off-center. That's how I feel most days, "slightly off-center". LOL

My son designed a bracelet and I'm going to try to make it. It looks really good on paper, now if I can just bring it to life! I am making it out of iron wire and base metals. If it turns out really great, then maybe I'll use silver!

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying life! "See" y'all later!

Another Ring

Today I made another ring! I just couldn't help myself. The silver was calling me! This one is similar to my copper rings, but has only one band wrapped around it. I used brass that I textured with a riveting hammer for the top band. I think it turned out pretty good. The brass turned a gorgeous emerald green in the LOS, and I almost left it that way. Maybe next time. I'm sure there will be a next time, cause I can't leave it alone! LOL

I haven't heard from my hubby yet, so I have no idea if he made it safely or not! I guess he did or somebody would have called me. I wish he wouldn't do that. He usually calls, but not always.

I hope you all had a great day! Later!

My First Silver!

I LOVE STERLING SILVER! It's awesome! I can't believe how much easier it is to work with. It's way better than the base metals I use. Unfortunately, it's also way more expensive! It is easier to file, solder, and polish. If you scratch base metals it's nearly impossible to remove. It just comes right off of the silver. I'm addicted! Just what I need. LOL

This is the ring I made today, as soon as I got the silver in the mail. I named it Hugs and Kisses. It didn't take long at all. It's also the first time I used my letter stamps. Now I need decorative stamps! My hubby says I always need something. He's right, I do!

He had to go back offshore tonight, and he hated to go. He always hates going back, but mostly it was because he had to go alone this time. The guy that usually rides with him didn't go, and he's going to a new place, so he's kinda uneasy about it. He doesn't do well with finding places. I hate it for him. I'm the type that will go all over the world with just a map, but he's not. I'll just have to pray he stays safe.

I hope you all are safe and well tonight, and that you had a great day. Have a glorious tomorrow!

Penny Candy

Hi everybody! Here's a pair of earrings and a bracelet I did a while back. I was practicing my soldering, and pennies are cheap, so I domed some and soldered them together. They turned out so cute, I had to make something with them! I twisted some 20g wire together and made jumprings, then soldered them closed. The stone chips are jasper, I think. I've come a little further along with my soldering now, but it takes the practice.

I have a new pendant, but it's for the Spring Challenge at J.A.N. so I can't show you yet. It used all of my skills, and turned out better than I expected. The entries are due by the end of the month, so I'll show you then.

Well, I finally broke down and ordered some sterling silver sheet and tubing. I'm going to make some rings with it and so how it goes. If people will buy copper ones, maybe they'll buy silver. I've been wanting it, but didn't feel ready to try. Now I think I can do something with it. My hubby bought a cow, so I bought silver! LOL

May God bless each and every one of you, and may you all have a blessed day!

New Disc Cutter Earrings

Here are the earrings I told you about. They are just simple discs of brass, copper, and German silver, with copper and silver jumprings. I think they turned out really cute though.

I haven't posted everyday because hubby is home. Yesterday we went to a fish fry at his uncle's house. We've been married ten years, and I had never met him! I really liked him. He's fun to be around and we had a good time. My husband's Dad was killed in a car wreck 25 years ago, and he hasn't been around that side of his family much. That happens. I'm glad we went.

Well, I gotta go. See you all later.

Wedding Rings

Well, I finally got the sizes and the info for the wedding bands, so here they are! It didn't take to long to make them. She wanted hers to have a wavy band on top in the silver and his with brass on top. That way they go together, but are not identical. I think they turned out pretty good.

I haven't posted since Tuesday, because hubby came home from offshore, and I've been making the rings. Life has just been busy. Seems like everytime he comes home, somebody then wants me to make something! I also made a cute pair of earrings, so I'll show you them next time.

I hope you have all had a great week, and have a super weekend!

Big Ole Bug

I like bugs. Bugs are cool! I found this giant beetle on my porch tonight. The pictures aren't very good because I didn't have time to light him right and I just grabbed the camcorder and shot a few. Isn't he cute! He was so awesome! He was ready to fly away, so I took him back outside and let him go. He flew right back in the house! I caught him again, and this time I closed the door, and let him go. He has gone on his buggy way, but I enjoyed the visit!

I got my new tumbler today. Finally! Harbor Freight is slow with shipping, but usually cheap enough that it's worth the wait. I had fun with it today, just polishing stuff! I thought you were supposed to leave stuff in there for 6-8 hours, but no, 1-2 hours is apparently enough. That's good, because it's really hard to wait!

Now I'm waiting for my new bracelet mandrel. I found a stepped oval mandrel at Progresstools.com for $34.50. That's way cheaper than any others I've found. It's going to take a while getting here, too, because they have to make them. I'm slowly getting some jewelry tools. I've been working with whatever I could find that would work. I formed my cuffs on the back of a wooden kitchen chair! Use what ya got!

Ya'll have a great Wednesday!

No jewelry today

I was lazy today, and didn't make any jewelry! I don't have many days when I'm not working on something. A lot of the time I'll say I'm not going to do anything, and I almost always do it anyway. Not today. Well, mostly! I did get a new disc cutter, so I played with it some. I'm not going to tell you that it's a cheap one (even though it is!) because most everybody at J.A.N. doesn't like cheap tools! Especially disc cutters! But mine works fine. I punched out a few discs and it's great! So much better than using the saw or the snips. I just can't justify the price of a Pepe brand right now. Besides, those are really hard to find!

So today I'll show you the other love of my life. My TRUCK! It's a 1989 GMC. I've had it for 5 years now, and I recently got it painted. It is the original colors though, because I like it that way. Nobody else around here has one like it. I can't stand to meet a vehicle just like mine! I put rims on it shortly after I got it. The new grill, lights and rollpan (custom bumper) were put on when it was painted. I put the tonneau cover on the bed myself, about month ago. It was really easy, except for stretching the vinyl by myself. But I got it! I do love my truck!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Custom Wedding Band

I did something today I didn't think I could do. I soldered a ring band! I had just assumed I couldn't, so I never tried. Then yesterday a girl from Australia asked me if I could make her's and her fiance's wedding rings!
I almost said no, then I thought, "oh well, what the heck, I'll try it."At first I was holding it with pliers and the solder would NOT melt! No matter how long I heated it! Then I thought, "Idiot! The pliers are acting like a heat sink!" When I layed it down and tried, it WORKED! You can barely see the solder line, and I'm tickled pink! Even if they don't like it, I DO. I learned that I can do it! I think I would like the ring more with only one wrap, so more copper would show, maybe they will too. I am honored and amazed that they want me to do this!
These pics aren't the best, but I just finished it, and I couldn't wait for morning to photo it! I usually take pics in the morning, outside. The light's best then.
I hope you all had a beautiful weekend and have a wonderful week!

Men's Hardware Store Bracelet

Well, here it is! The man's bracelet.
It's made of iron rebar wire (hardware store) and braided copper wire. The smaller, shiny copper one is mine. I made it a good while ago, back when I'd never heard of Liver of Sulfer! The bigger one is cold LOS'd to give it a darker bronze color. Which finish do you prefer for a man's style? Shiny or bronzy? I kinda thought a man might like it better dark, but I really can't decide! Help! I would also like to know what sizes to make for men. I searched around, and some sites say a man's wrist size is 7", others say 7&3/4". This one is for a 7&1/2-8" wrist, though I guess a 7" could wear it, too! I guess I can just make a couple different sizes of whatever I come up with. I'm working out the design for another one now.
Ya'll have a great weekend!

Little Red Heart

I did finish the red heart! That's all I did though. I took the day off! My neck and shoulders have been giving me fits. Too much looking down I guess. My kitchen table isn't the best workbench in the world, but has to do for a little while longer. Today I was glad I was in the house. It got HOT outside, and the air conditioner is on! It's raining now so it will probably cool off again. I kinda hope so.

Today I've been working on a man's bracelet, so I'll let you see it when it's finished. I hope you all had a beautiful day and have a glorious tomorrow!

Some Simple Earrings

This is a pair of simple textured earrings that I made. I haven't sold any earrings yet. I guess people want bigger things.

Speaking of bigger things, I sold a copper cuff ring in a size 13! It looks like a baby's bracelet. I had been thinking of making some men's jewelry. Not a lot of people do handmade for men. The girl that ordered it said her husband found it on my Etsy, so I guess men look, too. I have some ideas, so we'll see what I can do!

I'm still working on a smaller heart necklace, in German silver. I might finish tonight! I've been working on it for days, but I keep having to stop and make orders. I'm not complaining, though. I like orders!

Have a great tomorrow, my blogger friends!

Turning failure into a success!

After seeing Chris Kerr's colored metal, I was ready to give it a try! I went and got gesso and turpentine, cut out my pieces and got started. It was a pendant I saw on Debra Weld's gallery, a double leaf. I was on the 3rd layer when the pencil scratched through the gesso. Okay, scraped it all off, started over, got a little farther, and scratched through AGAIN! One more time. It was going along really well, looking good, and guess what? You got it! Scratched through ! Then I said "Forget this!" and just made the pendant without the colored pencils, and it turned out really well!

I detailed the German silver leaf on top, gave it color with fire, and riveted it to the shiny copper base. I really like it! I hope you do, too.

I think I might try the colored pencils again, maybe. I have another idea for the Spring challenge at J.A.N., and it will need the color. Maybe I can master this. My hat's off to Chris for doing this so well!

You all have a wonderful day! God bless!

Copper Cuff Ring

Look! The bracelet had babies! Aren't they cute? I really like making these. They are so fun and easy. Much easier than the bracelet. I never would have guessed. I had to thank the girl at Etsy for suggesting a ring. I never would have thought to do it. I made a size 8 first, then today I made a 6. My size!! But they can be sized up a little, which works out great. That way I don't have to make as many.

I think now I will finally get around to trying the colored pencils on metal. I got the gesso and turp a week ago, but I've been to busy to do it. Maybe tonight, cause tomorrow is cleaning and laundry. No fun!

I hope you had a great day and a better tomorrow!

Stormy Friday

Today started out cloudy and warm. Boy, did that change fast. About 10:30 this morning I went to town. It was sprinkling a little then. I got about 5 miles from home and the bottom fell out! The air turned this bruised yellow color and the wind howled. I was only gone about 20 minutes, but when I started back home, I couldn't get here! There was a powerline across the road in town, then when I finally got through there, trees were down everywhere on my road. I had to go around the long way. Luckily, everything was fine at home, except no electricity for several hours. Then I found out it was a small tornado. It didn't actually touch down, but it came close! I am terrified of tornadoes and bad winds. I'm glad I wasn't here!

I didn't get anything done today, because it's hard to work in the dark! This is a pendant I made a while ago. It's the Chinese symbol for PEACE. It's a base of German silver with etched copper riveted on top.

I hope you all had a better day than mine!

Another Commission!

Well, I got another commission from Etsy today, and I have mixed feelings about it. I'm really happy that people like what I do, and want to wear it! But, I was kinda looking forward to working on something new. Oh well, it's just a ring, and shouldn't take long.

I've sold two of these copper cuffs already, and she wants a ring made like this. It really shouldn't be hard to do. I hope! I'll sure give it a try!

Great news! I saw the first hummingbird today. I ran in and fixed him a feeder to hang on the porch. I love to watch them, and I feed them every year. I have a male and a female now. Soon there will be many more!

I hope you all had a great day and wish you an even better one tomorrow!

Leaves

These are some fold formed little leaves I learned from Lisa, over at J.A.N. They are so simple to make, and look complicated! I love them! They are so much fun to do! The earrings are made of German silver. The others are brass. The necklace is called Winter Berries, cause that's what they remind me of.

I'm not doing much today. Making a little wire heart necklace for my daughter-in-law, cause my son said she loves my jewelry. She's so quiet and shy, she won't say much. She would never ask for one! I'm using German silver wire for hers, and it's so shiny and pretty. I know she'll love it.

Have a wonderful day!

Iron Heart Bracelet

YAY! I finished this last night and shipped it out today! It turned out better than I thought it would! It was kinda hard to do, but in the end, I guess it was worth it. I just hope that the customer is happy with it. That's most important.

My DH had an extra day at home this hitch, because they moved the rig back to Cameron. They were almost in Mexico! It was a bad time for commission work, because he doesn't like for me to work much when he's home. This time I did. He wants me to make and sell jewelry, just not while he's here! Now I'll have 2 weeks, and probably won't have anything I have to do. That's okay with me, I'm not crazy about having to do stuff, especially on schedule! It makes it seem to much like work!!

Have a beautiful day, everyone. May God bless you all!