Me and the Boy - a Little Family Time

US Golden Dollar  & Quarter  Dollar Coin Rings

I've been busy but my muse has been quiet. I can make while not entirely "woohoo I so want to do this", but I prefer the woohoo. It keeps everything fun, which is why I do this. My stress levels have been higher than I thought they were I guess, I pushed hard at the beginning of the year and I enjoyed that, but I underestimated the amount of down time my muse was going to require afterwards.

So you can understand how happy I was when I told my son I was planning to make some rings over the weekend and he piped up with, "Can I make some too? I still want to learn to make some coin rings. "

And that is just what we did!

First we picked out some coins to use. He has wanted to turn his golden presidential dollar coins into rings for quite some time now. We also picked up a Quarter and a Mexican Peso. I have a Casino token around here somewhere I had planned on using, but somehow it got missed. Maybe next time!

Then we gathered up the tools needed, he went downstairs and picked up a drill and I pulled out my punch set. Marked the centers of the coins and got our holes started. Not without casualty though, I apparently opened my punch set upside down so Alex used it that way and mushroomed one of my punches. oops, ah well that's how you learn ....

Forming the ring on the mandrel.

We used a hammer on the quarter and gave it a textured finish that is really pretty and then switched over to wood and leather mallets for the Peso and the Dollar so we wouldn't destroy the details of the coins.

Peso Ring

We only set out to make them to fit his fingers so there are things we would probably do differently if we needed to size for a specific size smaller than that but it was a great learning experience for us both. And he hasn't taken any of them off, except for washing hands etc, since we made them.

Wearin o' the rings, just sounds good doesn't it :)  Looks good too.

That's how we spent our weekend. How'd you spend yours? Feel free to tell me in the comments or on my page on FB. I'd love to hear from you!

Til next time!

Thanks for stoppin by!

My First Spinner/Fidget Ring

 

It's been a torching kind of week around the studio as I've been working on a pair of commissioned earrings. Sometimes when I get to a point where I'm really happy with the progression of a design I need to take a step back and work on something else. Sounds a little backwards doesn't it?

Honestly when I'm really happy I feel the need to psyche myself up to take the next step when it involves the flame. Fire melts metal. I know this because that's how I make all those balled headpins.

This weekend as I psyched myself up I made several rings, a couple twisted copper rings and my first spinner ring. I have a chart around here somewhere that gives lengths and ratios and all that really necessary stuff for getting the proper fit but I didn't pull that out, noooo I had to wing it! Which really isn't as bad as it sounds, I have a pretty good memory I just didn't remember the difference in length between the wide band and the spinner band so the first band was too small and the second tried to scare me by sliding off as I checked the flare haha! Bad spinner!

Even though I managed to split the seam a little, just as I was finishing up flaring the band, I am really happy with the results. Alex has claimed this one for his own, I wore it for awhile and it really is pretty comfy to wear and since I do fidget with my rings it was right up my alley.

What about those earrings you ask? Well, my fear of melting something is actually well founded. I got the first earring put together and started soldering the second. I got too aggressive with the flame and poof she melted. So now instead of having a pair of gorgeous earrings, I have a very cool pendant. I'll start pair number two here in just a few. Plan B involves no flames, I think I'll work on those first and then maybe I'll come back to Plan A. After all, a full set would be really pretty!

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We'll see you next time!

July's Birthstone = Ruby

Here's hoping those of you in the US enjoyed your long weekend this past week! This month's birthstone is RUBY! My middle child's birthstone, I love red it's an exciting color, her not so much lol Then again Peridot is mine and I rather like Ruby - grass is always greener isn't it? or redder as the case may be.

The glowing Ruby shall adorn,

Those who in July are born;

Then they'll be exempt and free

From love's doubts and anxiety.

Turquoise and Onyx were the recognized birthstones up until 1912 when it became the Ruby.

I did not know that! I just assumed it had always been Ruby. The kiddo might  be on to something there.

I have a Ruby in Zoisite artisan cut cab, but we're waiting for my Muse to whisper it's inspiration to me for its design. Pretty little stone with it's greens and reds.

In the meantime a Ruby Red treasury for you to enjoy.

Ruby Reds on Etsy

Brass Filigree Ring w/ Ruby Red Heart

Drops of Red

January = Garnet

February = Amethyst

March = Aquamarine

April = Diamond

May = Emerald

June = Pearl

July = Ruby

August = Peridot

September = Sapphire

October = Opal

November = Topaz

December = Turquoise

Thanks for Stoppin' by!

We'll see ya next time!

of Saws and Spoons

Some months ago I bought myself a jewelers saw and had fully intended to play right away. But life, as it sometimes does, got in the way and the saw was put away in my tool drawer.

Paige is in 3D design this semester and needed some tools for a wire sculpture project. When I showed her where to find my tools and reminded her which were off limits for her project, my new saw quietly said Hi there! Remember me?

Paige and I had a few things to pick up and headed off to Wally World, while there I plunked down 94 cents for some stainless spoons. Figuring I could play with the saw and if I mangled the spoon well at least it wasn't antique cutlery!

First spoon up snapped. It didn't bend in a graceful arc at all, it bent at a hard 90 and then fell apart, oops!

So I break out the torch, obviously a little annealing is in order. Heat spoon number two to a soft glowing red all along the handle. That should do the trick! Sit down to my desk and grab the spoon with my right hand to adjust it for the pliers. OUCH that's HOT!

I've been playing with fire for years and still somehow managed to forget to quench my spoon. There I am looking at a perfectly scalloped scorch mark on my index finger and thumb, darn it! Walk into the kitchen, quench the spoon, set it down on the welders mat, and put some lavender oil on my fingers.

With some force I'm able to wrap the spoon around the mandrel. Rather lopsided and not at all graceful, it is a start. "Look!" I show the kids. The bowl of the spoon is still attached and they ask if I'm working on putting a knot in the spoon and offer free spoon bending if I just buy some ice cream! sigh

With children thoroughly unimpressed I pull out the saw and cut off the bowl end of the spoon. Slip it back onto the mandrel and estimate a current size and a desired size. With a few sizes in between those numbers I grab the hammer and start the process of convincing the handle it wants to be round and a much smaller size than it currently is.

When I was in high school my favorite ring was a spoon ring. After much coercing and a little pain I think a spoon ring may become a favorite yet again. It's a little "worn around the edges" and stands an inch tall but it wears every bit as comfortably as the one I had way back when.





It took snapping a couple blades but I think I've got the tension down and can hear the difference in the sound as the blade starts to dull. I'm really looking forward to continued playtime and you can look forward to seeing more sawn pieces in the future. Maybe...... even some pierce work :D

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See ya next time!

One Dragon's Eye Ring Finally Finished!

I finally finished it! Alex has waited very patiently for this day .... sometimes not so patiently, but he's a good kid and his patience has paid off.

I had finished his pendant and was almost finished with the ring when I received a custom order for another ring. It came out great, my customer was pleased but Alex's ring had been set aside and sometimes it's harder to begin again than it is to start.

I had sized Alex's finger and checked the size of the ring several times. I did not however even once check to see if the sizer and my mandrel agreed as to what that size was. When I finally was ready to start back up I checked size on his finger and it was waaaaaay too big! Set aside again until I could figure out a way to size it back down, the shank was already wrapped.

Alan's surgery is tomorrow and I haven't been feeling creative but was looking for something to keep my hands busy. There it was, Alex' ring sitting there on the desk, waiting to be finished. I've always said the blessing of having several projects in the works is even if you aren't feeling creative you can work at finishing something. So I picked it up, finished weaving the little piece that was half done, tucked it into place, turning the ring over while doing so. The fix became so obvious I wondered why I hadn't thought of it sooner and within the hour the ring was finished and fit just as if it were made for him! LOL

He's wearing it today and was calling it his class ring as he walked out the door. A very custom class ring!

A reminder of what his pendant looks like.



And the matching ring!



Side view



Thanks for stopping by! We'll see you next time!
Dana