Etsy Metal Finds

With the start of hurricane season, and the impending Hurricane Earl threatening the East Coast, it's no wonder nature's scary and destructive, albeit fascinating, phenomenon is on my mind.

The Hurricane

Obi Tidal Wave Buckle from Gami Works

Salvaged Hurricane Katrina Wood Frame by Secondline Frames

Vintage Hobnail Milkglass Hurricane from Anna and Roy

Splattering Raindrops of Hurricane Ike Photo by An Alliteration

Project Runway: Season 8: Episode 4 - Hats Off To You!

Hats Off To You!

Project Runway Challenge: In this episode, the challenge was to create a look inspired by a Philip Treacy hat. Watch the episode

The EtsyMetal Translation: Create a piece of jewelry to go with one of the Philip Treacy hats

Victoria Takahashi / Experimetal

This week I chose to use my dogs as my muse accessories and make them metal replicated Philip Treacy hats to wear. I fabricated these out of Copper using hollowforming techniques. I then painted, used a pink highlighter pen, glued some fur and feathers on and strapped them on the pups! Philip Teacy you are a hat god!

Inbar Bareket

Esther Eve / evemmetalsmith

I chose to do a necklace to compliment this hat and outfit, partially because the neckline on the dress really begs for a necklace, and partially because I'm waiting on my silver stock and didn't have enough silver to do earrings in the size that I wanted ;o) I tried to mimic the sort of see-through cross hatching in the hat (hard to see on the photo of the hat) but only suggested it on my piece because I didn't want to get carried away and do the whole thing. The lemon quartz in reality is almost the exact same green as the hat, my camera just wasn't picking up on it.

Kira Ferrer

I designed this bangle to be worn with this hat. The idea I had was to make something geometric, but also delicate, to compliment the futuristic, whimsical look of the hat.

Guest Submission:

idreamicanfly

Next Week: Episode 5

There is an "I" in Team

Concepts & Textiles

Project Runway Challenge: In this episode, the designers split into 2 teams (Team Military/Lace and Team Luxe) and each team designed a six piece collection for Fall 2010.

watch the episode

The EtsyMetal Challenge Translation: Create a piece choosing a concept and a textile from the same list the PR contestants had to chose from (the textile can be literal or implied):

Concepts:

minimalist

50's retro & lady-like shapes

menswear for women

military

Textiles:

gold or other metalics

camel

leopard or cheetah prints

plaid

lace

Due Date: Friday, September 3, 2010

~Make it work~

**guidelines for guest participants:**

Please read this every week as there may be small updates and changes. The pieces you submit must be pieces that are made specifically for that weeks challenge. Then post a link to your challenge creation in this weeks comment area, they will be retrieved as they come in before the deadline.

*We only are accepting guest submissions from our blog comment area at this time, insert your links there. Then please cross-post this to your Blog, Flickr, Etsy, etc. And tag them with "Project Runway Season 8 Episode 3." Currently we will post your name with a link and a picture of your piece on our blog. The deadline for guest submissions will be Friday at 6 pm, Pacific Standard Time. The new blog posts and the new challenge will go up the weekend after the new episode airs.

Charm Swap 6

Kathryn Riechert is playing with ideas...
"I've been thinking about my charm and I think at the moment I'm leaning towards something critter like, but I'm still playing around. Who knows how they will end up... At any rate, this is my playing so far, made out of vintage flatware"

two days later: "I really think this is what I want to do. I'm having so much fun figuring them out! I think there will a few different designs/animals, with several of each to reach the 22 charms."

I want them all :-) Kathryn!

Maria Whetman AKA fluxplay : "So here is the final design for the Etsy Metal charmswap series 6.
There are 3 little holes into which you have to try and get the 3 ballbearings into...not so easy on a concave surface.
This little fella is infact number 1 of 22. He is one inch across exactly (the maximum size allowed for the charms). So far, I have made all 21 of the remaining oxidised copper shells, some are lightly oxidised and some are heavily oxidised, all with the star texture buffed back to clean copper, then waxed to seal. I counted the little teeth on this charm and worked out that I have sawn out well over 900 teeth for the batch, but each charm shape only takes me 3 minutes to saw out, as I am super speedy with a saw. I have 21 more glass bevel discs, 63 more of the teeniest ballbearings you can get (3 per pod) and 21 jump rings made up to the correct gauge. I now need to make a further 21 of the decorative steel inserts (every single one will be different) made by recycling old tins, and set them into the casings, under the glass discs". 

So much fun !!!

I cannot wait for next week !!!

Etsy Metal Finds

I was browsing through Etsy drinking a refreshing glass of water which gave me an idea for a search. L'eau, agua, d'acqua, vatten, ... we all crave it, we're all made mostly of it, and I'm really wishing I could go visit a large body of it...

Water

Canal View Fine Art Photo by Lesley Sico

Vintage Water Glasses from Saffron Colored Pony

Water Cycle Illustration Tee Shirt by Isotope

Glass of Mist Art Card by Found Days

Project Runway: Season 8: Episode 3: "It's A Party"

It's a Party!

*see My Lifetime Project Runway Season 8 Episode 3VIDEO here.

The Project Runway Challenge: In this episode, the challenge was to design an outfit using party store supplies.

The EtsyMetal Translation: Please make a piece of jewelry that incorporates or is inspired by party store supplies!

Andrea Ring

I wanted to mostly use the party store supplies on this necklace with minimal metal. This piece contains a plastic tablecloth,cupcake papers, raffia ribbon and copper wire/chain.

Inbar Bareket

Let party ! We need some balloons !!!!
Fine silver, sterling silver, blue topaz, peridot, citrine, garnet and amethyst.

Stacey Hansen/Wildflower Designs

silicone muffin tin
tube set sapphire
sterling silver

Victoria Takahashi/Experimetal

For this challenge I wanted so bad for this excuse to go to the party store which is very close to my house, but I never made it! So instead I fabricated a little party hat out of copper and paint. And since I started the RAD challenge again I am in ring mode, so a finger hat felt appropriate for this weeks piece!

Guest Submission:

idreamicanfly

Next Week: Episode 4

Hats Off To You!

Project Runway Challenge: In this episode, the challenge was to create a look inspired by a Philip Treacy hat. Watch the episode

The EtsyMetal Translation: Create a piece of jewelry to go with one of the Philip Treacy hats

Due Date: Friday August 27th 6pm

The Hats: The link below will get you to the page where all the challenge looks and hats are. There is a 1-13 at the lower right side of the first photo to scroll through them. Please let us know which hat you are using for your inspiration!

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway/season-8/rate-the-runway/episode-4#id=1

**guidelines for guest participants:**

Please read this every week as there may be small updates and changes. The pieces you submit must be pieces that are made specifically for that weeks challenge. Then post a link to your challenge creation in this weeks comment area, they will be retrieved as they come in before the deadline.

*We only are accepting guest submissions from our blog comment area at this time, insert your links there. Then please cross-post this to your Blog, Flickr, Etsy, etc. And tag them with "Project Runway Season 8 Episode 3." Currently we will post your name with a link and a picture of your piece on our blog. The deadline for guest submissions will be Friday at 6 pm, Pacific Standard Time. The new blog posts and the new challenge will go up the weekend after the new episode airs.

Charm Swap 6

Our team charm swap deadline time is September 30,2010 - That's not so far away....
I am a bit impatient to see what we will come with.... It must be gorgeous collection of charms!

Sarah Breivis of Juju by Sarah is showing us this week what to wait for !

Sarah: " started working on some "pod" or "bean" charms. I first did one with a pierced out 'cracked' look, but then decided to go with the holes for sanity sake.
I plan on gold plating the charms, then brushing it off , and blackening the exterior. I did this for the first sample, but have not done the plating etc on the one I will be doing."

Gorgeous!!!! Thank you Sarah!!!

Can't wait......

Etsy Metal Finds

School Days

My kids went back to school this week. If the kids in your neighborhood haven't already started, they will soon! I dread having to fork out the money to buy all the needed school supplies, but it doesn't seem so bad if I can get things that are pretty, functional, and might last a while (maybe until next year!)

Recycled Desk Drawer Chalkboard by Half Pint Salvage

Happy Lamb from Crumblehouse

Personalized Lunch box/Thermos Set by The Cherry Blossom Paper Company

Carry All Bag by The Medium Control Design Company

WOA: Episode 6: Charm Necklace Listed!

Hi all, we just wanted to give you a bit of a heads up as we've just listed the Charm Necklace from WOA episode 6 in our

EtsyMetal team shop.

"Thank You!"

Work of Art Challenge: Episode 8: "Natural Talents"

Episode 9: "Natural Talents"

Bravo TV Aired: Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
The remaining four artists head out of bustling New York City to the quiet refuge of a nature preserve. Here, they are invited to draw inspiration from their surroundings – exploring the landscape and gathering natural materials to incorporate into their piece.


EtsyMetal Jewelry Translation: This week we are asking our members to take a natural element and either use it for inspiration or physically use it in a piece of jewelry!

Stacey Hansen / Wildflower Designs

Stacey says, "this weeks challenge revolved around natural elements. i felt this was a little unfair because i tend to use flowers/leaves and natural stones in many of my pieces. so, i opted to take the challenge another direction. i have been riding bikes with my 6 year old almost daily and we have been passing a pile of shattered glass. without fail, i find myself looking again and again and the reflections and pale teal color. i made some of my flowers and bezel set some of this shattered glass. it feels right, a little urban secret that most will not recognize as shattered glass."

Kira Ferrer

Kira says, "I found this limpet shell while walking on the beach. I liked the way the shell was naturally smoothed and worn by the ocean and the sand."

Victoria Takahashi / Experimetal

Victoria says, "I am always inspired by the ocean and the beauty of its otherworldy mysteries. This particular muscle shell was my dinner last week, it was very very delicous, and the inside had a wonderful luminescence I tried to capture on the back side view of this piece. I filled the interior with Resin to transform the otherwise fragile shell into solidity and strength. This piece is fabricated out of Sterling Silver, Resin, Shell, Pearl and Labradorite."

Inbar Bareket

Inbar says, "Sterling silver, Yellow gold, Labradorite, antler" 

Thomasin Durgin / MetalRiot

Tomi says, "This ring began as something quite different. The lovely Kathryn Cole sent me some tarballs that she collected from the Florida coast. One was a perfect crescent shape, and I planned to set it beside the urchin - unfortunately it crumbled as I placed it into the setting. So I cut a piece of wood and added some copper inlay and a tung oil finish. The urchin was a gift from the wonderful Laurie Brown."

Congratulations to WOA winner Abdee!

We have decided not to do a grande finale,

 so this will be our last entry for this first season of Bravo TV's Work of Art.

It was great fun! Thank you team for participating with your fabulous pieces, and thank you to our readers!

Project Runway: Season 8: Episode 2: "Larger than Life"

Episode 2: "Larger than Life"

Air: 8.5.10
My Lifetime, Thursdays, 9pm PST.

The Project Runway Challenge: The designers were asked to create a look that defines the Marie Claire woman. The winning look will be featured on a "billboard" in Times Square.
EtsyMetal Translation: for this challenge we made mini billboards, we all were asked to use a base of 1 x 2" inches of any material and to then build the piece on or around this rectangle shape!

Episode 2:

"Larger than Life!"

Andrea Ring

Andrea says, "My piece is made from sterling,copper and tin from a Cafe Du Monde coffee can. This one threw me for a bit and I didn't actually come up with my idea until the last possible minute!"

Kira Ferrer

Stacey Hansen/Wildflower Designs

Stacey says, " i thought this would be a perfect opportunity to add some text to my work, especially since the challenge revolved around billboards. i knew i wanted a quote related to hope, but i did not want some overly long or nauseating. i felt like this was the perfect quote for my flower related pieces. the accents are monochromatic featuring two blue/gray sapphires and one blue topaz. i am really pleased with this piece and would love to explore more text with my pieces. however, lack of silver will mean that future pieces are much smaller for a while."

Inbar Bareket

NEXT weeks Episode 3:

"It's a Party!"

*see My Lifetime Project Runway Episode 3 VIDEO here.
The Project Runway Challenge: In this episode, the challenge was to design an outfit using party store supplies.
The EtsyMetal Translation: Please make a piece of jewelry that incorporates or is inspired by party store supplies!

**guidelines for guest participants:**

Please read this every week as there may be small updates and changes. The pieces you submit must be pieces that are made specifically for that weeks challenge. Then post your links in this weeks comment area, they will be retrieved as they come in before the deadline.

*We only are accepting guest submissions from our blog comment area at this time, insert your links there. Then please cross-post this to your Blog, Flickr, Etsy, etc. And tag them with "Project Runway Season 8 Episode 3." Currently we will post your name with a link and a picture of your piece on our blog. The new deadline for guest submissions will be Friday at 6 pm, Pacific Standard Time. The new blog posts and the new challenge will go up the weekend after the new episode airs.

Charm Swap 6

A reminder for what is Charm Swap 6 (CS6).

Etsymetal street team is making twice a year project called Charm swap. twenty members are making 22 charms each - one for each swap member and one to be sold in the EtsyMetal shop along with a Necklace (that can be a bracelet) that features all of the charms. Sales from this swap will go to a charitable arts organization, yet to be determined. 

This week we have 2 new entries for CS6.

Kathleen Bostick/ Studiometalsmith

Kathy: "here is a teaser. I'm just beginning designing, cutting paper and making little models."

It's going to be gorgeous !!!! 

*****

L. Sue Szabo is giving us the whole process of her gorgeous charms....

 

 

The Pattern sheet

"I then made the half heart pieces, filed the angles to meet and soldered them together."

"Woo ooh! that part's done."

"Then I sanded them flat and soldered them down to the backplate (the photoetched piece)."

 

"Then they were all cut out. they have since been filed and jump rings soldered on. will post more pictures later- still have final clean up and resin with sanding and patina to do. So far, so good. "

Isn't it exciting ? I can't wait to see what we are going to see on the next few weeks !!! 

Project Runway: Season 8: Episode 1: "And Sew it Begins!"

Episode 1: "And Sew it Begins!"
Air: 7.29.10
My Lifetime, Thursdays, 9pm PST.

The Project Runway Challenge: The designers had to use a garment from another designer's suitcase to create a new look.
For our EtsyMetal Translation: for this challenge we traded scraps and randomly drew names, then we mailed our scraps to another team member and then they created a new fabulous piece of jewelry from it!

Please see all the amazingly fun transformations below!

Nina Gibson's scrap - Andrea Ring creates

Nina says, "I tried to pick out some interesting bits. I didn't clean anything. The mess of wire is fine silver and the bezel wire, but everything else is sterling."

Andrea says, "Using scraps from Nina. I even used the the little nest of fine silver by balling it up for his nose. This piece is titled "Roger Goes To The Circus". I'm so excited to see what everyone else did,this was great fun!"

Stacey Hansen's scraps - Nina Gibson creates

Nina says, "I used one of her cute enamel mini earrings and the small wide band, I added a stamped silver top and a little blue enamel disc to make the earring stand out. I wanted to use more of the earrings, but ran out of time. This was a fun challenge!"

Andrea Ring's scraps - Kira Ferrer creates

Andrea says, "I've had this piece around for quite some time, was one of the first things I did after getting my hydraulic press. (nickel and copper,sterling rivet) The web pieces are sterling and I just had to throw in some street sign!"

Kira says, "Andrea sent me a great collection of scrap including some green aluminum sign. Sawing and filing the sign was fun. So lightweight and a lot softer than the other metals. And, the paint really holds up, doesn't chip off when you file the edges."

Victoria's scraps - Stacey creates

Victoria says, "I tend to take handfuls of my clean scrap and melt them in piles. Why you ask? Because its fun to melt things and it also keeps it easier to save in chunks for refining or casting. And besides, sometimes you can get interesting blobs!" 

Stacey says, "when i got experimetal's scraps, i really liked them just the way they were. they made me think of lunarscapes or meteorites. i chose to make a ring with a couple of tube set garnets as accents."

Kira's scraps - Victoria creates

Kira says, "Pieces of sterling silver water castings and some scraps of an abandoned project. The water castings are about 1/2" across. The triangles are about 1 1/2" long."

(me) Victoria says, "Oh I had a hard start with these, I put it off so long thats why this blog post is so late, and I realllly apologize for this!  The day before they were due I just sat myself down and started hammering on the water castings, I was gonna just see what happened as I went along. I then ran them through the rolling mill, I felt like, worse case scenario I would melt them down and cast them into something new, my back up plan! I kept going and then I began to see beautiful patterns in the flattened buttons of silver and then it metamorphasized into what you see above, you can see the back side cutout patterns here. The two pair of earrings I decided to have funfunfun with, I just saw the "Oh my God it's a Double Rainbow" video on youtube. And I cannot stop cracking up, I wanted to use all her scrap so I just had to carve out some little rainbows from them, and here they are :D hee hee, I hope you watch the video link, it takes a bit to load but its worth it if you want a good laugh! Supposedly no drugs were involved in the video, he was just having a very very special moment!

 I want to share a bit, I just want to add that all these EtsyMetal jewelry challenges are a great exploration tool and technique that I do not use enough on my own accord, but when it works you usually can discover something new about your process which then can turn into something truly and fully gratifying, which luckily in this case this has happened for me. Kira's scrap made me explore something I would never of predesigned in my mind and executed, she gave me a reason to play and explore, thanks EM team & Kira!

NEXT weeks Episode 2: "Larger than Life!"

*see My Lifetime VIDEO here.

The Project Runway Challenge: The designers were asked to create a look that defines the Marie Claire woman. The winning look will be featured on a "billboard" in Times Square.

The EtsyMetal Translation: To make a mini billboard, use a base of 1 x 2" inches of any material and build your piece on or around this rectangle shape!

See you next week! Thanks for reading our team blog, hope you enjoyed it!