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!

Work of Art Challenge: Episode 8: "Opposites Attract"

Episode 8: Opposites Attract

Bravo TV Aired: July 28, 2010

The artists are paired and must create works about opposing forces: Heaven and Hell, Male and Female, Order and Chaos. New York artist notorious for his graphic paintings, Ryan McGinnes, sits on the judging panel.

EtsyMetal Jewelry Translation: For this episode we are asking our team members to make a piece that depicts both opposing forces, pick one of the three pairings! And below are the pieces they came up with!

Stacey Hansen / Wildflower Designs

Stacey says, "this week i had a hard time deciding which one to select.

i first planned to make a silly pair of male/female earrings, but then opted for heaven/hell.

since i am not watching the show, i am not sure exactly how to interpret the pairs. i pierced angel wings and halo vs devil tail and horns on the back of the pendant. i wanted to illustrate the black and white thinking of many. the stone featured in the front of the pendant much more describes my actual afterlife beliefs. it is black and white (light and dark) but also has sprinkles of the opposite colors within each larger block. i do not believe there is a one size fits all heaven and hell option that we will face after our death.

so, there it is in a nut shell. the pendant will be part of a necklace, but i couldn't decide on the chain and bead options so this is the almost finished product."

Next weeks Episode 9: "Natural Talents"

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!

Please check on back to see what is created for Episode 9!
Scheduled to be posted on Thursday, August 12th!
(view eppie 9 video here)

August Callenge - "Musical instruments"

Our team challenge for August, due to July 31st was "Musical instruments"

We have two entries this month

Erga 

 Inbar Bareket

Our September challenge due to August 30 is....

"Inspired by Ancient Jewelry"

Etsy Metal Finds

Crepe Myrtles

One of my favorite things about spring and summer are the constant colorful foliage that fill my yard and my neighbors yards. I have the wonderful privilege of living across the street from two very large crepe myrtles that have recently come into bloom. So, it's not a wonder why the ruffly, pink flowers are on my mind...

Quiet Embrace oil painting by Sizarah

Romantic Wrap Top in Thai Pink by Lirola

Pink Flower Shoe Clip by The Shop at No 144

Myrtles on Copper photograph by Rovinato

Blog Carnival 08.02.10 "Food for Thought"

photo by experimetal

This month's installment for the blog carnival is a fun one! Make sure to check out everyone's posts!

Food for Thought:
What do you eat? What won't you eat? Do you suggest any interesting pairings? What is your favorite studio snack? Optional: Include a favorite recipe.

ninaG

vic - experimetal

wildflowerdesigns

tomi - metalriot

ann hartley

cynthia del guidice

caitlyn/discomedusa

Inbar Bareket

Lauren/Creative Dexterity

Maria/Fluxplay Jewellery

Beth Cyr

photo by Lauren Anabela