Time Saving Tips - Get Oraganized! (part 2)

Now what to do with all those burs, bits, stamps, punches, wires, sheets, sandpaper, ...*breath*... pliers, mandrels, cutters, et cetera?
And how much time would you save if you knew where they all were?

Cosmo's Moon's kitchen knife strip.

Magnets are my favorite idea to keep up with anything made from a ferrous metal. You can find strips made for the purpose here, or you could get one designed for kitchens here.

Stamp's strips organize pliers.

Here's another great tip:
organize spools of wire, sheet metals and sandpapers in filing systems.

Kathryn Riechert's files for papers and metals.

You can find different filing systems in any office supply store, but here are some options from Etsy:

Industrial Vintage Tall Metal File from The Lovelys

File Tabs from Bella Creation

Vintage Office Organizer from Bluebell

See you next time for tips on organizing your business - from spreadsheets to shipping!

Contributors: Bijougirl Designs, Nina Dinoff, Stamp, Kathryn Riechert, ESDesigns, DuckDuckGoose, Cynthia DelGiudice, Sudlow, Maggie J, Bloom Studios, Nina Gibson Designs

Etsy Metal News 6.26.09

Green and Champagne Diamond Three Stone Ring by stamp

Hello again! Here is some Friday news from our members:

Amanda of bijougirldesigns will have a booth at the Walden Artisan Market on Eastland Avenue in Nashville, TN this weekend, the 27th and 28th.

If you're in or near Athens, GA, don't forget to stop by and see Beth of bcyrjewelry at Athfest this weekend - Friday the 26th through Sunday the 28th.

And KathrynRiechert will be at Freedom Fest in Ridgeville, SC this weekend. Stop on by and have a look!

And a big congrats to Clare of stamp and Beth of bcyrjewelry, who were featured in this week's Storque article about right-hand rings! Yahoo!

Bijougirl Designs = Amanda Conley

Little Tang and Coral Necklace

Amanda Conley is the talented artist behind Bijougirl Designs. She is another one of our newer Etsy Metal members...yet she has been been active in our private forums and is a regular contributing author on this blog. I have recently had the honor to meet her and her enthusiasm is contagious. We are proud to have her on our team!

1. Where do you live, and where are you from?
I was born and raised in Nashville, TN and I still live here with my husband and three kiddos.

2. How did you get started working with metal?
I met my husband while majoring in fine art in college. He's still doing the whole painting thing, and it's going well for him, so I guess I turned to metal so I wouldn't be directly competing and we could both be artists but be doing different things.

3. What are a few of your favorite pieces at the moment?
My favorite things to do are birds and flowers and nature related things. This is one of my favorite necklaces right now:

Lovebirds Necklace

and I'm in love with this ring:

Little Flower Amethyst Ring

4. What inspires you (artists, objects, interests)?

There is so much that sparks my imagination. I can hardly focus on anything because I'm always thinking about which jewelry piece I'm going to make next. I think I'm most inspired when I'm at church or out in nature, though.

5. Do you have any other artistic interests?
I used to really love painting and sculpture, but I haven't really done any of that since my kids were born. Maybe one day I'll have time to everything again!

You can find more of Amanda's work in her Etsy shop Bijougirl Designs and read her musings on her blog. You can also see her husband, Seth Conley's paintings here.

Composition 4029 by Seth Conley.

Etsy Metal Finds

Go Ride A Bike!

1. Pink and Black Bike Basket Liner by Saralynnmo

2. Wood Helmet by Bellehelmets

3. bike bag ... TopTube VeloPocket - black and white oilcloth by HamboneDesigns

4. Gold and Purple Swirl - Couture Bicycle Streamers by CityStreamers

Time Saving Tips - Get Organized

I like to be super organized to combat my severe right brain-ed-ness. But alas, I fall short most of the time. I feel sure that if could organize things just right I would save oh, so much time in my studio. No more time wasted searching...searching...searching...

That's my studio, by the way - Oh, to shame...

I asked members of the EM team to show me their favorite methods for organizing their space and many of their ideas gave me tons of ideas for my studio (which is in need of a major overhaul.)

Storage - Clare Stoker/Stamp

A major part of organizing any studio space is storage. You can find great basic storage bins here, here, here and here....oh, and here.

Or try finding more unique things to store all your bits and pieces:

Nina Gibson's card catalog storage system

Here are some more unconventional storage solutions:


Next time we'll talk about specific solutions for storing tools, wire, sandpaper and more. Stay tuned...



Contributors: Bijougirl Designs, Nina Dinoff, Stamp, Kathryn Riechert, ESDesigns, DuckDuckGoose, Cynthia DelGiudice, Sudlow, Maggie J, Bloom Studios, Nina Gibson Designs

Weekly Review - Alligator Skin

I love this stuff. I only got it recently, but have quickly found that it that it helps to protect my fingers in just the way I need. I was hesitant about getting it because I really like to be able to 'feel' everything. It took a little experimenting to find what was most comfortable for me - wrapped enough to protect, but not too much to lose all sensation. I use it mostly when I am finishing up ring castings. Its great for gripping when sawing off sprues. Its nice to know that if I slip, my naked finger won't get cut, and the slight stickiness of the 'gator skin help to hold on to the ring as well.

When I'm finishing the insides of the rings, they quickly heat up. At least with my fingers a little protected, I can grind/sand/polish for longer before I have to move on to a second ring to let the first one cool down. Not only are my little fingers protected from cuts and burns, it also helps save some time! Before I used it, at the end of a finishing day my fingers would be so sensitive from essentially being slowly burned for hours. Now they are just fine! I've seen photos where they wrap it all the way down past the top two knuckles. I didn't like that as much, so I just make little finger tips. That way I can easily slide them off if I need to. I got mine from Rio Grande, and Gesswein carries it too.

Etsy Metal News 6.19.09

Tree Hugger Gear Necklace by CosmosMoon

Wow! There is so much news this week from our members. Here are the highlights, below.

Maureen of CosmosMoon will be showing summer jewelry at Arts Marketplace, 40 W Broadway in Tucson through the end of July. It's the first show of a new arts initiative in Tucson. She is also planning a trip to New England where she will be visiting with local NE metalsmiths and blogging about the visits--so far she is scheduled to visit with Boris Bally, Chris Ploof, Susan Sarantos, Claire Sanford and Cynthia Eid.

Today is the last day for a blog giveaway that Ashley of ashleyjewelry is having simultaneously with Megan Mucci of Harrilu. Ashley is giving away a necklace on Megan's blog, and Megan is giving away a tshirt on Ashley's blog.

Su from QuercusSilver will be at h@ndmade Winchester on July 5th in England. It's the third craft sale organised by some lovely UK Etsy makers.

Danielle of daniellejewelry will be exhibiting at the American Artisan Festival in Nashville, TN. The festival runs from Friday, June 19 - Sunday June 21.

Laura of tangerinetreehouse will be selling at the Solstice Celebration at the Long Beach Community Gardens (10th & Loma) on Sunday, June 21, 1-6pm.

Andes of andescruz is having a HUGE summer sale! Check out her Etsy shop to see what's on sale. And don't forget to check out her Etsy photo shop called jadephoto.

Lisa of lpjewelry is having a weekend overstock sale. Head on over and see what's on sale in her shop!

Jesse of jessedanger will be at SoWa, Boston's original outdoor weekly artisan market, this weekend in Boston, Sunday the 21st.

Beth of bcyrjewelry will be at the open-air artist market Athfest in Athens, GA June 26-28.

And last but not least, Nina from ninadinoff will be participating in the Radical Jewelry Makeover which raises money for Ethicalmetalsmiths.org. Anyone in the Penland, NC area can come to the auction on July 2 at Penland.

Mokume and Rose Gold Garnet Ring by jessedanger