3xR Week 5

Another week of the 3xR challenge, another trip down memory lane. This week I pulled out the leftovers from a pendant I created during a workshop two years ago.

The silver sheet that I cut the tabbed back from was so cool I hung on to it and I've pulled it out more than once hoping to be inspired.

This time I figured it out.

A pair of very dangerous looking posts. 

Check out the rest of the Flickr 3xR (reduce, recycle, reuse) challenge to see what the other artists are up to, or stop by my Etsy shop to take a closer look at these earrings.

Thanks for reading! 

I'm melting.... 3xR Week 4

Every time I'm around something melting, or talk about something melting, or think about something melting I hear the wicked witch in my head. That is exactly what I heard as I overheated a piece a few months ago and in my frustration let it melt all the way into a ball. It helped. It also helped to let the blob plop off into the pumice that lines my soldering pan knowing that some sort of interesting form would emerge.

Kinda looks like a piece of used silver chewing gum. As I rummaged through my scrap bin this week I came upon this little nugget and decided it was time to turn my mistake into something better. I kept looking and found the end of some silver chain and a few purple beads.

I drilled a couple of holes, balled up some wire, and added the beads.

Much better.

Check out more of the Flickr 3xR challenge to see what everyone else is up to and visit this piece in my Etsy shop if you are so inclined. 

Thanks for reading!

The Eco-Friendly challenge continues

It's already week three of the Flickr 3xR challenge! Time is flying! And I am on top of it. Probably because I am still so excited about this challenge. I love everything about it. Being kind to the earth, being kind to myself and my studio by clearing out some clutter, the transformation from a pile of cast offs to a new and lovely object ready to wear. I could go on. This week I continued my exploration of the eyelet lace scrap, but this time I wanted to go bigger, so I rummaged through my general copper scrap bin as well and came up with a lovely sheet of copper that had been used to test out a texturing hammer and already had some other bits cut out for who knows what.

 

The copper wasn't quite long enough for what I had in mind, so I cut two half inch strips and soldered them together to create the base of a bracelet. Then I trimmed up, filed and sanded the silver scrap and moved it around about a million times before I settled on placement.

I like how some of the texture shows through on the top of the cuff adding to its distressed look, but what I really love is the hidden texture on the inside of the cuff. So much so that I even signed this piece. I know, I know, I should sign them all, but I don't. I tend to save it for the special pieces.

This cuff and the other 3xR pieces are available in my Etsy shop. Lucky for someone I made this bracelet a bit too small for myself, otherwise it would be staying right here with me! 

You can check out the whole 3xR group over on flickr and see how the other artists are utilizing their scrap or clearing out their stashes. Join in if you like. The more the merrier!

Thanks for reading!

3xR 2014 Flickr Challenge

The new yearly Flickr Challenge is already under way and this year it's all about being Eco-friendly! 3xR=Reduce, Recycle, Reuse! The constraints are a little more relaxed this year with the option to take on a daily, weekly, monthly, or whatever goal. The one one rule being that we must use what we have. I'm going for weekly, but we shall see.

One thing is for sure, I am really excited about this challenge. For my first two pieces I revisited a style I explored last year while creating for our local Annual Junque Art Show.

  

I reused scrap from cutting out eyelet lace pieces and the piercings from setting cabochons to create these asymmetric silver posts. 

Similarly, I utilized the left overs from cutting out copper blossom posts and setting cabs to create these copper and silver dangles. When lined up next to each other the shadow of the missing copper blossom can be clearly seen. 

I can't wait to see how this challenge informs my work and the work of all the other participants. You can follow along or join in here: 3xR Flickr Group.

Thanks for reading!