Etsy Metal Studio Tour

"EtsyMetal Blog Carnival"
Topic: "Etsy Metal Studio Tour"
Show us where you work!
Describe what you love about your work space and/or any changes you would like to make in the future. 


I have a home studio. I live in the country, in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. I love where I live, and I love what I do. My studio is a wonderful place to work in. I think the best part is its location. I am surrounded by inspiring things outside. Anything from landscape, sky, plants, and animals. I often brings little treasures I find outside. Anything from a feather, to a seed-pod, to a dry branch. 

My workbench is a long countertop my husband bought from an old general store in town which was being remodeled.  It is beautiful solid wood with moldings. It is the perfect height for sawing, but too high for just about everything else. I usually end up doing most of my work standing, so I am planning on buying a tall chair right now, or I might add an extra table, standard height, to the side. 











I have a bookcase filled with all sorts of books and magazines. Art, design, and jewelry technique books are what I have within easy reach for reference and inspiration. There is a desk with my computer and printer on the opposite wall of the workbench. There is also an Ikea modular piece of furniture where I keep all my boxes, tissue paper and envelopes for shipping and an amplifier with speakers for the computer. 


I have a beautiful little shelf on top of my workbench that our friend Tom made while he was visiting us from the States. It's very convenient because I can put smaller things like jars and small containers so they are visible and within easy reach. He also made me a really nice bench pin and a wooden block to organize my pliers. My father in law made me a wooden organizer for my files which I keep inside my rolling toolbox. All these things are super important for me because I tend to be very unorganized. I can't imagine my workspace being more chaotic than it is, but I know it can!

So, besides the table or tall chair, I would love to own a rolling mill. Better overall lighting and a good heating system wouldn't hurt either. Of course, now I remember, because it's starting to get cold! (winter is coming here in the Southern Hemisphere).

For other EtsyMetal Studio Tour posts, please follow the links below:

1. Rebecca Bogan - http://www.AdobeSol.com/blog 2. Shirlee Grund - http://lichenandlychee.com/blog/ 3. Beth Cyr http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com 4. Elizabeth Scott http://esdesignsjewelry.com/blog 5. Cynthia Del Giudice http://cynthiadelgiudice.blogspot.com 6. Michele Grady http://www.michelegradydesigns.blogspot.com 7. Erin Austin - http://metalmusing.blogspot.com/ 8. Nodeform - http://nodeform.blogspot.com/ 9. Evelyn Markasky -- http://markasky.blogspot.com/ 10. Kathryn Cole - http://www.kathryncolejewelry.blogspot.com 11. 2Roses - http://www.jewelrytutorial.blogspot.com 12. Lauren Anabela Beaudoin/Creative Dexterity - http://creativedexterity.com/Blog/main.html

RAW

Ring A Week (RAW) is a challenge introduced by my friend and fellow metalsmith Thomasin Durgin. She   is challenging other metalsmiths and jewelry makers to design and execute at least one ring a week for the entire year 2011. Photos are taken of the rings as they are completed and uploaded to a RAW Flickr group.

Here are my first 3 pieces, but hopefully there will be 49 more!

1. RAW52 3, 2. RAW52 3, 3. RAW52 3, 4. RAW2 of 52, 5. RAW2 of 52, 6. RAW2 of 52, 7. RAW (ring a week) number 1, 8. RAW (ring a week) number 1, 9. 100_0727

Working, Working, Working...

Don't forget to check out the deals at my shop! I'm offering a 20% off section (about 37 items), with prices already marked down, plus free shipping for any item in my shop. This sale runs through Friday.

EtsyMetal 4th Year Anniversary Celebration

The EtsyMetal  Team was founded in 2006 and has grown rapidly since then. We are a group of metalsmiths who share ideas, experience, techniques and knowledge, and who support each other by advice, feedback, and encouragement. We meet daily at our forum and chat just about anything. We've been through good and rough times, but we always pull through because we care too much about what we do, and respect each other deeply. Being a metalsmith, or a craftperson, means many hours working alone at a workbench, without too much social life. This team has helped me to make this journey a not so lonely one, even if it is a virtual one.

This month is EtsyMetal's 4th year anniversary, and to celebrate this occasion we have decided to give away 4 $50 gift certificates the last 4 Fridays of October. You will have 4 chances to enter into the giveaways, but you only have to do any one of these:

#1 Sign up for our new email list! It is really easy - see that big button at the top of  EtsyMetal's blog that says "Subscribe for our Newsletter" - click there!

#2 Blog about it! Write a blog post and leave a comment on EtsyMetal's Blog with a link to your post.

#3 Tweet about our anniversary linking to Etsymetal's blog post - then comment on this blog post with a link to your tweet or twitter acct to let us know!

#4 Facebook it! Post a link to EtsyMetal's blogpost on your facebook page and let us know by leaving a comment on this blog post.

Go to EtsyMetal's blog to subscribe for our Newsletter here, and to find out who is having a sale. I am having a 20% off  section in my shop and free shipping on all items. This offer is good for one week only: from today, October 22 till the 29.

Sterling ilver 2" enEdless Hoops

3" Oxidized Copper Hoops

Organic Circles Copper Earrings

Friday Oct 22nd (giveaway)
1. Kathleen Bostick (will have a 20% off sale section)
2. Rachael Sudlow (will do a sale section)
3. Kira Ferrer (15% off, refunded through paypal)
4. mark kaplan (will do a sale section)
5. Iacua (20% off whole store)
6. LSueSzabo (20% off the whole store, refunded through paypal)
7. NinaGibsonDesigns (sale section & possibly free shipping)
8. Meg Auth (simplymega)
9. Cynthia Del Giudice (20% off Sale section and free shipping for any item)
10. Gecko J (will do a 20% off the whole shop)
11. Hartleystudio (15% off the shop, 10% off wedding bands, free shipping for FB fans)
12. Rebekah Meddles - Lunasa Designs (don't know terms yet - probably different every day/sale section?)
13. Quercus Silver - Sale Section
14. Danielle Miller (20% off, plus free shipping through FB)
15. Shannon (rubygirl) - sale section + 20% regularly priced items (refunded through Paypal)
16. Inbar Bareket - Sale section
17. Maria Goti - mariagotijoyas - 20% off refunded through paypal.

My Birthday

Food for Thought

Today's EtsyMetal blog carnival topic is about food.

Well this could be a very long post, but I promise to keep it as short as I can. I love food, and love to cook. I feel very fortunate to live in the country, where we grow most of our food. We have an organic vegetable garden, a dairy cow, chickens, and bees. I live in Argentina, the world's leading beef consumer, so we do eat a lot of red meat, but since we've had more time to work on our vegetable garden we have been making it bigger and bigger each season we are slowly weaning out of meat, and we feel great. I love to do stir fries and one pot dishes. I don't like deep frying anything, and I find it difficult and boring to follow step-by-step recipes. I usually look at recipe pictures and get inspired with my own ingredients, flavors, and tastes. I rarely measure anything. My cooking is very creative and I am usually very resourceful.

But today I want to talk about our latest project: an adobe oven. These ovens are very old, and part of our tradition. Gauchos have been making and cooking on these ovens for centuries. This construction was inspired by a native bird we have in the pampas called the "Oven Bird", of course. These birds construct their nests out of mud and grass, because that is what was available before Europeans brought trees to the grasslands. 

Oven Bird Nest where the gauchos got the idea.

Using the string to measure the distance

As the wall gets taller, the string pulls the walls closer forming a dome

Mud is placed between half bricks.

Peter mixing the mud, straw and horse manure for stuccoing

There are different ways of constructing these, but in our case, my son, Peter was the architect and constructor. He decided to build it with bricks, mud, horse manure, and straw. He first bilt a wooden structure with wire mesh, to which he added the straw and mud. He then broke about 40 wine bottles to place on the bottom of the oven for better insulation. A brick floor was placed on top of the broken glass and a string was secured in the middle of this floor. The string was used during the laying of the briks to make it into a dome. As the oven got taller, it also got narrower. The bricks were layed with the mud, straw and manure mixture instead of mortar or cement. An old iron door and a vent (he used a clay pot with its bottom sawed off) was placed in the process. After the last brick was layed he smoothed out and gave it a little more volume to the walls with more of the mixture. The oven was left to dry for about a week, and then my husband cooked some homemade bread.

Before final stucco

Heating the oven with a fire

All fire must be extinguished, but bright coals must be hot.

Last week I made a homegrown pumpkin with a roast, potatoes and sweet potatoes. It was delicious!

For other food for thought stories, check out these Etsymetal member's blogs: 
nina gibson
victoria takahashi
stacey hansen
thomasin durgin
inbar bareket
lauren anabela beaudoin
maria whetman
beth cyr
ann Hartley
caitlyn davey

Jewellery Scape Exhibition

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

"Jewelleryscape Exhibition is a web exhibition gathering over 250 works made by goldsmiths and designers coming from all over the world.
Our purpose is to found a place for "jewellery's virtual community" and focus on its heterogeneity. An amazing variety of people, countries and projects.
Jewelleryscape exhibition is curated by Alba Cappellieri, Professor of Jewellery Design at Politecnico of Milan and Laura Santosuosso, Federico Stanzani, Livia Tenuta, Fashion Design' students at Politecnico of Milan.

Jewelleryscape Exhibiton è una mostra on line che raccoglie oltre 250 opere realizzate da orafi e designer provenienti da tutto il mondo.
Lo scopo è quello di dedicare uno spazio alla "comunità virtuale del gioiello" e di valorizzare l'eterogeneità che la caratterizza.

Eterogeneità biografica, geografica e soprattutto progettuale. Jewelleryscape Exhibition è a cura di Alba Cappellieri, professore di Design del Gioiello presso il Politecnico di Milano, e di Laura Santosuosso, Federico Stanzani, Livia Tenuta studenti di Design di Moda presso il Politecnico di Milano"

Quote from Laura Santosuosso from the Plastic section on the exhibit:

PLASTICS

"Plastic is everywhere and can be considered a deep-seated element in our everyday life. That's why there is still a lot of scepticism around plastic jewellery. What is that turns such a common material into a precious object, then? Obviously it is the project, which reduces the boundary between ornamentation and technology, decoration and functionality, ordinary and extraordinary. Desing, and most of all Kartell, has taught us how even the poorest and most ordinary material of all, can be transformed into a luxury object.
This tendency can be clearly seen in our Italian compilation of young female designers. In fact, it is evident how these young designers have discharged the materials from their functionality, with a cultural and aesthetic purpose.
Would you ever thought that a reflector could have been so smart, as the one recycled by Francesca Gabrielli? And what about Manuela Gandini using rubber to model her bracelets? Creative intelligence at its best. On the other side, Luisa Bruni chooses plexiglas and takes advantage of its transparency to represent the fall of a water drop.
Concerning new materials, Francesca Canapa finds softness and grace in Corian, a polymer which is traditionally used in architecture and furnishings. American designer Phil Renato deserves a special mention, because of his research which has created some scary shiny jewels, originated by a sense of manipolation and analysis of different shapes. This makes us aware of the vast potential that this material has and how little it has been explored in the goldsmith field.

La plastica è dappertutto. Si è insidiata in maniera così capillare nella nostra quotidianità da far risultare faticoso finanche riconoscere nell'oggetto polimerico lo status di gioiello.
Ed è qui che entra in gioco il progetto. E' in questa terra di confine tra ornamento e tecnologia, tra decorazione e funzione, tra ordinario e straordinario, che il progetto rende preziosa una materia popolare come la plastica.
Il design, e la Kartell soprattutto, ci hanno insegnato che un materiale ordinario, povero e comune puo’ invece liberarsi dai lacci della quotidianità e della funzionalità per diventare straordinario, prezioso e distintivo. Lo dimostrano con evidenza i lavori che presentiamo qui di un piccolo gruppo di giovani donne italiane. Emerge, dal loro lavoro, la volontà di sollevare la materia dalla sua funzionalità mediante un gesto che è al contempo sia estetico che culturale. Avreste mai scommesso sulla potenziale eleganza del catarifrangente? Francesca Gabrielli sì, realizzando un bell'esempio di design del riciclo. E la gomma che Manuela Gandini plasma i volumi audaci dei suoi bracciali?
Pura intelligenza creativa. Luisa Bruni sceglie il plexiglas, ne sfrutta la trasparenza e lo utilizza per immortalare la caduta di una goccia d'acqua. Per quanto riguarda i nuovi materiali, Francesca Canapa ottiene risultati di leggerezza e grazia attraverso il Corian, un polimero tradizionalmente destinato ad architettura e arredo. Una menzione speciale va allo statunitense Phil Renato, la cui ricerca dà vita a gioielli ludici, forse a tratti inquietanti, che invitano alla manipolazione, all'esplorazione delle forme e che fanno riflettere sulle infinite potenzialità di questo materiale ancora poco esplorato in ambito orafo." 

Laura Santosuosso

Jewellery Scape Exhibition

I found some of my old favorite artists such as Angela Gerhard, Coleen Baran,  Jimena Rios, Francesca Vitali, as well as some new discoveries such as Manuela Gandini, Phil Renato, Catherine Sheddy, Luisa Bruni, Glix Atelier, and Yanli Duan.

New Shop Banner

In case you're wondering, I created it the hard way (but the only way I know how to):
1. I made a collage with Picasa
2. Erased the last two pictures and added a black background in Paint.
3. Sized and added my name in Picnik.
Could I have done it in a more complicated way???

Visit my Flickr to see more samples.

"Paper or Plastic?"

Project Runnway Challenge 6.5: Newspaper! "Safe News"

EtsyMetal is holding a fun freestyle Jewelry Challenge that is coinciding with Project Runway episodes. Every Friday we discuss the actual show's challenge and start working on ideas that need to be completed and photographed by the following Friday at no latter than 12 p.m. Pacific time. This weeks challenge was to work with newspaper:

"OK designers! This week is pretty straight forward.
This weeks challenge is "NEWSPAPER".
Please incorporate newspaper or pre-printed black and white book pages into a piece of jewelry.

Ideas: using the color from a pic in the paper, using the words from headlines, patterns, textures, paper mache', folding, decopauge, weaving, and whatever crazy creative things you can think of!
Oh and YES you can use glue, paints, dyes, etc.
Now make it work!"

I started drawing sketches and working on ideas, but didn't decide on the concept until after I grabbed a newspaper. As it usually happens, when I have a newspaper in my hand, no matter how old or outdated it is, I always find something to read I missed before. It never fails. The material got me thinking the state of our world media today, privately owned by just a few multi-national corporations.

I made this piece using a copper sheet I fold formed into a vessel shape. I created the mesh with sterling silver with the ends rolled up into balls placed into holes I pierced on the copper piece. I handmade the pin closure, and formed the pin out of surgical steel wire. I oxidized the piece and buffed with beeswax. I then crumpled newspaper and carefully placed inside its interior.

For more pieces created by other metalsmiths, visit etsymetal's blog: Blog:http://etsymetal.blogspot.com/2009/09/etsymetal-jewelry-challenge-project_18.html

Official show channel: http://www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/shows/project-runway
Due: Friday 12pm PST

Etsy Metal Team Project Runaway Challenge

Every week, the Esymetal team organizes a challenge inspired on the Project Runaway Show. Last week's project was:
*Season 6 - Week 3:
"Surf Wear"
Blog
Official show channel
Due: Friday 12pm PST

"OK Designers this weeks challenge is a bout Surf Wear. The actual challenge is:
to create a fun and fashionable Surf Wear look".
Tim says, "it's critical to infuse your point of view and personal style into this challenge."
Also, if you are feeling super motivated, there was an extra added bit to their challenge,
it was to design a Avant Garde interpreted Surf Wear piece.
OR maybe you'd rather just make the Avant Garde piece,
make one OR perhaps both!?
It's all up to you designers!
So, here are some ideas that were thrown out to help design a piece around this weeks episode.
"sun, surf, beach, color, california surf icons, water, sand, bathing suits, surf culture,youth..."

"Carry on designers!"

I have many collections of random "stuff" I keep. I had collected, among other things, dry algae from the Southern California's coast while I lived there years ago. I took it out of a large jar, where I keep other beach treasures I've collected and was inspired to create this pin.

And of course, check the Etsymetal blog for more exiting interpretations where you can click through each individual participant for photos and detail.

My Introduction to Metals

This month's installation of EtsyMetal's Blog Carnival is: My First Metalsmithed Piece. My first introduction to metals was actually not a piece of jewelry. I was in my second year of a sculpture class and decided to try my hand at metal. Being a horse lover, I was inspired by Deborah Butterfield's bigger than life-size horses, and always found attracted to metals, especially the old rusted ones. I made a large horse (not quite life-size) with old, rusted metal scraps I found or bought at junk yards. I carefully selected each piece of metal, limiting the bending and cutting to a minimum, using what was already bend and broken just as I found it. I welded each piece, but left as much open space as possible, and without trying to give too much detail, but rather trying to catch the essence of the horse.

This was back in 1993 when I was living in Southern California. My instructor asked me if I was willing to donate it to the college for permanent display, and I happily agreed. It was displayed in the Art department garden, outdoors. I went back in 2003 to visit, and I found my horse still there standing proudly. A little more rusted, but looking good. It was a good feeling.

I just went searching and scanned some old photos I had, and although they aren't great, they give an idea of what I'm talking about. Looking at these also makes me realize that although not a work of art, I had such a great time making it! I still make small wire horse sculptures once in a while. It just goes to show you my fascination with horses, metals, art, and sculpture.

Make sure to check out my other EtsyMetal friends that are participating in this month's blog carnival:

1. Sara Westermark http://sarawestermark.blogspot.com/
2. Nina Gibson http://ninagibsondesigns.blogspot.com/
3. Danielle Miller-Gilliam http://daniellemillerjewelry.blogspot.com/
4. Beth Cyr http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/
5. duckduckGoose http://duckduckgoosestuff.co.uk/duckduckBLOG
6. Caitlyn Davey http://discomedusa.typepad.com
7. Laura Crawford http://tangerinetreehouse.blogspot.com
8. Tamra Gentry http://gentrydesignco.typepad.com/
9. andes cruz - http://andescruz.wordpress.com/
10. Cynthia Del Giudice: http://cynthiadelgiudice.blogspot.com/
11. libby Rosas http://elizabethrosasjewelry.blogspot.com
12. Nina Dinoff http://ninadinoff.blogspot.com
13. Clare Stoker http://clarestoker.blogspot.com
14. kerin rose http://kerinrose.blogspot.com
15.Quercus SIlver http://quercussilver.blogspot.com
16. Delias Thompson http://deliasstudioinc.blogspot.com

Double Blossom Ring

Part of my Botanica Collection, I constructed this ring using foldforming techniques, except I didn't do the usual patterned folding, but a random one for a more natural and organic look. I also fused some silver into the copper center for contrast and texture. The blossoms were soldered to the ends of a sterling silver wire and then wrapped to form this unique ring.

This ring will soon be available in my Etsy shop.

"Joyas que Cuentan" Opening Reception