More fun with semi precious stone beads!

Here is an example of a ring I created that's very similar to the one in my last blog- this one is made with Sterling Silver wire as opposed to the Non Tarnish Copper.  This ring also features one of those lovely Cracked Agate semi precious stone beads. It is a size 7. All of the beads in the photographs are available for custom wrapping. Sterling, Non Tarnish Copper or 14K gold wire is available.  Here it is listed on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/159167900/sterling-silver-wire-wrapped-ring?  Also feel free to contact me here or follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatHornedOwlDesign

Soon friends, very soon I will have my very own professional website!  It will feature a shop and options for custom orders.  I'm very excited.  There will also be a blog.  So I'm not sure how much longer I will be using blogspot....I really like the idea of having a water mark on all my photos.  Happy Friday!!

Fun with semi precious beads!

It's been a little while since I've blogged!  I've been putting in time working on technique and I've found and purchased some really pretty semi precious stone beads to work with!  I usually work with cabochons- or stones with out holes in them but I thought I'd switch things up and try something different.  I LOVED making this ring!  It's non tarnish copper wire intricately woven around a Cracked Watermelon Agate semi precious stone bead.  I bought a nice string of these beads and each one is unique and lovely.  Perhaps my next blog shall have a photo of beads available for rings!  This ring is currently up for sale.  I will be making more rings with the beads I have on hand.  These rings are all custom made, none of them will be exactly the same but they will be similar.  I love taking custom orders.  I can't wait to try this ring in Sterling and 14K.  Please enjoy some photos.

Antique .925 Sterling Silver Spoon Ring

A while back I became mildly obsessed with the idea of creating an antique spoon ring- I love the idea of them, the story of how they originally came to be and just generally how lovely they are.  So I started collecting supplies and scouring the internet for tutorials and eventually, bam! With a little help from my husband I managed to create one of my own.

The story behind spoon rings:  They originated in 17th Century England. The idea is that servants were not able to afford proper wedding rings so they would abscond with a spoon from their masters house and have that made into rings for their wedding.  Also there was a Welsh tradition in the 15th century of giving "love spoons."  A suitor would either make himself or commission someone to carve a spoon to give to the gal he intended to court, supposedly this is why antique silver spoons are so romantic and ornate looking.  Spoon rings still represent the meaning of love and commitment they once did.   <3

The technique behind making spoon rings is fairly simple- that being said, I was warned by some of my fellow metalworking friends that just because the technique seems simple....they are not super easy to  make.  Those friends were correct.  I'm super happy with how this ring turned out but if I hadn't been warned and didn't have the proper tools, I would have failed and been upset.  I also read a few tutorials that claimed you didn't HAVE to have a butane torch.  Lies.  In order to get the spoon soft enough to hammer into a ring shape you must anneal with a torch.  I had to re anneal several times in fact.  If anyone has any questions on making spoon rings I'm happy to answer any questions- just drop me a line.  Here are some photos of the finished ring and even a few "in progress/tool photos" I snapped.  Hope any readers out there enjoy this post or at least find it helpful!

The pattern on this spoon ring goes all the way around, I love the flowery Art Nouveau era look to it!

 Here is the almost finished ring- this was directly after being annealed one last time and hammered to be a perfect size 8 1/2.  It's white due to the intense heat of the butane torch- the white comes off with a polishing clothing or dremel wheel polisher.  (The latter works the best!)

Butane torch and pickle pot (pickle is a solution in which to dip the material after annealing to cool and remove flame damage from the torch. You can purchase the pickle or make it at home.)

A smattering of tools.  Including my new table vise!  A huge help with this project.

And here is the spoon before being cut with my hacksaw. A .925 Sterling spoon is required for this project- silver plated will not do!

Husband JimmyB decided to anneal and hammer the discarded spoon bowl.  I suspect he just wanted to play with fire and bang on stuff.  Can't blame him!

Fresh out of the pickle pot!  That is JimmyB's hand- he helped fill my butane torch since I had no clue how and occasionally submerged the hot, hot ring in the pickle after I annealed. It's fun to watch it sizzle!

Side view! This ring is very sturdy, it is not adjustable. 

Another sample of tools- the forks in this photo turned out to be waaay to thick and also I discovered they were silver plated and not .925.  I need a larger set of files since I am now addicted to making these gorgeous rings. 

Fire Agate Ring

I finally got a good deal on a gorgeous Fire Agate!  I've been wanting to wrap one of these stones for quite some time now but they are on the pricey side so I held off until I knew I could set it in a very original wrap. This style of intricately woven wire wrapping makes for very unique designs and can be tweaked in various different ways so each piece is one of a kind.  I was also happy to see that the price of Sterling is down today! Has been since last week so I placed a little order for some new shiny!  I also ordered a new stainless steel ring mandrel to replace the cheap plastic one I've been using (that has been making me very frustrated!) The other thing I purchased is a pack of these adorable little polishing cloths to be included in customer order boxes.  Yay!  Here are photos! Please enjoy!

Amazonite ring in Sterling

What can I say about this ring?  It's generally the same style as the others I've been posting lately but this Amazonite cabochon is just SO gorgeous I couldn't help posting a blog about it.  This ring is Sterling Silver and it was a commission so I'm happy to say it's already got a home to go to.  Custom NFS.

That being said I have a decent collection of un-spoken for cabochons that I will be wrapping up in this style, but I'm going to start making variations on the style and using different materials.  Look forward to a blog that's just photos of cabochons coming soon!

Sterling Silver Mood Rings

I have always been fascinated with mood rings.  Ever since I was a little girl. I think I probably got my very first mood ring when I was 9 or 10 from a gift shop in Myrtle Beach SC- it was a total piece of junk and almost immediately turned my finger green. But I carried on and wore it anyway I loved it so much. As an adult I'll admit that I'm really more in love with the fact that it changes colors at all, than what the colors might actually "mean" but either way, these are really fun! I make high quality Sterling Silver rings, so they WILL NOT turn your fingers green! They really do change to a wide variety of colors! Hopefully the pictures below will do it justice.

They are custom made and you can order one if you like over in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/130443875/sterling-silver-wire-wrapped-mood-ring?ref=shop_home_active

The HUG ring

Here is another new ring design. This ring has gotten a really nice response over on my Great Horned Owl Design page!  Every body wants one!  How exciting!  These can be made with mixed metals or in larger/smaller gauge wire- the one pictured is the prototype.  Looks like I'll be whipping up quite a few of these in slightly varied designs.