Offering Vessels, Alter Bowls........something a little different

by Staci Louise Smith

It has been a long time since any of us have blogged on here.  This year has been taxing for many of us, and life is just busier with more important things at the moment (family always comes first!!!).  

I have taken some time this year to play and lightend up my schedule.  I am not doing spring and summer shows, so that I have time to work on other things and spend more time with the family. 

I took some time on our beautiful spring day yesterday to get out my ceramic clay.  

I have been wanting to make something bigger than beads with my  clay, so I thought I would make offering bowls.  I don't do anything formal as far as alters or offerings, but I do have little "alters" to nature of sorts all over my house.  I love little dishes full of natures treasures in all parts of my home.

This one is a polymer clay dish I made, on top of a huge slab of petrified wood.  In it are bones and skulls that my youngest son has collected on our travels.

This bowl is a piece of natural driftwood, to which I added an awesome stone that is very round, and a piece of arragonite.

This cool bowl is actually a rock I found in upstate PA.  It has a natural concave shape, as if it were part of a large hollow form.  Inside is little sea treasures we have found in NJ, including the horse tooth.

I made this large ceramic bowl with Kristie the owner of Artisan Clay.  (so many years ago.......)  It has since been filled with my favorite beach treasures.  (are you beginning to see why I need more bowls?)

I have also been collecting some really cool crystals, and would like a place to show them off.  

This specimen is tourmalated quartz (aka rutilated quartz).  It is one of my favorite stones to use in jewlery.  So it was REALLY cool to see this- which is tourmaline, in the middle of being encrusted into the quartz.  I am so fascinated by stones.

This little guy is a most heavenly blue- and its called celestitie.

And how could I resist this labradorite?

(I have a rock shop near me, its not good folks.......lol)

Anyhow, I had so much fun making bowls yesterday, I plan to do another batch today.  I cannot wait until these are dry and can be fired.  I plan to try some different things on the surface too, since I haven't gotten into glazing my pottery (yet)

I put little legs on some of the bowls, because I really like how it looks.  It lifts up whatever you want to display on it.

I made a couple of larger pieces, like this one.  I didn't add any feet to them, and I think I love the feel of them the best.  They turned out very organic.

I did some stamping on some as well, and then went in with hand embellishing them further.

 You can see how they are raised up just a bit.  I really hope it all fires well.  Been a long time since I did ceramics.  I think it's like riding a bike though.................

Of course, this is my favorite.  I plan to keep it, but I will make more similar bowls today.  I love the organic feel of it.  I used a cool shell and fossil to make the imprints, and then added my own touch with the spiral center and designs around the edges.  

I simply cannot resist things that look as if they were dug up from the earth.  There is something about a piece with history that gets me every time.

I cannot express how fun it is to dabble in a new medium now and again.  My daughter joined me and she made some bowls too.  It has been equally wonderful to be able to spend so much more time with the kids.  I really missed that and didn't realized how much I worked until I didn't.  I still need to keep $$ coming in though, so, I am still producing, and some of these will be for sale as well.  So stay tuned.  You can follow my facebook page for updates to see when they are available.

Do you have "collections" of items around your home?  Do you arrange your art and findings into little alters in your home?  Share your hoards of collections with us on the Love My Art Jewelry Facebook!!! page!

Terra Rustica Studio GIVEAWAY!

Carol Dekle-Foss

A short and sweet post from me. A giveaway, from my hands to yours.  

How to win? Simply leave a comment here or on our facebook page. I want to know how you handle stressful times. What do you do that is positive to calm your nerves? I personally venture out into wilderness and vanish among the mountaintops. When I was a young girl and things were stressful or scary, I would climb the tallest tree I could find and sit there for hours.  I would return home with the sweet smell of sap stuck to my fingers and a renewed sense of courage and hope.🌲

Lake Tahoe, Emerald Bay

I found such solace and peace in those moments, so it's no wonder I escape to the wilderness during uncertain times still to this day. As much as I would love to climb trees, I settle now for just taking their photos.

Winner will be selected on Wednesday, November 23rd, and announced on the Love My Art Jewelry facebook page.

One winner will receive all beads and pendants pictured.

We are having a sale in our Etsy ceramic bead shop! Enjoy 25% off your entire order with coupon code, AUTUMN25.

Latest porcelain creations..

Carol Dekle-Foss

Hi Everyone! I hope you have had a chance to enjoy some wonderful summer activities! I have stayed home most of the time, which isn't like me. This time of year, I'm usually camping, visiting the beach, or hiking in our amazing Sierra Foothills. After the accident though, I felt like I had lost three months so I have been really focused on catching up and working on new designs. 

 Lately, I've been influenced by affirmations and positive quotes, so I've been incorporating some of my favorites into a new line. Below are a few I've made so far. 

My first batch of "it is well with my soul." I just love this quote. I made them into pendants so they can be worn close to the heart. They need a different glaze for sure, one that highlights the font better.  I changed the design to include a cute border.

These pendants are in their greenware state, I'm so excited to see them glazed! I plan on making more designs like this. If there is an affirmation or quote that you think would be a great addition, please let me know!

Latest designs fresh out of the kiln...

A new petal shape.

More yummy cherry blossoms.

Mandala, lotus and swirl charms and pendants.

First try at the "just breathe" quote. 

A large flourish pendant.

These beads are supposed to be carved with lotus petals. Ugh...not quite as I had envisioned!

Also, I've been working on some porcelain cone ring holders. I like the swirl leaf base and the shape is good, but I wasn't going for little brown turds. Lol! I think spaced in my booth they won't look like turds in a toilet. Hahaha! I'm working on the glaze color. Any suggestions? 

Alright ya'll, give it up for the husband!

Ronnie's beads...

and his very first pendant!!! Isn't it adorable?? It's so much fun watching him play with clay.

All of the above will be listed by the end of this week to our Etsy store here. Minus the turds. Haha! 

Thank you for reading. I hope your were inspired to create!

First attempt at making a silver sheet ingot

Carol Dekle-Foss

If you use silver or copper in your jewelry designs, at some point you will have to figure out what to do with your scraps. I've amassed about 10 ounces of sterling silver scrap and a MASSIVE amount of copper in about a 3 years time. It never appealed to me to turn in my silver scraps because I wouldn't be getting the amount invested in return. Especially now with silver prices so low and possibly dropping even more.

I've wanted to melt my silver into sheet ingots for rolling for awhile now, but honestly, I was too nervous. I had visions of it spilling and melting a hole in my toe! 

But.. I started thinking it's time. Time to do something with all the scraps I've accumulated and put them to use. So, with my husband taking pictures (making sure I don't burn the house down) I melted my first ingot yesterday! Yay! 

Here is how I did it and what I used. This is in no way a tutorial because I am still learning myself, but I wanted to share my results and a few things I learned along the way.

My supplies. 

The Ingot mold and Crucible I purchased at PMC Supplies on Ebay. I like the reversible one because you can make nice thick ring shanks. If you want to melt copper too, make sure you get the right ingot mold and crucible. 

Ohhh pretty flame. It's Photoshopped, I couldn't help myself! You get the idea though, you'll need a nice big beautiful flame!

The torch I use is a Smith Air/Acetylene torch, and for this project I used the #3 tip. 

First, I heated up the crucible and ingot mold. 

I then filled my crucible with a few pieces of silver and Borax. I guess Borax acts like a flux to help melt the metal quicker. After it started to melt, I added more pieces of silver.

Here we go!

When it started to get molten, I turned the crucible more to the side to get ready to pour. Anyone else see the creepy skeleton face?!?!!! WTH! Seriously. freaky.

And..pour quickly!

Ummm. yeah..epic fail. I poured too slowly and it created this interesting looking blob. Gotta pour fast!

I just reheated and poured again and got this. Much better. Although, I should have taken advantage of making the ingot shape smaller and it would have been a better shape. Oh well, next time!

So yeah..I made a boot. Hahahaha! That's okay, it's 20 gauge thick and will work well for backplates etc. Any suggestions on how to prevent cracking when rolling would be greatly appreciated. I did anneal it about 5 times. Maybe more annealing? 

What else have I been up to? I have a 2 day event coming up in September, so I have been preparing for that by making tons of earrings. 

I still have about 25 pairs to make, but here is what I've done so far.

I made these simple sterling silver earrings priced to sell at $18.00 each.  We will have to see how they do.

I then played with mixed metals and shapes by soldering together brass stampings to textured copper rounds.

I made these from some of my favorite ceramic beads my husband and I made.

I also played with a new shape and pattern for ceramic beads.

So that's what I've been up to! So what about you? Do you have tons of metal scrap just lying around? Have you ever done a metal scrap return? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you for reading!

Ruffled edge treatment-Metal forming tutorial

Carol Dekle-Foss

Hello everyone! For this post I'm going to show you a simple way to create a cute ruffled edge on your jewelry designs. But first, I just have to share some of my favorite photos from a family trip to Arizona last month. Road trip anyone??

Sedona

Seven Sacred Pools, Sedona

 Arizona is amazing. It's the perfect place to recharge your batteries and find inspiration. If you haven't been, make sure to put it on the top of your list of places to visit!

 I picked up these lovelies at Dah Rock Shop in Tuscon, and they are what inspired this post on ruffles. Although, not a ruffle kinda gal, I was drawn to their curvy shape and wanted to accentuate them by creating a metal ruffled edge. I picked up this technique in my last metal smith class.

Here's the tutorial!

Ruffled Edge Treatment for Metal

What you will need:

Block of wood

Ruler

Bench vise

Cross peen hammer

files

Torch 

Sharpie

1. First, you want to cut a small piece of wood. Mine is about 2 1/2" by 1 1/2".

2. Then, mark your measurements according to what size you want your ruffles to be. My ruffles are tiny so I spaced them about 1/8" apart.

3.Using a three square file, file two grooves between your measurements.

4. First, anneal your metal to make it soft. Then, place it upside down in about a 45 degree angle to the wood block. Hammer lightly with the cross peen hammer. Not a very good pic, sorry!

Just keep hammering your piece along the edge until you are finished! You can create different size ruffles on all four sides of the block, and use them for all different types of applications!

Unfortunately, I am not loving the earrings. I think because I was more focused on ceramics,  I really didn't do my best on them. Oh well. The ceramics on the other hand, Wow! Our third batch turned out amazing!

 These are my favorite. Gorgeous earthy colors! Uh oh, I don't remember what glazes I used. I'm gonna have to start writing this stuff down.

Even hubby got involved. I am so proud of him! To be honest guys, he almost quit. He got so frustrated one day because he couldn't form the beads the way he wanted and threw them all over the studio! I held back from laughing and kept encouraging him. He is back on track, and looking to create more. Yay! I'm so excited he is involved and that we are learning ceramics together. 

I should have all of these listed to my website here by the end of the week. 

Thank you for reading!