304/365 happy halloween!

sterling silver, ebony, Robin's finger

303/365 leather and turquoise

302/365 focus

For the past few months I've felt really frantic and unable to give all of my projects the attention they deserve. I feel as though most of the work I've done has been mediocre, acceptable, passable at best. I must start doing things with excellence and this ring is a reminder to open my eyes and LOOK.

20% off sale

Everything in my shop is 20% October 29 - November 5!!! Just type "EtsyMetal Birthday" in the message to seller during checkout (you will receive a paypal refund). We are celebrating the EtsyMetal Street Team's 4th anniversary, many of my teammates are also having sales, check www.etsymetal.blogspot.com for details.

301/365 prayer beads

I've been thinking about prayer beads since reading about the chaplet rings worn by the Knights of Malta. It's interesting to me that so many of the world's religions incorporate beads into their worship rituals.

300/365 dreihundert

Well here we are at ring #300, I can hardly believe it. I'm really pleased with the way this came out except for one really important thing - it should say 'dreihundert' which is German for 'three hundred'. Instead it says 'dirhundert' which is German for 'you a hundred'. Damn.

299/365 simple & quick

It was 5:40pm today when I realized that I was giving a presentation for the Memphis Association of Craft Artists at 7pm! I have to write lesson plans later tonight, so this is it.

298/365 crack overdose

Another crack ring, Lord help me. It doesn't have the final finish because - you guessed it - it's not the correct size. However, the one I made after this was the correct size, I just forgot to photograph it.

297/365 Justinian

written in sharpie on the underside of a sink cabinet drawer

The famous decree of Justinian, promulgated in 539 (Novella 78 of the Digest), conferring upon freedmen the right of wearing gold rings, runs as follows :

If a master, on freeing- his slave, has declared him to be a Roman citizen (and he is not allowed to do otherwise), let it be known that, according to the present law, he who shall have received his liberty shall have the right to gold rings and to regeneration, and shall not need to solicit the right of the prince, or to take any other steps to secure it. It will be his as a consequence of his liberation, in virtue of the present law, whichgoes into effect from this day.

-text from Rings For the Finger, published in 1917.

296/365 chaplet ring

written in sharpie on the underside of a sink cabinet drawer

The gold and silver chaplet rings, with a cross and ten beads or bosses in relief upon the hoop, were frequently used by the Knights of Malta, in the eighteenth century; indeed this type of ring is said to have been invented by them. Their use as substitutes for the less convenient chaplet was spreading, until in 1836 the matter was referred by Pope Gregory XVI to the tribunal of penitentiaries. Its decision, transmitted by the Cardinal Penitentiary Castracane, as to the question "whether the gold or silver rings, surrounded by ten bosses, which are used by some pious persons for the recitation of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin, can be blessed with the appropriate indulgences," was in the negative.

-text from Rings For the Finger, published in 1917.

295/365 ball and chain

I painted a ball and chain around the window, a ring of rings.

We all have one.

Hard to see, but it's there. This ring is about the ball and chain of my own perception and how it affects my life and my choices.

294/365 too much crack

I have another commission for a crack ring and guess what? Yup, too big. Tomorrow's another ring.

293/365 grin

The letters in the word 'ring' can be rearranged to spell 'grin'. Painted on two primed walls.

292/365 better crack

Version number three of a custom crack ring, larger but STILL too small. This is ridiculous.

291/365 crack too small

Still haven't gotten this custom order right, the ring is too small.

coconut soup recipe

A vegetarian version of Tom Kha Gai - Thai coconut soup. I have made this twice, it's delicious and even better the next day. This time I doubled the recipe and I like it over rice noodles. I used one can of regular coconut milk and one can of lite, so it only has half a million calories.

A friend reminded me that kaffir lime leaves are traditional, so substitute those for the lime juice if you can find them. Oh - and I found out the hard way that if you get jalapeno juice in your eye a milk poultice works.

Ingredients:

* olive oil
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 red onion, sliced
* 1 red pepper, sliced
* 1 cup mushrooms (any type), sliced
* 2 small red chili peppers, minced, or 1 jalapeno pepper
* 5-6 thick slices galangal or ginger
* 6 inch piece of lemongrass, minced and ground in mortar and pestle
* 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
* 1 12 ounce can coconut milk
* juice from 1/2 lime
* 1 16 ounce package tofu, chopped into 1-inch cubes
* 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation:
In a large soup or stockpot, saute the first seven ingredients in oil for a few minutes until lightly cooked. Reduce heat to low and add the vegetable broth, coconut and remaining ingredients, except for cilantro. Allow to simmer over low heat for at least 15 minutes. Stir in fresh cilantro just before serving.

290/365 cicadas

289/365 not quite crack

This was supposed to be a custom crack ring but I cut it wrong and it's too small anyhow.

288/365 wall paint

Painted on a new wall at my house, it's terrible and it's six feet tall.

my skills

Today the Handmade Division is answering the question, "Tell us about yourself - how did you get to where you are now with your skills?"

I've been working with metal for about three years. I took a six-week Intro to Jewelry Making Course at the Memphis College of Art and then bought a bunch of books, later I took a short enameling class. I will be attending a pewter workshop soon and I can't wait. I look forward to a lifetime of classes and workshops, I'd like to attend Penland, Haystack, and Revere Academy someday.

Much of what I know I have learned by trial and error, but I've also had lots of help from metalsmithing friends I have met online. In particular Scott Schreiber, Tamra Gentry, Andes Cruz, David of Revonav, Dauvit Alexander, Carrie Nunes, Laurie Brown, and Bill of Purified Art have all helped me immensely with questions about technique, equipment, selling online, and suppliers. I am grateful to them all and am probably forgetting some people.

I think that the Ring a Day project has helped me to increase my skill set at a more rapid pace than I would have experienced without the daily challenge. Making something without the pressure of marketability is really liberating and has allowed me to experiment and stretch my abilities. Hurray for RAD!

Please visit these team members to read about their inspirations:

Andes Cruz
Lisa Hopkins Design
Jewelry by Natsuko
Beth Cyr
Bella-Bijou Jewellery
Alice Istanbul
Susan Moloney
Nancy Dale
Tess Norberg
Nancy Dale
Sand Fibers
Emily Watson
Tosca Teran
Tamra Gentry
JJ Papke
Alisa Miller
Mary Spencer
Bill Martin

287/365 eliot

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." -T. S. Eliot

Written in pencil on a soon-to-be-painted wall.

286/365 chilean miner

sterling silver, brass

285/365 pearl and copper

recycled sterling silver, copper, saltwater pearl

284/365 obama golfing

283/365 body bling

282/365 knife in the head

281/365 wedding ring

280/365 the dogs did it

The dogs were busy while I was out today, they decided to surprise me and make my ring. It's chocolate cake with cream cheese icing, I think they did a great job considering their lack of opposable thumbs.

279/365 babies

I glued these plastic babies to an interior wall in the construction zone at my place, they're a little hard to see against the particle board.