Ring a Month 2019 - November

This is my November ring for the Ring a Month Challenge 2019.

The theme for the month was Gemstones.

This is 

Rainbow Doughnuts 😁

Why Doughnuts I hear you ask??

Well I'd bought some super whizzy new moulds for making tiny embellishments and this particular mould makes little open circles. In talking to someone about them they said I could make lots of baby doughnuts!! lol It seemed like a good name to use!!😉

The moulds are made by Cool Tools in the USA (so they are molds and not moulds - lol) and are available here in the UK from Metal Clay Ltd  (at which point they become moulds!!!). 😂

First of all I made a load of little embellishments using Art Clay Silver 999. The clay is pressed into the mould and left to dry. Then the little shapes can be popped out. 

Then I made a flat ring band. As I hadn't really worked out my design in advance I went with a very wide band...

...then I played around with the doughnuts until I found a design I liked. Of course if I had done this part first I could of made the band the right size to start with, but hey, why make life easy 😉

I carefully measured up and worked out that the design should fit quite nicely around the ring so then I started to add the doughnuts to the flat band. I used water to join them...

...and continued around the ring - and it worked out right!! Phew! 😌

Then I started to remove all the excess silver clay...

...working around both edges of the ring first with a scalpel.

I used files and baby wipes to refine the design close to the edges of the doughnuts and neaten it all up. 

Next was choosing which stone colours to use. I LOVE this bit!!! 😊 Should I go with the small stones in differing colour pairs or..

....the same in each pair. I liked this second option better. The stones are 2mm and 4mm and are a mix of lab grown, nano and CZs. They are all fire-able. 

I drilled out the centre of each doughnut and used stone setting burrs to make the seat for each stone.

Arguably I could of made this ring using my usual method of creating stone settings, but I like that each setting is rounded on the top so this does give a different look. 

I set all the stones into place

Lots of different colour combos

all around the band 😊

I was pleased with the end result. 

Turned out it wasn't the easiest ring to photograph though!! lol

So now we have made 11 of the 12 rings for the year long challenge.

Only 1 ring left to go!!!

Have fun!

Joy x

Ring a Month 2019 - October

This is my ring for the Ring a Month Challenge 2019

Sakura

The theme for October was

Inspired by the Seasons 

I decided to go with a Spring themed ring 😀 

This month I was running it really close on time - I only started my ring on the 31st but I did manage to get some photos posted before the end of the day!! lol

First I made the topper for the ring. The lovely pink CZ pear shaped stones are 5mm x 3mm so quite tiny. 

As the ring has a Japanese feel to it I went with a weave pattern on my textured band that I thought looked like it went with it!! 😉

Then I carved the band so it had wavy edges.

To add more colour and sparkle I added some 2mm stones, and then I carved the edges of the topper to match in with the ring band 😃

To join the two pieces together I used a element made using the Roll Makers that I already had made. 

Finally I added a little more detail into the main blossom flower to bring the stones together more. 

Then the ring was ready to be fired!!!

I finished the ring off with more of a satin texture which I like the look of. It's not a finish that I use much but maybe I'll use it more now as I liked the effect it gave. 

One of the things I was interested to see was how the surface went during firing where the blossom was. It domed very slightly around the stones and gave a good effect.

I was very happy with how this ring turned out!!! 😀 

I think there are some nice techniques in this ring that are handy to learn including how to set round and odd shaped stones, so I'll be teaching this workshop next year at Creative Glass in Rochester, UK, on Friday 7th February 2020. 

Bookings will be open next week for the workshop!! :D

That's ten rings down in the year long challenge and only two left to do!!

Until next time...

Have fun!!

Joy x