RING No. 365

Well Folks, its finally here, the LAST RING!.....I want to thank all the people who gave me interesting objects, the people who encouraged me along the way, and all of the "readers", and "viewers"!

I stayed in the studio all day working on this baby. While here, I activated my iPhone!!! I have waited years to get one and now I finally have it! Hooray!

Many people have expressed an interest in purchasing a ring or rings for their collection. Upon much contemplation, I have decided to sell them! At first I wanted to keep them all together and perhaps sell them as one collection, or not at all, but I think that it will be much better if many people can have a piece of this achievement. I plan to make a book in the near future that has an image of each ring.

The rings will be part of my thesis and can be viewed by the public in April at my exhibition reception. They are for sale now, but will not be available for pick up until after the show. If you have an interest in a particular ring, please email me.

As far as price goes, they all vary....for instance, there is a ring that is Free, one that is $10, a few in the hundreds, and everything in between! It all depends on the time invested and value of the materials. I am planning to keep a few for my personal collection, but all the rest are up for grabs. Each ring will come with a hand numbered and signed certificate of authenticity and a special box.

Now, I plan to catch up on the rest of my thesis work, and start writing! I have learned so much from this challenge and I will miss it, but it will be nice to concentrate on the other things I need to accomplish before I graduate.

I will update my blog from time to time with images and info on the progress of my thesis work. "Follow" the blog to get detailed information on when my show will be and the other events I will be hosting in conjunction.....

Also, stay tuned for a highly likely RING A DAY 2.0....after I graduate, I hope to continue this fun and interesting challenge!!!!!

Materials: Sterling Silver, Sapphires, and Blue Topaz
Dimensions: 1.25 x .75 x .625 inches

RING No. 364

I spent the entire day in the studio working on today's ring. I have given the ring the name "Ogretta" in memory of my late grandmother, Ogretta Till. The flowers are reminiscent of the arrangement that was at her memorial service (there wasn't a funeral). The floral arrangement was done by Brenda Harley, my former employer and dear friend. She did a wonderful job!!! In the arrangement, there were various shades of pink flowers in several sizes. It represented my grandmother perfectly. There are four flowers in the ring to represent the four roles I saw her in throughout her life: Wife, Mother, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother. She excelled in all four! The past seven months have been very rough as I went through the grieving process. (as I have said before, this was the first real loss I have ever had)

I am still not out of the woods yet, but it is definitely much better now.

The flowers are made of fine silver, the bands/stems are made of sterling silver, and there are Pink Tourmalines (the larger stones) and Rubies (the smaller stones) set in the center of each flower. One flower has tiny granules of sterling silver around the set stone.

I vowed to make my grandmother a ring twice (see Ring No. 144 and  Ring No. 264), but fear of not making one that was "good enough" by my standards and lack of time most days prevented me from doing so until now. I am  very happy with the ring and I think she would love it if she saw it.

Thanks for reading, Goodnight!

Materials: Fine Silver, sterling silver, Pink Tourmalines, and Rubies
Dimensions: 1.75 x 1.75 x 1.75 inches

The Making Process: 

I drew floral designs on Tracing paper....

..pasted the tracing paper to the metal and cut the flowers out....

then came the soldering....

RING No. 363

Wow! I just woke up from the best (and longest) nap ever!.....I only got a few hours of sleep last night and not much on the plane. April picked me up from the airport and we went to the Cleveland Museum of Art, MOCA, and then to Little Italy for dinner and dessert! It was a great day! When I returned I was just so tired that I laid down for a bit and the next thing I knew, I was waking up and it was 12:15!...I really needed the rest.....Tonight's ring is simple because I am still a bit tired, but do not fret! Tomorrow and the next day will be way more awesome since I will have most of the day to complete them.

Tonight's ring is made from a little painted wooden cat that came in a big bag of assorted things that Dr. Havice gave me. I found some tacky ribbon and made tonight's ring! I call it "Tacky bow with Cool Cat".

Thanks for reading! Goodnight!

Materials: ribbon, sterling silver, painted wooden cat
Dimensions: 3.75 x 2.5 x 2.75 inches

RING No. 362

I spent most of today helping my sister clean and organize her house. We went out for a quick trip....while out we went to the store for organizing containers, exchanged a Christmas gift, and got some yummy frozen yogurt!

Yesterday, Braelynn gave me a purple dolphin. She told me I should make a ring out of if, so today I did! A while back I had an idea about a ring where a dolphin jumps through a hoop and now I finally get to do it! I love serendipity!......I still had a huge bundle of telephone wire, so I used some of it to make the ring and the hoop along with its attachments....I have already packed up all my stuff (my sister is taking me to the airport in less than 3 hrs. so I only had limited tools to work with....I have a photo below that shows them,...

Thanks for reading! Goodnight!

Materials: Rubber dolphin, telephone wire
Dimensions: 2.25 x 3.25 x 1.75 inches

RING No. 361

Today I woke up early and went to town (Orangeburg) with my mom. While she went to an orthodontist appt. I went to Four Moons Cafe. I later met up with Brenda (former employer) and her son Jordan. My mom and I got to chat and hang out with them for a little bit. It was so nice to see them and catch up.

Today's ring is made of more plastic packaging from my nieces toys.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

Materials: Plastic (packaging from a toy)
Dimensions: 3.25 x 1.5 x .75 inches

RING No. 360

We picked up Braelynn again today so that Susanna could attend a wedding. When we returned to my mom's house, Brae and I played with her "Squinkies" (soft rubber toys that dispense through a gumball-like machine) and then put together some of her awesome new LEGOs....we made a house, two girls, a garden, a fence, a reindeer, a dog, a boat, a car, some flowers, and a sculpture......Some were suggested combinations from the directions, others were our own design :) It was so fun playing with LEGOS! I want to get some of my own so I can build a giant cupcake! hahaha......

I really love Christmas....scented pine cones, giving people gifts, sentimental music, delicious food, bright colors, lights, and so much more.....I don't want it to be over!....

I aquired these vintage jingle bells a year or two ago and have not had the chance to use them....Until now! The package reads "1942" and they are in excellent condition except for the coloring on the Red, Green, and Blue (which is rubbing off). I used some brass wire that my mom gave me and made tonight's ring. I love the way jingle bells sound!.........

Tomorrow I go back to my sister Susanna's in Blythewood...and then I fly out early Thursday morning! I am excited because my good friend April is picking me up and we are going to the Cleveland Museum of Art!

Thanks for reading, Goodnight!

Materials: Vintage Jingle Bells, and brass wire
Dimensions: 1.75 x 1.5 x 1.25 inches

RING No. 359

Merry Christmas!

I had a great day with my family.....

Tonight's ring is simple but has an important recommendation....Please Recycle!

This plastic was once packaging for my niece's gifts.....With so much packaging being thrown out during the holidays as new merchandise is purchased, please recycle cardboard, plastic, and other materials if possible! :)

There is a photo of some of the packaging my sister saved for me to make today's ring out of....Also, there is a photo of some of the Christmas cookies my family and I made today!

Thanks for reading, Goodnight!

Materials: Repurposed Plastic Packaging
Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1.75 inches

RING No. 358

Merry Christmas!

Well, last night I shot a gun for the first time in my life. I went to a "Turkey Shoot" with my sister and shot at a paper target. I was a bit nervous, but I did it without fear! The object is to get closest (out of a certain number of people that are in a set) to the center of the target and in turn you win a turkey or some other type of meat....I did not do well, hahaha.

My sister made a delicious breakfast this morning and then we spent the first part of the day baking and preparing food to bring over to my grandfather's house to celebrate christmas eve. We had a wonderful time seeing everyone and eating some delicious food! I came back to Grandy's house after that. My mom and I finished wrapping gifts and listened to Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack...It was fun. :)

Tonight's ring is made from some old telephone wire I found in the attic at my mom's house that someone once gave me and a red rhinestone my mom gave to me today.

Materials: telephone wire and rhinestone
Dimensions: 1 x .75 x .5 inch