Rocki's Artisan Metalwork - II

Just a quickie note to say that I FINally opened my second shop on Etsy: www.RockisArtisanMetal.etsy.com (there wasn't enough room for my entire biz name :(

I had decided some time ago to separate my handmade supply findings from my handmade jewelry and now is as good as time as any I say. It's a chore though. In between everything else I've got going, every day I'll be adding to my new shop.

That's it for now. Off to spend the weekend celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary. Wow, 16 years? I swear at times it still feels brand new and other times like we've been married forever - in a good way.

Happy Friday all!
Rocki

Ply Effects

Yes, I know... it's been eons since I've done a blog feature, but I'm trying to get back on track :)

I would like to introduce you to Jennifer (Jen) of Ply Effects . Jen is a metalsmith and her work clearly speaks for itself. She amazes me with her talent and extensive knowledge, and I can only hope to one day be as half as talented as she is. Oh and the above ring is one of my all time favorites - affectionately called the Garbage Ring. Why, you ask? "All of my sterling silver scrap is recycled back into a custom series named 'garbage'."

Melted Cages

Jen states: "my focus is on both form and function in relations to sections that open, twist, or move to compliment the body. Each piece that I hand craft is invented with modern design."

Puffed Heart Pendant

Jen sells her exceptionally well made work in a variety of venues such as juried art shows and her Etsy shop: http://www.plyeffects.etsy.com/ and is called Ply Effects.

Jen makes the coolest spinner rings, in fact I now own 2 - so far! The first one I bought is the Bamboo Spinning Ring that I wear on my thumb - too cool! - and the newest is above. Well, one is Mark's and the other one is mine. They are custom spinner rings that say "OM MANI PADME HUM" (in short, this is a meaningful Buddhist compassion mantra). We are more than thrilled with them!

Pop on over to her shop to check out the rest of her amazing work. Oh and she also does custom work. If you talk to her, tell her Rocki sent you. She'll know who you're talking about because I know her personally - she is part of the family as she is Jason's girlfriend :)

Have a metalriffic day!
Rocki

Ahooooooooh?

Did you ever watch the TV show "Home Improvement" with Tim Allen? Ahoooooooh? I actually liked Al the best. Anyway, remember how terribly excited he would get over new tools? He would get this look of a mad man, a happy mad man, and make that funny sound that for the life of me I can't think how to spell it out right now, but it went something like "ooooh ooooh ooooh".

Well, I'm Tim at this moment - right down to the ooooh ooooh ooooh! It's bye-bye Dremel, helloooooooo Foredom Flex Shaft!! Yep. I'm a big girl now!

For those of you who are not familiar with a flex shaft, it is... well, like a Dremel on steroids! Basically it is a must have tool/machine for metalsmiths/jewelers (and other skills) that makes you more productive, proficient and... oooh oooh oooh, a big girl!

So today I'm giving Mark back his Dremel, rearranging my studio and setting up my new toy! You know where I'll be all day. Gosh, I'm just so darn happy that I could drill... or file... or buff... or sand... or...

Happy day everyone!

Rocki

Bye Bye Rocki's Rock n Beads

Yep. You read the title correctly: bye bye Rocki's Rock n Beads (RRB).

Ever since metal entered my life and a torch was put into my hands, my life changed. I started playing with fire & metal well over 1 year ago and was making all kinds of creations. My poor rocks n beads were feeling neglected, so I started playing with them again and things were fine.

Then the middle of last year I opened up my handcrafted metal supply shop and I've been amazingly and thankfully VERY busy ever since then. BTW - my supply shop started with my Signature Elfin earwires that I used in my own jewelry and ended up making left and right from my RRB shop by requests from sellers. The rest is history.

To sum this up (as I could go on and on you know), after a long hard look at what I've been doing over the past few months and what I truly love to do, I have decided to close my RRB shop and pursue my metalsmithing career further. I want to do even MORE with metal than I'm currently doing. Oh, yes I'm keeping my Rocki's Supplies shop of course, but want to advance using more intricate metalwork to enhance my supply shop further. We'll see where it goes.

Oh, about closing my RRB shop. Until everything is gone, including overstock destash items that I'll be posting when I have the time (time... HA), EVERYTHING in my shop is on CLEARANCE SALE at 40% OFF. Feel free to tell your friends, family, co-workers, etc. I won't mind one little bit.

This leads me to my other news. As some of you have noticed, I have not been blogging much or getting around to blogs lately. As a matter of fact, I haven't had time for much of anything lately. This is due to my very heavy schedule that leads into the evening hours, which I'm trying to change (I need some time for *me*). Although I miss you all terribly, I have to cut my computer time down as I'm in the studio more than not. So I *plan* on blogging at least once per week... maaaaaaybe twice, but don't hold me to it - and Twitter as much as possible (much quicker).

Speaking of time, I need to have breakfast and get into the studio.

Love and happiness to all,
Rocki

Metal Hands

Do you remember those Madge "You're soaking in it" commercials? Well, if not, no biggie as you'll understand all the same.

Prior to the holidays I took a metalsmithing class, instructed by the very talented Holly Carter. I cannot tell you how excited I was to finally learn a new medium to add to my ever growing "I want to learn..." list. Torching, sawing, pickling, filing, measuring... Funny, but of all the techniques I learned and information I absorbed, I recall one of the comments Holly made about my long natural nails - it was something like "oh Rocki, you won't have those very much longer" (no pun intended, okay, maybe a little :).

I knew she was right and so I filed them down - halfway. Guess I should have gone a little further as now I practically have no nails, but oh well, I'm making lots of cool creations!

Okay, so now we come to the "You're soaking in it" bit... I'll be the first to admit that I do not (nor have I EVER) have model hands. You know, the nice, smooth, silky, not an age blot, freckle or blemish type of hands. I have your run of the mill working hands. That is why you'll never see me modeling my rings and such in my shop. My hands age me, more than my true age. Anyway, what I'm getting at is although I absolutely LOVE my metal and wire work, my hands look like a crime scene!

Will I stop playing with my torch, saw, files, metal, etc? Nope! I'm having WAY too much fun to care about what my hands look like!

Got lotion?
Rocki