EASY WIRE EARRING DISPLAY

I wasn't going to blog today, but I made these little earring displays using instructions from the Etsymetalclay blog and I had to share. I came across the post last month and knew right away I wanted to try it, but I could never find the 14 gauge wire recommended. I found this 16 gauge wire at JoAnn's yesterday for $3.00 which made 2 stands. Remember the lower the number on the wire gauge the thicker it is. Inexpensive and cute!

Click on the link below for the instructions on the Etsy Metal Clay Blog written by Catherine Witherall of HappyDayArt:

http://etsymetalclay.blogspot.com/2008/12/holiday-sale-preparations.html

Thanks Catherine for a great idea! I'm ready to try it with 14 gauge wire in different colors when I find it!

THE MASTER PAINTER

I took this picture last week of the sun coming up through the trees behind our house. I was in awe of the gorgeous colors and I thought, "God, You are an incredible painter!"

Then... yesterday at church we sang this song and it brought this photo to my mind:

Faintly You surround me

Faintly You surround me

Faintly You surround me

And I feel your touch

And I feel your touch

The wind in the trees softly whispers

Wind in the tree softly whispers

Wind in the trees softly whispers

And I hear Your voice

And I hear Your voice

And I worship You oh Lord my God

And I worship You oh Lord my God

And I worship You oh Lord my God

“Faintly”
Words and music by John Barnett©1995 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

PS. I still don't know what it is about Monday and my blog. I'll have to start calling it "Motivational Monday" as I always need a little push to get started with my week! How about you?

HAPPY SATURDAY!

Here's Ace hoping you got a little more shut-eye this morning! Have a great weekend all.

COMPARISON OF RING SIZING CHARTS

Do you know what your ring size is? I hadn't given it much thought since picking out my wedding ring years ago. I don't wear a lot of rings, but lately I've become very interested in making them for my online shops using PMC (precious metal clay) and fine silver. In my effort to make choosing a size as easy as possible for customers, I thought I would come up with a simple chart that I could reference to custom fit their rings.

I had no idea this was going to be such a confusing task. I've looked all over the internet for information and found that many of the charts out there are all over the map! To investigate this further, I also visited a professional jeweller at our local fine jewelry shop to compare the sizes on my rings and see if it matched the ring mandrel I just purchased.

Here is a chart I came up with that represents the most consistent numbers:

Here are the most common methods to determine ring size:

CIRCUMFERENCE METHOD (If you don't have a ring to reference)
1. Cut a narrow strip of paper 1/4" wide by 5" long.
2. Wrap it snugly around your finger. Use a pencil to draw a line where the ends overlap.
3. Find the closest measurement (in MM) on the sizing chart. This is the circumference of your finger.

EXISTING RING DIAMETER METHOD (More accurate)
1. Find a ring that fits your finger comfortably.
2. Take an accurate metal ruler and measure the inside diameter in MM.
3. Compare to the chart above.

SOME POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND:

1. If your knuckle is a lot larger than the base of the finger, measure both sizes and select a size in between.
2. If you're buying a wide band, you will probably need a size larger for a comfortable fit.
3. Your fingers are usually larger on your dominant hand, up to a full size.
4. The average woman's finger is size 6. The average man's finger is size 10.
5. Your fingers change size during the day, depending on your diet and may even be larger in summer when temps are higher or if you live in a humid climate.
6. If you can, get help with measuring for better accuracy.
7. Visit your local jeweller and they will be happy to help you try on ring sizers to get the most accurate reading.

Hopefully this will help you feel more comfortable buying rings online. Make sure to check the chart on each website you may be purchasing from because the numbers do vary. It certainly was a good exercise for me to make sense of all the charts out there and to try to come up with one for my shop.

I have to give credit to these sites for my research: Amazon.com, Bluenile.com and Zales.com.

Each of these sites have a page dedicated to determining your ring size.

WHERE IN THE WORLD PHOTO #3...and GIVEAWAY CONTEST

Here's my cat Ace again, looking out the window and wondering where in the world I'm going to take you this week for my giveaway contest! I submitted last week's blog post to EtsyGiveaways blog which really increased it's exposure, so I'm sorry but I'm going to have to wait until the contest is over on February 14th to let you know exactly where the waterfall is. I'll give you a hint though, I took the picture during a helicopter ride, and it is in the United States. This week, I think the photo is very easy! It's a pretty well known landmark. Can you take a wild guess where Where in the World Photo #3 was taken?

Where in the World Photo #3:


Let's go over the contest rules to win my Argentium Sterling silver "Modern Simplicity" earrings shown to your right from my shop Beadin By The Sea :
1. Leave your name and email address or a link to your blog along with a wild guess of where the "Where in the world" photo was taken. You don't have to be correct to win! Click on "comments" at the bottom of this post to see the comment box.

2. Come back on Valentine's Day, February 14th to see if you've won. You will have 3 days to claim your prize.

Keep those guesses coming and don't be afraid to take a stab at it. I'm enjoying all the comments and speculation and I can't wait to give someone some free earrings!

Click here to go to last weeks Photo #2.

MY FIRST PMC RING

After making a ring last week from 14 Gauge fine silver wire, I started to wonder about making a ring from PMC. I thought this would allow the ring to have some weight to it and perhaps a stamped design. This weekend I tried something new... again!

Because it's so neat to see the ring in it's raw clay state, the picture on the left is the ring before firing and the pictures below are taken after firing, patinizing with liver of sulphur and polish. What do you think?

This was a great exercise in my skill with PMC and it did present a few challenges:


Challenge #1: Perfecting the Seam

I was going to show you my first ring I made from PMC but actually this is my second. The first one never made it to the firing stage because it split and broke where I joined the seam in the band. No worries though, with PMC there is no waste at this stage because the clay can be crushed, rehydrated and used again. So this is actually my second attempt and I still need to perfect the join before I can even consider selling them! Another minor issue, is figuring out how to recreate the stamped surface over the join area. I'm not sure if I'm being too picky, maybe it can never be totally invisible.

Challenge #2: Correct Sizing:
The second challenge with PMC rings is getting the sizing correct. The clay shrinks about 12% during firing so you have to account for this. My ring ended up being just a little too big for me. I think it's about a size 7. I may have to find a friend who wants a new ring, but I'll wear this one for a while to test its strength.

Challenge #3 YOUR Ring Size:
I wonder how many people actually know their ring size? I don't often wear rings except the one on my wedding finger, so I don't even remember what size it is, never mind my right hand which is a little bigger. It makes me wonder how many people won't buy a ring unless they can try it on. Now this challenge can be solved quite easily by giving you a link to an article to figure it out in, How to Determine Your Ring Size. There are also shops that send you a plastic ring sizer for a small charge to try on before making the purchase, good idea!

Challenge #4 Considering Cost:
As usual, I'll have to consider the high cost of PMC. This ring is 5 grams of silver before firing so it has some weight to it. That's not so bad, if you create a perfect ring on your first try! What if I make a ring for a customer and I have to make 2 or 3 to get the right size because of shrinkage and... what if they measured their size wrong?

As you can see, I have some reservations about pursuing the ring making business. But of course this is why we try things isn't it? I love to learn by doing and trial and error. I'll definitely be experimenting some more to see if this can be a viable option for my shop.

I'll leave you with another quote:(don't know what it is about Monday and quotes!)

Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.
Sir Winston Churchill

By the way, don't forget to enter my giveaway here or come back on Wednesday to guess the location of another "Where in the world" photo. I have lots of entries so far, but keep those guesses coming. I love to read all of them!