Rings from recycled gold and silver

I start with the scrap pieces (above).

 Melt them in a crucible.

 Once it melts, it makes a metal plug.

 I hammer the plug out flat.

 Flat plug.

 Cut out the center of ring.

 Refine the shape with a file.

 And here are the finished rings.

New chased copper charms I've been making.  Designs are based on mourning jewelry.  These are not finished yet; I think I may enamel them.  Updates are forthcoming.

In the meantime, the Art of Mourning has great images of mourning jewelry.

More images of my charms for "Charmed III; third time's the charm".  The silver one is being donated to a series of charm bracelets that will be auctioned as a fundraiser for the Pittsburgh Society for Contemporary Craft.

I'm pretty pleased with them--I think they're, ahem, quite charming.

On their way!

This spring I was invited to participate in Pittsburgh's Society for Contemporary Craft's "Charmed III:  third time's the charm" exhibition.  I made the enameled charms you see above.  Each one is approximately 3/4" high.  The charms will be available for sale in the store and on their website beginning February 3rd.