Thursday, May 19, 2016

We're All Ears May Inspiration Reveal:: May


 image, was originally posted to Flickr.com, then uploaded to Commons usingFlickr upload bot on 21:42, 3 August 2012 (UTC) by SarahStierch (talk).

May's "We're All Ears May Inspiration" is very flexible.  The theme is tea and we can be inspired by china patterns, the shape of teapots, the flavors of tea, the colors of tea stains, the messages of wisdom on the tags, a romantic table setting, petit fours, silver spoons and lace.   We can simply pick out what inspires us. What fun!  I saw this as an opportunity to try a totally new technique to me.



Arizona Green Tea
I decided that I would use a can of Arizona Green Tea as my inspiration.  I like the colors and pattern of the graphics on the can.  I have seen jewelry made from tin cans and always wanted to try my hand at it.  I have also been making jewelry parts from metal and I have tools from making handmade cards.  I was happy to find another excuse to use these tools from both sets of hobbies.  I have to justify my craft purchased to myself as often as I can!


To create earrings from the can,  I wash, dried and cut it apart. I saw this as an opportunity to use my heavy duty metal cutters. This wasn't necessary. They didn't even work well. Ordinary sizzors work just fine.  

Embossing folder
 Next, I used a texture folder with my Sizzix Big Shot machine to add some raised embossed texture to the metal.  It also gave the metal some additional body.

Metal Disk Cutter Punch
I then punched out the shapes with my Metal Disk Cutter Punch. Truth be told simple punches from a craft store will work and give more design opportunities.  I have a heart punch that I think will make some very cute earrings.  The metal on these cans was much thinner that I imagined!

File
I then used my hole punch to place holes where I wanted my jump rings to go through.  I filed any edges where they were sharp or irregular.   



3 styles of tea can earrings

I ended up making 3 styles of earrings.  I used 5 mm and 10 mm gunmetal jump rings and ear wires to bring out the black on the graphics.


Pink floral earrings
The pink floral earrings are my favorite.  I love the color and texture.  I used pink lava beads because they had lots of texture.

Floral layered earrings

These earrings are made by layering a small circle on top of a larger one. The gunmetal kidney ear wires give a totally different look.
Turquoise Dangle Earrings
Being the perfectionist that I am, I will have to redo these Turquoise Dangle Earrings so that some of the black graphic isn't on one of them.  I didn't have anymore of the can left when I discovered the imbalance.  I created what looks like a chain for these earrings by just connecting some jump rings.  I like the look it gives.

Now, that I have these earrings under my belt, I want to make some from Coke cans next.  I am wondering if I should put a sealant on top of the thin metal.  Any suggestions about that?  



12 comments:

  1. beautiful earrings. I love your inspiration. so sweet.

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  2. Love the earrings, I am hoping to broaden my work into metal like that. Thanks for the insights!

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    1. It is hard to take the first step in trying something new. I am glad this challenged pushed me to do it.

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  3. These turned out great. I actually love that one of the turquoise has a little black on it. My favorites are the pink floral too. So pretty, and the lava beads are the perfect accent!

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  4. Thanks for sharing your process as well as your lovely finished earrings, Kathy! I've been collecting some beer cans that I want to play around with... you've given me the inspiration to give it a try! The pink ones are my favorites too... but they are all super cute.

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  5. The sheet metal in cans is very thin (32g maybe) and can be easily cut or shaped.But I find them (the edges) too thin to file, so I wonder how you accomplished that? You can apply a coat of vintaj sealant or renaissance wax to seal them

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  6. Thanks for sharing your techniques, I need to start using some of my card making supplies in my jewelry too! I always loved the Arizona can, great work on your designs.

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  7. I am finally getting a collection of tools together and trying to get some use out of them. It takes time!

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  8. Great fun to try a new technique! I have a book about using soda cans for jewelry and there are some fun projects in there. I especially love the added dimension that the embossing gave to the metal. Thanks for joining in the We're All Ears. Be sure to come back on June 3rd for our next challenge! Enjoy the day! Erin

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  9. Love your take on the challenge!! You did a great job punching out metal pieces and layering them in interesting ways. Great work! - Sarah

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