Aspiring Metalsmiths September Challenge - Animals

Thank you all who voted for me! I had a hard time coming up with a theme - I wanted something that I was sure would inspire a lot of people. You could say this is an easy theme, a lot of us make animals and have made animals in the past. Which of course means that a lot of people should be able to make something for the challenge. So if you have little time, you make something within your comfort zone. If you have the time, try to think outside the box, try a new technique, or make a jewelry item you dread making. Make sure that you mention how you thought and how you challenged yourself so we can vote accordingly! Add your entry to the Flickr pool tagged 'AspMet September challenge' no later than midnight (EST) September 30st.

Now for some inspiration:

Make yourself something that will always remind you of a dear pet..

Make something in honor of an animal you would like to save..

Celebrate nature's diversity by picking a weird animal...

Or design something for your favorite dog..

I hope that with these inspirational pictures the wheels will start turning and great creations will be made!

Let the voting begin for Self Portraits!!!

So in July Jess gave us this challenge.....

" The challenge for July is to make a self portrait! Artists have been creating self portraits for who knows how long, and now it is your turn. A self portrait is defined as a representation of the artist created by the artist. Now don't cringe, this does not have to be a literal representation of your face, but it could be! Be creative and make a piece that you think represents you. This will give you an opportunity to stretch your creative muscles and come up with something fantastic."

Well, I'm afraid many of us did cringe! There was talk of using reticulated silver to show the wrinkles. There was talk of not much liking what was in the mirro. And since it is summer, there was talk of being too busy to come up with much of anything. Personally, I couldn't seem to come up with a darn thing.....I sat at my bench and stared at the supplies for hours.

So it makes me very proud to show off the work that did get done by our more brave (creative and productive) members!!

Resurrectionsilver gives us this beauty:

"Ripple In the Water. Sterling Silver and Lapis Lazuli Pendant. This is my interpretation of myself. I believe that every choice I make, every action I do has a ripple effect. It can be negative or positive. I try to focus my life toward doing what I was created to do to make this world a better place, by shining the light of the Creator and being that ripple in the water that spreads light and love and peace. I made this pendant to try to capture that essence. The pendant consists of concentric organic circles or ripples around a lapis pebble. The pendant can slide freely on the jump ring bail representing the movement and flexibility necessary for harmony."

You can see more of Ressurectionsilver's work in her Etsy shop!

Esme of SilverBlueberry entered this amazing set:

"Aspiring Metalsmiths July challenge entry. The challenge was to make a self-portrait. I used my name stone, emerald, for that. I had been wanting to make something with emerald for ages. The commercial precious gemstone jewelry out there is not that appealing to me so I wanted something completely different. The silver is textured with local granite from my garden."

You can see more of Esme's work in her Etsy shop!

SpiceOfLifeDesigns brings us this lovely necklace and earring set.....

"Asymmetrical and irregular ovals radiate from the center of this handcrafted sterling silver necklace. Given even more visual appeal by the grungy hammer texture, the concept for this pendant was developed as a self portrait - I am constantly spinning in circles, my life and the lives of my children are carefully connected and we've gotten battered about by the events in our lives this past year. Resembling a tide pool or the ripples created when a stone is tossed in the water, this pendant is natural and organic in design."

You can see more of Spice Of Life Designs work here in her Etsy shop!!

So....that's it....not many to pick from but each one is a totally perfect self-portrait......