art from recycled materials

Upcycled Cuff Bracelet

By: ornamento.blog October 21, 2021October 21, 2021

Art, art from recycled materials, jewelry, jewelry design, recycled art, recyclingArt, fabric jewelry tutorial, screen printing, Upcycled jewelry4 Comments

The Fire Mountain Gems website describes upcycling as taking something that is destined for the trash bin and transforming it into something of value and beauty. … This can be as simple as taking a piece of waste paper and transforming it into beads or other useful jewelry-making components.

This is a project from a while back that I made while I was waiting for hand surgery and couldn’t do any projects that involved a lot of banging or prolonged fine work.

First, I ironed some screen printed fabric onto fusible interfacing and sewed it into a tube,

I cut up an aluminum can to the proper size for a cuff bracelet, wrapped it with masking tape, and slipped the fabric tube over it. Then I trimmed the fabric and tucked in the ends.

I sewed the ends shut and attached another piece of screen printed fabric for contrast.

I wrapped the bracelet with some gorgeous vintage rayon embroidery floss and searched my stash of scrap metal and glass for additional embellishments.

And here’s the finished product. That’s a fabric necklace in the background, also made from upcycled materials.

More Adventures with Fiber

By: ornamento.blog July 25, 2019July 24, 2019

Art, art from recycled materials, Fiber Art, jewelry, recycled art, screen printing, Silk ScreeningArt, Fabric Surface Design, Fiber Jewelry, recyclingLeave a Comment

I have put away the metal clay for awhile and have resisted firing up the kiln until the hottest days of Summer are behind us. I also have a load of Cone 6 porcelain to do but I think that one is going to have to wait for the fall. In the meantime, I am taking a pottery glazing and surface design class (more on that later) and and continuing my work with cloth and fiber in the coolness of my basement workshop. I have been screen printing on fabric and here are some of the results

ScreenPrint1

ScreenPrint3

ScreenPrint5

The idea is to combine this fabric with other elements and make some wearable jewelry.

Here is some fabric I sewed around welting with the idea of making a multi-strand necklace.

necklace

Here’s the necklace I came up with. I wrapped the solid color ropes with some reclaimed silk yarn that I love. I don’t have enough of it to make anything but a few strands of it adds a lot of interest. I am not sure if I like the copper rings and the dangle. The colors are right but the shapes might not work.

dangle

I am looking for something other than welting to fill the cloth. I tried nylon-filled rope, but it’s tricky to shape. The necklace has to drape the right way and nylon fiber can be stiff and uncooperative.

necklace2

I am also looking at various closures. I am not that fond of lobster clasps for necklaces. They can be fiddly to open and close. I think a secure hook of some kind would make getting in and out of the necklace much easier. And it would be easy to make.

The necklace happens to be made from recycled materials. The fabric came from old clothes and remnant bins, the wire is stripped electrical wire, the yarn is reclaimed from a hat I bought in a thrift shop and the chain is from a trash-picked necklace. The only “new” part of it (aside from the Czech beads I have had for years) are the crimp ends holding the ropes.

Pain and Soldering Revisited

By: ornamento.blog October 19, 2017October 18, 2017

Art, art from recycled materials, art, creativity, crafts, inspiration, Craft demonstration, DIY, Ireland, metalsmithing, problem solving, SilversmithingArt, DIY Jewelry Tools Coin Setting, jewelry design, soldering tutorial3 Comments

I am making a setting to hold a coin. Or I am trying to. I set a coin in Richard Salley’s metalsmithing class at Hacienda Mosaico a couple of years ago. I didn’t like the results and vowed to try again. I had my class notes but wanted to find something a little more tailored to my capabilities. And so I looked for a tutorial in every dog house, out house and waffle house and didn’t find anything I like. So then I decided to improvise. Uh oh.
01.IMG_7351

This is the coin. A lovely specimen (from before the time the Republic of Ireland went on the Euro) that a friend gave me so I could make the pendant for his wife. I would love to show you the other side, but I have lost it. My husband says it will turn up somewhere. Brilliant. Maybe on one of the moons of Jupiter or the other side of the state, but not with me.

02.IMG_7352

I start off with 18 gauge silver

03.IMG_7353

And measure very carefully.

04.IMG_7354

My trusty scribe and metal cutting scissors. By the way, these scissors are fantastic! I forget where I read about them. (Maybe Helen Driggs’ column in Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist?) I have a few pair of metal cutting scissors, but these are the best by far. You can buy them from Amazon.

05.IMG_7355

I cut my bezel.

06.IMG_7356

I straighten my bezel

08.IMG_7359

I wrap the metal around the coin, cut to fit

13.IMG_7364

and solder

18.IMG_7369

I planned to cut tabs on both sides of the bezel for fold over tabs

24.IMG_7377

Soldering on the jump ring

27.IMG_7386

And phooey phooey phooey! But his story has a happy ending! I managed to design a coin bezel based on a basket setting. This took ~~several hundred~~ many attempts.

4.coin

In the coming weeks, I will post a tutorial on how I made it. In the meantime, here are two new ideas for making your own jewelry tools!

3.Hammeringmat This one is great! Who uses phonebooks anymore? You can also use a thick catalog or maybe stacks of magazines. Just secure them with masking tape or duct tape. They make a great hammering surface or a cushion for a bench block.

An old hammer head secured in a vise makes a great metal forming tool.

Resource and Treasures

By: ornamento.blog January 12, 2017January 8, 2017

Art, art from recycled materials, art, creativity, crafts, inspiration, dumpster diving, Found Objects, Green Decorating, phladelphiaArt, green grafting, Music, recycling, repurposing, resource exchange philadelphia2 Comments

I am so cold today! Yesterday I had to go out in a whirling snowstorm to deliver a sick portable hard drive to the computer hospital. Today, the computer doctor called me with the happy news that the files on the drive would live. I feel like I dodged a bullet. Fortunately, I already had the pictures for this blog post ready to go.

Which brings me to the Resource Exchange. I heard about this wonderful place a couple of years ago as a space where film and play companies deposited their leftover props and set equipment when production was finished. Then I leaned that the collection of leftovers had grown to any kind of material that could be used to make art. Which includes everything when you think of it but we won’t go there, will we?

No, the Resource Exchange offers all kinds of reclaimed arts and craft supplies that you can mention in polite company AND use to make art. These supplies would otherwise end up in the trash. The Resource Exchange gives them new life. Let’s see, conservation, art, creative reuse-looks like a win/win situation to me.

And if you have a bunch of discarded art supplies, builder supplies, tools, and old sewing machine, a stuffed animal, a bolt of cloth a case of paper clips, bring them to the Resource Exchange. Someone, somewhere will want them.

On my trip to the Resource Exchange, I found some bead storage boxes, jute webbing that I used to Boris-proof my foot stools, gold thread, giant wooden beads, and some more things that I can’t remember-all cheap and in good condition.

Beading Yoda was thrilled because now she has a place to bring all her Strawbridge and Clothier Bags because the people at the Resource Exchange know the difference between trash and vintage.

Be sure to check out the Resource Exchange’s web page and follow them on Facebook. In the meantime, here are some enticing pictures.

A Walk to the Post Office

By: ornamento.blog October 1, 2015September 29, 2015

Art, art from recycled materialsArt, Connie Fox, Mosaics, South Philadelphia, Urban ArtLeave a Comment

Not much to say this week. Just some pictures of a lovely mosaic installation I encountered one afternoon on my way to the Post Office at 10th and Dickinson Streets in South Philadelphia.

Garage Sailing in North Carolina

By: ornamento.blog May 14, 2015May 12, 2015

art from recycled materials, garage salesPhotography, TravelLeave a Comment

One of my favorite activities is trolling garage and yard sales so I am very pleased that Maxwell married into a family where “garage sailing” is an honored past time. I know that the correct spelling is more likely garage “sale-ing” but I like the idea (and the practice) of sailing from sale to sale.

I bet you could garage sail right down this canal.

The lady on the left worked as a music therapist and was selling a bunch of instruments including an Ovation acoustic electric six string guitar that was a little dinged up on the front but had a nice sound and a finger-friendly action. For $100.00 I was thinking about buying it but I don’t play anymore didn’t have anyone old enough to give it to. She also had an auto harp, an electric keyboard and a portable percussion set. I did score a Dremel rotary kit from her for $20.00 and it works great!

Max treated us to pizza made with his personal home made dough and toppings. A nice finish to a day of garage sailing.

Meanwhile in my Workshop

By: ornamento.blog May 10, 2012May 12, 2012

Art, art from recycled materials, Design, Enameling, Materials, Metal, Metal Work, Metal WorkingArt, Design, inspiration, Jewelry MakingLeave a Comment

I’ve been a little scattered these past months last through months jumping from beading to quilting to casting glass to polymer clay and crocheting without much focus. I’ve also been practicing my soldering and playing “let’s put that through the rolling mill and see what happens.” Or arranged components in different combinations to see how they look. The picture below shows a copper spiral I put through the rolling mill, some bent wire, and an enameled metal scrap. I don’t think the pieces go together, but you don’t know until you try.

Here are some ceramic shards from my pottery days.

I used high fire white porcelain with mason stains to color the clay. I had previously tumbled the the with cheap cleanser until the surfaces were a buttery matte. A couple of years ago I took the same shards and tumbled then with the polish meant to be used in the last stage of rock tumbling. Boy was I surprised-they got glossy shiny.

Some shards were finely crazed on the surface and I rubbed ink and shoe dye into a lot of these. I have made pendants out of some of them; you can drill holes in them the same way you drill glass.

Here’s my box of of metal scraps. I should call it my magic box because whenever a need a certain piece of metal, I can find it in there. The brass pieces in the left compartment of the middle shelf are these cool fixtures of a chest of drawers. I am going to use them upside down as focal pieces in necklaces. I am still thinking about the design

Here are some bezels. The one in the foreground holds a bullseye glass cab I fused awhile ago. The curl of copper in the back (left) is what remained when I cut a thin sheet of copper with metal shears. The metal curls up and looks so interesting. I still have to think of a way to use these.

Fold forming and patina experiments. I think the verdigris needs to be toned down or eliminated. This might make for an interesting pendant.

Here I am trying to hold a piece steady for in order to solder one little thing to it. When you solder, anything you use to clip or bind pieces together draws the heat from your torch and makes the process more difficult.

Bead caps are easy to make. Just take a disc (bought or cut with a disc cutter) make a hole in the center with a hole punch, and shape with a dapping die and punch.

More components looking for a home. The white bead is polymer clay.

You enamel the bead caps after you make them. You don’t have to use them as bead caps. The above dangle could be an earring or an embellishment.

More enameled scraps

A few years ago, Theresa Mowery of Patina Studio suggested Miracle Gro plant food after reading one of my posts on patina experiments. It works great! But I live in an urban area where my own garden is a weed growing out of a crack in my front steps. So I got liquid plant food that has similar ingredients to Miracle Gro ( just compare the labels) so I would not have to buy a large box of plant food and mix it up. The liquid plant food even comes with an eye dropper.

Here are some finished copper pendants tucked into my patina jar that’s filled with Kosher salt. I screwed the lid on and will check it after a few days to see how the patina is developing.

Here’s some other pieces. I put on the patina and am leaving them in the open air to see what happens.

The pictures below show the front and back of a pendant in progress. I etched a piece of brass and patinated it with the ammonia and salt method. Then I cut out the shape, made a hole and shaped it in a swage block.

I filed the edges smooth and added a ring, washer and dangle with enameled ends. I think this pendant will undergo some more changes before I’m happy with it.

Once it’s the way I want it, I will finish the pendant with a coat of Renaissance Wax to protect the patina.

If you’re in Philadelphia this weekend, don’t miss the Spring Art Star Craft Bazaar Saturday, May 12th & Sunday, May 13th, 11-6pm at the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing, which is along Columbus Blvd, between Walnut & Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, PA

My First Quilt

I did not plan to make this quilt. I wanted new quilts or comforters for my bedroom but could not justify buying new ones when the old ones were perfectly fine and I was just tired of the way they looked. Then I started searching for the perfect duvet cover. I didn’t see anything I liked. Then I saw quilts I liked in a catalog and thought about making a patchwork design duvet cover. I started dreaming in patchwork and going on line and looking at quilting supplies and fabric. That’s when I got the idea of making quilts for my bedroom using the old comforter as the insides. Have I ever done this before? No. But the Internet is full of blogs and tutorials with information on how to do things. I read and watched videos. A lot of videos. I read books. The main idea I came away with is that a beginner (me) should start small. It was then that I remembered that a baby was due in our family in a few weeks and, if I put the (sewing machine) pedal to the metal, perhaps I could make a baby quilt.

What about the fabric? I knew the little Tater Tot was a boy. I had some great fabric I found at Jo-Mar in Philadelphia, along with some Bohemian Chic style tablecloths bought at deep discount. Not appropriate for a baby boy quilt. So I went looking on line and saw all these kits and jelly rolls and charm packs with gorgeous color coordinated fabric meant to be cut and sewn together. But that didn’t resonate with me. This project wasn’t about recreating someone else’s idea; I wanted to create my own palette and I wanted to recycle fabric. So I bought old clothes at thrift stores, and raided my small fabric stash and closet. A co-worker gave me fabric that belonged to her late aunt who had made baby quilts for her family. That seemed appropriate to use. I brought everything home, washed and dried it, ripped out the seams in the clothes and ironed everything.

Plumpton helped me to “audition” the colors. He took his job seriously!

I decided to make the quilt five (six inch) blocks across and down and to have blocks on both sides. Because I intended to do the quilting on my sewing machine and didn’t have a walking foot, I used a baby blanket for the inner layer. My first step was to cut out 50 blocks, arrange them in two sets of 25 and sew each set together.

One side sewn together.

After I completed both sides, I sandwiched the baby blanket in the middle using spray adhesive to hold everything in place and smoothed out the layers. I put in a few pins for added stability. Then I started to machine quilt. It was here that tips from two friends came in handy. I had watched one video where the quilter started machine quilting from an outside corner. “No,” instructed Jeri Beading Yoda, “You start from the center and go out.” And since I had never machine quilted anything, Susie B recommended I practice on some cheap fabric first. I’m glad I did.

I used a modified zig zag stitch because I knew my quilting was going to be crooked and this stitch would sort of hide that.

After quilting, I trimmed everything square and sewed on the binding.

Here I am machine stitching part of the binding. I did it over about three times before I was happy with it. I ended up machine stitching one side of the binding and hand sewing the other. You can see this technique here.

They say you should sign the quilt, so I did. I thought it was important to mention that I sewed it on a machine that had belonged to baby’s Great Grandmother Vicky. It wasn’t until after I signed the quilt that I remembered that Vicky had made me a beautiful quilted jacket on the very same machine.

Here is the finished baby quilt.

Dolores Poacelli: No Relationship without Tension

By: ornamento.blog June 30, 2011July 1, 2011

Art, art from recycled materials, Art in the Open, art, creativity, crafts, inspiration, Dolores Poacelli, Found Objects, Metal Working, Philadelphia, recycling, repurposingArt, creativity, inspiration, mixed media, PhiladelphiaLeave a Comment

I was at Art in the Open walking by the Schuylkill toward the Waterworks when I saw a woman working on this interesting piece

“How cool,” I thought. I went to get a closer look. . .

and met the artist, Dolores Poacelli. She told me the piece was composed of discarded aluminum printers plates she found in the trash. “I’m a dumpster diver,” she said, ” and my studio is in the Italian Market.” That’s all I had to hear to feel a connection. But there was something else that attracted me to her work. What?

Dolores on the right explains her process to Jeri

The unifying factor in her body of work is an ongoing exploration of the relationship between color, shape, texture, space and tension. Her exploration of these elements, while subtle and nuanced, animates the monochromatic piece and makes it interesting. Want to see more? Her web site is full of compositions where she studies these relationships in metal, paper, collage, paint and mixed media. Take a look! Press here to see more of Poacelli’s work.

Wooden Sculpture by Dolores Poacelli on the banks of the Schuylkill

Bob’s Garden, May 2011

By: ornamento.blog May 19, 2011May 16, 2011

Art, art from recycled materials, Koi fish, Koi Pond, Lilly pad, Personal History, Philadelphia, Urban, Urban Artifacts, Urban Gardening, Urban LandscapeColor, creativity, inspiration2 Comments

Passers By look into the koi pond.

It’s early in the season, but Bob’s garden is already underway. There are new fish in the koi pond, a big, happy turtle, and lots of new plants. Barbra chewed off her perch in the tree, so Bob made her a new one. Enjoy the slide show.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Earlier Posts on Bob’s Garden