Summer Projects, Part Three

Occasionally, I'll produce a coin display case for a shop in the Cayman Islands, Artifacts. They carry a range of collectibles such as Coins, Maps, and Antiques. This coin display case uses magnets to attach a frame in front, has a removable coin mount inside that can display both sides of a coin with very little detail obscured by the mount, and has glazing on both sides of the case, making it easy to view the entire coin. Each mount is custom made for the individual coin and has enough tension in the slot to hold the coin securely. If this is something you'd like to have made, please contact me at my Etsy shop and let's talk.

Summer Projects, Part Two

Another project for Raintree was this pair of custom Bracelet Boxes of Walnut and Cherry. 

Summer Projects, Part One

One of the projects that kept me busy this summer 2016 was this batch of custom boxes for a jewelry shop in Vermont.

Raintree, located at 165 Main St, Vergennes, VT 05491 is carrying my ring & keepsake boxes. This photo is of one group of boxes, part of a larger order in anticipation of the upcoming end-of-year shopping season.

Shadowboxes at an Exhibition

Taliswomen Warm, by Michele Bonner

Pictured is one of the creations of Michele Bonner for the upcoming exhibit at the Rocky Neck Art Colony in Gloucester, Massachusetts. I provided several small shadowboxes used to display her figurines and they'll be on display as part of the show, "Time Matters: Three Explorations", that will run from 06/02 - 07/04, 2016.

Michele Bonner's website

Rocky Neck Art Colony

Group of Ring Boxes, May 2016

Ring Boxes Ring Boxes

The latest batch on Etsy includes recycled knotty walnut, curly maple, spalted maple, and Brazilian cherry. In addition, one of the small maple boxes was treated with a light transparent wash of blue dye. Just enough to give it some color but not enough to hide the grain and the natural shimmer of the curly and birds-eye maple. After rubbing out the dye, the entire box was treated with a thin protective coat of clear satin polyurethane. All of these include inserts to secure rings in place. I try to use as much recycled wood as possible in anything I make and as often as not, these are woods that can be contrasted against one another to form a pleasing design. The next logical step is to incorporate areas of color in my work and I've been trying to develop a palette of colors that will work with my boxes. Paint covers the surface too completely as well as most stains. It seems that dyes can be applied as a thin wash, changing the color of the wood, but still allowing the natural grain patterns and character to show through.

Batch of Fifteen Ring Boxes - April, 2016

Handmade Hardwood Ring Boxes

New batch of 15 little ring boxes, using a variety of hardwoods. The ten in the back are of black walnut, the five in front use a mix of black walnut, cherry, spalted maple, birds-eye maple and mahogany. All come with black inserts to grip and hold rings in place, and use matched sets of tiny neodymium magnets to hold the two halves together. Easy to pop out of a pocket and pop open for a surprise presentation. The coin in front is a US quarter, about 1" in diameter, for scale.

JM Craftworks Etsy shop

Assortment of Ring Boxes - February, 2016

Another posting of a batch of little ring boxes. These are various sizes and use a variety of fine hardwoods. I browse the local recycling centers and sometimes find scraps of paneling, flooring, cabinets, etc. and I salvage this wood to give it a second life. I've found walnut, maple, cherry, mahogany, teak, and other fine woods that were to be scrapped. They only needed to be planed and cut & assembled to put back into use.

Custom Ring Box - Brazilian Cherry and Black Walnut

Triple Ring Box

A custom box for rings. Built from scratch for a collector to house 3 large rings and made using reclaimed Brazilian Cherry and Black Walnut hardwoods. The bottom half has a folded strip of black foam to grip the rings and hold them securely in place. I use this in all my ring boxes as it's attractive, it's soft but grips really well and it's removable.

JM Craftworks Etsy shop

Featured on VK Designs Blog

VK Designs is a fantastic jewelry shop in Portland, Oregon, and I've been lucky to offer some of my ring boxes with their work. The latest commission was for 20 small ring boxes stained jet black, both single & double ring sizes. They were gracious enough to post information about the boxes and here's a link to their blog. If you're in the Portland area, be sure to contact them for an appointment to view their work. It's all handmade using recycled materials and free-trade gemstones.