Give Me Your Recyclables, Your Trash

So....I am now the person that some people think of when they go to throw things out.

On more than a few occasions, I have been given something with the explanation, "I saw this going out to the garbage/recycling, and I said, "Wait a minute, Cynthia might want that.""

And I'm completely OK with that.

I like that challenge of taking something that might otherwise have been destined to be left curbside and turning it into an appealing (hopefully) piece of jewelry.

This empty beer can came to me via one of the members of the Hammer and Yammer group at Main Line Art Center who properly assumed that I might want to turn it into something else.

I love the name and I love the graphics.

I think that the imagery of the Statue of Liberty sitting on the Golden Gate Bridge is pretty irresistible.

Lady Liberty cooling her feet in the San Francisco Bay, with her crown, torch and tablet set aside....how could I not love this?

I used my jeweler's saw to cut off the top and bottom.

Using my metal snips, I cut along the vertical seam which allowed me to flatten the can and plan my strategy for cutting out discs.

I lined up the metal in my disc cutter, trying to maximize the graphic quality of each disc and continued cutting until I ran out of interesting options.

I ended up with a collection of 3/4" diameter discs of very thin aluminum.

In order for these discs to be of any use, they would have to be paired up with other metal to create a durable structure.

I decided to revisit the detail that I used in my 'Ghosts of My Past' necklace that I made in 2009 and prepared to make some 'Hell or High Watermelon' charms.

 Forged copper rings were made with interior openings of approximately 5/8" diameter.

 With a solid circle of textured brass as the backing, a 'Hell or Highwater' cutout became the center part of a 3 layer metal sandwich, riveted together with segments of sterling wire.

The backing is a disc that was cut from a piece of brass that had been textured with the rolling mill.

I don't yet know how I'll use the charms, but it would be typical for me to have them sit on my workbench for 6 months....maybe more while I consider the possibilities.