Band Ring
Melody Armstrong -  Jewellery Level One
Use 18 gauge silver (minimum) = 1.0 mm thick
Measure:  Paper around finger, fold excess so edge meets edge.  Cut excess, butt up ends no gap or overlap and tape ends together.                    Try on paper band – should be snug, but able to remove over knuckles.

[Optional] Apply pattern to band:  sand up to a 400 grit first and apply texture: roll printing, hammering, wire imprint, stamping. *Do this before filing.
 Square up silver band, use best end.  FILE  the band using large blue handle flat file.
File the best end.  Butt up band against bench pin, perpendicular to floor, [vertically at 90° to floor], with best end at top.  Using a wide flat file, file the good top end at a right angle.  Use a light touch and controlled movement keeping file level and parallel with bench top, file slowly from front to back.  File only in one direction, away from yourself.  Aim: a solid single plane across the top end. Keep an eye on the reflection of the edge. Use jewellers’ square to check the right angle.  Check that the reflection is even all the way across the filed end.  File more if needed.
Open up the paper ring.  Use calipers to measure paper band, and gently tighten calipers. Butt up calipers on filed end of silver band, and scribe line across the back side of band to mark the other end of the band where it will be cut.

Place band on top of bench pin, near the top of “inverted V” for support. Saw band slowly and gently on the scribed line.
File this end of band and true up with the square.  (See step 4.)
 If the surface is hammered, roll printed, wire imprinted or stamped, you will need to anneal the band to soften before proceeding. (See note on Annealing at end of these instructions.
 Hold band alongside ring mandrel and, using fingers/hands, form a gentle U shape.  Using half-round pliers, hold band near edge of one end parallel to edge, with flat part of plier on outside of band and round part of plier on inside of band.  Bend the end a bit.  Alternate sides, bending.  Bring two ends to butt together.  Band will be flat across the area where ends butt together.





Close to where ends butt together, hold one end with pliers and place one end just over the other end and push together.  Lift out under-end so ends snap together.  Repeat with other end.  Check to see that no light comes through the joint.  Adjust as needed, using pliers.



Using snap-on disc at 90° to band, smooth the best end of the seam (where 2 ends of band conjoin). To make a flush spot for soldering.

Soldering - Turn on ventilation system. Clean off solder brick. - For plain ring, use MED solder.  If adding other soldered on elements to the ring, start with HARD solder for the seam, then  use MED, then EASY for subsequent soldering. - Cut tiny square of solder, and place on solder brick. - Stir flux well.  Brush flux over entire ring (all surfaces). - Place flush side of seam on top of solder.  
Solder: turn on gas, then Oxygen.  Heat entire ring, then the seam area at the end making sure the solder flows all the way to the top of the seam. - Turn off oxygen first, then gas.  Then Quench the ring in water. Leave the steel tweezers at the solder station.

Pickling: put ring in pickle pot for 5 minutes. Remove using copper tongs, then dip in baking soda solution, and rinse with water.  Dry off.

Making the ring round.  Using a rawhide mallet, hammer the ring on the ring mandrel, gentle at first.  As it gets rounder, rotate the mandrel and hammer harder until all edges of the ring are in contact with the mandrel. As you do this alternate the direction the ring goes on the mandrel repeatedly.


Finishing Slide edges of ring back and forth on top of flat 150 grit sandpaper stick, to smooth the edges and and make them flush. Using half-round new needle file, at a 45degree angle to the edge, file the sharp inner edges of ring to make it rounded, not too much, should only take a few seconds each side.
Using 280 grit sandpaper mandrel (on flex shaft machine) in an up-down motion, smooth inner surface of the ring and remove excess solder from the interior.
Use snap-on disc (on flex shaft) to round off the outside edges of ring.

Polishing. For a smooth surface ring that is not textured or printed: use 320 and 400 grit sandpaper to sand the entire outside surface and outside edges.  This will eliminate the seam. If you want to do a high polish, sand with 600 and then 1000 grit. Then use greystar on the buffing machine, is is VERY important to remove all greystar compound before doing the super high polish with the rouge compound.  
DO NOT CONTAMINATE THE ROUGE WHEEL WITH THE GREYSTAR  COMPOUND.
Remove both compounds with the ultra sonic cleaner, be sure to turn on the ultrasonic cleaner 30 minutes before hand and set to 60 degrees.  When finished with the ultrasonic cleaner please turn off.
For a hammered ring: use a small worn-down rubber wheel (on flex shaft) to imitate hammering along the seam, or the edge of a 400 grit sandpaper stick.
[Optional] Apply patina if desired to textured rings.  First brass brush with detergent and rinse under hot water then immerse in fresh, hot liver of sulfur. Rinse.
On a textured Ring.  Burnish if desired the outer surface of band using small, circular motions with the burnishing tool.  This will burnish and highlight the raised portions.  Then burnish outer edges of ring.  Or sand off the high spots with a fine sandpaper stick.

ANNEALING
To soften metal that has been textured before bending into a u-shape on the ring mandrel, anneal the metal: - Lay the silver on top of soldering block. - Using the torch with light turned off, heat the entire metal surface until metal turns grey and you see a hint of a dull red glow appearing on the metal. - Turn off flame.  Using tweezers, quench metal in water. - Pickle the metal piece (see step 11 above).

HIGH POLISH (for smooth rings)
Sand up to 1000 grit: start with [150 maybe, if you have deep scratches to remove]-    280-320-400-600-1000 Turn on ultrasonic cleaner to 60° 30 minutes prior. Use buffing machine: - Use face shield. Turn on ventilation, light, buffing wheel. - Add GREYSTAR compound to the buff on right side. - Hold metal with fingertips with both hands. - Hold metal at a 45 degree angle to the buffing wheel.
is is VERY important to remove all greystar compound before doing the super high polish with the rouge compound.
DO NOT CONTAMINATE THE ROUGE WHEEL WITH THE GREYSTAR  COMPOUND.
- Clean using ultrasonic cleaner, [or with hot water, detergent, toothbrush] – to remove compound, make sure it is all off of edges and pierced out areas. 5-10 minutes.
- Then proceed with ROUGE Buff using rouge compound on the left buffing wheel for a super higher polish.
-repeat cleaning as above. 

Art Talks New episode every Tuesday!
Art Talks is a spotlight series highlighting Saskatchewan visual artists. We explore the processes, workspaces and inspirations of some of Saskatchewan’s best emerging or mid-career visual artists in these short mini-docs.
New episode every Tuesday!
Featuring:
Mackenzy Vida, Valerie Wiebe, Kara Perpelitz, Joviel Buenavente, Sharron Schoenfeld, Mandie Hagel, Laureen Marchand,
Melody Armstrong, Marea Olafson, Sasha Miller & Shawn Fulton

Melody Armstrong
Episode 8- May 31, 2022
Melody Armstrong is an internationally recognized contemporary jewellery artist.Creating with a variety of metals, enamels and stones, Armstrong’s Industrial-Organic aesthetic combines abstraction with a truth to materials that reflects both her attention to detail and quality of workmanship.

https://creativecitycentre.ca/info/melody-armstrong/

The Creative City Centre was incorporated in 2008 by our founder, Marian Donnelly. She had leased an empty space in Regina’s downtown and had a vision to convert it into a community-based arts centre. It took months to get the financing in place and the original design plans approved. In 2009, mechanical, electrical and plumbing was installed. In 2010, Marian and a small team of volunteers spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours removing old wallpaper, refinishing floors, installing sinks and toilets, tearing down walls and building new ones. By early 2011, tenants started to move in. On May 8, 2011, the Creative City Centre was officially opened with a media event and performance.

Since then, we have presented between 150-200 events every year, including music concerts, visual art exhibitions, spoken word and poetry slams, comedy nights, life drawing sessions, film screenings and just about any kind of workshop or community event you could imagine.
The funding support we received over the years was always appreciated, but never quite enough. We’ve managed to get by with part-time programming staff, but always relied on the volunteer time, passion and energy of our founder. Marian has been the bookkeeper, grant writer, HR manager, janitor, bartender, sound technician and tenant manager among many other roles.
In 2019, Marian submitted a grant application to the Canada Council for the Arts, proposing to develop a new training program for artists, teaching them how to use social media. The week before the pandemic lockdown started in March 2020, we found out that grant application had been approved. As we were closing our normal operations for the lockdown, we started putting in place what is now our SMMART program (Social Media Marketing for Artists).
We also got busy writing more funding applications and were able to secure support to convert our Hague Gallery from a performance and exhibition space to a production studio. As we continue to navigate through COVID-19 restrictions, we are focused on producing digital content. We hope you enjoy our podcasts, artist spotlights and video series, and that you’ll like, post and share on social media channels.
We are proud to support Saskatchewan talent in every medium!
https://creativecitycentre.ca/

The SK Arts Permanent Collection is now up in the lobby of Mosaic Tower at Hill Centre III at the corner of
12th Avenue and Hamilton in Regina.
The space is accessible to the public Monday to Friday 8 to 4pm.

SK Arts Permanent Collection
Shortly after SK Arts was created in 1948, we began collecting the art and crafts of Saskatchewan visual artists into a Permanent Collection. You will find everything from paintings, drawings, textiles, ceramics, jewelry, furniture, prints, photographs and sculpture in the collection. The wide variety of styles and media demonstrates the amazing talent of Saskatchewan artists. This collection currently includes more than 3000 works of 750 artists and continues to grow. Its goal is to represent the contemporary art practices of artists within the province for the purpose of public access.

We are one of the only collections in the province to collect jewelry. These display cases contain 19 pieces from eight artists spanning more than 50 years. The earliest pieces date from the 1970s, while our most recently acquired necklaces were created by 19-year-old Cherelle Williams in 2022.

Quantic Cluster Long Block Earrings
Sterling silver, bronze, 3mm champagne cubic zirconia.
Melody Armstrong
$249.75 (includes GST & PST)

Quantic Cluster Block Necklace
Sterling silver, bronze, 6mm cubic zirconia, 5mm champagne cubic zirconia. 20" oxidized 2.1mm rolo chain.
Melody Armstrong
$271.95  (includes GST & PST)

The Craft Council of BC presents year 9 of The Earring Show, an annual fundraiser, juried exhibition and sales opportunity for makers to showcase wearable art in a whole host of mediums. 
Starting as a local, one-day fundraiser event, The Earring Show has grown each year, first accepting artists throughout North America and now accepting artists from around the world since 2021. The show has now adapted to the current world situation, transitioning to a virtual setting. In 2022, The Earring Show will be a hybrid event, displaying earring submissions both at the CCBC Gallery in Vancouver and online. An opening event will be hosted virtually on May 5, 2022, where winners will be announced.

• Opening: May 5, 2022
• On view at the CCBC Gallery: May 5 – 19, 2022
• On view and for sale online: May 5 – June 30, 2022

Join us for a live event hosted by CBC’s North x Northwest Sheryl MacKay and CCBC ED Raine McKay and celebrate wearable art while enjoying an evening full of craft, style and cocktails!
Mark your calendars – The Earring Show tickets are on sale now!
get your tickets here!

SELECTED ARTISTS

Melody Armstrong's ever-changing interplay of colors and textures in her jewellery designs creates dynamic contrasts, “evoking a vividness of exquisite dimensions“ which is rich, alluring and of the utmost elegance.