Recycled Floppy Bracelets

Do you still have some old floppy disks floating around? If you do, you could have some fun making jewelry with the recycled parts. I took apart some floppy disks we finally decided to toss and saved the metal tops and the round disks found in the middle. I wasn't sure how I'd use them, but knew that sometime I would make either jewelry or sculpture with them. Isn't that what a typical pack rat artist would say? Meanwhile I needed to recondition a LOT of old polymer clay for the Lindly Hanani workshop coming to my guild. The recycled scrap clay looked so beautiful, (doesn't it always) that I had to divert from the conditioning task and make a couple bracelets to celebrate Earth Day. Here are the basics.

Taking apart the floppy is easy. The challenge comes when you try to drill holes in each metal disk to attach them together. I would recommend a very small drill bit, 1/16 or finer. You could also put wire through the center hole to the back and string them together that way.

Roll out the clay on the pasta machine at the thickest setting. Cut with a circle cutter about the same size as the disk or a little smaller. You can always flatten it out to fit. Push the clay into the metal disks. Bake. After the disks are cool, remove the clay, and spread some glue on the back side.

Reposition the clay on the metal disk and let dry. Add jump rings to connect the disks together and add a clasp. You can see I used magnets for one, and wire for the other. Have fun!

A Working Studio

I think of my studio as a vegetable garden, when things follow their natural course, they grow, they ripen. You have to graft. You have to water.
                                                                                                                                            Joan Miro

After a year of feeling like a gypsy selling my wares on the Spanish Village patio, I have moved into Studio 34-B with three talented artists: Danielle Deaton, and Sally Bly, water color painters, and Linda Lepeirs, a photographer. I feel like a real artist now. Funny how having an actual studio outside the little table or desk designated as a home work space makes it legitimate. It declaration to the world that an actual "artist" works here; not just a mom squeezing in a creative project, or a teacher making a demonstration piece to show students. I look forward to being in this great community of artists and hope you will visit if you are in the area.

Studio 34-B is in the middle of the lower photo on the left.
Spanish Village is in beautiful Balboa Park. For more information, check out the link on the right.

Venturing Out

Uncharted Waters – A Creative Journey; It seemed like the perfect title for this blog. Whenever I do art, it is an adventure. There is no telling where things will go even if I begin with a plan or direction. That might just be my short attention span, but I have finally learned to just go with the current. Mistakes are part of the process. In fact, that old saying about making lemonade out of lemons is true and if you happily embrace those lemons it can really be fun too.

One quote that really resonates with me comes from the wonderful book Art and Fear, by David Bayles and Ted Orland. They say, “The function of the overwhelming majority of your art work is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars. Even the failed pieces are essential. You learn how to make your work by making your work.” Wow, that says it all. Keep making art.


Sometimes beginning is a bit scary, like writing this was, (did I mention I hate to write), but with each post I hope to have something to share about my work, (think photos) or techniques I’ve learned (think more photos) or just stuff to amuse you. Let me know what you think and thanks for visiting.