31

Planing

The past few days all I have been doing is running wood through the planer. Some pieces go through smoothly, others need a little persuasion. Either way it's a lot of work moving all that wood around. The results though are worth it. Resting below the surface is an amazing rainbow or colors. Each one is different. I took a few videos today and put them together, but youtube seems to be taking it's sweet time uploading it so I'll post it when they finally get around to it. but for now I have another photo of just one of the amazing pieces we are finding. This is a larger piece of the frame section with a crazy grain to it.

*Update, here is the video, it's kind of long.

30

Moleskine

I love Moleskine, I have a few of them. They are just so portable, dependable and useful. I've had one banging around in my backpack everyday for the past few years and it is still holding together. I'm going to share with you just what I use each of them for.

I have one to record the items I post in my etsy shop. It's where I keep a record of the size and shape and description of each item in case I need to reference it later. I've been filling this book up a lot lately and I will need to get a new one pretty soon.

My everyday Moleskine is one that I use to sketch down little ideas or rough sketches for projects I might want to do. I don't use it as much as I should, but it is always there when I need it.

This Moleskine is one I just started carrying around in my pocket. I use it to write down short little messages I would have sent Carmel if I could still text her. I just started using it and it's a little strange because sometimes I get an urge to check back and see if she has responded like it was my phone or something.

My last Moleskine is one that I just got today. It's a weekly notebook planner. I'm going to force myself to use it. I've never kept a calendar before, I've always just done it in my head. But with this I can now write down goals on dates and it will be harder to look them over or just pass them off. I'm hoping it will help me to keep organized, and also to remember what day of the week it is.

Well these are all of my Moleskines, for now.

29

Pintrest

So I've started using Pintrest, or I signed up for it at least. Here is what my page, or whatever it's called, looks like right now.

I'll figure it out eventually, I'm not really sure how I started following people. I don't remember choosing to follow people, I'm not even sure who most of those people are. Anyway, this was a short post but maybe I'll get this Pintrest thing in order and do another post when it's up and running.

28

The City Dark

I really want to watch this film.

I really wish I could see the stars at night. I remember a few times camping as a kid in boy scouts up on a mountain and seeing the most amazing night sky completely filled with stars. It really is sad that most people will go through their whole lives never being able to see that and some not knowing that it is even there. The city night sky creates the perception of closeness of the sky, it mostly looks empty like nothing else exists. Being able to see the stars opens up the possibility of what more there could be. It makes you feel small. The city night sky creates another perception of reality, you feel more apart of the city then apart of the world or the universe as a whole. It narrows your view of what is, or what could be. It's something that will probably never go away or change though. It is too bad that we block out the beauty of the night sky.

27

New Mug

I found a new mug for myself at goodwill the other day.

Hopefully I can remember to use it.

26

Away She Went

I drove Carmel to the airport today, and now she's gone. This day was long in coming and I don't think it has fully hit me that I won't see her for a long time, in person anyway. It's going to take awhile to get use to the fact that she is gone. It's sad she is gone but it is a good thing what she is doing so I'm happy about that. If you want to read more about her journey you can read her blog here: http://averitableocean.blogspot.com/

I'm going to have to try and remember how to live without her being here in person. These past few weeks we have been living like this day was the last day on earth slowly approaching. It has been a fun few weeks, to go along with the amazing year we spent together. Now it's almost like she's in prison or something, with really spread out and expensive visiting hours. I have a lot more to reflect and absorb before write more about how I feel about this whole situation. I'm still trying to remind myself that she won't walk in the door any second. So, sorry for this probably vague and random post.

I'm going to post more about this in the next few months and also about my planed journey to her next summer.

Here is a video I put together of Carmel's going away part from last weekend, lots of dancing and drinking.

*no rugs were ruined in the making of this video

25

Wawona Wood

Today we fired up the plainer and ran the first of many pieces of the Wawona through. The grain and color of the wood really pops out when you put it through the plainer. Each one is like opening up a present, each piece has layer of wood that is hiding the color of the aged wood below. I'm planning on documenting that process but for now I just have a few pictures to share of one of the pieces I did today.

The picture is of one of the frame sections, the holes are where the trunnel holes were drilled. It has a beautiful and dramatic wood grain.

More to come.

24

You Choose 

I didn't really know what to blog about tonight. I was going to post a video I've been working on but it's not done yet so you cant sees it. I thought of a few other things to blog about but cant decide which one to post and I can't really post them together because they don't really fit together so I will give you the option to pick one.

One of these is amazing and you should watch it, the other is important and interesting and should be listened too, and finally one is, according to youtube, the worst video ever. Click one one of the numbers below and accept your fate. Choose wisely.

1        2        3

*UPDATE: Due to some feedback it appears that two of these links are terrible, and only one is worth clicking on.

23

Draft Texts

So I was going through my phone today and I noticed I have a lot of draft texts. I guess they are text that I started typing and then closed my phone or text that I never ended up sending. I thought I would share some of them with you as most are really random and weird.

Econ
Like
There are mounted police around china town
Well
Ousted
Ivy
Kern
Gothic
Gube
Teet
Catalyst
Hundreds
Cavalist
Need any more liar
Malfunctioning
There's a guy on the roof a
Maybe
Dont distract me. I'm
A
Now I'm at fred
Elemo
Leges
There's a huge helmantes
I don't know? The ferry i guess
I had sushi
John said he cant make it tonight but he gave me a list of things to yell out while you talk
I saw a book at ty
Three baby scabmos
I'm headed home now
Ok
Sure. I'm doing a got
No
John told of not to come into work today
Sit at your own risk
Special
Mama mia papa pia Ian's got the
Weight center
Bell repair kit
I'm having chicken laurt

I guess it's obvious I must use my text as a spellchecker sometimes. Other times I'm really drunk by the looks of it. As for the rest I don't really know. I guess some you should be thankful because these are the text you could have gotten from me but didn't. Well maybe these are not that much stranger then the regular text I send. I should submit this into some poetry contests, I'd probably win a national prize or something.

22

Skillet Compline

Tonight Carmel and I decided to hit the town and get some dinner at Skillet. (not skillet) I decided to go basic and get The Burger with some poutine. (<-watch) Carmel got the Deconstructed Corned Beef Hash and the Brussels Sprouts. Have a look.

The food was great so then we decided to have a drink and look at the stuff on the walls.

After we filled our bellies with sinfully good food we decided we could use some redemption and relaxation so we went to Compline.

 Compline was great. We both hadn't been in awhile so it was nice to finally go back. It's so peaceful and relaxing. There is always such a wide range of audience too. You can tell that some people are there for the first time, some people come there every week and bring pillows and blankets with them. Some people are there for the enjoyment of the sound some are there for some inspiration, some are looking for some sort of answer, some for a break from something. It seems though that what ever you are there for it always seems to have a calming effect on people. If you have never gone you should check it out sometime.

21

House Party

Tonight is Carmel's going away party, well one of many. I'm going to bring my camera along and document the night. I have pictures I took of the party of their house leave party from a few months back that I've never uploaded before. So I decided to show those today and then maybe tomorrow I will show the pictures I took of tonight's party. It's always interesting to see just what sort of pictures you find on your camera after a party. Most of these I don't remember taking or having them taken of me. Look with caution. Also I didn't really know what to call each of the pictures so I just gave them all random names from Wikipedia.

20

 The Pruitt-Igoe Myth: an Urban History

This is a documentary I want to see. Public housing is something I don't know too much about but it's something I immediately get a bad feeling about when I hear the name. Probably because all that I've ever seen is the problem ones, you don't really hear stories about the good ones. I think it's more important today to build more affordable housing in the city then it was back then and it seems we have done little to improve the situation over the past 60 years. I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I just want to watch this documentary. I think it might change how I feel, or at least teach me something.

19

SNOWwhyareyoustillherePOCALYPSE

Oh hey snow, so I guess you decided to stick around for another day, and invite some more of your friends to come and join you. That's cool I guess, just as long as you leave town tonight. Seriously, I don't want to see your pale white ass when I look out the window tomorrow morning.

Anyway, here are some more pictures of the snow I took today, or tonight. I spent most of the day holed up inside waiting for the snow to melt, but then it didn't, so I made the most of it.

Now go away snow.

18

SNOWnotevenclosePOCALYPSE 2012!!!!!

Well it snowed today, some, in Seattle. Not as much as the 15 inches they originally predicted a few days ago. But it was still a good 2 1/2 to 3 inches of true snow. Like anything over an inch, it was enough to shut the city down. Carmel and I decided to skip work and hang out around the house and we also ventured out to get something to eat over in Fremont. It was a nice walk and we had a good hearty meal at Roxies to warm us up for the walk home. Here are some pictures I snapped along the way.

It was good while it lasted, it will probably all melt by tomorrow morning.

17

Mumford & Sons

I've been listening to Mumford & Sons a lot lately. Especially this song, well all the songs from this album.

Ben Magahy Director of Photography

In case you were wondering, Mumford and Son's has nothing to do with Sanford and Son, sorry. But here you go anyway.

16

Leek & Potato Soup

Tonight I made a few things out of a cook book Carmel bought me for Christmas. The book is called Irish Pub Cooking, and it's filled with some amazing looking things that I will probably end up making all of them at some point. For tonight I mad the Leek & Potato Soup with some Irish Soda Bread to go with. Here's how it looked.

Man, this hit the spot on this cold night. I think that I will make this dish probably at least a few times a month now, if not more. It's so simple and delicious. It all it takes about a half hour to make both the soup and the bread.

Here are the recipes if you want to try them.

Leek & Potato Soup

4 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
3 leeks, sliced
2 potatoes, cut into 3/4" cubes
3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
salt and pepper
2/3 cup light cream, to serve (optional)
2 tbsp snipped fresh chives to garnish

- melt butter in a large pan over medium high heat, add the onion, leeks, and potatoes and saute for a few minutes until all is soft, but not brown. Pour in the stock and bring to a boil, lower the heat and cover. Keep cooking for an additional 15 min.

- transfer the cooked mixture to a blender and process until smooth.

- move back to the pan and serve. Garnigh with chives and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Irish Soda Bread

Vegetable oil, for brushing
4 cups all-purpose four, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 cups buttermilk

- preheat oven to 425. Brush a baking sheet with oil.

- Sift flour, salt and baking soda. Mix a well in the center and pour in most of the buttermilk. Mix well. Dough should be very soft but not too wet. Add remaining buttermilk if needed.

- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead lightly and briefly. Shape into an 8-inch round. Place on baking sheet and cut a cross in the top with a sharp knife.

- Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped on. Serve warm.

 I think the only way you could possibly improve this meal is if you add a little bacon to the leek and potato soup. Other then that it was perfect. 

15

Ink&Paper

I know I've been sharing a lot of videos lately but I just keep finding ones that I feel are worth sharing. This is another video I think is worth the watch. It's a view at two dying industries and two long struggling hold outs. They just happen to be right next to each other. It great to see the love that these two businesses put into their work and it's also sad to see them struggle. When businesses like this close, they are usually lost forever. I hope these two are around for a long long while.

Directed by Ben Proudfoot



Original Music by Kyle Malkin



Sound Design & Mix by David Bolen



Show your support:



Aardvark Letterpress

2500 West 7th Street

Los Angeles, CA

(213) 388-2271

www.aardvarkletterpress.com/



McManus & Morgan Paper

2506 West 7th Street

Los Angeles, CA

(213) 387-4433

www.mcmanusmorgan.com



October 2011.

ben@benproudfoot.com

www.benproudfoot.com

www.dinnerwithfred.com

Kyle Malkin: www.kylemalkin.com

David Bolen: http://www.youtube.com/everythingfilm

14

Never Let Me Go

Tonight I watched Never Let Me Go with Carmel. We had both read the book and really like it so it was interesting to see just how the movie adaptation was. It was actually pretty good on almost all aspects of the book except one. And I don't really want to say what that aspect is because if I tell you and you haven't read or seen the movie then I will kind of give it away, so stop reading now if you don't want to know. If you read the book you don't really realize just exactly what is up with these kids and why they are in this school. With the movie it seems a little more obvious right from the start that something is up. But for the most part the movie is pretty true to the book, although, there were parts they left out that I wish they included. If you have read the book, I definitely recommend you watch the movie. Also if you have seen the movie, you should read the book; you might understand some things a little better. Over all its just a great story. Just a little warning though, the ending might make you sob buckets and buckets of tears like it made Carmel.

13

Sundown 

Todays sunset was pretty amazing, the sky and just over all atmosphere around that 20 minutes of the sun setting was so electric. Everything had this amazing color to it. I was able to grab my camera and take a few shots while it was still going good. Here is what I got.

The sky was such an amazing color, we probably only have a handful of sunsets like this a year. I wish I could have stayed and watched it longer or gone to get a better view but I had work to do, oh well.

The color was so amazing that i started to play around with the pictures a bit.

Then I made a few that were fitting for Friday the 13th.

Not only was the color of the sky amazing, the texture of the clouds was also remarkable. Just look at this B&W picture to get the real sense of it.

Anyway, I hope you were somewhere where you could look out and see the sunset today too. If not I'm sure there were a lot of people posting pictures of it on facebook for you to see.

12

Work

I really like watching, and listening to TED talks. They always have such a wide variety of people giving talks from every sort of background you always hear something that will make you think. It's a great way to learn about new things or to hear something that will make you think twice about something.

I watched one TED talk recently that really hit home with something I believe in. The value of work. It was given by Mike Rowe from that Dirty Jobs show. He gives his insight into what he has learned over the years spending time with all sorts of working people. Watch below.

Skilled labor really is lacking these days. It's amazing how many people don't even know how to repair the simplest thing in their house. I think it is really important to know how to fix things, or at least know how something you use works. Well, I guess most things in people homes these days cant really be repaired. Most TV's, microwaves, and almost all modern appliances are not really meant to be repaired when they break, just replaced. Maybe this is one of the causes of the decline of skilled labor. When I say skilled labor, i really mean people who have the knowledge to make and repair things, generally. It seems like with every generation a little more and more of skilled labor gets lost. There must be a point where everything just starts falling apart because no one knows how to fix anything anymore. Hopefully not. This is kind of why I want to become a teacher. I want to teach people how to make things and work with their hands. I think it's really important.

11

Hand Drill

I recently bought a "new" hand drill at the Fremont Market. My old hand drill was starting to wear out so when I saw this one I knew I had to get it. This new one is even older then my old one but it is built like a tank. I haven't been able to pin point the drills date but the company that made it was the Granit Tool Comp. and was made in either Germany or New York. Whenever it was made, this thing was built to last. It has a really smooth action and the gears look almost brand new. It has either not been used that much or it was really well taken care of. I'm sure I will have it for many years.

I use a hand drill mostly because I like the feel and control it gives me when I'm working on small pieces. A power drill can quickly damage a piece. I use this drill with all my rings to drill at least one hole and on a lot of my pendants as well. Pretty much the only power tool I use to make my rings is a dremel, if I could only find a hand powered dremel then I would be set.

10

Around The World

I had my first order from my Etsy shop for this year today, and it's all the way from Denmark. Hjørring in Vendsyssel to be exact. So I thought today I would go back and see just where I have sent one of my pieces to around the world. Here is a list of cities and countries I have sent one of my pieces off to. 


Canada
Calgary, AB

Denmark
Hjørring, Vendsyssel 

Italy
Bari, Bari

Switzerland
Genève


United States 

Arizona
Tucson 

California
Antelope, Goleta, Oakland, Riverside, Santa Barbara

Connecticut
Norwalk

Georgia 
Athens, Cleveland, Savannah

Illinois
Chicago, West Chicago

Kentucky
Danville

Massachusetts
Boston

Michigan
Clinton Township, Grayling, Rochester Hills

North Carolina
Moyock

New Hampshire
Manchester

New Jersey
Eastampton

New York
Baldwinsville\, Bronx, N Bellmore, New York, West Babylon

Nevada 
Henderson

Oregon
Portland, Eugene

Pennsylvania
Philadelphia

Texas
Plano

Utah
Salt Lake City

Virginia
Virginia Beach

Washington
Aberdeen, Lynnwood, Renton, Seattle, Puyallup

I guess 19 out of 50 states aint so bad, well maybe 5 out of 257 countries needs a little work. I guess my goal should be to go down the list and try and knock off each state and country one by one. So look out Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,  Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri     Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Marianas Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and then Afghanistan, Akrotiri, Albania, Algeria, yada yada yada, ect. the rest. 

It's interesting to think about all the things I've made and where about in the world they are. Maybe even the people who bought one of my rings wore it with them on a journey they took. It would be nice if my rings sent me post cards letting me know where they are and how they are doing.

9

PressPausePlay

PressPausePlay is a film about how advances made in technology have brought forth a world where anyone can be creative if they want. It's about how technology has broken down walls so now the creative process is no longer a mystery. Everyone can be an artist. The problem with that is with so many people creating it can be easy to get lost in the crowd. With so many things out there to look at and discover it is impossible to see it all and some people will inevitably get overlooked where 10 or 20 years ago they might have been on top. Technology has made things easier and lets more people create but it then makes it harder for anyone to get ahead and noticed. The digital revolution has left talent in the dust. Technology can create mediocrity. I think it's an interesting problem that isn't talked about all that much. The real question is what comes after the digital revolution?

The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent in an unprecedented way, with unlimited opportunities.

But does democratized culture mean better art or is true talent instead drowned out? This is the question addressed by PressPausePlay, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world's most influential creators of the digital era.

8

Facebook Page

So I created a facebook page, I'm still not exactly sure why or even if I will use it all that much but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I'm still trying to figure it all out myself but if you would like to like it i guess you like go to the page and like click the like button or something. To go to the page just type in Ian Gill in facebook search and look for my page or just go here. I think it should be visible to everyone . If not then I need to figure that out.

I guess having a page will let people I'm not friends with follow me, for some reason. I'm still trying to figure out the whole linking up etsy and the page so that when I post an item in my etsy it will show up on that page, i think you can do that. Even though I don't really understand it much I figured I should do it to help people who would like to keep on top of my etsy and flickr and vimeo stuff have one place to go and look and then share it with others as well. I guess that's what it is for. It kind of goes in to my goal this year of getting my work out there more and letting people know better who I am and what I make. So far I have been keeping true to my goal of blogging every day and I have also been making at least one ring a day, mostly 2. It's been over a week so far and there have been some nights I didn't think I would make it to blog or have time to make a ring but I just bite the bullet and do it. I'm getting pretty fast at making rings too, and I'm back in the swing of blogging so I guess that is good.

So anyway, if you want to join my facebook page that cool, I guess. Maybe I'll figure out how to make it better and more user friendly but for right now it's pretty sparse.


P.S. Here is a completely random video to watch

Style Ledger takes a look at American manufacturing, with a focus on the Martin Greenfield factory in Brooklyn.

7

Gillville Christmas

This years Gillville Christmas was pretty much like every other year. Everyone shows up, drinks and talks for awhile, then we eat some great food and drink some more, then we talk and drink for a little while longer. Then comes the inevitable photo session. This never goes very well. There are usually 10 people taking pictures which means that everyone is looking in a different direction. This happens every year.

It usually starts off small with someone taking some small group shots.

Then more people get drawn into the room.

At first there is mostly just confusion

Which quickly turns into chaos

It's hard to get a good shot of everyone all at once

Take 2

Take 6

Take 19

I give up

Well, with all the photos I took I was bound to get at least 1 or 2 decent shots.

I guess this is where I should apologize to all my aunts and uncles, mostly my aunts, for all the terrible pictures I took and posted of them. Sorry.

6

Riusuke Fukahori

Well I though I would share another video today. I found the process of this artist to be pretty amazing. They look so life like. Such a simple process but such a dramatic result. Read the video description below for more information on the artist and his current show.

ICN gallery proudly presents Goldfish Salvation by artist Riusuke Fukahori from 1 Dec 2011 - 11 Jan 2012.

Artist Riusuke Fukahori's London debut exhibition "Goldfish Salvation" transforms ICN gallery into the world of goldfish. When struggling with artistic vision, Fukahori's pet goldfish became his inspiration and ever since his passion and lifelong theme. His unique style of painting uses acrylic on clear resin which is poured into containers, resulting in a three-dimensional appearance and lifelike vitality.

This video gives you a glimpse of his amazing painting process.

Exhibition: 1 December 2011 - 11 January 2012
Opening: 1 Dec from 19:00

Artist will also be painting the gallery window on Dec. 3 between 2:00-3:00pm.

5

POTHOUND

Today I thought I would share a great short video I found. It's called Pothound and it's a story of a stray dog that spends his days wandering around helping people out with various things but gets nothing but rejection from everyone. It's a fun little film with a surprise ending that I hope you like.

It's kind of an updated version of Benji. Maybe I just like it because I like dogs so much.

4

How To Cook A Wolf

One of my Christmas gifts to Carmel was a dinner out to the restaurant How To Cook A Wolf up on top of Queen Anne. It's a restaurant that we have both been wanting to go to but never gotten around to mostly because it's a little pricy so I decided a Christmas gift would be the perfect excuse. They server family style so we decided to get three dishes to share along with a bottle of wine. We started off with a bottle of Giovanna Madonia Sagiovese di Romagna to go along with an appetizer consisting of the Meat Board which included Jamon Serrano, Lomo Iberico, Guanciale, we both decided that Lomo Iberico was our favorite with Jamon Serrano coming up second. We then got the Potato Gnocchi with Cauliflower, Taggiasca Olive, Mint. The Gnocchi was fried a little bit and had a great crisp crust to it, the Cauliflower was also amazing in this dish. After that we got the Beef Short Rib with Parsnip Puree, Bacon, Brussels Sprouts. I have to say this was my favorite and probably one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life. The Beef Short Rib was so tender it literally melted in your mouth. The Brussels Sprouts would have made any Brussels Sprouts hater drool, and the Parsnip Puree was so creamy and delicious. There is only one picture I can think of that puts this meal into perspective.

I wish I could eat like that every day. I wish I could take Carmel out to a meal like that every day but for now it might just have to be a Christmas thing. If you have a chance I would definitely try How To Cook A Wolf.

3

Portlandia

Last Wednesday Carmel and I went to go see Portlandia the Tour. Its basically Fred and Carrie showing off the new season of Portlandia. They showed a few clips from the new season and did some Q&A with the audience which went kind of off track when every drunk person in the place went up and asked questions. They also had Kyle Maclachlan and Dan Savage there. I have to say after seeing the show I'm excited for the new season. They also just posted all the first season episodes on Netflix so I've been watching those. I don't want to give anything away about the new season before you see it for yourself but there is some really funny stuff.

There is one thing I'm concerned about though. They asked the audience if anyone makes jewelry, to which I and a handful of people raised our hands. Then they asked if anyone in the audience knows someone who has started making jewelry, to which almost everyone raised their hand. They then sang this song about people who you know who are making jewelry now. I'm guessing I'm going to be catching a bunch of crap about this, most likely from my sister.

Here is a video clip taken from another show.

Damn it.

You can watch an episode of the new season here: http://www.ifc.com/portlandia/videos/portlandia-one-moore-episode

2

Ring A Day

My plan this year is to make at least one ring each day. I hope this will help me to keep motivate in making my own work and also to keep me consistent in posting items in my etsy shop. Most of the time I will spend a few days and make a few rings then in a week or so I will post them in my etsy shop together all at once. I hope that making and posting a ring each day will draw more traffic to my shop. I find that when I post items it draws more people into my shop. More traffic will hopefully mean more sales and one of my goals for this year it to become more self sufficient on my own work. I also figure that if I can spend at least 1 hour of each day making something then that will really help me to become better at making things. I'm not sure if it will really work or if this will pay off at all but I'm willing to take a chance and put in the effort. Also, I hope to make enough money to visit Carmel in South Africa.

I figure that if I'm going to be posting rings each day and sharing them with you I should probably show you just how I make one of my rings. So earlier today I took pictures as I was making today's ring, I plan on one day to make a video of the process but this will have to do till then. I'll share the pictures and comment along with them.

First I start off with a rough blank cut from stock.This will be an ebony ring.

I then draw out rough guide for the inside of the ring. 

Using a hand drill I put a hole near the line so I can slide my saw blade in. 

I use a jewelers saw to roughly cut out the inside of the ring.

I then use sandpaper to smooth out the inside of the ring and size it before shaping the outside. 

Then I use calipers to first mark a line to cut out a rough shape of the outside

I then make more marks to where I want the finished edges to be. From now on I use my dremel and sandpaper to shape the ring. 

After the outside is close to where I want it I then make the width of the ring to the right size. This ring seemed a little wide so I decided to make it thinner. 

After it is as thick as I want it I then start to shape the ring using more sandpaper. 

I get the shape I want and just keep using finer and finer sandpaper 

Once I have the ring to where I like it then I put some boiled linseed oil on it to help preserve the wood and to bring out its natural beauty

Done

Here you can see from whence it came

Then it's ready for Etsy. 

This ring is for sale now in my Etsy Shop.