Week 19-Snidely Whiplash Owl Pendant

The theme for this week is "Round and round". This is something I was playing around with the other day and it comes closest to fitting the theme with it’s round belly and round eyes. It’s an inexpensive glass cabochon that I wrapped with square copper wire. Then I wired a piece of brass wire under his body to represent a branch and some feet. Where I got stumped was trying to give him a beak and some cheeks to close the gap between his body and eyeballs. I’m not happy with that part. I think he looks more diabolical than whimsical-hence the name Snidely Whiplash. LOL If anyone has a better solution, email me a sketch!

Etching Class

Saturday I had a class in copper etching at my house and I want to show off the beautiful work that some of the gals produced. I'm sorry we didn't get Maureen's photographed before she left. For this class we just used rubber stamps, Staz-On ink and Sharpie markers for the resist. From top to bottom are Rhonda and Laurie, Rhonda, Pat, Mary Ann and Bonny. Thanks to Mary Ann for taking and emailing the pics to me!

I'm Loving Coral This Week

I never wear red and it's never been one of my favorite colors. But a couple of folks on the forums I belong to were destashing some red coral beads and they all of a sudden appealed to me. So I played with these beads all last weekend. With the exception of the first pair of earrings, these are all done with copper wire. I would love to pair some with silver in a necklace but I find myself being stingy with my silver wire lately. I'll have to get over that-it's not going down.

Week 4-Ayudhia Bangle

The tutorial for this bracelet is by Achmad Irfan, Borneo Pahlevi on Jewelrylessons.com. I bought this tutorial because I thought it was one of the most beautiful bracelets I'd ever seen. My plan was to make it in silver with a silver druzy center. But since there is almost an ounce of metal in this, I thought I'd better try it out in copper first and I'm so glad I did. First because my weaving needed some practice. It got better as I went along and you can tell by comparing the two sides. Secondly, the tutorial as written turned out too big for me so now I'll know to shorten it when I make it again. This one probably took me at least ten hours to make but, hopefully, it will go quicker the next time.

Fold Formed Copper Leaf Earrings

Thursday was our last week of metalsmithing class for the year. I try to do things there that I can't do at home due to lack of equipment. One thing I lack is a good vice. Well, it's not like I don't have vices, just not one that will hold metal. :D So I did the folding and hammering on these earrings at class. At home I was able to cut them out and stamp the edges to give them a ripple effect. I really like the way these turned out and I might have to ask Santa Claus for a vice.

Week 29-Copper and Sunstone Scroll Earrings

It seems I've been in a bit of a slump the last couple of weeks and all I've accomplished is one pair of earrings. The metal is copper and the really sparkly sunstone briolettes are another one of my finds from the G&LW Show. I'm going to start describing these as "scroll", unless someone can come up with a better description, because of Google. If you want your products included in Google's Product Search, you have to learn which words they'll reject. One of the words they won't accept is "vine" along with just about any of the words used to describe different colors of quartz, such as "champagne", "whiskey", "cognac" and "beer". "Free" is another no-no word. So if you want to offer free shipping, or free gift wrap, be sure and refer to it as "complimentary". :D

Week 2-Some Copper Bracelets

I love using Kazuri beads in my jewelry. Kazuri beads are fair trade beads from Kenya. The factory is on part of the old Karen Blixen coffee plantation (remember the movie Out of Africa) and provides employment opportunities for 350 disadvantaged women who would otherwise be living in extreme poverty. I connected these beads with some coiled copper links to make a chunky and bold bracelet.

This bracelet was made by raiding my spare parts box. I connected the parts with some beautiful 12mm sea green glass beads to make kind of a fun bracelet.

Week 45-Bold Woven Copper Bangle

I was playing around with some copper the other day and this was the result. I wanted to see if this was something I could reasonably do in silver. It's just shy of 1 1/2" tall so it's pretty bold. The large lentil bead is one I purchased on Ebay from Beads by Lampwork.

Week 35-Copper Viking Knit with Kazuri Pendant

When I'm at shows I often work on a piece of Viking knit to keep my hands busy. I ended up with this long piece of copper so I pulled it and pulled it until it bacame a neck chain. I made the end cones with 18 gauge wire wrapped around my round nose pliers. I added a slide made with a Kazuri bead and a large smoky quartz drop. Then I lightly oxidized everything. If you're not familiar with Kazuri beads, they are fair trade beads from Kenya. The company was started in 1975 by Lady Susan Wood, the daughter of two British missionaries. Today they have a factory that offers employment opportunities to single mothers, widows, and people with special needs. They offer good wages, favorable working conditions, child care and health care. Some women are supporting extended families of up to 20 people on what they are able to earn there.

I am now officially caught up!

Week 25-Copper Prolong Knot Cuff

Last week I had the pleasure of taking a two day workshop from Loren Damewood. We finished our silver bracelet by noon so after lunch he gave us some copper wire and let us make another one. I just decided to bling this one up a bit by wiring on some 4mm silver Czech beads. The workshop was a lot of fun and I recommend it if you ever get the chance to take it.

Week 21-Copper Flower Necklace

Uh oh, late again. This is something from my odds and ends box that I decided to do something with. It was shaped from 14 gauge copper wire, soldered together and hammered. The lilacs are in bloom here so I decorated the center with little CZ, amethyst and sterling silver 2mm beads, and added a chain. I made a flattened spiral and wired that on the back to cover up the wires and make it look neater. Of course, it was given an LOS bath.

Week 18-Skeleton Key Jewelry

This bracelet and necklace are made from part of a collection of old skeleton keys that belonged to my grandfather. The metal is coppper with a little sterling thrown in for interest. But what I'm really excited about is that I learned to create an embossed watermark in Paint.Net. That took longer than actually making the jewelry. :D