Copper Domed Disc Earrings and Pendant

In my last post I had talked about my girls and I making jewelry out on our deck and that I had been working on several new pair of earrings. Well here they are.

The steps to making these started with my disc cutter and sheet copper, these required a bit of filing to smooth the edges, I then stamped them using my metal stamps and domed them. I made several head pins with the heat forged tiny buds on the end and got busy putting them together.

I chose a variety of gemstone beads this time and wire wrapped dangles using copper wire. I then made a the earwires in mostly a traditional shape. I love making the earwires and have to tell you that I have had several of my Etsy customers that are jewelry designers themselves give me huge compliments that my ear wires are the best they have ever purchased. (Pat on the back and big grins.)

After the earrings were completed I added the patina using liver of sulfur, sanded them applied more when needed and removed some when needed until I was happy with the overall effect. A final polish and they were ready to go.

This was quite a task and I will rethink adding the patina to finished earrings and instead probably add the patina before assembling next time. Most had to be taken apart in order to do the job right this time, so it was twice the work and took time I really didn't have to spare.

With 5 small children I have to use my time wisely. lol. Any way I am extremely pleased with these earrings and look forward to making more. The best part is one pair sold just minutes after being listed as well as the pendant I will be adding a photo of. Woohooooo.
The pendant (necklace) is another new design that I was really proud of and I will be making more in the near future.

I hope you all enjoy seeing them and please feel free to contact me through me Etsy shop if you ever have any questions or would like to have something you see here made just for you. Or just leave a comment, I love hearing from you!!!!

To see more of my work take a look at my Etsy mini and visit the store, I'm really proud of the items I list in my Etsy store and only list items of top quality. If it is a second or has a flaw it would be stated in the description and at a greatly reduced price.

Copper Rings, Amber and Purple Necklace

I hope this finds you all enjoying the rest of you summer days, We sure are.

Today my girls and I sat on the deck making jewelry ( Our favorite place ). The girls are learning to make there own bead and wire links using beads that Ruby sent them. Ruby is a very talented artist from the about.com jewelry forum. If you like beaded jewelry Ruby offers many free tutorials and many many links to other free sights for tutorial, she has also written a book that you may find of interest. So check out her sight at http://www.rubysbeadwork.com/

Any way my girls are working on a bracelet and necklace for themselves. I spent my day cutting out copper disc for my new earrings that will be listed in my Etsy shop soon and finished two new necklace that I'll be sharing photo's of here today.

The necklace are made using hammered 8 gauge copper wire formed into rings using a 5/8" and 1" mandrel. I have hammered them then soldered them using sterling silver solder and also soldered them together while adding the bail. After they were soldered and the metal was annealed I put them in the pickle pot to remove the fire scale.
The next step was to stamp them and add the copper chain. The chain consist of two lengths of copper chain then bead links made using copper wire and translucent amber and translucent purple glass beads more copper chain and a matching ring and clasp closure with an added 2" extender chain with a tiny purple teardrop bead, wire wrapped using one of my heat forged bud head pins.
The length of the chain is 18" from clasp to clasp and adjustable to 20. The ring closure and extender chain add such a decorative touch to the back of your neck and looks great if you wear you hair pulled up and your neckline is bare. It's a different look than the average lobster claw clasp and it's fun to look good both coming and going. LOL.
The pendant itself measures 1 3/4" including the bail and has an added fused translucent amber charm on one and a fused translucent purple charm on the other, although it appears black in the photo. Both charms are wire wrapped in copper.

I am so very happy with the way these turned out. I liked the first one so well I had to make the second one. These rings work well for so many of my projects. I have used them in necklace, bracelet and earrings. The few stamps I use are my favorites and even though I have a few more stamps I generally stick with my favorite 3 for embellishing the metal.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing them as I have enjoyed making them.

You can view more of my work by visiting my Etsy mini.

Thanks so much for taking time to visit my little part of the world.

Summer Vacation is Ending.

Well less than two weeks to go and my girls will be going back to school. This makes me soooooo sad. I'm not your normal mom that likes to see this happen. Instead it saddens me deeply to know some one else will be caring for my girls during the day and I'll have a few hours in the evening to spend with them before getting them into bed at night.
Not to mention the influence of the other children and what they may learn that I really don't want them to learn.
I have nine years of public school employment experience as a para pro prior to starting the second half of my family and you would just be amazed to learn as a parent what they don't want you to know. Our public school has an open door policy, meaning you can visit your child's class at any time, after first going to the office to check in and while your on your way to the classroom the office will buzz into the class and let the teacher know you are on your way down to visit. So all is nice and peaceful upon your arrival and little Johnny is no longer wiping glue on your daughters desk or scribbling on your daughters papers and the teacher is no longer yelling at the top of her lungs for everyone to put there heads down because the noise level is out of control.LOL. I say this in a laughing manner but have witnessed this all first hand.
If your an involved parent your sometimes considered a pain in the A## and if you're not a volunteer your often considered uncaring and negligent.
It causes me pain just knowing that no one in this world will care for my children as I do and knowing if they need me I am not there, and also the sadness that my little ones will feel if they indeed do need me to kiss that ouchie when they fall and scrape their knee or if another adult raises there voice and it frightens them.

We did have a wonderful last weekend visiting the Michigan City Zoo. My girls love the animals and the quiet time we share walking around viewing the different animals. The Kodiak bear is still a favorite as are the otters and the viewing tunnel you can sit in and watch the otters slide above you as they slide across the top of the tunnel and slip down the other side.
The following day we took a trip to Michigan's Adventure theme park and of all days to go we went while they were hosting three different corporations and had a record sales day. over 7000 people in the small amusement park, and this was after sitting in a 2 1/2 hour traffic jam to get the last 6 miles of the trip. Luckily our girls were extremely well behaved and very patient. I was really proud of them.
They were able to enjoy several of the rides and visit the water park for a short splash in the kiddie pools. Hannah says it was the best day ever!!!! Morgan had a great time driving her daddy around in the small 50's style cars and Katelyn was proud as punch being able to drive her own car. It really was a fabulous weekend and a great way to spend some fun quality time with our girls.

The Seeded Earth Bead Shop

It's been a while since I've added to my blog so here I am. Hi everyone!

True to my word I have been trying to spend more time with my girls and less time on the computer. I have had a great few weeks watching the girls play more in the yard and playing games with them. The water slide is still a favorite attraction to the girls especially in the heat of the day when we are tired of sitting in the house and need a bit of summertime fresh air. This is when I take time to work on a piece of jewelry, sitting on our deck while the kids slide and splash. They have so much fun on this slide. The downfall to it however is the constant running water from the hose, it's freezing cold and keeps me from joining in on the fun. I'm more of a hot tub person and find this is a great way to end even the hottest summer day. Relaxing for a bit late in the evening with the girls in our hot tub is a great way to end a busy day while spending a bit of quiet time with them before settling in for the night.

I have managed to make several new pieces and have added many of them to my Etsy shop. I also sell my jewelry at a local bead shop that is just wonderful.

The Seeded Earth.
It's a small shop filled with items from other local artist. The owner Kathy makes wonderfully scented handmade soaps, shampoo bars, lip balms and lotions. she also specializes in handcrafted earrings and has a huge selection of beads available to local customers. Some of the artist specialize in woodcarvings, mosaic tiles, mirrors and tables. Tye Dye clothing, ceramics, and bead weaving fill her little shop. It's like taking a step back in time and the atmosphere is just wonderful. I am adding a photo of the outside of the shop for now and will be updating over the next few days with items from the inside of the shop, so be sure to stop back and take a look.

My copper work is progressing and I have made several new pendants with chains. yay!!! along with a new favorite bracelet. I love the link pattern for the bracelet and will be using this for other designs in the future. It lays flat on the wrist and is very comfortable and has a nice adjustable fit. I have created a bezel using mill rolled 14 gauge copper wire and soldering it to a copper base. I chose to leave a copper surround that could be a place to drill the small holes and add my chain to. This has eliminated the need for further soldering so I can focus on the bezels for now. The links are connected with small copper jump rings that I made wrapping the copper wire around a regular good ole shishkabob skewer filed the ends and snapped them shut.

The second bracelet is copper stamped rings that were made by me, I soldered these shut using sterling solder paste, It's wonderful for getting the right amount of solder with very little clean up. I have added to the rings Mother of Pearl nuggets and rings as well as goldstone? glass beads and a brass charm that I clipped off the tiny bail and drilled my own holes to use on the bracelet. Just keep your mind open when searching for supplies because they can be easily reworked to fit your needs.

I hope you like them. Have a great day, and parents- remember to play with your children if only for a few minutes each day. It will warm your heart and bring you smiles.

My Journey continues with Copper

This week my goal was to play with my children and learn a new copper working skill. I've done both. I dedicate far to much time to the computer and not enough PLAY time with my children. I get up early every morning and the first thing I do is check my email, etsy, and the jewelry forum while having my morning coffee. Some days this drags on for hours. A few days ago my girls complained I'm always on the computer, though I didn't notice they were feeling left out, I do now. So starting this week I am dedicating more time to playing with my girls and less time playing by myself or should I say creating jewelry. I hadn't realized that even though my girls are always nearby and often right at the table by me, they were not always having the fun I thought they were. And being close in distance and chit chatting about what they are doing does not necessarily add up to quality time. As of this week, my computer will be off after they have their breakfast, and I will schedule computer time around there needs, I can check in on my etsy sales without visiting the forums or even going directly to the sight, a simple check of my email will inform me as to if my shop requires my attention and if it doesn't it can wait until after bedtime to visit the forums and do other non essential tasks. Instead of browsing the Internet I will read books to my girls, color and paint pictures with them instead of watching them and roll in the grass, look at the clouds and watch the birds fly overhead and land softly in the branches of our apple tree. I will do my computer work as I have this morning adding items to my shop and finishing pieces in the early morning hours and evening hours while they are sleeping or watching a favorite movie. Summer will be ending far to soon and my girls will be back to school 5 days a week and I will miss them dearly. I will enjoy there company while I have them home to do this and not regret that we didn't spend quality time together. I will lie my head on my pillow each night and treasure a special moment spent with each and every one of my children and not ask myself did I play with my children today and actually spend not just time with them but QUALITY time with them? I often wonder this. This goes for my oldest daughter Tara as well, and I'm so excited she is moving back home in a few weeks after being away for a year.

Now for my newest piece. I have finally figured out my problem with soldering. I can now solder a bezel to my sheet and it turns out. I am very happy with this and have to give my sister credit for showing my errors. A simple thing called alligator clips will hold your wire in place while soldering and my solder no longer flows into unwanted territory. I will be offering a step by step in the days to come, but for now I'll add a picture of my finished piece and say my children are awake and my time is up for now. So have a great day and remember to play with your children today!!!!! They tend to notice when we don't.

Come Fly With Me, Copper Butterfly Necklace

One of my newest is this beautiful copper butterfly necklace. Several weeks ago my daughter came into the house saying, mommy look what I found!! In her little hands she was holding a butterfly that she had found laying on the floor in our gazebo, sadly it had been dead for some time.
I had seen where others had rolled a butterfly wing through there mill creating unique pendants. However not wanting to make an exact replica of what others had done but still wanting to see if this really worked using something as delicate as a butterfly wing I got busy annealing my copper to make it as soft as possible in order to take the impression.
I gently placed the wing onto the copper adding a piece to the top and rolled it through. Happily and very excited it worked. There on the sheet of copper was every little cell.
I carefully cut the shapes to match, filed the edges and drilled the holes. I chose to add a beautiful crystal dangle that would reflect the rainbow when hit by the light. I used rolled and stamped wire rings, added my copper chain with a handcrafted copper closure and it was finished. This is truly a one of a kind and although I listed it in my Etsy shop, I am seriously considering keeping this one for myself.
It's not often your lucky enough to find an expired butterfly. So these will be few and far between in the making. And each butterfly wing is only good for one pass as it is destroyed in the process.

My second finished project is my butterfly in the garden bracelet.

This was made using brass wire, I created the rings then hammered them for texture and wire wrapped them so the opening was closed. I used purchased brass filigree butterfly and brass beads, one of our own lampwork beads and my own design ceramic floral beads. The ceramic beads are the center of this bracelet for me as they were made by my own two hands using buttons that once belonged to my childrens great grandmother. I pressed the metal buttons into the beads the pierced the hole through the clay creating the beads. I gave them a jungle gem green glaze. Overall I think the bracelet is uniqu in design and I was happy with the finished piece.

handforged copper sea turtle pendant

I had my mind set to making a copper sea turtle a few days ago, I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to accomplish this but I was quite determined. I don't often use my jewelers saw, and mostly prefer to use metal shears on most of my designs that don't require cutting in the middle of the piece. I started with a general shape of the oval shell in the center rectangles at the head and tail and triangles for the four legs, I slowly carved my way through the copper with my files until the end result was quite pleasing. I stamped using my metal stamps and then domed the finished shell and head, slightly curved the legs as if she were swimming through a coral reef. Drilled one hole in her upper left leg for adding a bail. I will say I was extremely happy with how she turned out when finished and even happier when she sold within a few hours of listing her in my Etsy shop. Off to a good home I'm sure. I will soon try to make another only a bit smaller perhaps for my younger daughters. They fell in love with the sea turtles when we visited the aquarium in Chicago last fall.
The overall pendant is approx. 1 1/2" wide and 1 3/4" in length. I can't wait until we visit the aquarium again and find a new living species of inspiration to design my work upon.

I have also decided it is time for me to work on finishing more of my pendants and turning them into a finished necklace ready to be worn upon purchase. I have been rolling wire through my mill at different depths and using different gauge wires. I haven't actually used the rollers for wire as I haven't had the need or desire, but I'm sure as I continue making chains and gain more experience in this are I will be needing additional styles of wire. Included in the wire chain making is also my need for more detailed bails that have been made using larger 14 gauge copper wire rolled flat and then stamped for added detail.
The last photo is a necklace I made for my sister Kathy, I used mookaite gemstone beads, copper wire, (and one of my favorites as well as hers) and a beautiful Queen Anne's lace copper pendant made using a dried queen Anne's lace flower.