Mixed Metal Craziness

The last couple of months I seem seized by the compulsion to--GULP--mix my metals (I'm sure I would have been put to death for this in Biblical times--I'm such a rebel). I recently acquired some absolutely fabulous handcrafted African beads in brass and copper from Afrobeadia on Etsy, and they cried out to be together, so I obeyed. I was feeling all rustic and rudimentary so I dispensed with any color other than the metal, and the dark cocoa brown of my leather and linen cording:

I've been playing with making charms from wire--that's my heart charm at the bottom of the picture. I have also fallen in love with Mykonos cast charms--you can see a tiny little heart at the top hiding under the toggle bar--I've been getting Mykonos from Stinky Dog Beads. I love the heft of it and the lovely, antiqued finishes.

I've also been soldering toggle rings and connector rings lately, and embossing them on both sides with my metal texture sheet/hammer technique (bashing the crap out of them with a hammer hides my messy amateur soldering!)--you can see them above. The trick is to sandwich your metal element between two texture sheets, and hammer the texture into both sides at the same time. I've been making my own texture sheets, etching nickel sheet with my favorite patterns.

I adore these brass beads below (also from Afrobeadia)--they're sort of like a cut-tube, but slightly rounded, and lightly soldered on the side. They have a light texture on them, that I think just came from the fabrication process. I dropped them in a strong liver of sulfur solution to really bring up the gold tones, and then tumbled them for a couple hours and they came out simply glorious (the lighting yesterday just didn't do them justice).

I got a whole spool of this lovely deertan leather lacing at Blue Peacock Beads on Etsy...

And a whole spool of solid, raw copper ball chain from Rings & Things--because it's raw, it's super easy to antique as you wish. I do a little bit at a time in the liver of sulfur, and tumble it until it's a rich, shiny chestnut, and then I seal it with ClearGuard before I incorporate it in my jewelry.

I went kind of crazy for these "torpedo" beads a while back--I got a bunch of them in copper and sterling from Monsterslayer. I hammered them lightly to give them a bit of texture (they are a seamed bead, so you have to do this carefully to avoid deforming them). These are more of those Mykonos heart charms from Stinky Dog Beads, you can see them lots better here--one in "bronze" (which is actually a very nice copper color) and one in brass.

This bracelet also includes some brass "cocoon" beads I made using a tutorial by Kharisma Sommers of Popnicute jewelry. Sometimes they add just the right texture.

I went back to my favorite brass beads for this one below, and did some variations on my wire heart charm--I made this one with 12 gauge wire. Whew! I must have annealed it 6 times while I worked on it. I love the heavy chunkiness of it--12 gauge wire from now on for these! Unless they're necklace-sized, and then they'll have to be 10 gauge wire. I better start doing some upper body work at the gym!

I also did some different connectors for the clasp section of this bracelet, and the one above--with strips of textured sheet instead of just jump rings. (I get bored so fast...)

So then I got all excited and ordered a pile more of brass beads from Fire Mountain Gems because I didn't have enough different kinds--just in time for my obsession with color to reassert itself, so I made this yesterday:

The discs are recycled glass beads from Happy Mango Beads (and they're all out of my favorite coke bottle blue-green color--DAMN!); the oval bead at bottom left is some delicious aqua chalcedony; and the carved flower at the top is green aventurine. I did a hook and eye clasp on this one, made from a strip of 22 gauge copper sheet, textured on both sides. I used big-hole copper rondelle spacers from RioGrande in between the discs--perfect if you've got thick, or multiple strands of cording.

After I did this last bracelet, I ordered more of these glass discs in a bunch of different colors, and they will arrive just in time for me to get obsessed with something else. Why can't I ever get obsessed with stuff I already have?

Art Jewelry Elements March Component of the Month

Caroline Dewison of BlueberriBeads is March's Component of the Month host at Art Jewelry Elements. Caroline is an artist who makes her home in England, and she works in porcelain, stoneware, earthenware, raku clay, glass and copper. She makes beads and components as well as stunning jewelry--be sure to visit her website and browse through her gallery! I am particularly enamored with her sea urchin beads, particularly this set in "dirty green":

Aren't those the coolest? I need them.

I also adore her little "bird sets"--I love the serene colors in this one:

Well, when I saw the items Caroline was planning to offer for the Component of the Month challenge, I was even more bowled over! Look at these luminous beauties:

Luna moths! Aren't they stunning? Look at the depth of these glazes!!

I also saw sweet little bees and I fell head over heels for the little bees. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of them before I started working on them (I was little excited to get started), but here's a closeup of them in the finished pieces:

As you can see, these two are in copper and gold tones. The copper-toned one on the left (I am amazed by this metallic glaze!) also has matte under-colors of muted mauve and violet. The finish is so rich and I just love the size--perfect for a little assemblage-type pendant, which is what I was thinking of.

Well, the gold one told me to go with mixed metal, and the copper one told me to be a purist. These were so inspiring to work with! Here is the mixed metal one with the gold bee:

I used a copper washer I had textured with a hammer and brass texture sheet for the central portion of the pendant. I applied brass eyelet rivets to the holes, and dangled a big gold pearl, a Hill tribes sterling silver bead, and some other small beads in sterling, copper and brass. (The little bees actually have steel loops at the top, but I wrapped them in copper wire to harmonize with the rest of the pendant.)

I used solid copper ball chain from Rings n Things, which I antiqued in liver of sulfur and tumbled (it really took the patina nicely, and it's clearly raw copper-YAY! I got a whole spool of it), and attached it to a sterling-wrapped brass toggle bar via Melissa Meman's brilliant design for ball chain ends--(they really add so much more than just a commercial ball tip! I love the kind of horseshoe-shape they have.) I tossed in another leafy Hill Tribes silver bead to make the chain portion slightly asymmetrical. I went crazy with my metals--I am realizing I need to do this more often because I really love all three together.

I just discovered these "melon" beads (the elongated silver football shaped-bead the bee hangs from) and I'm obsessed--I got them in both silver and copper. I hammer them gently with my Fretz embossing hammer to give them more of a handmade look--they have a seam, and the hammering actually makes the seam more visible, which I like--they look like a hand-formed, rolled bead then. I love how this piece turned out.

On to my "purist" piece--all glorious copper:

Again I used a washer (a twin to the other one actually--I had both of these in my stash already, I was so excited--work already done!) with tube-riveted holes, and a toggle closure. I wanted to draw out the mauve tones in the bee so I added mauve/berry-colored pearls. I used Melissa's ball chain end loops again, and added a delicious copper globe bead from a strand I recently got from AfroBeadia (these beads are FANTASTIC) with a couple of my copper beadcaps (I don't know why but the idea of a copper beadcap on a copper bead just sends me into orbit.) The bee hangs from a short length of tubing I cut with my saw and textured with my embossing hammer.

I've been wanting to do a necklace like this for a while, with a washer and some dangling bits. I haven't been making much jewelry lately--this is the first weekend I've felt good, and energetic for several weeks. I've had some kind of Everlasting Sinus Bug, I thought it would never end! It's not over yet, but it's much better which I have to take as a good sign.

Here are my two little grown-up bees together:

I made them to be worn high up on the neck, where the little bees will draw the eye:

This is a blog hop! Be sure to visit the other participants below:
Niky Sayers – http://silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk
The AJE Team
Caroline Dewison – http://www.blueberribeads.co.uk
Diana Ptaszynski - http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com
Susan Kennedy - http://suebeads.blogspot.co.uk
Kristen Stevens - http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/
Jenny Davies-Reazor - http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog
Melissa Meman –  http://melissameman.blogspot.com
Rebekah Payne - www.treewingsstudio.com
Lesley Watt - http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com/
Linda Landig - http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com

Two-Faced

That's how I like my pendants!

This side:

Verdigris Gypsy

That side:

(With amazonite, larimar, pearls, copper and leather)

This side:

Sunset Clouds

That side:

(With fire agate, amethyst, red aventurine and golden pearls--oh and a little drop of peach moonstone too)

This side:

Firefly

That side:

(With carnelian, amber, and jade)

This side:

Sunset Gypsy

That side:

(With amethyst, red aventurine, cherry quartz, carnelian, charoite and leather)

This one is reversible, but I don't think I took pictures of the other side--they look identical! You'll just have to take my word for it:

Red Creek

(With red creek jasper, green marble, amber glass, hessonite garnets and leather)

This little bracelet goes with the pendant above. It isn't reversible. Unless you count being able to wear it on either wrist:

Red Creek Part Deux

(With red creek jasper, lampwork glass, Czech glass leaf, and waxed linen. And copper (duh))

And with that, I bid you good night.

Clean Your Plate, Then You Can Have Dessert

The "dessert" being NEW designs--so I "cleaned my plate" and turned these etched tabs that had been lying around into more tube bail earrings (even though I was already bored with the idea, kind of like being bored with your peas):

Hippie Princess

The wonderful blood red dotted ovals are Czech glass from ArteBellaSurplus, and the rustic striped multicolor beads are Indonesian glass from Happy Mango Beads.

The damask pattern on these earrings makes me think of wallpaper in a posh old-timey Hollywood hotel. I decided to go monochrome, with champagne-colored beads--the big citrine ovals have the barest hint of color, and the pearls are a lovely pale sand color.

Champagne Cocktails with Grace Kelly

For some reason these make me think of Grace Kelly.

These below were more of a "foldover" bail I call it, that I flipped upside down for earrings. There was something sort of Incan about them (I'm sure an Incan would disagree, don't ask me how my mind works), so I added some chrysocolla. That seemed kind of Incan. Somehow.

Just sold, sorry

I seem to have a vague memory that some ancient Central American kingdom made their king wear a hat like this. Maybe that's what I'm thinking of.

I knew it.

Not so crazy after all.

These are the same design as the first two, but lightly colored with gilder's paste. These have fluorite and hessonite from Lima Beads. I really wish I had gotten a full strand of the fluorite.

Sold to a Canadian, sorry

These are hessonite and amethyst, also from Lima Beads. I am now a huge fan of hessonite. These remind me of a Chinese dragon.

Lilac Dragon

These turned out very girly. Pink and blue! The beads are angelite and moukaite, with Czech glass on the earwires.

My Grandma's Quilt

This last pair feel very Art Deco to me--like an Art Deco sunset!

Also gone, so sorry

So now I am done with the tube bail earring and I can move on. I did my usual thing--when I made the first couple pair, I was so excited about them I cut out a zillion of these tabs thinking I'M GOING TO MAKE A MILLION OF THESE!!! and then promptly lost interest. But after leaving them lying around forever I decided to do the grown-up thing and finish what I started. Now if only I could do that with my Roman shade project.

Recent Work, and a New Friend

In case you were wondering, I am still here, and still making jewelry! Very very slowly. I have a new overseas customer I am collaborating with to produce some fun pieces, and we have many great projects lined up. For now, while I still juggle a full-time "day job" with my jewelry, this is the only custom work I am going to do--for my new European friend and patron! The materials my customer has chosen are so enticing to work with, I find myself much more drawn to working on her commissions than adding things to the shop. We seem to be very "simpatico" on many levels, so this is very satisfying work to do. My shop inventory has been dwindling while I work on these commissions...But I will try to add pieces here and there in the coming months.

This is a recent piece we did, based around etched lampwork from Radiant Mind on Etsy.

I wanted to keep with the color scheme in the lampwork--turquoise, amber and black--so I added Tibetan butterscotch amber (acquired in a trade with Lori Anderson--thank you Lori! the remainder will be for a matching bracelet. These were PERFECT for this piece), green turquoise heishi, matte amber and black seed beads, black leather and waxed linen, and a carved donut of golden horn I've had FOREVER. Silver seemed to be the way to go, so I added an Orca totem from Happy Mango Beads, and assorted sterling silver and pewter accents.

The first pieces I did for her were variations on older work I had done. This is based on a piece I had done a few years ago with aqua agate and silver. Here I used copper, obviously, and added one of my copper hearts:

This was also a variation on an earlier piece, just slightly reconfigured:

We did coordinating bracelets for these, and for one other piece:

I did some other pieces that were largely copies of older work, so I won't share those here. But I think from here forward everything we do will be new, original pieces. Our aesthetics are very similar, and she gives me great latitude with our designs, so it's very enjoyable! We have some fabulous fluorite and ametrine stones to work with, as well as lampwork glass from Naos Glass, an assortment of feathers and hearts (my customer is partial to hearts) by Kristi Bowman, and a couple of resin and coin pendants by Lorinda3LJewelry on Etsy. I am itching to get busy!

Verdigris Leaf Medallion

Verdigris Medallion

I've had a strand of these Ghanaian brass leaf medallions from Happy Mango Beads forever. I've used them here and there in their natural finish. When I started using patina solutions, it occurred to me to try some of them on these medallions. They took the patina beautifully--every color I've tried, the medallions just soaked it up and looked great. I used a traditional verdigris solution on this from Miss Fickle Media, and sealed it with Vintaj Glaze and a layer of Renaissance Wax. It's very durable.

I combined it with round 2mm leather cording in antique brown from Leather Cord USA, little African jade roundels, recycled glass barrels in sea green (also from Happy Mango Beads), a Czech glass wheel in blue-green, and one of my round coin-impressed charms.

I have two more of these medallions in this color that I am working into a lariat-style necklace. I hope to have that done in the next few days!