Did you know....

...that Copper is a major electric conductor making it a great tool for those involved in energy based healing. Copper is said to combat lethargy, passivity, restlessness, excitability, and non-acceptance of ones self. It is also said to bring luck in recovering lost property.

How about that?!!

p.s. My sister-in-law just started a blog about dealing with nut allergies. Her 2 year old son (my nephew) has a severe peanut/treenut allergy and she's sharing what she's learning. If you have a nut allergy child, or know one, or just want to be informed, please check her out: http://nutallergymom.wordpress.com/

I'm in!!

I am now a proud member of Etsy for Animals!! http://www.etsyforanimals.com/

Etsy for Animals

I just came across this group- Etsy for Animals: http://www.etsyforanimals.com/index.html and I wanted to share it. It's a group of etsy artists and crafters who donate portions of their sales to animal shelters and charities. EFA has a charity of the month, this month is the Visakha SPCA Cow Sanctuary. What a great idea, with a great cause.

I am a big-time animal lover, with 2 cats of my own. I would have more, but my husband put his foot down. So instead of adopting more animals, I volunteer at a no-kill animal rescue shelter-http://www.almosthomeanimalrescue.org/. I take care of the sweet kitties there. I am amazed at the generosity and selflessness of the women who run the shelter. Absolutely NO animal is ever euthanized; they are committed to taking care of each and every animal that comes to them, including the terminally ill, abused, feral, etc. It is an honor to work for them.

Here are my boys- Jack and Henry (both from the shelter). They are sweet and curious, and surprisingly obedient. They know they're not allowed in my studio, ever. Cats + beads + wire = disaster.

Tube-tastic

I've been playing around with copper tubing- I used to love working with it in my sculptures. The flexible 1/4" tubing is great, it allows for some interesting curves. But today I decided to give it a try with a new set of earrings and a pendant. I'm really happy with the results. They're simple, sleek, but with an industrial edge.

No patinas on this set... enough of those shenanigans for now. I still love a freshly sanded velvet finish.

These will be posted on etsy in a day or two... I have a few others on deck ahead of them.

Happy Spring to everyone!!

Ammonia blues...

So here is what I got with the ammonia. I tried just a fume bath, but my results were spotty and kinda weird. So I dipped them in the ammonia, then strung them for a second fume bath. (Basically this means I filled a glass jar with an inch of ammonia, strung the copper parts on a string and suspended them over the liquid when I put the lid on.) Here were the results..... Pretty cool, but I thought the finish was too matte. So I thought I'd try putting a clear acrylic coating to seal it. This has happened before, so I should have known better. The liquid application changes the patina and takes away the blue tones. Boo.... Now they're shiny, but mostly browns and yellows, and my impatient little fingers left a fingerprint on one. Grrr.... back to the drawing board.

In more successful news, my tomatillo and russian black tomato seeds have sprouted!! I can't wait for spring... ugh, I can't believe we got half a foot of snow this weekend. Boo....

Copper Country?

I've always been drawn to copper- it's warm, inviting, gorgeous... it has purported health benefits, facilitates communication, brings us warm showers... But for me it has personal meaning. My mother's family came here from Lebanon, and moved from Beirut to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, known as Copper Country.

I have a blog for my fine art website, but I wanted to create something a little more personal for my jewelry and etsy site. A place to share techniques, ideas, and musings. I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to comment. Feedback is always welcome.

To get going, here are a few images of my most recent pieces. I'm experimenting with a few different patinas right now- on the left is a salt/ammonia patina, the right is just a heat patina. I have some "triangle dangles" in an ammonia fume bath right now, hoping for a nice blue. I'll keep you posted!!