10 Minutes A Day... For Now!





Clockwise from top: amethyst & tanzenite colored,
faceted rondelles, citrine and citrine colored,
faceted rondelles, garnets & emerald colored, faceted
rondelles, moonstone and clear, faceted rondelles.

 I was able to get into my craft room last night for about 10-15 minutes (maybe a little more) and create these four pairs of earrings.  I saw a similar style in one of my jewelry magazines and made my own, slight twist on it. Z didn't let me play for too long (because it wasn't with him!) but at least I appeased the Muse enough that I think she'll return for my next session (which I hope is tonight... I have some ideas I want to get brave and pull out my poly-clay for!)

Copper, Copper, LOVING My Copper!

So, this weekend (starting with Friday afternoon) I got out more of my copper and played with it.  If you want to see the post I did about my first-ever headpins, go here.  If you want to see the post I did for pickle (for cleaning fire-scale from your pins), go here.  I had previously gone to Target and found the cutest little 2qt crock pot for $11.00 and bought it for making my pickle.  Just like you need a dedicated oven with Poly-clay, you need a dedicated pot for your metal pickle.  You never want to use something you would ever consider using at a later date for food.  Always keep these tools separate. 

isn't it just adorbs!?

I also have a pair of long, flat-nosed pliers that I use specifically for firing my copper. 

Look close at the tips, near the arrow, you can see the
fire-scale on the tips. Kobalt is an excellent brand for
working with jewelry. I have two pairs of these pliers,
one for fire work and one for wire work. Available at Lowe's.

I used the 1:1 ratio (1 cup vinegar to 1 tbsp salt, I used Kosher... no reason, just chose it) and heated the crock pot on "High" until it was warmed up then turned it to "Low."  Be aware, this is a sharp smell whenever you open the lid! Once I had balled up several pins and dropped them in the water to cool off, I popped 'em in the pickle for about 15 mintues.  Here's what I got back:

Nice, almost completely clean copper.  What little fire-scale
is left came off easily with my sponge file (which you can
get from you local beauty supply store)

I also got brave and made a few double-ended headpins:

awesome!

then I heated up some bits of copper I had plans to use in making earrings:

The fire-scale is almost completely gone! Only a little elbow
grease with my sponge file and they were ready to be turned
into earring components! by the way, you can look at the blue
arrow in the upper right and see the pickle solution being
absorbed by the paper towel.  It's been used a few times and
is already changing color.  Cool!

My next problem was to turn the rectangles into some sort of earring component. I am determined to make more of my own components. After cleaning the remaining fire-scale, I pounded the rectangles randomly with the peen end of my hammer, with another instrument that I don't remember what it's called but it can be used to make small, round marks/divots in metal and with a .22 shell casing.

Next, I covered over both sides with black permanent marker and, once it dried, sanded it off so only the marks left in the metal were darkened.  Then I punched four holes in them, one at the top and three at the bottom and hung beads and headpins.  Here's the final results:

SQUEE!  I plan to keep these as they're
my first ever pair! aweSOME!

Here are several others I made this weekend, too:

Fishes & Loaves in rustic red:
this pair is just under 2" in length

less rustic & in white: also just about
2" in length... going to make more
pairs on this smaller scale as well as
the 2 1/2-3" length earrings

all together, now.....

snow crystals

ruby zoisite ~ rough

So... that's been my weekend. What about yours?

This Weekends' Business

It was pretty busy this weekend. I went to Lowe's and bought these terrific drawers.  I got the idea from my Dad's work bench (you know, those little drawers that hold all the screws, washers, nails, etc.?) and decided they would make great bead & findings holders.  I much prefer the kind my dad has, but his are OLD (from the '70's or '80's, not sure how old) and they don't make them exactly like that anymore. (his are a much sturdier, firmer plastic)  However, these work perfectly fine once the weight of the beads are in them. Loving them!



Full table view (ignore the remaining mess)

  I spent hours Saturday afternoon moving all my beads from their previous cases to these storage drawers. Really liking them, so far. But, things evolve as our beading needs evolve. We'll see.



I like being able to see into the drawers

You can get the multi-size drawer type or the large drawer type. I got both. May get another later, too.


larger drawers good for "special" beads or wire

Not all the drawers are filled yet, but I don't really expect that situation to last! (haahahaha!)


My stone and gem beads I restrung on wire
to make tracking easier

I've finally learned that SOME beads are better off if you put them on wire. Then you can snip loose just what you need and not worry about them spilling all over.


What the beads were in before

I won't be getting rid of all of these, but does anyone need a few of this type of bead holder box? They have divided compartments inside. Just email me if you'd like a box or two or three.

p.s., I'll be naming the winners from my March contest tomorrow. Check back!

Busy Weekend

 I had a busy weekend with the camera.  Here are a few new items (and a couple of old) going into the store on Etsy. 

Skies over Jupiter



Dream!

Rustic Berries

Rustic Teal

Teal Swirls

Red Daisy Dangles

Blue Daisy Dangles

Hot Spring - Lanyard

KNOW YOUR PRODUCT!



Moss Amethyst

 I read an article by the Silver Bear on the JETs blog called "Fakes, Frauds & Rip-Offs" about the various "gems" out there that are really just quartz with fancy names (well... he said "trash" but I still like most of the quartz available, they're gorgeous)  Still and all, Silver Bear had some great points to keep those of us who do use these stones, but don't know the difference between semi-precious and quartz, from being taken in by outrageous pricing (he's a gemologist... he knows things).
I think I'd add something to his dissertation, however: remember the names of the stones you sell!  We who use these stones in necklaces and bracelets need to be able to let our potential customers know what we've used in a design. Maybe we don't need to go into the detailed explanation Silver Bear did but we still need to let them know "Hey, this is quartz versus actual amethyst" or vice versa.  To that end, those of you we buy from need to be sure you correctly label the stones you sell.
As an example, there's a lady in my town who owns a bead and yarn store. It's like walking into Aladdin's Cave she has such wonderful things! BUT!  Some of her stones aren't labelled.  I asked about one I was interested in, it had a great color and pattern but no name label.  Chances are, according to Silver Bear's post, it was some form of quartz.  Regardless, her reply was "Oh, I don't know.  I buy stones I like and don't always get the name."  Uhm, sorry, but that's bad business in my book.  If I don't know what a stone is, I'm not buying it since I can't tell potential customers what they're getting (leaving it at "quartz" is lazy in my book, I'd want to know what kind of quartz before I bought from someone).  So, that day, she lost a potential sale on that particular stone.  She actually has lost a lot more in the sales department from me.  She really hikes the price of her wares and I think it's because she needs to read Silver Bear's article.  Not every stone with a fancy name and huge price tag is worth the money.
It's like buying a car, folks. Do your own research.  Don't buy just because you HAVE to have it (and might never find it again! gasp!) or it's pretty or unusual and the high price must indicate it's quality.  There are always variations on that particular stone out there.  Learn about the stone before you buy.  You'll save yourself, and any future customers, a bundle of money.  Not to mention that, if you have a savvy customer who researches before buying and they know that particular stone isn't worth the $50.00 price tag slapped on it...?  You lose out on 1) them wanting to buy anything else from you... if you overcharge for what they know is worth only $20.00 what else have you over priced? 2) you lose out on the money you paid for an over priced stone to begin with.  And, 3) you lose out on word-of-mouth.  It works for bad as well as good.  Do you want people to tell others "Oh, buy from so-and-so on Etsy (or wherever)! They have great products and great service!" or do you want them to say "Well, they have a great looking product but the prices for the items they sell? Yeah... well, it's up to you but I wouldn't pay that much for simple quartz." 
Educate yourself before the fact.  Don't lose customers because they knew what you didn't.

Com-Mission Complete

Yes, I have managed to finish the other two commissioned lanyards. You saw the purple, hot pink & black one in the previous post, here; these two were requested as black & silver and black & gray, respectively. 

 BLACK AND GRAY LANYARD


the tag has a couple of dragonflies on it and
reads "Handcrafted For You By:
The Crazy Creative Corner"



the "tan" in the bead is a lot more gray looking
in normal light (stoopid iPhones)

again, the color is more black and a creamy white than
the lighting in the pic shows.

BLACK AND SILVER LANYARD

the focal stone is a pyrite.. again, the colors
aren't quite how they look in life. It's much
more gray/silver in look.



MUCH more gray and silver in real life!!!

   I'm taking this Friday off work and plan to do a lot of bracelet and lanyard making (I've got a LOT of earrings right now... SO easy to make!)  I also plan to use the three day weekend (have Friday off, remember? Keep up, here... or do you need more coffee?) to take and post pics on here and on Etsy. AND on Facebook... Keep an eye peeled!