Blue Bells from our NEW Glass Menagerie Cupola Blossoms collection on ArtFire

Originally uploaded by cdnallie

This item is NOW available in my Artfire studio for $9 USD!!

As part of our NEW Vintage Metalworx line we're releasing a handful of limited creations along the "Glass Menagerie Cupola Blossoms" theme.

Shown here is "Blue Bells", a whimsical floral earring composed of copper earwires, base metal, austrian crystals and pretty Czech glass.

Our ArtFire studio is located at:
http://www.artfire.com/users/AnnaLee

If you're a lover of handmade jewelry, please stop by our ArtFire shop and tell us what you'd like to see us add. What colours? what gems? what theme? materials? or components?. We carry a vast array of materials and we'd love to hear your feedback or if possible, present info & pricing on custom creations.

Because I cannot wear base metal earwires (they irritate my skin considerably) all our base metal earwires may be swapped for sterling at NO upcharge!

Age is just a Number Bracelet

Age is just a Number Bracelet
Originally uploaded by cdnallie

This is my third solid copper bracelet. I want to keep this piece for myself, but it just might get cloned and offered online at some point.

Featured on the tage is a stamped quote from my friend who is always quick to point out that chronological age has no bearing on either a youthful (or conversely ancient) body, spirit or mind.

I'm particularly pleased with the stamp set that I got at Princess Auto for $7.99 CAD and how well it worked here. btw, the text was intended to roam from a straight path! :)

The stamped tag was polished using blue compound/rouge which also came from Princess Auto and works exceedingly well on this copper. I love Princess Auto. They carry inexpensive rotary tool attachments too (which is a good thing considering I broke a few drill bits before I realized I needed to reverse direction! LOL)

In future, I'll try our floor model drill press if I need to drill holes of this size in any heavy gauge metal sheeting. Achieving these four holes took all the patience and skill that I could muster..

Over the past few weeks I've had the pleasure of meeting up a few times with fellow eSMArts member and new friend Beth Ann Russell (Duchess of Wire/Wire Dutchess). We live a few dozen miles from one another but we meet each week in Port Perry at Tim Horton's to hang out, chat about jewelry and discuss our marketing ideas.

Beth Ann (who hales from the states) is teaching me all about HarborFreight, PepeeTools and weird stuff like Renaissance Wax, which apparently might make a good coating for this copper.

Most of you likely aren't bothered by the aroma of oxidising copper, but I have a nose like a bloodhound, and for my purposes, the Renaissance Wax might just do the trick to squelch that irritating odour.

Beth Ann and I plan to take a field trip in early June to MetalsPlus (was The Metals Supermarket) located on McEwen Drive in Whitby to source more metal sheeting. And when I figure out how to rig my hydraulic system up to a punch (for churning out dogtag type pendants) I'll do a blog feature on it. In the meantime, happy creating everybody!
~Anna Lee

My second solid copper bracelet

I'm still playing with 2mm solid copper sheeting and here's my hammered solid copper ladies bracelet (shown below Van's mens wrist wrap).

I really get a kick out of working with new materials and this piece (designed for myself) was sheer heaven to forge. I went with another timeless styling and am enjoying this adornment as a staple addition to my jewelry collection. It looks great worn alone but also (surprisingly) stacks well to make a fashion statement when combined with other sparklies. Yep, I love wearing lots of bracelets!

Look for a few solid copper pieces in my SassyDLite shop soon (TBA). Tomorrow I'll blog about my third copper creation. I like it even better than these two. This copper stuff is addictive :)
~Anna Lee