Fused Silver and Copper Cuffs

Its been a week of finishing up items for my show in Holland, Michigan on Saturday August 4th.  If you are free and in the area please stop by and see us.  Melissa Mesara, Sharon Pribble, Dawn Bennett Daily and I will all be there with goodies in tow.

Fused Silver and Copper Floral Bracelet $110.00

Fused Silver and Copper Bracelet $110.00

Fused Silver and Copper Bracelet $110.00

Here's the whole group of finished bracelets

Wrist Corsage Bracelets

I always love making wrist corsage bracelets because just about kind of beads look great with the copper band.  These adjustable bracelets don't flip on your wrist when wearing since the fit and shape is a perfect match for most wrists. Made out of recycled wire and copper refrigerator tubing it's unique look and great fit is sure to be a favorite.

Dogwood Wrist Corsage Bracelet $65.00

Blue Floral Wrist Corsage Bracelet $65.00

Cream Peach and Blue Floral Wrist Corsage Bracelet $65.00

Grandmothers Flower Garden Wrist Corsage Bracelet $65.00

Bubble Bracelets

Previously I made some bracelets with little soldered bumps but I wasn't really happy at how they fit on the wrist so I reworked the design today and am thrilled with the results.  They sit on the wrist nicely with the loops around the beads floating freely like bubbles.

Bubble Bracelets $48.00 each

 Bubble Bracelet

Bubble Bracelets

Where do you shop for supplies?

The hardware store has always been one of my favorite places to shop and is becoming more so all the time.  Copper items are easily found there along with inexpensive copper, brass and steel wire.  While taking a class a couple of months ago I ran a bunch of large copper washers through a rolling mill with some common household screen, burlap and lace.  I loved how they came out but wasn't sure what to do with them since they were large and flat.  Today I realized that even though they came out of the rolling mill oval using a dapping block was still possible, with a bit of finagling I was able to manipulate them into a shape that hugs the wrist nicely and makes a great frame for my beads.  Here are the results.

Copper Framed Beads

The colors didn't turn out well in this photo, it's actually shades of rose and blues.

Book Party

I got an email from a party planner who had seen me at the Marshal Craft show, he wants 35 itty bitty books for a party he is putting on this Friday. Yes, I said this Friday,  I know that I can get that many ready without a problem but I should be working on things for the bead show in Southfield on October 10th.  Nothing in the self employed world never go as planned and since Sandra and I only have an 8 foot table I could go with what I have right now but being the over achiever that I am it would be nice to have more.  So I guess the bead show stuff will just have to happen next week.

There may be a trip to Grand Rapids Monday since I am totally out of some colors of leather and he specifically asked to have as many colors as possible.  If you have never been into a Tandy Leather store its a huge warehouse full of tables and boxes of leather and a wonderful place to find scraps of every color imaginable.  Every time I'm in there I think there has to be more I could be doing with leather since it's so cheap and there are such wonderful colors, this time I'm going to keep my eye out for some unusual pieces and see just what I can create with them.

Since you can see the itty bitty books in previous posts here are some other pieces of jewelry.

Bright Baby Beaded Bracelet, my Sister-in -law owns this one

Chain x3

This fits under the recycled trash part of my blog.

One mans trash is another mans treasure, this is something my dad taught us at a very early age and although this is far from trash it is old and used. Today my dad brought me a camper that he had found while at a tractor show.  I have been wanting a tiny little camper for the past 10 years.  My new baby is a 13 foot Scamp, she needs some cleaning and tender loving care but will be looking beautiful in no time.  The plan is instead of paying out for an expensive hotel room at shows we will be able to cut our costs by camping.  I love to camp and so does Sandra.  I am sure there will be times were the motel will just be easier but camping can save money and is so much more interesting than a motel room.

1978, 13 foot Scamp Camper

Now for some jewelry photos just because I love bead porn.

Orange, yellow and tangerine 3 strand bracelet

Turquoise dangle n links bracelet