All Sorts of Things!

My newest piece in copper, brass, and glass

So, the last I wrote, I think I was in the midst of our move to a new apartment.  We are now mostly moved in to a smaller and more expensive, yet, cleaner, drier, and less cruddy new place!  I have just started working again!  I am bouncing between metal and leather right now, trying to get some ideas that have been crawling around in my brain out and put down on paper, metal, leather, etc.   I hope you like the new stuff that I am putting together, I am excited to share it.  Any of the metal pieces I make now will be going in to my Princess Lizard shop on Etsy until I get all my crap together and move the leather pieces too.  So for now, one shop for leathery things, and one shop for metal thingys.  Enjoy!  and a very belated "Happy New Year"  to all of you. 

All Done

I have three of these done now and all ready to find new homes.  So far, I am really enjoying the whole process of making these.  I always loved working with copper and brass.  This style is leading to all sorts of other ideas, so LOOK OUT!!!!  There will be more to come, and soon:)

More Pendants

Freshly cut pendants with dichroic glass cabochons

Dipped in wax to add a protective coating to the copper

All Done!  Only waiting on the copper chain to come so I can make them into necklaces

So, I made a few more pendants to put up for sale in my new Amazon Handmade Marketplace shop, which should be open sometime this week.  My Amazon shop will be mostly jewelry and accessories for the meanwhile.  I am working on lots of different ideas at the moment but these I think are my favorite pieces that have come out of the lab so far.  More to come..........

Trying Some New Stuff

Sometimes playing around can turn out awesome! 

             Dichroic glass cabochon set in copper.  The bubbly, colorful look on the face of the copper,    is the patina solution I applied to the copper doing it's work.  The finished piece will be coming up soon:)


Thanks for looking!

N.

I Found These Lurking Around.......

Mixed Metal Necklace with copper, brass, and garnet drops available now at my Etsy shop

Mixed Metal Necklace with Turquoise and Carnelian available now at my Etsy shop

Just found these two while organizing my all my various creations, now they are ready for their new homes:)

Necklaces!!!!!

New upcycled necklace in copper and brass with amethyst and moonstone drops

Peridot and Iolite are the accents on this one, which happens to be one of my favorite combos of the moment:)

 Happy November to you all!  I'm still sewing and hammering and all that so my posts are pretty infrequent as of late.  I hope to share some pics of my show at Funk Shui and some birthday an Halloween pics too!  Be back soon!

The Last One for A Little Bit

Necklace in Copper and Brass with Lapis Lazuli

I finished this piece up this weekend and it will be the last for a couple of weeks until I catch up on my wallets and such.  I have had a blast making all of my various metal piece and I hate to put down the saw, drill, and hammer, but,  I really need to get back to sewing so I can keep my shop stocked full of fun leather stuff too!  So goodbye for now my copper and brass goodness:)

Finishing Up Some Stuff

Copper and Brass Mixed Metal Necklace with Aqua Aura Quartz Crystal Beads

I finished up a couple more necklaces this weekend while I wait on some supplies for my leather work.  This one is a favorite right now.  I got this one listed in my Etsy shop and will list the next one when I get some decent photos taken of it.  It has been so much fun to play with metal again and I hope to do it more, but for now, I must get back to sewing up a storm.  I have A LOT of things cut out and ready to go, just waiting for a few supplies and I'll be back at the work table again! 

More Newness

Copper and Brass necklace with carnelian and turquoise

My second necklace!  This time with carnelian and turquoise beads.  This one is now listed in my Etsy shop  and ready for it's new home.  I have a few more of these cut out and hope to have them all finished and up in my shop within the next week or so.  I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get them all done!

New Metal!

Copper and Brass Pendant with citrine and green Chalcedony beads

I finished up a couple of these this weekend and have been anxious to get them listed in my Etsy shop.  I got the first one up tonight and I am hoping to get the next one listed tomorrow when I can get some decent pictures of it.  I am pretty happy with how they are turning out and hope to get some different ones made soon. Metal, especially copper and brass, are AWESOME!

Abandoning Art

Sterling silver necklace with opal and peridot beads

My newest Art Abandonment piece in copper and various gemstone beads

I took a bit of a break from leather work to get a couple of jewelry projects finished.  I wanted to play with some opal beads I had and ended up with a pretty fun necklace with them and some beautiful teeny tiny peridot beads too.  I like it!  So much so that I am keeping this one.  I do plan to make a few more though.  I have some already cut out in copper and will be using a bunch of different gemstone beads as accents with those as well. 

The copper piece is a pendant that I made specifically for the Humboldt Art Abandonment Project here in Humboldt County,  California.  I hadn't made anything in a very long time and really wanted to do something special.  So I found this neat little copper piece that I had cut out many, many years ago and couldn't figure out what to do with.  I added some purty beads and made a necklace out of it(beaded with a copper chain)  So today, on our hike up to Redwood Park, here in Arcata, I will be "abandoning"  this piece for some lovely soul to find and enjoy. 

Other than that, we are plugging along.  There is nothing super exciting going on, just keeping our adventures close to home, and enjoying the outdoors.  I don't get a lot of time to work on anything but I am thankful for the patience of my kids when I need to buckle down and get stuff done.  They've been awesome that way.  So we're off to eat lunch and then off to the park to abandon some art and play!

A New Possibility.........

I started work on this many, many months ago and needed to get it finished up for a special gift for a very wonderful friend.  Made with appliqued recycled leather pieces, copper, brass, iolite, green adventurine and amethyst.  I think it turned out pretty okey dokey and I will definitely be playing with the idea more and listing some of these eventually.  I love my copper, brass, and leather, that is for sure!

The First One is Listed!

Pendant Number 1

I finally finished my pendants into "neck pieces" this week.  I added leather lacing to each one and some rivets to make them look super awesome and now, the first one is up in my Etsy shop.  I am diggin' how they are coming out and hope to expand on the idea a bit.  I think the thing I like the most is watching them patina before my eyes.  Since the metal I am using is scrap from my mask making, it already has some texture and patina to it.  I am adding more texture to help each piece of metal fit into the whole piece but I am leaving the rest alone.  Each piece is polished with a brass brush and soap and water only.  I only sand down the rough spots here and there.  So they are all going to naturally patina over time.  My goal is to have a completely new idea look like it has been around for ages, just like my masks do.  I am having way too much fun with these, I hope you enjoy looking at them too:)

What I Did This Weekend

I went into the secret lab and came out with these!  None of them are completely finished but here you go:) 

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My goal was to finish up five of these so I could finish each one over the course of the week and list them by the weekend.  But, my hands are blistered and sore and I think it may take a couple of extra days to finish up.  I still need to attach the bails and decide if I want to add chain or cord to them AND some coordinating copper and brass charms at the end of the cords to make them super AWESOME! 

I read somewhere that this year was the year to work hard, and I'm trying to.  I'm trying to minimize the time I'm on the computer so I can get more done in the lab.  I hope this is a step in the right direction.  Right now I am so excited that I got to do some metal work that I don't even care if anything comes of it.  I missed my metal so.

Until we meet again............

Newness

 A new pendant in copper and brass.  This one is for a friend but I will be adding some similar pieces to my shop soon!  Oh metal I've missed you sooooo!!!!!!

New billfold!

Last but not least, this is actually one of my favorites, it's so soft and purty!...Oh!  I mean handsome:)

Playing with Copper and Other Nonsense

 So, this last weekend after trying to come up with a good idea for a custom item for a good friend, I opened up my box of copper and brass scraps and started playing around and came up with the piece above.  I like how it turned out and I'm thinking that I want to utilize this type of work in some of my collars and cuffs as well as make a few pendants and such for my shop.  I forgot how much fun it is to play with copper and brass, I miss it so much!

While I was playing in my studio, lucky Abner got to go for a ride in the Tonka dump truck with Ciaran and Edolie.  I'm not sure if he had fun or not.  I thought it was great that Ciaran put a small piece of wood over the opening in the back of the truck so Abner didn't have an accident and fall out.  It's nice to see the kiddos getting over their fear of the tortoises and wanting to spend time with them.  I'm not sure how anyone could be afraid of, or creeped out by a tortoise, they are to damn cute!

So that's it for now, I have to go organize the lab so I can make it messy all over again!

I Was Featured!

I forgot all about an interview I did with Copper in the Arts online magazine this last November. I got to share my story about making my copper suncatcher/ornaments and what I am working on now. Yay! It is really nice to be surprised like that:) Now all I want to do is get busy on some new ornaments and masks, but, no can do, at least until my wrist heals. I can't even pick up a knife or fork with my left hand right now, so I think pliers would probably be overdoing it a bit. I will just have to miss my metalsmithing skills for now. Hopefully, all the wonderful ideas that have been floating around my head for the last few months will stay put until I can put them to use.

Hey! Where Did You Come From?

So I am just sitting here minding my own business, trying to figure out how to sip my coffee with a kinked neck, when I look outside and BLAM! The sun is shining! It hasn't been around for the last few days. All of the sudden it is super shiny and happy out there. I think that is why I love living here so much. We don't have very many sunny days, so when we have one, after a whole week of grey skies, it is like magic! Even though I can't move my head from side to side to well still, I still feel peppy and happy and ready to work.

I am working on a lot of projects at the same time and that is really stressing me out. I just so badly want to get a lot done by the end of the year. I am finishing a long overdue birthday present for my lovely sister and I feel horrible because I keep having to put it off to finish other stuff. This is the weekend to get it done though, whether I want to or not! I would describe the piece but she might read this and it would ruin the surprise, so I will post a pic and description when it is all done and sent off to her.

I am also excited about the mask I am getting ready to make for our local Maskibition. Which shows at the Ink People Center for the Arts in Eureka. It is held each year during the month of October, and it it one of the most interesting exhibits around here. I think the mask brings out a whole other side of creativity in people. The mask is such a magical and mysterious thing.....I can't wait to get back to mask making. It is a true outlet for me. I just hope my little fingers still know what to do with all that copper!