Copper treats

Thanks to the HUGE price rise in silver recently, I'm slowly but surely increasing the amount of copper I have in the shop. I love copper. I wonder if it's because I'm a red head?

Some of the recent listings include:

Little dome studs, I kept the first pair I made just for me because I love these!

and this hammered copper bangle - which shimmers with different colours.

And this geometric necklace in hammered copper.

I've also got a pair of leaf stud earrings, with a rich patina to be uploaded soon!

Dublin

We're off to Dublin for a few days tomorrow. I can't wait; I've not been before and I've heard it's a fantastic city.

Richard has plans for us to visit the James Joyce museum. Whilst I'm sure 3 yo would love to have an in depth discussion about the central cast of characters in Finnegans Wake I will probably take eldest around Phoenix Park while he's in there.

Looks like it's going to rain most of the time we're there, but we have macs, and there's lots of fun to be had in puddle jumping.

Will show you some pics on our return!

While I'm there I have some copper clay drying which I can't wait to fire on my return - I'll have pics soon.

Have a great week!

Copper creations

The very lovely Anna aka the bunny maker from Half an Acre recently sold me her old mini kiln. (Thank you Anna!!)

This was so exciting because not only can I now fire larger silver pieces; I can now play with copper and bronze clay. I've had some copper art clay for a while. Apparently you can torch fire it, but I wasn't that successful so I've just been looking at it, all wrapped up and looking sad on my shelf.

But now, with my kiln, I can actually make stuff with it.

Here is my first (of many) copper leaves with some of my huge turquoise bead stash.

Don't you just love how copper and turquoise go together.

Just need to get a clasp finished and then I'll probably list it.

The clasp has seen me experimenting with copper plating! It seems to be pretty much impossible to get copper solder, so I use silver. For this clasp I soldered together copper wire to make a toggle, but this meant that the silver solder looked a bit odd. Simple solution - add a spare nail or screw to the old copper pickle pot (where the pickle has turned a shade of blue), and watch it fizz and copper plate over the solder. FANTASTIC.(This is why you only usually use copper tongs in a pickle pot - to avoid accidental plating!)

Love trying new stuff, and using new material. Hope you like my new copper creations!!