Copper, copper, copper

Some more fun with pennies and copper wire. Byzantine weave (18gauge 5/32"), a flattened and domed penny.
Not sure I like how it's attached...........and am going to do some work on the penny - it looks a little plain......another work in progress.

A picture of the morning after our (Sunday night into Monday storm) two feet of snow here in Maine - a winter wonderland to be sure -but one man's wonderland is another man's, well.......not wonderland!

And to make matters worse, we lost power on Monday morning - well before I got up - so I had to resort to making coffee the old fashioned way.....................thank goodness for the wood stove and the gas cooking stove!

Big and Bold

The fashion forecasters say big and bold is the season's new trend, so here's my contribution. Large faceted magnesite rondelles, (love them so much I already used the whole strand!) separated by some lovely southwestern style silver discs. The discs have a nice stamped design on them and they were just the right size for the chunky magnesite beads.










I found some wonderfully detailed toggle clasps -large and antiqued silver - a perfect closure for this necklace.

The necklace measures 16.5" - it sits at the collarbone and the clasp can be worn in the front or the back - or if you're really daring, on the side. It is casual and elegant all at the same time - at home worn with jeans on the prairie, or with a power suit in the boardroom!

Maille Redux

My silver order came in yesterday and I finally got to make the commissioned Romanov weave bracelet. I used the 18 gauge sterling silver wire and some 6mm lapis rounds I had. I handcrafted a spiral"S" clasp for the closure. I hope the client is pleased.

Byzantine Bracelet

Another attempt at byzantine - this time just straight byzantine.........again using 18 gauge Artistic Wire (non-tarnish silver - post office is closed today so I'm still waiting for my sterling silver wire) on a 5/32" mandrel. It is still a little too floppy - so perhaps the 1/8" mandrel next time. I wrapped a couple of turquoise rounds, a large faceted magnesite and some sterling silver bead caps and added that as a focal for the bracelet. I am not sure I like the clasp I used, however.........but I will show it to my friend Sandy who is a hound for all things turquoise and she will give me an honest opinion. :-)

More maille

I had such a blast making the first Romanov weave, and while I wait for my sterling silver wire to be delivered, I thought I would try it in silver Artistic Wire. I used 18 gauge wire again, and for this one I added some 6mm red agate rounds and a pretty little silver plated star toggle clasp. Loving this look!

The Winner Is........

Congratulations to Nellie of Nellies Needles - she is the winner of our One World One Heart giveaway, and the new owner of my freeform copper heart pendant.

I want to again say a great big thank you to Lisa Swifka at a whimsical bohemian for all her hard work putting this together...............and a huge thank you to all that entered my giveaway, left comments, checked out my blog and the mrs beadsley of maine website. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip around the world and look forward to doing it again next year!

You've got Maille.......

Chain maille, of course! At mrs beadsley of maine we take custom requests and during the store wide sale (to benefit the Maine Poodle Rescue) we got a request from one of our best clients for a Romanov weave bracelet. Since I have never done a Romanov weave, I wanted to practice on copper before working with the sterling silver wire - wire gauges and ID and OD and aspect ratios - it's almost like being back in high school math class! Having done byzantine weave before (Romanov weave is sections of byzantine weave linked together) I already had the gauge and ID calculations and just needed to figure the size bead that would fit in each Romanov link. After some trial and error, I ended up using a 6mm aventurine round, which I wrapped with some 22 gauge copper wire. Each Romanov section is linked with a jump ring made with some 18 gauge square copper wire, and I crafted an "S" clasp for closure. I love how this bracelet turned out and am really looking forward to doing it in sterling silver.

Copper and Magnesite Set

Still loving the hammering of copper - using some 12 gauge copper wire, I made some over sized jump rings and hammered them flat. To add some depth to the flattened links I coiled some 20 gauge wire around them to hide the join, then connected them using some 18 gauge square copper wire (love it - it works with everything!). I had some large faceted magnesite rondelles which I wrapped with copper wire and joined with some large twisted copper rings. I made a chain with some square copper wire and some small coiled copper rings (got the twisted and coiled links at Magpie Gemstones), added the hammered pieces and the beaded pieces in an asymmetrical design...........a handcrafted copper "S"clasp serves as closure. Although the bracelet has different copper components, it still works as a set.

Thank You

A huge heartfelt thank you to all that responded to my sale at mrs beadsley of maine. All the proceeds from the sale went to Maine Poodle Rescue to help them with their expenses - so that they can in turn help more at risk dogs. It's a worthwhile cause and they are just a great bunch of people over there and I was glad to do what I could to help.

Let me say, once again, if you are considering getting a dog, please check in your area for local rescue organizations...............most breeds have their own chapter......these dogs could really use you!!!

OWOH Giveaway Event

I must say I am overwhelmed by all the wonderful bloggers that are participating in the One World One Heart blog event. Not only has everybody seriously made MY day by leaving such wonderful comments, I am truly amazed by the fact that 911 (yes that's right, nine hundred eleven) blogs are participating in the event. If you haven't yet done so, cruise on over to the OWOH blog and start checking out all the fantastic blogs that are participating. (they are listed in the right column). Lisa Swifka has done an absolutely amazing job organizing this event........and I have to say a big THANK YOU to her for all she has done.

On the business end of things, I need to update the information in my original posting - just to say that I am going to use a random number generator (thank you random.org) to choose the winner of my giveaway. I thought of using one of the dogs to choose, but they each have their favorite, none of them understand the concept of random winner and to keep in-fighting from breaking out I made the executive decision to do it the fair way.

So, grab a cuppa, sit back and start some serious surfing...........the OWOH bloggers are so incredibly generous.....there are some SERIOUSLY gorgeous giveaways out there!

Peace, over and out.