Cold Connections and Mixed Metals

Some big giant wire -10 gauge red brass and 16 gauge copper. I couldn't resist - I love how it looks and the weight of a bracelet that's made with it.
Red Brass wrapped around the handle of my baby ball peen hammer with some copper tube cut to length to hide the join. Tool marks are very evident, I see!

Brass links joined with 3 copper rings.....now I just have to figure out what to make for a closure.

Some SERIOUS Treasures......

Yesterday I was helping out the woman that is the head of the Maine Poodle Resuce Organization - we were working on some computer things and during one of our breaks, she showed me her "treasure chest" of pieces she acquired while in Africa. She lived and worked there for a dozen or so years and loved to go to the markets - where she bought items made, most of the time, by the artists right there at the market. Her treasure chest is one to be envied......and I had a great time looking at everything and hearing the stories behind the pieces. I was overjoyed and humbled when she offered me some pieces.........I could hardly believe my great fortune.

This is a necklace of some stone - perhaps white quartz, with an amber bead, brass wire and brass clasp.

This is a string of small copper beads and a necklace which is made entirely of silver jump rings.
Some really gorgeous malachite beads.

A necklace of clay beads.

Two stamped brass leaves, some brass bells and a brass spiral.

Some really interesting blue beads - they are really lightweight - I am not sure what they are made of.

A beaded choker.

An amazing multi-strand necklace - looks like seed pods, some wooden animal charms, what appear to be wooden tubes and some brass beads - that was made, then dipped to tint it green.

Some amazingly HUGE amber beads - I am not sure if it's what is called Moroccan amber or copal amber, but it's really beautiful.

Photography - take three!

The third time is the charm......maybe! I promise, though, after this photography post I am going back to making jewelry! While it has been "fun" to take this break and do some pictures of my pieces, I am really quite done with making it an all day thing. So, here are the latest (and in my mind, greatest) pictures yet.

So, whaddya think?

Photography - Day 2

Another day.........another set of pictures with different parameters. I changed the set up of my photo box..........I sprayed the bottom of the piece of glass with black spray paint and changed the aperture settings on my camera - the color is truer, there are no overblown highlights on the jewelry so now it would seem that it's just a matter of fine tuning the camera set up and I will be happy. Maybe.

A Necessary Evil - Jewelry Photography

My new photography set up - totally different from my other pictures - no props, just the jewelry on a black background. I read somewhere about using a piece of glass on top of the black cloth - so I tried it. I made my own set up using a cardboard box, an old black ultrasuede shirt, an old broken piece of glass, a tripod and my camera. Here's the pics that I think might have merit.......

As always, it's a work in progress - any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated!!