Forged in Fire

Since Mother's Day is tomorrow I've been working on a few things for my mom. She seems to always complain indicate that she has no jewelry... yea right mom. So, I've been working on a few new pieces just for her. One thing she says is that she has no copper, well she can't say that after tomorrow as I made her an entire ensemble.

Close up of the necklace.

I just kind of let the metal do what it wanted to. I pounded and then stuck it in the flame of my torch then pounded some more. Finally I got the 12 gauge metal wire into some semblance of a shape, then wire wrapped the top with another loop. After looking at it a bit more, punched the holes in the bottom and dangled the Carnelians and felt it was still missing something. That's when I remember making my flower head pins, so I torched the ends to a ball then wrapped them up the sides of the piece.

Here is a picture of all of it together.

Okay, so if you see my mom wearing this set be sure to say something about her "new" jewelry. Then she'll be able to say that everyone noticed that she was wearing something new. LOL

Have a great weekend.

Giveaway Deadline is Approaching

For those of you that missed this post the Copper Giveaway ends on March 3rd, so enter today so you don't miss out. Here is the link. http://danasjewelrydesign.blogspot.com/2010/02/plethora-of-copper-giveaway.html
 You get everything you see pictured including the drawstring bag.




When it rains it pours and in the past week I landed 4 special orders. The first one I completed today which was for two bracelet and earring sets and a pair of charm earrings all in sterling silver. I really like the way the green set turned out especially with Spring on our heels. Now I have to get busy on the next order of 9 gem trees....this one may take me awhile, good thing I have until the end of March to complete them.

Yes, I haven't quit sewing yet. Hubby had a special request for the motor home and that was a knife roll. Having no idea what that was or how to make one, I looked up some commercial ones one the internet to see how they were made. It didn't turn out too bad and it will keep the knives safe in the drawer while we are traveling.

  









Hopefully everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

Dana

The Plethora of Copper Giveaway

I know you want to win this! A complete wardrobe of Copper jewelry. You will get a copper bangle, cluster ring, energy pendant with chain, charm earrings and one of my new drawstring pouches. This is a whopping $75.00 value, my biggest giveaway yet. The giveaway is only open to U.S. Residents...sorry, next time I'll do one for all my International followers. NOTE: You do not have to do all three below to be entered into the drawing. If you don't have a Twitter account no worries, just leave me a comment for 1 and if you want to have another chance, leave another comment on an interesting fact.

What do you need to do to win this wonderful prize?
1. Leave a comment here on my blog about what you would do with all this jewelry if you won it.
2. Second entry - Tweet about this giveaway or blog (leave your blog link in the comments) about this giveaway. Be sure to use #gemdiva if twittering so that I can find your tweet.
3. Third entry - Tell me an interesting fact about Copper.

The all important deadline will be March 3rd at 10:00 pm PST.

Good luck!

Copper, Does it Heal?

For the past month I have been having problems with my arm, most likely tendonitis from typing on the computer (dang those FB games) and working with my wire and beads..anyway if I take Motrin, it gets better. So, I'm thinking it is an inflammation of some kind. I had read that Copper would help and I could forgo the drugs when it is acting up, so that is the plan. Now if you believe in Copper healing this is a wonderful solution....I'm not sure that I do or don't but a lot of older folks swear by it for arthritis and wear copper bracelets. Since I do make jewelry, I have a lot of copper chain and wire around so here came the making of the copper bangles this morning. My wire was only 14 gauge and I needed 12, but it works for now. I've been wearing my copper love knot ring, see previous posts and the bracelets today and can actually say that my arm isn't as stiff as yesterday. Maybe it's working. I'll wear them for a week and report back. Here is a little bit more about the healing qualities of Copper that I obtained from the Jewelry Supplier web site.

Healing PropertiesHealers base their belief in Copper’s power to heal the mind and body based on the metal’s energy conducting properties. They believe that it can even facilitate this process and use it for creating crystal wands and other means of transferring the energy of crystals. They also attribute many of the same healing qualities to crystals and minerals that contain Copper traces.

Mental Healing

According to New Age healers, Copper can stimulate the flow of energy and hence move Psychic or Mental energies thereby helping the wearer overcome lethargic tendencies, resulting in a more vitalized person with amplified thoughts. They also attribute powers of communication, channeling, cleansing, purification, increasing self-esteem and freeing the wearer of mental burdens.

Physical Healing

Beginning in the 1970s in the United States, Copper's use as a healing agent began to see an increase. People who believe in its power esteem it as a very powerful assistant with Arthritic and Rheumatic diseases, but also look to it for its healing properties in improving the circulation of blood, increasing energy, detoxification, reducing inflammation, stabilizing metabolism and improving Oxygen use.