Aqua Terra Jasper Necklace

Aqua Terra Jasper is also know as African Opal and Variscite.

African Opal Jasper and Impression Jasper are some of the names for this absolutely gorgeous gemstone that is also referred to as : Variscite. This stone seems to be somewhat of a mystery. It's known to be a natural jasper material from Africa resembling Natural Turquoise as well as resembling an Opal.   

It's also called Aqua Terra (meaning Water Earth) and is believed to be a wonderful stone for helping one find inner peace, clarity, love and compassion, an excellent stone for emotional healing.

This beautiful blue green stone has me fascinated with its tan and rusty matrix, I love working with it.  Aqua Terra Jasper looks great with copper and antiqued copper.

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Copper Wire Wrap Bail

I've been learning and practicing my wire wrapping skills again.  This is a Red Fire Agate that I added a fancy bail to for a pendant.  I learned how to make the bail from a book that I refer back to a lot.  Handcraft Wire Jewelry by Kimberly Sciafaffa Berlin.

After making the pendant I added an antiqued mesh ready made copper necklace chain.

It's gorgeous in real life and I'm quite happy with the way it turned out!

Copper Cuff Bracelet Decorative Wire

I've been collecting different size decorative copper wire for awhile now.  Mostly to test out how large it is, how wide, how thick.  I know it's usually all there in the descriptions but I need it in my hands to know how I'd like to use it.

My husband Rick was making copper cuff bracelets and looking for some wire to use the other day so I brought out my stash for him to look through.  Isn't this a lovely cuff bracelet he made?  Now I want one!  You know, they say when you make your own jewelry you should wear your own jewelry - right? 

Beginners Wire Wrap Rhyolite Pendant

Last Saturday I decided to treat myself to learning a new technique, a wire weaving tutorial on YouTube by OxanaCrafts.  I'm still pretty new at wire wrapping/weaving and want to learn all I can and improve my skills so I thought one of her beginner tutorials would be fun.

This is actually my second wrapped pendant using her tutorial.  The first one turned out nice so I was excited to try it again and made a pendant for me!  I had a couple of Rhyolite coin beads in my stash of goodies that were a good size for this and I love Rhyolite.

My first photo is a side view where the wire work shows up the most for a good look at the weave.

My second photo shows the pendant as you'd see it on me but the actual weave is a little hidden.  The black cord the pendant is on is made by me too.  I added copper ends to it and use it as my go to "chain" for a lot of pendants I wear.  

Rhyolite is a semi precious gem stone that is formed by volcanic activity, a common volcanic rock that has a very similar chemical equivalent of granite.  I like the different shades of green in each piece and the clear glassy matrix.

Kingman Turquoise Pendant Necklace

Here we are in mid December already and it appears I'm behind in my blog posts!

We've been having fun creating new jewelry daily and out selling in Lake Havasu City, Az on Sundays.  Time flies -

Today's necklace is made using Kingman Turquoise.  I've had the pendant bead for some time and have been kind of putting off using it as I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.

I added copper spacer beads between the turquoise beads for the first time too, I've seen this affect in beaded jewelry where all the beads are strung together and like the look.  This necklace chain is 24" long, made from copper and has been antiqued and polished then treated with ProtectaClear to maintain and protect the finish.  

Etched Copper Bracelet

I have an etched copper bracelet to share today.  We've been keeping busy with our little business making jewelry and filling special orders during the week then out selling on the weekends.  

This was a special order from a man who'd about worn out his copper bracelet after wearing it for twenty years.  I'm very happy with the way it turned out and met up with him in town at Starbucks on Friday to give it to him.  He was excited to have it and really liked it.  

It's fun to know that your art work is going to be worn and enjoyed by someone.

Who knows maybe he'll wear this one for another 20 years!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

African Opal & Copper Jewelry

We are in the midst of our outdoor event season here in Arizona and it's great to see old friends and meet new ones.  One of those old friends asked if I wanted to go to a gem and mineral show early on a Sunday morning while we were set up in Lake Havasu City at the swap meet.  I really wanted to go but didn't want to leave my husband Rick all by himself so I declined the invitation.

We waited till we were on our way home to stop by the gem and mineral show and with Marie's direction visited the booth where she acquired all her goodies.  

I discovered African Opal that day, also known as Aqua Terra Jasper.  It's a gorgeous pale blue green semi precious gem stone with a cream, brown and coppery matrix.  The more I work with this stone the more I love it!

I think this photo of the bracelet shows the colors better.

And a pair of African Opal earrings to tie it all together.

Antiqued Copper Bracelet

This copper bracelet is a piece my husband Rick made recently.  

It features an unknown semi precious gemstone from my Grandmother's stash, copper, brass & nickel silver rivets and eyelets.  Hand forged pieces and parts to secure the snakes.

You can read more about our stash of my Grandmother's polished rocks here:

Montana Agate Copper Cuff Bracelet

Copper & Lampwork Bead Wire Earrings

I have a pair of Copper & Red Lampwork Bead earrings to share today.

I love lampwork beads but don't use them very often in my jewelry because of the expense.  If I ever learn to make them you'll see them in everything I make!

I used copper jump rings to connect to ready made hoops by Tierra Cast then added a couple of small copper beads with my pretty red lampwork beads for a fun pair of earrings.  These earrings have been treated with ProtectaClear to preserve the finish I gave them.

Perfect for the Christmas season in bright red!  They are available for sale in our ArizonaCopperCraft Etsy shop too.

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Denim Blue Dumortierite Classic Hoop Copper Necklace

This style of necklace is a favorite of mine!

 I really like the look of the copper link and the way it goes into a necklace.  I have modified the link ever so slightly to make it stronger since learning the original version.  

Another great reason to use this link is there aren't as many semi precious gemstone beads on a necklace, this can make a difference in the cost to my customers.  I do like to use some of the more expensive semi precious gemstones beads and this type of link configuration can help keep costs down and still create a beautiful piece of jewelry.

I kept this necklace for me, I like the denim blue color that goes with jeans for a casual look or can be dressed up for work or an evening out.

I wanted to give Cindy Wimmer credit for her book - The Missing Link,

that's where I learned how to make this fun link.

Kingman Turquoise & Copper Bracelet

This is a copper bracelet I made recently using some of our Kingman Turquoise stash.

I've been recycling some of my already made necklaces and bracelets, the barrel links came from one of those bracelets.  I learned to make the links from a YouTube tutorial by "Making it easy with Liz" when I was a beginner.  I didn't like the look of my bracelet with just barrel links any longer so why not take it apart and make something new?!

I love the way this Kingman Turquoise bracelet came out, the 6 mm turquoise beads are a nice size with the 18 gauge wire I used to make the barrels.

I think I'll look through my stash and see what else I can recreate!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Copper and Semi Precious Gemstone Earrings

In our adventures selling at outdoor events recently I've noticed ladies asking if we have any earrings that go with that necklace.  Ah, maybe...  Last season the question was, "do you have anything that's just copper?"

I've been having fun going through our stash of semi precious gemstones and making earrings!

There will be more in the near future.

Lip Balm Ministry

Lip balm anyone?

At our last women's ministry meeting we were discussing ways to earn money to help support our ministry.  I'd been thinking about offering to making lip balm to sell and the proceeds go for one of our church ministries so why not one I belong to?  Our Pastor and the ladies liked the idea so I went to work and I'm happy to say it's been a great success.  I need to make more lip balm very soon.

There are four "flavors", I designed a label using our church logo, added a Scripture verse and the name of the flavor.   When I delivered them I told our director I thought they'd be a nice ministry tool, stocking stuffer, etc.  I use lip balms with my Sudz n' Hunni Soaps labels as a gift with a tip when we go out to eat quite often.  Or if someone that waits on me in a store that's especially friendly and uses lip balm I'll give them one.  I think it's a nice way to let people know you appreciate them in a very affordable way.

Red Coral & Copper Hair Fork

I have a simple hair fork to share today.  Using copper wire and a large round Coral bead.

I shaped my copper wire then wire wrapped the nice big bead in the circle.  It's been antiqued and polished then treated with ProtectaClear.

My daughter's friend has beautiful long hair & agreed to be my model.

This hair fork measures 3 1/4" X 3/4".

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Arizona Copper Craft Necklaces

Today's share is a picture from a jewelry party we had last weekend showing some of our necklaces.  I have to add the necklace on the far left is brass, my husband loves Steampunk inspiration and has been having fun using gears and hardware for some of his jewelry pieces.

There are a couple of etched copper pendant necklaces and natural gemstone necklaces with copper links, some fancy some plain.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Sudz n' Hunni Soaps Lip Balm

Happy Thursday!  I've been working on Lip Balms for a few days now, they are a popular item for sale at our local swap meets in our Sudz n' Hunni Soaps booth.

This little tub holds a combination of Vanilla Cream & Cocoa Butter (just plain) lip balms.

Next we have Coffee House, one of my personal favorites!

Pomegranate is a fan favorite that I had to make again this season.

And of course the plain Jane Cocoa Butter for people who don't want any flavorings or frills.  I've actually been using my Cocoa Butter Lip Balm on the aftermath of a hangnail & it's healing nicely.  I've infused the Rice Bran Oil in my recipe with dried Comfrey & Plantain Herbs for their believed healing properties.  My lip balm recipe also calls for lanolin which gives it amazing staying power along with its own moisturizing properties.  Good stuff!

Where can you get this amazing stuff?  You can leave a comment here and I can ship to you or if you are in western Arizona we are at the La Paz County Swap Meet at La Paz County Park on Saturdays from 8 AM-2 PM and in Lake Havasu at the London Bridge Swap Meet on Sunday's from 8 AM-2 PM.  They sell for $3 each.

Arizona Copper Craft Bracelets

I thought I'd share some of our copper and brass cuff bracelets today!

We have a few new displays and I especially like this one for our cuff bracelets.

My husband Rick has made the bracelets with the gears and the larger wire wrapped copper one.  I'm still working with etching copper among other things!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Sudz n' Hunni Soaps - Lavendar

We've started our outdoor event season in Arizona, the weather has been gorgeous in the mid 80's during the day and lows of about 60 degrees.

We are selling our soaps, bath & body products as Sudz n' Hunni Soaps and will be in Parker, Az at La Paz County Park on Saturday's from 8 AM - 2 PM.  If you are in the area I hope you'll stop by and see us.

Pictured above is Lavender soap that's just been poured into the molds.  It got kind of thick during the pour so it isn't as pretty as it will be when its un-molded and cut into bars.  There are also flowers in the yellow mold and the other is 2 guest size molds full of little bars.  Don't worry they'll be beautiful after they are all cleaned up!

This is what a they look like after being cut into bars on the curing rack.  

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Etching Copper & Rubber Stamping with Inkadinkado

When I put away my rubber stamps a few years ago I had no idea I'd be bringing them out again and going in a whole new direction.  And, I had no idea that my experience as a rubber stamper would be helpful in the future either.

I've discovered etching on metal and have been having so much fun!

I don't have many rubber stamps left so I've needed to do a little shopping for stamps that are small enough to fit on a 1" to 1 1/4" canvas.  For this particular bracelet I used a stamp made by INKADINKADO and stamped it on my bracelet blank (1" or 1 1/4" strip of copper) three times to continue the pattern the entire length.  After it's been stamped and prepared it goes into an etching solution for a few hours.  When that's done, the copper needs to be neutralized, cleaned up, antiqued, shaped into a bracelet and polished.  It's a process and I love the results!

Thanks for visiting my blog today ~

Clever Chick's Link Party

Copper Hair Sticks

I've been having fun making copper hair sticks.  

It's been a fun way to experiment with a little wire weaving and wrapping, adding Kingman Turquoise to a few and even Red Coral for one.  

United Hair Lines in Parker, Az has a similar display of my Hair Sticks and this one goes with us to the outdoor events we sell at.

• Saturdays in Parker @ La Paz County Park  - 8 AM - 2 PM
• Sunday's in Lake Havasu @ the London Bridge Swap Meet 8 AM - 2 PM

Sudz n' Hunni Soaps Sampler Sets

It's a soap making day around here again!

I'm working on guest size bars of soap for mini soap sampler sets for our up and coming holiday season.

This is an example of what the finished product will look like.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Mischief or Mayhem?

Introducing Mischief or is he Mayhem?

I've been working on jewelry and bath and body products getting ready for our winter event season in Arizona.  This is Jet one of our black cats up on the counter where he really shouldn't be.  He was too cute not to take advantage of the photo opportunity.

Loopty Loop Link & Rhyolite Necklace

I love Rhyolite!  It seems each time I'm looking at semi precious gemstone beads online my eye goes right for the Rhyolite and I have to stop myself from buying more.  

Rhyolite is an interesting stone that is formed from volcanic activity.  

For this particular necklace I used Rhyolite coin beads, big ones.  

Each link of this necklace has a Rhyolite bead with wrapped loops and a large Loopty Loop link I learned how to make from Cindy Wimmer's The Missing Link book.

The copper has been antiqued and polished to bring out the natural beauty of the metal and then treated with ProtectaClear to preserve the finish I created.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Etched Copper Cuff Bracelets

Sometimes I can't believe how difficult it is to get a good picture of my etched copper bracelets.  Today I've been working on finishing these.  The last step in the process is giving them a clear coat with ProtectaClear.  Sometimes I dip them and sometimes I spray them.  Today I decided to spray them and as I'm walking away I think, "wow, those look good!".

I've tried taking pictures everywhere else to no avail why not see if I can get a good shot in the garage in our homemade "spray booth".  And there you go, one of the best pictures with no props I've taken lately!

Kingman Turquoise Hair Fork

I've added Hair Forks, to our line up at ArizonaCopperCraft.  

This hair fork is made using heavy copper wire then adding some wire wrapping & a Kingman Turquoise Bead for decoration.  The hair fork has been antiqued and polished then treated with ProtectaClear to preserve the patina I've given it.  

This hair fork measures 3 3/4" X 1 1/8".

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Black Agate & Antiqued Copper Necklace

Today's share is a necklace my husband Rick made using Black Agate coin beads and a chevron link he created.  He antiqued and polished the copper and it's been treated with ProtecaClear to preserve the finish he created.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Etched Copper Owl Bracelet

I've been etching copper again!  I love the way my etched copper jewelry pieces come out and then there are those that are quite as successful.  We'll save those for another day though.

This copper cuff bracelet is 1 1/4" wide, stamped and etched then formed into a cuff bracelet.

I gave it a patina with Liver of Sulfur then polished it to bring out a deep rich shine.  It's been treated with ProtecaClear and is ready to wear.

Clever Chicks link party, check it out!

Triple Loop Link Picasso Jasper Necklace

This necklace was made using a Triple Loop Link with Picasso Jasper semi precious gemstone rice  beads.  I really like the way it turned out, I've been using a lot of round beads and this new shape is neat.  The links are made using copper wire and have been antiqued and polished to bring out the natural beauty of the metal.  I've also used ProtectaClear to preserve the finish I created.

I learned to make this link from Cindy Wimmer's The Missing Link book.

Copper Cuff Bracelet

I have a copper cuff bracelet my husband Rick made.

He's shaped and form letters using copper wire then soldered them onto a strip of 1 1/4" wide copper sheet.  After cleaning it up he's added a nice antiqued patina to the copper then polished it to make it shine.  It's also been treated with ProtectaClear to keep the finish just the way it is.

This bracelet measures 1 1/4" wide and the inside diameter is 7 1/4", he made it to fit an average sized wrist.

Rivets, Solder, Copper, Brass Up-Cycled Cuff Bracelet

My husband Rick's soldering skills are coming along a lot faster than mine!

I'm happy one of us is learning how to use the torch in this way and I know one day I will catch up.  There are just so many ideas that I have to try and if we were both working on the same things that wouldn't be any fun.

I really like the way his copper cuff bracelet turned out.  He's soldered pieces and parts as well as using rivets and eyelets mixing brass with the copper to come up with an eclectic piece.

Thanks for visiting my blog today & Happy Halloween!

Kingman Turquoise - Boulder Turquoise Necklace & Earrings

I bought 3 big rectangular Boulder Turquoise Beads when we shopped at Colbaugh Processing back in September.  I love the look of them but they were too large for a necklace link in my opinion.  To me they looked like they should be a pendant so that's what I tried with them using wire weaving and wrapping.  

Of course they needed a necklace so I made up several Triple Loop Links and combined them with 8 mm Boulder Turquoise beads.  It's a big bold necklace with that size bead but I like it and I know there are other ladies out there who will too.  

I antiqued the copper then polished and shined it & added a protective finish using ProtectaClear to preserve the patina I gave it.  

I also made a pair of matching earrings using the 8 mm Boulder Turquoise Beads and the Triple Loop Links I created.  

• Kingman Turquoise - Colbaugh Processing
• Triple Loop Link - "The Missing Link" by Cindy Wimmer
• ProtectaClear - by Everbright

Copper Vertebrae Chain Maille Bracelet

How about a little Copper Chain Maille Today?

This Copper Chain Maille bracelet is made using 5/16" copper washers and copper jump rings that have been antiqued to match the ready made antiqued copper toggle clasp.

This one is the same yet different using 3/4" washers.  This Chain Maille Weave is called a Vertebrae and is one of my favorites whether I'm using copper washers or rings.

Available in our Etsy Shop here:  ArizonaCopperCraft

Etched Copper Jewelry

I love texture so when I discovered etching I was excited!

 Then a little apprehensive...

In order to etch copper I was going to need chemicals that are a little hazardous.  

After doing my homework I concluded that if I could use Lye and make cold process soap I could certainly use Ferric Chloride and etch copper.

In the search to learn to do this I discovered that I had most of the stuff I was going to need already.  How cool is that when you undertake something new and have a lot of the stuff already?

Rubber Stamps, Stazon Ink & Cleaner, sheets of Copper -

This copper cuff bracelet was etched using an old Stampin' Up! background stamp, I chose a word in a line of words I liked and stamped it on the copper bracelet blank (3/4" X 6" copper sheet).  

These etched copper earrings started as a stamped sheet of copper with random rubber and acrylic stamps used.  I used our Swanstrom Round Disk Cutter to strategically cut out parts I wanted to use. 

The Butterfly pendant is a single rubber stamp cut from a sheet of already etched copper.

Some of these and others etched pieces are available for sale in our ArizonaCopperCraft Etsy shop.

Blog hoppin' with the Clever Chicks!