INSPIRATION!!!

I decided to do some "beading" rather than wire, and guess what? I went right back to wire....I guess it's becoming a part of me. This was a really fun project for me. Creating the wire pieces, putting them together, and incorporating the beads - it fulfilled the creative need in me. I love the way it came out and especially how the colors work together. My mind is already working towards a next project - I seem to create as I wake in the morning...that's when the creative juices seem to flow! There is so much beautiful bead and wire work out there in cyberspace and in magazines, that you have a lot of ideas to work with to create your own unique piece of jewelry. I read of one designer who gets ideas as she drives down the road - like the way a truckload of logs is stacked in a truck - so I am trying to learn to keep my eyes open to everything around me - colors, textures, or the way something twists or bends. You never know what might inspire that next piece of jewelry! Until then....Have a great day! Anita

COPPER, COPPER, AND MORE...

I promised an update this week of my current projects and this is it! I have incorporated hammering, wire wrapping, stringing, and using a dapping block into these items. I don't have them posted to Artfire yet, but hope to soon. Please post a comment and let me know what you think of my newest creations! The glass beads were made by my friend, Jeanne (AKA gammiebrat) and I love the color of the beads with the copper. Thanks, Jeanne! Jeanne and I also invested our dollars together to purchase a kiln and are hoping to make some good use of this learning to use PMC (precious metal clay) and perhaps some other glass items. Thanks for looking!

SALE EXTENDED

I am extending the sale on Artfire until 4:00 p.m. today. The prices on Artfire reflect a savings of 10% off the regular price. Click on the Artfire logo at the right. Thanks for looking!

SALE TODAY ONLY - 10% OFF

JUST AN FYI! I AM HAVING A SALE ON MY ARTFIRE SITE TODAY ONLY! PLEASE STOP BY THE STORE AND BROWSE - HTTP://AJHEARN.ARTFIRE.COM. IF YOU DON'T PURCHASE, THAT'S OKAY!! BUT IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS.

THANK YOU FOR LOOKING.

ANITA

NEW LISTINGS ON ARTFIRE TODAY!!

I have added the new items pictured below onto my Artfire site. To visit, just click on the Artfire logo to the right or go to http://ajhearn.artfire.com. Thanks for looking!! Have a great day. Anita

BACK AT THE COMPUTER - MORE NEW LISTINGS

I have been busy, busy taking photos and listing products on my Artfire site. Most are new listings, but a few are old listings with updated photos. I still have a long way to go...so may spread it out over a couple of days. Tomorrow I'm off to spend a few days with my sisters and looking forward to some bonding time with them.

NEW ITEMS ON ARTFIRE

I have spent the day today adding and deleting from my Artfire store. I have added several new items, including the sterling bracelet with "Beads by Jeanne." I had a jewelry showing yesterday at the boat docks, so had several things to delete as well. I can't believe the day is almost over...and still more to do tomorrow. Have a great week! Anita

NEW A SNEAK PEAK - NEW DESIGNS!

I've been doing some work in sterling silver and learning how to solder. Soldering was a real challenge for me, but I did finally get it - at least the jump rings - it's a start. The designs are pretty much unplanned - I just start something and see what it works into. I hope to get some of these items on Artfire within the next week. Thanks for looking!

LEARNING TO WORK IN COPPER

I promised myself I would try something new over the winter months, and although it's almost spring now (yippee!), I have begun to work with copper sheet. I love the look of copper, the colors you can achieve, so I purchased a 12x12 piece of copper sheeting, grabbed my scizzors, and cut myself out a square piece of metal. I cut the square in half to make to triangles and flattened and smoothed the edges with my chasing hammer. After this, I used the ball side of the hammer and created some texture interest into the copper by simple pounding. I attached a piece of copper wire at the top and folded the pointed top edge of the copper over the wire and hammered to hold it in place. I used a small file to soften the corners of the piece and then decided then to curl them under, for effect, as well as eliminating the sharp point from contact with the skin. Now, mind you, I know nothing about metal work and was simply going on things I had picked up from jewelry shows and videos I watch. So, IF ANYONE OUT THERE DOES METAL WORK, PLEASE GIVE ME SOME POINTERS!! To continue, I found some green tinted sea shells I had wire-wrapped previously and decided they would be a perfect addition to the earrings and added them to the top/front of the pieces. And voila, put on the earwires, and my earrings were done.....but, that was not the end. I decided I needed to purchase a butane torch to add to my metal working supplies and did so at my local hardware store, along with a piece of firebrick from our local brick and stone company for 50 cents. I was ready for my next step in metal work!!! But, I was a little nervous, so waited til my friend Jeanne (and fellow beader at http://gammiebrat.blogspot.com/) was over and while Jeanne worked on her resin beads, I braved the butane torch for the first time. Now, I am telling you this, because I decided to do some more work on the earrings. I fired them up, annealed the metal, and decided to put some waves into them. I also wanted to get some color into them through the annealing process, but must have waited to long and lost the lovely colors...definitely a timing issue there. But, did end up with my lovely copper earrings shown above...not too bad for a novice who doesn't know what she's doing!! PLEASE, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK...I CAN TAKE THE CRITICISM, AS THAT'S HOW I HOPE TO LEARN. And...let me know if you liked the post.

p.s. - I added a third picture of some metal that I torched and I did get the colors I wanted - pretty, yes? So, I am learning...it's a process. Any ideas now what I should do with them. Jeanne suggested filing, smoothing, and making pretty fish out of them! Tell me what you think. Thanks for reading my post. I hope it will encourage anyone out there to try something new. It's a process and it's fun! Anita