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!

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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.

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