past challenges - minerals & copper

Sharing with you a few of the jewelries I made out of minerals and copper.

 Minerals are fun to work with. It is one of the crafts that I enjoy making

because you can finish a piece in just one sitting and you see the

results right away

  

The Malachite I used in this necklace came from Nigeria.

I just added more and bought the smaller ones in Vienna.

 Lapis lazuli and corals.

The corals were from another necklace that I dismantled and included

here as a contrast to the blue tones of Lapis lazuli..

Sponge corals 

The pendant was discovered in a flea market and I used it to add

 character  to this necklace.

Various agate, tiger´s eye, and other minerals

The main material was found at a bazaar in Spain, dismantled  and I used copper

to connect each piece... I made the closure out of copper wire too.

  

This was an experimental work, I was trying to create a unique piece by
 turning and hammering the wire....
 I guess, it turned out beautifully, if I may say so.

 That´s just about for now, I hope everyone´s enjoying the Weekend!

Til next,

Mercy

Shared at: 

Six Sisters Stuff
Life on Lakeshore Drive

A Dash of Swirls - African Necklace

The material for this necklace is of african origin, but, I discovered it at a "Rastro" ( Flea Market ) in Southern Spain. When I saw the necklace, it was done in a very primitive way,  probably due to lack of  proper material in the regíon where it came from.  The dealer from Senegal said that these kind of necklaces are products of the natives in their townships who produce them as by-products from cattles mostly cows & goats whose meat are sold locally and horns made into ornaments for their women to wear.

The design is beautiful  so I bought it and had to dismantle it to wire it properly. Then,
I also added brown agate beads to make it longer and used copper
wire for the rewiring...

For the closure, I turned a copper wire as you can see the above to make a simple closure
that is to be hammered later on.

I also have pretty bangles to match this necklace ( see below) which I bought from the 
another african dealer in the same Rastro the previous years.. The material for the 
necklace was a lucky find, since it really matches the design & color of the bangles.

                                                   The African Bangles made from cattle horns

To complete the set, I´ve  sewn the above skirt that would match the african design of the necklace and bangles and  surely I´ll enjoy  wearing all of them as a unique style next summer season.

Have a nice Tuesday everyone!

Til next,

Mercy

The Making of Irish´s Necklace

When my niece Irish asked me to make a mineral necklace for her, I set-up to work and made one for her. The materials I used  were sponge corals, brass toggle and brass wires for the chains. Here are the pics  that would show the beginning, progress as well as the finished necklace.

There are lots of  mineral shops in and around Vienna, so many semi-precious stones to choose from...It´s really difficult  which/what stones to use because the supply of various beads is really enorm. As you can see above, I have used sponge corals, they are not endangered types , so they are available  in any market in Asia, Europe or the US.

I  have a set of electronic tools  ( above) which are so superb to use to bend, cut and design the wire for the stones being put together to form the necklace.

I love using  toggles as closure for this necklace because they´re more handier than any other clasp.

When I finished  her necklace, I wrapped it and sent it to Irish via Airmail and thank God it arrived safely to its destinations.

I was so relieved that she got her necklace intact and you can see it from her face that she is happy about it. That´s all for today and I hope you all have a good start of the week. Thank you for visiting my blog!

Til next,

Mercy

Necklaces

Mineral and semi-precious stones are very fascinating materials to work at. It´s so amazing how a simple stone can be turned into a fabulous jewel.  For me, everything handmade is very special and no matter how much time is involve to create something , I keep it going til the project is perfect for my eyes. Here are some of the necklaces I have made so far..

 

This is one of the very first necklaces I made out of african  Malachite, brass wires and spacers.

 

 

These are lapis lazuli stones that were set on a brass wire, I added the sponge coral which I recycled from an old necklace.

 

I used big round sponge coral for this one, the pendant was from another necklace found at a  fleamarket and is made of metal that already had the stones attached to it.

 

And lastly, this necklace is composed of various minerals like agate, tiger´s eye. etc

Making them is somehow a form of a stress reliever for me after an exciting busy day at work.

Til next,

Mercy