Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Therapeutic Properties of Copper

Since Jim sent a post regarding working with metal, I thought I would post the properties of copper that can be beneficial to us.

Copper:
Excellent energy conductor! Sends and amplifies thoughts, healing, and gem electrical energy into wearer's energy field. Next to skin: Detoxes and soothes arthritis, rheumatism, other inflammation problems, stomach, intestines. Warms, releases resentment, anger. Built up in joints as arthritis. Exhaustion recovery, circulation, balances warm sun energy and cool lunar energy. Energize with sun.A plentiful metal ore that ranges in color from a soft red-brown to a deep brick red. Assists in the fight against inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and rheumatism, particularly when used in conjunction with other stones. Helps stabilize the metabolism and heightens the immune system. The blood also benefits from Copper. Beneficial for the lungs, improving the exchange of oxygen and filtering out pollutants. Soft tissue and mucous membranes retain more moisture and become less susceptible to irritation. An excellent aid for increasing your ability to express and accept true feelings. Balance personal reserve and confidence.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Working with Metal

If you have never tried working with metal making jewelry, it can be a great experience. You can start our with cold working metal and not ever have to do any soldering.

You will need a chasing hammer, pliers to cut sheet metal with, scroll saw with a metal cutting blade, flat thin sheet of metal, metal files, sand paper, punches, and a dremel comes in real handy. The best place to buy sheet metal is the hardware store. I know you can buy copper, brass, aluminum, and steel sheet metal at the hardware store. Start out with a thinner gauge of metal.

I think pendants would be the easiest thing to start with making out of sheet metal. You can hammer it, cut unusual shapes, and get very creative. Letter punches are great to make words and designs. You also can take different chemicals and make copper make like its old.



You can incorporate wire and other things to make the metal pieces of jewelry very interesting. You can buy round and heart shaped blanks, if you want to punch or cut out shapes. You can buy them in copper, sterling, and steel.

I love making jewelry out of metal. Give it a try.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Color Infusion

If you're like me, the gray of Winter gets old quick. I can't wait for Spring and all the fresh, new colors of nature. It seems even in our Winter celebrations we infuse our lives with color to compensate. Here is a little infusion of color from me to you. The colors reminded me of the Carnivale celebration in Brazil. Created with fantastic artisan crafted lampwork beads and freshwater coin pearls. This is sure to cheer up the grayest Winter day!



Carnivale