Working with copper

So, after reading a magazine with a copper bracelet in it. I decided to try my hand at working with copper. It is a different animal than sterling silver or gold. Copper is so soft and malleable. It is difficult to work harden. This is a blessing and curse. It is able to be bent and straightened and bent and moved around so many times and not be brittle but it also moves and moves and moves so don't set your heart on one specific shape. It is cool that the copper I used was 100% recycled and because I have not mixed it with other metals or stones it can be recycled.  Here is the progression:

 In the photo is the copper tube that I measured out tubes 8 inches, 7 inches and 6 inches.  I cut the tubing using my jewelers saw.

Using a sharpie I was able to mark where to cut. That was helpful!

I then used a file to smooth out the edges and to straighten them up as they were a bit lopsided from the sawing.

Using my bench block and chasing hammer I pounded the tube flat.  I had to wear ear protection as that metal on metal is a harsh sound for me. 

Using the bowling pin as a bracelet mandrel I formed the curve of the copper and then gently tapped the top to create the oval shape. Pictured to the right is the 6 inch and the 8 inch.  The pattern calls for 8 inches but that is way too big for my wrist.  I used the Dremel tool to drill holes in the tubing and that looks cool but have not found the best way to do it yet. I really like being self taught and the experiments have been great fun albeit expensive.  Someday I will be able to take a class or two. That poor instructor will have their hands full!

Good Morning Florida!

It feels so good to be back home. After nearly 5 months away the dust bunnies have been at play.  We have been cleaning and cleaning and well, you get the picture.  I don't know why it seems so different.  The yard is exceptionally lush and looks great.  Thanks to the super caretakers Billy and Shannon.  The buildings are just filthy.  It is as if the bugs had some major parties all summer long.  I don't ever remember it being this gross before.  Maybe it always is this bad and I just like to forget it each season.
The rooms are looking great and there is a hint of pine-sol in the air.  Life is good.  I just need to finish clearing my desk and in-boxes and I will be ready for action.  I have a few ideas of new pearl designs.  I was inspired by creating some necklaces for my dear friend Sasha's wedding.  I made some super simple pearl earrings using a square coin pearl.  They look elegant.  I have had some ideas thrown my way and thinking about finding some copper to create something wonderful.  So, enough of this lollygagging- back to work!
cheers!- anne

Beaufort Bound

Well, we started out this vacation hoping to hop over to the Bahamas.  A few storms later and we are now heading to Beaufort, NC.  I hope to get a chance to see some lovely friends that I miss very much.  We plan on being there for a few weeks.  I need to find a place to alter the bridesmaid dress so if anyone has a recommendation I would love to hear it.  Other than that I should be working on some commission work and then maybe some new work.  I thought I would have lots of time to work  but the weather has not cooperated.  This trip has definitely boosted my confidence in the sailing department!

In Harbor

We dodged a big storm yesterday. I am so pleased that my Captain is capable of reading the clouds. " Look at them out there on the horizon.  They are coming this way."  I looked out and saw big puffy clouds.  How did he know?  Sure enough as soon as the second reef was set a big blow.  We were surfing down waves at 9 kts.  That is really fast for our boat!  To see some photos check out the blog www.sv-cestlavie.blogspot.com.  It was a wild ride.
We have to let the ocean calm down a bit so we will be in harbor tonight and tomorrow.  Maybe longer.  It is time to work on some jewelry!  As soon as I get to work, I will post photos. Thanks for reading!
cheers
anne

So Far so Good!

I am having a blast. This has been such a great trip so far.  The only bummer, our camera broke.  I won't go into too many details but suffice it to say, the view is great from here.  We sailed through the night dodging thunderstorms to arrive in the early afternoon to the Dry Tortugas. What a great National Park, super fort and the snorkeling around the fort and surrounding area is wonderful!
We spent 8 days there and took off for Key West for a bit of land lubbing.  We are now on to explore some more dive sites and hopefully catch up with a friend of ours Kim around Marathon.  This has been a great trip so far and am looking forward to more fun, adventure and inspiration!

Going to explore

I am almost fully prepared to go sailing. I have a few last minute things to do and I need to find a place for my clothes!
The plan is to head out on C'est la Vie our 1966 sailboat and head to the Dry Tortugas  I have not visited Ft. Jefferson nor have I snorkeled the reefs surrounding the fort. We thought it might be a good idea to get on out there before the oil does. So far the oil had not effected our land but it has affected our minds. I hopefully will have internet while on this journey but if not I will updated you all on my return.
We are leaving tomorrow, Wednesday and will return sometime in September. If you want to purchase any items, my dad will have all of my work. Just use the call me button. It will go to voicemail and he will be able to retrieve it.
I hope to have lots of new work to show off when I return.
Cheers!
Anne

Happy Birthday Susie!

My father's partners name is Susie and she just had her birthday. I made a necklace for her and it inspired me to make many. Well, about 10! I am pleased with the simple but elegant designs. The necklaces come either in 18 inch or 24 inch sterling silver chain strung with coral, lava, chalcedony, jade, serpentine... Take a look at the collection. Perfect for summer. Affordable, light and bright! These are $45.00 each.
Below is a slide show of the new necklaces! Enjoy. If you would like to look at the photos one at a time just click on the photos and it will take you to the photo album and you can see the photos larger and in more detail.

Have I been busy or just inspired?

I am too busy!  I have been working on chain maille for the last few weeks and it is finally finished.   I am proud of my work. After looking at the photos I have changed the last few links next to the clasp. It looks much better. This is a sterling silver chain that is comprised of 348 jump rings, 18 gauge, sized 4.5mm and is actually quite heavy. The clasp is 14 gauge dead soft and is work hardened and hand forged. I had lots of fun pounding on my steel block with my planishing and rawhide hammer. I did not use a jig but made it free hand. One of a kind for real!
I have been inspired to work on the necklaces that I have been commissioned to do as well as ideas that came to me the other night...
Check it out! More photos of the other necklaces to follow!

I have been working!

Well it has been a busy few Well it has been a busy few weeks.  I have been working with sterling and 14kt gold, making not only ear wires but also clasps! I have been working with some patterns and learning all about chain maille.

To the left is some 14 kt gold earrings with fresh water potato pearls and to the right is sterling silver chain maille rope.  I hope to get more jump rings to make a necklace. It is 7.5 inches long right now and I have used 200 rings. I have ordered 150 more rings to finish the job.  I want to start making my own rings as I really like the rhythm of following this pattern.  I have tried another pattern that is not as much fun.  I plan on using the clasp below to finish the necklace.  The largest one should balance out the girth of this chain.

New Earrings!

3 green garnets on a long sterling ear wire, hand forged. These earrings have a lot of movement and look super on. I can make these any length, shorter or longer with less nuggets. I would not do more as I worry they might get heavy.

Here are tourmaline round beads with fluorite tubes on long sterling silver ear wires. They are hand forged and the colors are really great! The tourmaline is purple and the fluorite is clear with purple stripes.

Green garnet disks on hand forged ear wires. These are so great and light weight. They have such a great light green color and little flecks of dark emerald green.  I love these!

Green garnet disks on hand forged sterling ear wires. The difference between these and the ones above is that the garnet is held in place with a silver flower on this pair.

Branch coral, sustainably harvested, dyed red with glass delica beads on sterling silver flower head pin and hand forged ear wires.

Bamboo coral tubes and round beads with glass delica beads with sterling silver hand forged ear wires.

Sponge coral, bamboo coral and branch coral all sustainably harvested and dyed red on Sterling silver hand forged ear wires.

Fluorite tubes and citrine barrels on sterling silver ear wires.  These great light weight earrings are super with summer styles.  The fluorite has a yellow hue with purple bands and the citrine is faceted to catch the light.  These are a must have!

Fluorite and apatite on sterling ear wires.  These fun earrings bring out the blue green colors of the sea.  The fluorite has a yellow hue with the aqua-ish bands and the apatite chips bring the color into focus.  The kidney shaped ear wires slip into the ear and feel weightless.

Business Time!

Well, my goodness how is it June already?  The heat of summer is upon us and it's not even close to the solstice yet!  May was really great.  Lots of earrings are adorning lobes from Cleveland, Ohio to Marco Island, Florida.
All of the Mother's Day earrings have sold as well as a number of necklaces and I am out of long earwires. Time to get cracking on new stuff!
Speaking of new stuff I have been to the City Hall here in Collier County and applied for a business license.  My business is now Ag Lovett Designs.  A good friend of mine in North Carolina is building a website for me and my domain name is www.aglovett.com!  The site as of now is "parked" and if you type in aglovett.com it will forward you to this blog.  I will keep c'est la bead as my blog name but for business it will be Ag Lovett designs.
So, here is the question, what do you love about shopping online. What do you hate?  If I build a website I want it to be easy to navigate but what does that mean?  Any and all suggestions are encouraged.
Cheers!

Happy Mothers Day!

 click on the link to see entire album

Happy Mothers Day to my mom, your mom and all moms!  I got an order for 2 pairs of earrings yesterday from this super great guy named Greg! He was working on  C'est la Vie when I excitedly told Jeff that someone had redeemed another gift certificate.  Greg saw what I had made and asked for 2 pairs for his mom and his girlfriend's mom.  What a catch this guy is!

So, I made him 6 pairs to choose from and sent him on his way.  Above is some photos of the work.  Yes, they are all for sale.  This style is $25.00 all in sterling silver and all have natural gemstones.  Enjoy and have a happy day!

All play no work!

So, I have not been busy with work or with creating for the last month. I was playing. I was having a blast with my family that came in for a long visit. First of the month was spent with the inlaws and the second have the month with my extended family. Mom came in for a 10 day visit from Africa where she and my step-father are in the Peace Corps, sister and nephews from Seattle, Uncle and Aunt from New Hampshire.  It was a fantastic visit.  My Grandmother turned 89 and we all celebrated her birthday together.
During this vacation I got my hair cut on Marco Island and it was a fantastic experience.  I went to Skin renewal systems to get my hair cut.  I know the name does not fit the deed but I had the best hair cut and was treated so well. The next day mom and I went in for pedicures. They are not set up with chairs next to each other so we were in our own room one chair and we chatted with each other.  Sherry the wonderful woman who worked with us suggested a few places to show my work and she said she liked the earrings I was wearing. That was an awesome out of the blue compliment!  I have been really inspired to make new things and this is the week to do it!
I am going in to get my business license and make C'est la Bead official.  I am not sure about creating a website, I don't know if I am that savvy.  I enjoy the blog and have been fueled by the response.
Hope all is well with everyone and thanks again for your support!
cheers

Thanks!

I have been getting a great response to the website since putting up the photos.  Thanks to all who have been willing to give me feedback.  I am in the process of figuring out how to get the blog organized.  I am going to try in this post to showcase the work in a different way.  For example, if you click on the earrings all you will see are the earrings. We will see if that makes it easier to browse.  I am currently working on setting up a real store online and chatting with other bricks and mortar stores to see if they would like to carry my work.  The season here is over but maybe for next year or maybe even stores up north whose season is just beginning.  Any ideas of shops that you enjoy discovering handcrafted work please share them with me.  I would love to get my work out there!

Also another big thank you goes out to Marya who commissioned some necklaces! I had so much fun researching which stone represent which state.  I really like Lake Superior agate.  The agate has swirls of colors that make really great beads.  I also learned that I love raw emeralds.  The range of green is wonderful.

I am feeling really grateful!

Cheers!

Catalog of jewels

I have posted a link to the most up to date items that I have available. If you are interested in something different please contact me at anne.lovett@gmail.com so that I can make something special for you.  I am most interested in doing one of a kind work and am inspired by so many things.  The most wonderful is when someone asks, " Could you make me something with...?"  That gets my mind twirling.  I love it!
If something strikes you and you want it you can add it to your cart and then in the comments box let me know which item it is. If there is a name of the item it will be attached to the photo.
Happy looking!

Gift Certificates!

Gift Certificates are now available in any denomination.  You can send them to your friends via snail mail or e-mail!  They are good forever!  It can work any way you'd like. I can send them to you or to the recipient.  Know that whatever they choose either from my portfolio or their own creative minds it will be handmade by me with the focus on quality and craftsmanship.
To redeem a gift certificate just look through the photos and e-mail me at anne.lovett@gmail.com to let me know which item you would like and I will wrap it up and send it off.

Thank you for all of your support and love!

Spring Retail Therapy

I don't know about you but I love to clean out my closets right about now.  I try on last years clothes and what doesn't fit goes into the clothing swap pile.  I have a few friends that get together and we swap clothes.  I see this downsizing as not necessarily a way to minimize but to focus on quality.  I get a chance to weed out the things that are not working with my body right now and focus on what is and on what makes me feel good.

How does this tie into making jewelery?   Good question...
I do the same thing with my work.  I cull the items that are not working. I take them apart and create new things. I have been working with wire lately and have sold a few new designs. I forgot to take photos of them but am interested in making more with the same theme.  Dangles of solid sterling or 14kt gold with a drop of pearl or green garnet or cinnabar.  I am reworking lots of my necklaces to incorporate a single drop of coral or jasper or aquamarine on leather cord.  It is simple. It works with my body as well as with my mindset.  Minimize and focus on quality.

From Earrings for sale

updated photos!

I have new earrings!  Click on any of the items you find interesting! Let me know what you think.
thanks!