Copper Mixed Media Jewelry: Putting the Crafted Findings Tool to Good Use! 

Most people go on a diet in January, but I find I’m head over heels into a binge! Of copper, that is! Its easy to manipulate, beautiful and blossoms into the most gorgeous jewelry. And of course, with metals being so in demand in the jewelry world, you can use copper to expand your design collection so easily. Especially if you use the riveting and piercing tool from Crafted Findings. Let me show you some amazing stuff!
 
A copper bracelet with charm!
I stumbled across this adorable charm bracelet created by Kaye Lewis and was really wowed! She used ready made copper forms and then the Crafted Findings tool to link them together. The charms and ribbon add whimsy and give it a great personality! Using this tool definitely gives your jewelry a flavor unlike any other. 
 
Hand cut copper
Take a gander at these beautiful earrings by Elizabeth from Elizabeth’s Exclusives. She hand cut these sweet hearts and then has soldered a bezel with some pretty smokey quartz stones inlaid in them. This design inspired me to use some similar copper hearts in another way: If you punch a hole in the top of the heart for the ear wire to sit, you could punch a hole in another part of the heart where you could insert a post earring and then put the back on. You could change up the look of the earring with any pair of posts you insert into the hole.
 
Cutting metals sheet
With a pair of metal snips you can cut copper sheet into any shape you want. Just draw your shape with a thin Sharpie marker and cut along the lines. The sharp edges can be softened with sand paper. Varying the roughness of the sandpaper will make the edges as smooth as silk. 
 
Beautiful copper circles
Paired with other metals, copper shines like the afternoon sun! These metal circles are a creation of Maja from Maja Jewerly on Etsy. Pretty dimpled circle shapes in three different metals make a stacked pair of earrings that will match your whole wardrobe! Its easy to create different textures on metal by hammering against an uneven surface. Your hammer itself will create craters and dimples, but you can hammer against a hard surface such as concrete to give the metal an irregular pattern as well. I love how the edge is hammered on these discs to create a slightly ruffled edge. So pretty!
 
Speaking of copper circles…
Donna Gunn is a talented lady whom I happen to cross paths with periodically at my local bead store. She’s a whiz with metal and came up with this amazing copper bracelet using… da… da… daaaaa…. copper washers from a hardware store. Brilliant, no? She textured them herself and then used them as a jewelry component. Brilliant… yes! Love this bracelet! 
 
Simple copper earrings
And copper doesn’t need to be all trussed up, either. For instance, these simple earrings are appreciated for their own beauty. Just a hole in a textured washer and a pair of practical ear wires makes this a perfect pair. 
 
Simply awesome copper earrings
But what if you do want to fancy them up a bit??? Feast your baby blues, browns and greens on this pair of delicious wire wrapped and embellished copper washers with such a lovely texture on them. They are from the gifted fingers of Lune, an artisan on Artfire who’s shop is called Extraordinary Jewelry. I really love the wrapping texture on these, and the contrast of the color on this design just pops out at you!
 
Other lovelies
I realize that this isn’t copper, but I thought the designs of taking copper washers “out of the box” so to speak, was unique and worth mentioning. Valerie from Edition Style on Etsy came up with these funky washer designs, and executed them perfectly! I guess we’ll never pass up an opportunity to shop at a hardware store again, since there are amazing things there that can be transformed into works of art when combined with a little jewelry designing finesse.
 
“This is like metal, but with color. You know, like red. And pretty red. Its not like silver. Silver is like white and this is pretty because it has color.”   ~Linsey Megan Roy, age 5, budding jewelry designer
 

Resources worth checking out!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ElizabethsExclusives
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62794373/triple-stack-earring-hand-hammered-metal
http://thejewellerinstitute.com/project-easy22.html
http://www.etsy.com/shop/donnagunnmetalsmith