I love copper!

This my alter ego, Bluetinatoo, with a small collection of lovely jewellery made with copper.  I love the look of copper, shiny or oxidized, it doesn't matter to me. I also love working with it - it seems to love my pliers!

This glass and copper bracelet by zoomgraphic is rather gorgeous!

Spiral does great things with copper! This choker is a good example.

Christina Kosinski does lovely work. Look at this beautiful copper necklace!

Andrea T Jewelry uses copper and silver, sometimes combining both.  As in this pretty pendant!

If you want your copper with a patina, then Gaelic Forge is the place to be! These earrings are such a beautiful colour!

Bluetinatoo's efforts in copper are best represented by these copper and coral earrings, I think.

I still haven't got over making spirals!

Flowery Stuff!

It's time for another blog post highlighting the work of Jewelry Creators Unite in Numbers! I do like to have a theme and this time it's flowers!

NaturesGems makes some pretty nifty flower necklaces, like this rose quartz one:

How about this spectacular piece from FayeLynAdornments?

This blue rose ring from FineandDandy is very cute!

This lampwork pendant from JadJus is just covered in flowers!

In my Bluetina studio you'll find these little flowers!

Enjoy!

Friends, Romans, Countrymen....

.....lend me your earrings!  I will make of them a special, unique, one of a kind charm bracelet, just for you!

Seriously, do you think this would go down well? I was sorting through my little box of silver oddments today, to see what I could place in my brand, spanking new tumbler and make all shiny and luscious again.  I came across so many odd silver earrings that I had an idea. You know how it is - a pair of earrings is your favourite until one of them falls out, unnoticed, and lands in the dirt.  Or in the taxi. Or on the floor of the bus. A friend of mine managed to run a single earring over with her 4 x 4 the other day!  It's not salvageable, I'm afraid.

I made a bracelet such as this just last year for a friend's 40th birthday.  This is it - terrible photograph, but it gives the idea.

After going through my own box of orphaned earrings, I realized that most of us girls must have just such a collection.  I'm thinking I might offer this service in my Bluetinatoo studio on Artfire.  I just have to work out the logistics.

Do you think people would be willing to send me their spare earrings and get them back as a bracelet? It wouldn't be dreadfully expensive. I'd have to charge for the chain, the clasp and my time, hand wrapping the charms provided.

Do let me know what you think!

An interesting few weeks....

My poor little blog has been sadly neglected.  I've been so busy these past few weeks that I haven't had time to blog about anything!

Unfortunately, I have not been busy making jewellery.  Real life has been happening to me - it seems to happen with alarming regularity and lightning speed lately. Another symptom of growing older, I think. Speaking of which, April saw the coming and going of my 60th birthday.  I am officially an old wrinkly, senior citizen, aged crone or whatever!  As the Spanish say "Soy una pensionista!" I may be of pensionable age but I have not been recompensed - I will not be eligible for my UK state pension until I'm 61 and a bit. They are gradually moving the pension age for women up to 65 and I was caught at the beginning of the sliding scale. My  poor husband (toy boy) is only 55. The way they keep moving the goalposts, he'll probably be 95 and out if it by the time he qualifies!

I spent three weeks in the UK visiting my Mum, having my birthday, seeing grandchildren, friends and relatives and it seemed that not a day went by when there wasn't something to do, someone to see, or somewhere to go. I took wire and pliers with me but never got to touch them. Since coming home to Spain, I have visited friends in Alicante, done lots of shopping, washing, cooking, ironing and cleaning but no creating! I'm trying to get back into the "zone" but it's hard. I managed one pair of earrings today so I've made a start.

I'm also trying to catch up with Artfire's Social Media Boot Camp course.  That's another thing I was intending to follow while in the UK.  Didn't happen, of course! I'm slowly working my way through all the Forum threads and making copious notes. We're doing Facebook at the moment. I already have a Facebook Page so I've got a head start there. Next, I believe, it's Twitter. God help me.....

How do I love thee, let me count the ways.....

I have been challenged, with the temptation of a possibly winning a few dollars to spend, to write a little blog post listing the five things I like best about Artfire. This is not much of a challenge. I would find it hard to stop at five!

OK, here goes....

1. My studio design is customizable. I can arrange everything just as I want it and I can add widgets and badges and other neat things.
2. I can have up to ten photographs for each listing. This is an essential for online selling!
3. I have statistics! I know how many times my pieces are being viewed and also, if I'm found from outside, I can tell where the views came from and what search terms were used.
4. I get a lot of help! Artfire's admin team are always coming up with new ways to teaching this old dog new tricks. In the last year, I have learned all about SEO (that's Search Engine Optimisation to the uninitiated!), blogging, Facebook, how to write good descriptions, take good pics, etc., etc., etc.
5. I love the Collections feature. It's a lot of fun choosing things to make up a collection hopefully good enough for the front page! My stuff has been on the front page three times now.
6. I love the Guilds! They are a great way for fellow artisans to help each other become successful.
7. I enjoy visiting the Forums too. All the people are so helpful and friendly and they are quite happy to answer any silly questions I come up with.
8. I love the fact that my studio comes with it's own blog!
9. And, last but not least, Artfire is CHEAP! For a very small monthly flat fee you get all of the above and more! It's the best value for money I've ever come across.

Well, I was right, I couldn't stop at five. If you have the urge to create yourself an online presence, you could find no better place to start than Artfire. To that end, I present to you the following link:

Become an ArtFire Pro with this link and get your 3rd month free!

Click on that, sign up and you'll have your third month free! Go on, you know you want to!

Oops!

I've just managed to follow my own blog, by accident. Does this mean I will go round in ever decreasing circles until I disappear up my own whatsit? Hopefully not!