Embossed Metal Colorized Bracelet

Embossed, formed, riveted, dimpled metal bracelet made by me in class.

Last weekend, I attended a metal bracelet class taught by Dry Gulch Jewelry at the Tulsa Bead Market.  I have been collecting various metalsmithing tools and supplies over the past couple of years with the intent of teaching myself metalsmithing; unfortunately, time, other jewelry projects and life, in general, took precedence.  When I saw the Dry Gulch class advertised, I knew I had to attend.

The class was taught by a wonderful woman name Catherine.  I have met Catherine and the folks at Dry Gulch Jewelry previously at other craft and bead shows.  The owners consist of three generations of jewelry makers within their family. They are super-nice people, and very helpful.  I can honestly say I have purchased many jewelry making tools and supplies from them during the various shows I have attended.

During class, we had the option of making one of three advertised metal bracelet jewelry designs (as shown below) or we could make something different to suit our own individual tastes.  The first bracelet consisted of metals colored with metal patina paint and sanded to reveal the embossed pattern; the second featured uncolored pieces of copper, nickle and brass; the third consisted of metal pieces painted with acrylic paints.

Three versions of the metal bracelet using the same technique.

I always enjoy coloring my jewelry pieces, as I have shared here, here and here in the past.  For this project, I opted to colorize my pieces with alcohol inks.  As you can see by the before and after pics of my bracelet pieces below, coloring makes a huge difference in how the pieces look.

Before - Copper and silver metal bracelet pieces before colorizing.

After - The same metal pieces after coloring them with Vintaj Patina metal paints.

After sanding the pieces, the embossed patterns were revealed, which added extra interest to them.  The sanding really made the pieces "pop."

The focal bracelet pieces after sanding.

Another thing I did to add extra interest to my bracelet was that I added a tiny bit of color to the insides and edges of my "flowers", which consisted of metal discs that were domed, dimpled with dimpling pliers and hole-punched.

Touches of color were added to the "flowers" for added interest.

Needless to say, I was thrilled with my completed bracelet.  It turned out beautifully!

My completed metal bracelet. 

Here is a comparison of my bracelet and another student's bracelet.  Both were made using the Patina metal paints, but they are so very different color-wise.

Bracelets made using Patina metal paints.

Another student opted to leave her bracelet as is, with the natural metal colors being the highlight of the design.

Bracelet using the natural metal colors as a basis for the design.

All in all, I really enjoyed the class and I am looking forward to using some of my newfound skills to come up with some new jewelry items made with metal.  I will share my designs here and also on my Instagram page, so please stay tuned.

My completed bracelet.

Cool Finds at the Antique Festival

Last weekend, I attended the NWA Antique Festival of the Ozarks with my daughter-in-law and a friend.  Believe it or not, with all of the different festivals I have attended, this is the first time I have ever been to an antique festival- but it certainly won't be my last.

I was pleasantly surprised at some of the wares offered by the vendors.  There was no junk; much of what was being sold was quality items that I usually dig for when I hit the local antique shops in my area.  There were some great deals to be found, as well.  I picked up several items that I will repurpose and use in my projects, namely jewelry, quilts and hankie dolls.

Here's a sampling of some of the goodies which were available for sale:

A vast collection of spice tins.

Jadeite dishes of all kinds.

A mini Fiestaware play set for little girls.

Gorgeous plates from long ago.

German pottery and mini chocolate molds.

Matryoshka dolls galore.

Beautiful Victorian jewelry.

Bakelite jewelry.

More Bakelite jewelry.

A handmade, embroidered mirror cover from 1916.

Brass stampings/jewelry embellishments.

Bakelite dominoes.

Lots of half dolls.

A gorgeous Grandmother's Garden quilt.

A flower seed packet from the 1940's which was used as a promotional item by an insurance company.

I ended up purchasing some of the chocolate molds, broken rhinestone jewelry pieces and brass stampings which will be used in some future jewelry designs (among other things) as shown below.

All in all, I had a great time and I'm happy with all of the little treasures I was able to pick up at the show.

New Jewelry Items for San Gennaro Festival

It seems like time has flown since I was accepted as a sponsor/vendor for next week's San Gennaro Festival in New York.  I have been working from sun up until the wee hours of the night making jewelry for this event.  It has been a lot of work but I'm not complaining.  Thankfully, I love to make jewelry!

Being the creature of habit that I am, even though I am making tons of jewelry for the festival, I don't have it in me to make several hundred pieces of the exact same item.  So - while I am making several hundred pieces of things like domino pendants featuring San Gennaro, for the most part, the necklaces, charm bracelets, etc. that I am making are all one-of-a-kind in design.  Along that note, I want to show you some variations of necklaces I have made for the festival.  The basic design element is the same between this particular style of necklace, however, I utilized different images, beads and chain to complete the finished product.  So, without further ado - here are some of the bronze cameo necklaces I will be selling at the Festival:

Virgin Mary - made with new and vintage moonstone-style beads.

St. Mary Magdalen - made with Czech glass crystals.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha - Made with Swarovksi crystals.

St. Therese of Lisieux - made with hand-colored metal rose beads and crystals.

Virgin Mary - made with green jadeite milk-glass style crystals.

Virgin Mary - made with bronze metallic and champagne colored crystals.

These are just a few of the necklace variations made for the event.  All have adjustable necklace chains.

If time permits before I leave for NYC in a few days, I will post a tutorial or two on coloring and enameling metal jewelry pieces.

Stay tuned!

Introducing Wanda Maria Designs and the San Gennaro Festival in NYC!!!

Life is quite interesting at times - and that is an understatement!

For several months, I have been planning to go to New York in September, 2014 in order to promote my jewelry business, and I ended up receiving the opportunity of a lifetime.   My business will be a sponsor and vendor of the Annual San Gennaro Festival in New York's Little Italy.  This is a big deal as the special sponsor/vendor status is granted to only 12 businesses each year.  The promoter informed me that they have not previously had any businesses which make handmade Catholic and faith-based jewelry participate in the event.   They felt I would be the perfect addition to the festival. Needless to say, they really bent over backwards in working with me to bring me on board.  I can't tell you how very excited I am about being able to participate in this event, which is expected to attract between 1.5 and 1.75 million visitors this year.  This is a huge networking opportunity for me.  I will meet hundreds of thousands of people; in addition, the promoter informed me that one of the large Italian Fashion Houses will be helping with the event.  The Fashion House works strictly with jewelry and clothing designers.  I am very excited about getting to meet them while I am there.  One never knows what could happen.... *fingers crossed*.

San Gennaro - patron saint of Naples, Italy and blood banks.

I have been thinking about rebranding my business name of "Two Crafty Mules" for awhile now.  It was a cute name when we started the business in 2000.  At the time, we were making everything from dolls to quilts to jewelry and other sorts of homey, crafty things.  As the business evolved, it essentially became a business that sells primarily mixed-media and faith-based jewelry designs.  Two Crafty Mules no longer encompasses the type of product designs I make and sell.  In order to better capture the spirit of my handmade jewelry, "Two Crafty Mules" is being rebranded as "Wanda Maria Designs".   The Etsy store name has been changed to accommodate the name change, and a new website is being developed.  The Facebook page - which is currently a work in progress - has been set up here.  This blog will remain as "Two Crafty Mules" and will continue to share craft projects, tutorials, recipes and the like, as will the Two Crafty Mules Facebook page.  The "Wanda Maria Designs" page will focus more on sharing new jewelry designs to accommodate those who are interested in just the fashion aspect of my business without all of the crafting.  Confusing?  I hope not.  My main goal is to keep my customers and blog followers from the past as I garner new ones through "Wanda Maria Designs".

The logo for "Wanda Maria Designs"

Until the new website is set up, I will continue to share new jewelry designs on this blog.

I thank you for your past support, and I appreciate you sticking with me as I go through this exciting transition.

By the way - to help me launch "Wanda Maria Designs" on a nationwide level, I have started a project in Kickstarter.  Please feel free to stop by and check it out.  Any support you can offer will be much appreciated.  Those who support me there will have the opportunity of receiving FREE jewelry pieces from me, including, but not limited to lovely pieces like these:

I hope to "see" you there!

Naples - St. Gennaro Festival, San Gregorio Armano and Shopping Galore

When we were in Rome, we heard that we should be very careful when visiting Naples (the next stop on our destination) because it had a reputation for being dangerous.  We were even told we probably wouldn't like it there.  In actuality, Naples ended up being one of our favorite stops on the trip.

We stayed at a hotel called Hotel Maison Degas in the historic district of Naples.  First, the location is ideal as you are walking distance from many of the sites and shopping areas there.  Second, the owners of the hotel - Francesco and Emmaneula - are absolutely wonderful.  They were very friendly and accommodating to us during our stay.  We felt as though we were visiting with friends when we stayed at their establishment.  I highly recommend them if you ever visit Naples.  You will not be disappointed.

The view of the piazza from our hotel room - Hotel Maison Degas.

Naples has some wonderful shopping.  There are lots of little winding streets filled with shops and vendors; more than you can possibly visit in a short stay.  There are also several street vendors selling their wares.  You can bargain with the vendors and walk away with some great deals. 

Anthony and Brianna checking out produce in Naples.

A butcher shop in Naples.  Yum!

One of my favorite places to shop in Naples is on San Gregorio Armeno.  There are hundreds of shops on this little street.  This neighborhood is known for their nativity sets (known as "presepe" in Italian.)  There are many variations of handmade presepes here, in many different sizes.  This is also a good location to find handmade Italian souvenirs. For doll makers, there is a shop that sells various clay and ceramic body parts if you want to make your own creations. During my visit to this area, I watched a shop owner meticulously paint nativity figures.  I also found some gorgeous mini Virgin Mary statues which I purchased and will eventually use in 3-D jewelry creations. 

The shops on San Gregorio Armeno are packed to the gills with goodies for purchase.

Hand painting nativity sets - one by one.

Doll making parts are available by the thousands.

One of the biggest celebrations in Naples occurs on San Gennaro's feast day.  San Gennaro is the patron saint of Naples.  Most of the shops and businesses are closed that day; most of the city participates in the all-day celebration.  Thousands of people crowd into the Duomo Naples Cathedral to watch for the liquefaction of the saint's blood - a tradition which dates back to the 1300's.  From there, the crowds filter into the church to view the vial of blood and light candles while praying for the saint's intercession.  I was thrilled to be able to participate in this celebration.  It was quite beautiful and awe-inspiring to see so many people come together in peace and reverence.

The faithful line up to see San Gennaro's relic.

A side view in the Duomo of San Gennaro.

The faithful light candles asking for the saint's intercession.

Naples is known for it's delicious food and handmade, brick oven baked pizza.  I have to tell you - we ate pizza many times during our stay here.  It was fantastic.  Of course, it didn't hurt that a pizza establishment was located right across the street from our hotel. :)  In addition, there is some wonderful street food that is too good to pass up.  We had some tasty potato croquettes and arancini (fried rice and meat balls) made by Pizzeria Giuliano.  They were out of this world!  Last, but certainly not least, we also indulged in some handmade pastries that you really can find only in Italy.

Handmade brick-oven baked pizza!

Delicious pastries.

In my opinion - Naples is a "must see" kind of place.  I look forward to visiting again in the (hopefully) near future.  Next - a final highlight of the last stops on our trip and then back to the arts and crafts where this blog is concerned. :)