For the past year, I have almost exclusively worked with sterling silver wire and chain in my jewelry pieces. However, as some of you are aware of, the price of silver has risen dramatically in the past couple of months. Since, I am only in the beginning stages of my jewelry business; I started to worry that the cost of materials would greatly slow my growth.
However, my friend, Emily, asked me a month ago, to reconstruct a necklace for her, using copper wire. I first warmed up to the metal, when I went to the bead shop to buy supplies for her project and noticed the large gap in price between silver and copper wire! As I wire wrapped her necklace, I noticed how easier it was to form the copper wire with my pliers and from then on it was a match in heaven!
I learned through a bit of research that copper is one of the oldest metals used by man, dating back from 6,000 B.C. It was used for weapons, armors, art ornanments, pottery and jewelry (of course). The Bible even references the material, when Jesus saw the poor widow in the temple give her humble offering of two small copper coins. I am proud to continue in this historical tradition and have to thank Emily for helping me open a new creative path!
Here’s a few examples of my new pieces of copper jewelry:
I love copper too! I've done a few things with it! It looks really pretty with a lot of things! =)
ReplyDeleteYours are very pretty! =) I'm going to be a new follower from the Etsy jewelry shops team =)
Thanks! I have just become a follower of your blog as well :)
ReplyDeleteGood to know that is more affordable and easier to work with! I've never worked with copper but I may have to try it now. I liked reading about its history too.
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteYes, copper is a great metal to work with-it's an affordable alternative to gold for those who are interested in jewelry with warmer tones. Also, it's nice to purchase it without freaking out that the price is going to skyrocket! (aka sterling silver!) Thanks for reading!