Wired Up

Artistic Wire has been available for a number of years and though it came in an assortment of rainbow colors it was only recently that I discovered the beautiful finish called Non-Tarnish Brass.  Unlike the copper or bronze finish wire, the Non-Tarnish Brass has a lovely gold tone to it that works well with gold fill or gold plated findings. 

photo above ... Artistic Wire spools and my recently finished spiral beaded necklace

My first introduction to Artistic Wire was back in 2005 when I purchased a 12 spool assortment in jewel like colors for a beading course that I had signed up for.  The course required  very fine  wire at either 24 to 26 gauge.  Not normally a gauge that I would have much cause to use.  
In recent years Artistic Wire has introduced several new metal finishes that coordinate with the newer metals of today's chains and findings. 

Photo above ... close up of my handmade clasp and extender chain, made from Artistic Wire in non-tarnish brass.

Though I love the color the one downside is its non tarnish coating.  Unfortunately since the non-tarnish finish involves a clear coat of some substance (acrylic or vinyl?) it didn't take kindly to my flattening it with a hammer on a bench block.  I noticed that some of the clear coating chipped off during this process.  In the future I will have to forgo work hardening a piece and also make sure to use Tool Magic on my pliers to help protect this coating. 
If anyone makes wire findings or does wire wrapping I'd love to hear how you handle wire that has this protective coating on it.  Is there a clear sealant that one can use to "re-seal" this coating if it is scratched or chipped?

Another Day Another Shop...

Have been working on the layout of a new shop at ArtFire : AlmostPrecious at ArtFire . I have my banner up and my avatar in place, wrote my bio, loaded the shipping info. Basically got the bones in place now I need to flesh it out a bit. At the moment there is only one item listed. Of course with the freebie version of Artfire I can only list a maximum of 12 items and the basic package doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the "verified account" offers. However the premium package is $12 monthly and so for the price of zero down and no listing fees or commission fees, how could I argue over such a limit ?

I decided to do a promotional piece, a gemstone and pearl, princess length necklace (22") with expensive 14 kt gold filled beads and clasp, at least $25 dollars worth of gold filled components all for $21 + S&H !

Six millimeter fancy jasper beads in a lush earthy green are use to accentuate ivory freshwater pearls, of similar size, while smooth, round gold filled beads break up the pattern and add a sparkling note of interest. Center focal bead is an 8 mm corrugated lantern bead flanked by gold filled saucer beads. No, not avante garde, just very classic, very traditional and ultimately very timeless.

I realize that not everyone appreciates timeless classic pieces but I have my hopes up and my fingers crossed. As I mentioned this piece is offered as a promotional piece so I'm actually losing money on it ( have over $25 invested in 14 kt gold filled beads and clasp alone). The promo price is $21 not including S&H (which is less than $3.00 and includes a gift box). Even if you're not interested, please check it out and at least give me a couple of "hits" on my new site.

Now I need to take more photos...and also figure out why ivory pearls come out pink in my photos ! Drat it all !!!