Trinket #364 - Energy Pendant

I need all the energy I can muster for some upcoming projects in early 2012, so I'm hoping that this quartz and copper pendant can help out a bit. I chose a loose, casual wire-wrapping style for the copper, and then I paired it with an even more casual hemp cord.

I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing this quite a bit in the next few months...

Trinket #354 - Bundle O' Beads Ring

Another ring, just like I promised! This one is made by simply stringing glass beads onto a steel wire and wrapping it to the ring blank. I like the easy, organic look and feel of this one, and it's probably a project I will repeat.

Trinket #353 - Leaf Skeleton Ring

I found this piece of a gold leaf skeleton in a parking lot a few weeks ago. I love the way some of the gold has been worn away, and I thought it would pair well with some vintage-looking glass beads and a bronze ring blank. I am pleased!

Also, I recently picked up a bundle of these antiqued bronze ring blanks and discovered that they are quite fun to use. I'm betting you can expect to see more trinkets using them over the next few days...

Trinket #251 - Leather and Copper Hair Pin

Free-form flowers are kind of my thing. I also love the combination of the brown leather with the copper wire, so this trinket is an all-around win. This leather is more scrap from that old pair of riding chaps, by the way. I'm pairing it with an old pair of campus boots and a corduroy jacket tomorrow!

Trinket #217 - Copper and Red Tiger's Eye Pendant

Nope, no silver yet. Rounding out a week of "use what you have" with this wrapped tiger's eye with copper wire and black hemp. I've had this stone for years - in fact, I think I bought it at The Nature Company at Willow Lawn (a Richmond shopping center.) If you're a clever local, that might give you a clue about how many years I mean.

This stone was particularly attractive to me today, and maybe its metaphysical properties have something to do with that. Kacha-stones.com has this to say about red tiger's eye:

"It contains a solar energy which helps with psychic processes...it can eliminate 'blues' and can bring brightness and optimism."

Trinket #215 - Copper Galaxy Ring

As luck would have it - I'm all out of silver wire. I could remedy this with a simple trip to the jewelry supply shop, but I've been buried in work up to my eyeballs and have been too busy to get out during their business hours. So, like my ancestors before me, I'm just going to use what I have in the best way I can. What I have today is copper, and the completed trinket of the day is this multi-wrapped ring.

Trinket #214 - Turquoise and Copper Pendant

I had about five minutes to make and post a trinket today, so here it is! I photographed this pendant without a cord or chain because I'd like to hang it from a piece of brown leather, which I currently without. Until I can replenish my stock, I'll just have to use my imagination.

Trinket #167 - Leather and Copper Ring

Today's trinket is made from a recycled scrap of leather and a bit of copper wire for binding and decoration. The ring measures 3/4-inch high and is a size 7. It was crafted while squinting from migraine pain. Hooray, perseverance.

Trinket #156 - Copper and Silver Ring

I've had this two-tone twisted wire since before this year-long project began. My husband had a great time spinning a few of these together using a power drill, and I've had them tucked away in the Junk Box to use when the spirit moved me. I guess today was that day.

This fun little ring was shaped around a lipstick tube and finished with a freeform coil at the ends to keep it from loosening. The whole thing took less than five minutes and I have enough wire left over to make one or two more in different styles!

Trinket #57 - Alchemist's Necklace

This is one of those evenings that is perfect for curling up with a good book or movie and doing nothing else. If the media of your choice contains magic, mystery, or mayhem, so much the better! My day was spent milling about the house and tending to a sick little boy again, so a book is definitely calling me tonight, a book that inspired this necklace.

Today's trinket is made from copper wire, a jasper bead (for the moon over the tree), and a bit of mahogany ribbon. This was a quickie because I made the tree pendant back in January, but did the final design of the necklace, the wire wrapping, clasp-making, and the construction tonight. It was a 10-minute piece!

On a side note, I just found out that I will soon face my biggest challenge on this trinket-making extravaganza: flying out of town for four days of work. As I will not have a checked bag, I am unable to take along any wire, pliers, or cutters. During the next ten days, I have to brush up on my macrame! Expect to see a lot of "unusual" pieces mixed in here with standard collection - and wish me luck.

Trinket #30 - Whiskey, Copper, and Green Glass

I hate shopping for clothes. I do it, but I certainly don't enjoy it. Yesterday was an exception, however, because I spotted this green hoodie and discovered it was on sale for only $3! I cannot tell you how much I love this rich, grassy color (or that kind of deal.) Let's just say I love it so much that I'm considering going back and buying all the shop had in my size so I'll have at least one to wear after another falls apart. Hopefully I can score enough to last me at least the next decade.

Today's trinket was inspired simply by the eye-pleasing shade of this new jacket. I cranked up some Flogging Molly, poured a dram of Jameson, and saluted my Celtic roots while I pieced together the copper chain adorned with faceted green glass beads and clear seed beads. The little copper charm that dangles from the bottom was salvaged from the Junk Box!

Trinket #22 - A Matched Set

I have had the bracelet I made yesterday sitting in front of my computer monitor since posting it. The more I looked at it, the more I loved it, so I decided to make today's trinket a companion piece using more copper and Unakite.

Because I just love the tactile quality of a strand made from smaller parts, I went all-out and made this one an 18-inch necklace. To dress it up a little more, I made a pendant from copper FIMO (which has beaten out pearl white as my new favorite shade, by the way) by pressing a fallen leaf from a ficus that resides in my kitchen. After it had been baked and cured, I rubbed it with a bit of burnt umber acrylic paint to bring out the veining and give it more of an old-penny look.

I'm not a big jewelry person (ironic, I know) but this piece is definitely going to stay in my own personal stash. Those pieces that have already started filling every horizontal surface and flowerpot ledge in my house, though, are going to have find new homes before the husband and kids start feeling too cramped. To help those move along, I'll be listing a handful of them on Etsy over the next few days. Stop by and take a look!