Green Beans

I've lately been experiment with green coffee beans in my work. Either using them not roasted or roasting them myself. When i use the not roasted coffee bean as beads they are difficult to drill but I think that since they are so tough they will prove to be much longer lasting. I've also recently been working on roasting them and the different variations that can make. I think that even when roasted these ones also are more durable store bought roasted beans, because I haven't been roasting them to quite the degree they get roasted as the purchased beans. Also this enables me to make different shades of golden, tan, brown, or dark brown coffee beans! I used my wok on the stove top and this produced unevenly roasted beans, but I kind of prefer this since it gives them more character.
I recently made this necklace out of the green, half roasted, and fully roasted beans. Take a look!

Now in Twin Falls Too!

Sorry it has been a awhile since my last posting, the summer months are extremely busy as I'm sure all of you know. In June we took a trip to Twin Falls to visit family and I brought some of my coffee bean jewelry with me. Friends and others were very positive and excited about it, which gave me quite a boost!
Also while I was there I got in touch with the sweet girls who own "THE COFFEE SHOP AND LUNCHBOX DELI" on the corner of Kimberly Road and Blue Lakes, in Twin Falls, ID, and now I'm am selling some of my pieces there! New arrivals soon to come...:)
Lately I've been trying to make the jewelry stronger and more durable, because roasted coffee beans are not all that durable. I've recently acquired some green coffee beans, which I am going to incorporate in my jewelry and/or roast myself, and hopefully it will improve the strength of the beans, since I can control how long they will be roasted. I've got to say these little green ones are pretty tough! Drilling them is definitely not as easy as pre-roasted.
I'm also working on some new displays for The Coffee Shop in Twin Falls and Fresh Off The Farm here in Doniphan, my other displays are just a little small, but I'm still working on the best display for them...
Well more to come shortly, and more about the green coffee beans soon!

Lacquer vs. Varnish

When i first started making this jewelry out of coffee beans I was using polyurethane varnish, to preserve the beans, make them nice and shiny, and make them durable for wear. In my last few pieces I have started to use a clear gloss lacquer. It is my hope that this will prove longer lasting and more durable for my finished products. So far so good! I started with an aerosol lacquer and this has been very effective in coating the beans and also helping them not to stick to the drying area. Of course they would stick to a wood or plastic base so that's why for my drying are I've been using aluminum foil lately, and it's worked out just fine:) It also seems that I haven't broken nearly as many beans in making my jewelry pieces now that I am using lacquer instead of varnish. I hope this continues to be true.
I've made two necklaces lately, one with the woven technique and the other with using copper chain. In the woven piece I used different types of Jasper as my accent stones. On the copper chain piece I used red coral and Nasa shells as my accents. It's definitely unique jewelry, but I especially enjoy how very diverse coffee beans can be!

New Additions

I have been experimenting with different styles of jewelry making and trying to decide which I want to use more for my coffee bean jewelry. So far i have experimented with stringing the beans and various gems together in different patterns. One of these examples I have pictured above and that was mostly what I displayed in my first post. This type of jewelry making can be very fun and leave room for many different patterns and styles.
Lately, however, I have been trying to incorporate more metal into my work and have liked it even better than stringing the beads. This too allows room for different styles and texture combinations. In the piece I worked on today I used copper chain and wire, small tiger Nasa shells, and dark roast coffee beans. I think the combination of the organic coffee beans and shells with the metal is a good contrast, both in texture and color. I also made some silver, turquoise, and coffee bean earrings and also like the contrast with the silver.
This last weekend was a really good run at the farmers market. I met some really nice people and many of them expressed interest and support for my coffee bean jewelry. I'm going to exhibit these new pieces at the farmers market this weekend and hopefully cause some stir about this blog and maybe get closer to my goal of staring a real website!
I hope this finds all of you well and happy! More to come shortly! Thanks for the support!

Coffee Bean Jewelry

I've finally set my mind to it, and now I'm starting a business based on coffee bean jewelry. I wanted to find something unique, something new and exciting. What's more exciting than coffee?! And coffee bean jewelry...well that is even more exciting!
I had been searching for something similar but have yet to find actual coffee bean jewelry that is available or something that people would wear. I hope this will be both! I love coffee (who doesn't) and wanted to make it into something wearable. It's all naturally based and hopefully economical.
I've made just a few pieces to start with. I'm going to try and sell them this weekend at the local farmers market and I hope by posting this online it will cause more stir and more people will hear about this new unique form of jewelry. Eventually I want to create a web based business, but starting out smaller is best for right now.
In making them it requires time, focus and some skill. I use a small hand drill and then coat them with a clear varnish, and go from there. It is a bit time consuming but very enjoyable and relaxing.
These first pieces I made using coffee beans as the focal point and using other stones as accents. I've incorporated Copper, Tree Agate, Poppy Jasper, Leopard Skin Jasper, Turquoise, and little wood beads. As I've said I wanted to make an affordable but also a naturally based type of jewelry. In the next few days and week I will be working on more and more pieces and hopefully adding to my little business.
If you have any questions or would like to purchase any of the pieces I have pictured please contact me at aubreybrown22@gmail.com. Hopefully in a few weeks I will have a working website to showcase more items!
Thank you all for checking this out and for your support!