What are they made from?

The metal is copper—not solid but it is pure copper—and then we use stones, recycled hand blown glass, and abalone. Beyond that we really hate to give many details since we are the only people in the world making them. We want to keep it that way!

Can they go outside?

YES! They have been lacquered so they shouldn’t tarnish or patina—even outside.

Why are they lighter in weight than they look?

Because they aren’t solid copper, just enough copper to give them some durability without adding the expense or weight of solid copper.

Why doesn’t anyone else make them?

Because they are very labor intensive and the process we use is not used much. It’s very fickle and most people don’t want to deal with the frustration.

How did you learn it?

Janet’s mother was an high school art teacher in the 70’s and she was one of only 2 people in the state of Iowa that taught it, the other one was at the University of Iowa.
Because it does involve a great need to “be careful”, we doubt there is still anyone teaching the process in the public school system. I don’t know about the college level.

How did you come up with the idea of the animals?

We actually started as jewelers, in partners with Janet’s mom. But we always made animal pins and one winter Stacy made a frog that was too big for a pin. Janet pointed that out and Stacy said “It’s just going to sit there”. And the idea for copper critters was born. Janet has yet to live that one down…

How long do they take to make?

Once we get the original done, and the mold made, it still takes 2 days to 2 weeks to go through all the steps of the process. The larger the longer.

Do you do commissions?

Nope—that is one of the reasons we don’t have a real job. We just want to do what we want to do. But we can do multiples of our existing items, with enough advanced warning, for those corporate gifts.

How long does it take to get one once I have ordered?

That’s a hard question. You are better off giving us a call and seeing where we are at. Since we are still traveling to art fairs, we might be out of the studio for 2-3 weeks at a time. And other than our 80yr old friend who helps us—Janet & Stacy make every piece themselves. No factory here! We like to say 4-6 weeks but we usually get them done sooner. It all depends on how busy we are. But we will do our best to give you an honest ETA.

Is everything you make on your web site?

No—although our goal is to make our web site one of our main marketing outlets we are still making many styles of turtles, etc. that we don’t show. If you want anything specific or a certain size, give us a call. We can always send pictures of other options.

Where can I see your items in person?

We do sell to a variety of galleries and shops across the country, although it’s limited. And we do art fairs. I will do my best to post my art fair schedule and hope, eventually, list our galleries. It’s just one of the many things we have on our list of things to do.

I have a shop and I want to start to carry your critters, what do I do?

Contact us with details of your shop, (no web sites please). We’ll go from there.