The "Other" Metals in Jewelry

I've been going through an exploration recently, trying out a little bit of "other" looks with my jewelry designs.  I dearly love to work with silver, especially fine silver, but still the price of PMC remains much too high (PLEASE bring it down below $100 for 50 grams!).  Actually gold filled and gold plated items are less expensive to work with than sterling or fine silver.  And a little dash of copper can be a lovely jolt to a design.

 Love this bracelet from the Chicago Art Institute, inspires me!

 A varied group of beads to make earrings.

 This little Thai copper bead is from thebeadgoeson.com where they have a wonderful selection of unique beads from Thailand and all over Asia. 

Aren't these rubies lovely?  A friend had them brought back to her from somewhere in Asia and wanted to have them simply strung.