AO7 Going by RAW, the artificer cannot cast spells, per se, therefore he is not eligible to craft alchemical items. However, it seems easy enough to rule that the artificer's familiarity with crafting and magic would let him craft the items. Talk to your DM about it.
QO8 A spinoff of Tshern's earlier question, does an item that grants spell resistance still receive the benefit of that resistance for itself if it is unattended?