Fun in the Studio

I had a very successful wholesale meeting with Cabin Fever (again) on Friday and spent most of the weekend making earrings to fill up those 2 boxes again.  While I allow some new earring ideas brew in my head, I decided to do some copper etching and patterning on sterling silver.

These copper shapes were purchased like this.  What a great time saver!  I think the top ones will make some interesting earrings.  The bottom 2 will be elements for me to use in my mixed media necklaces.

These sterling discs are 24ga and so easy to pattern using my rolling mill.  For these pieces, I used skeleton leaves.  Other things that make great patterns are light gauge craft wire, textured paper, paper with cut-outs, designs embossed on paper with traditional embossing powder, thin gauge soft metals, mesh, sandpaper.  I could go on and on.

These are just a small sampling of the pieces I worked on yesterday.  I figure, as long as I've got the chemicals out, why not etch a whole big batch of stuff.  The same with the patterning.  While I'm at it, why not pattern a bunch of metal?

A Series of Textured Metal Pendants

I completed a good sized batch of metal pendants last week. Starting with copper and brass sheet, I set up a little assembly line type operation: cut shapes, file, sand w/280, sand w/360, sand w/600, texture, patina, assemble. See, I really can work efficiently when I put my mind to it!

The only really fun parts were the texture and assemble steps of the above list. The remainder of the process was quite tedious.



I used two different patinas: liver of sulfur and an antiquing solution which works only on base metals like copper and brass. Lightly sanding with 400 grit polishing paper after applying a patina provides a great contrast, as it leaves the low spots dark, while effectively erasing the patina from the high spots.


It was interesting to see how the antiquing solution gave such different results on the copper and brass. I also practiced my letter stamping on a few pieces. I think I need much more practice with that stop.




Assembling and adding beads was quite a bit of fun. Trying to match the mood of the metal pendant to appropriate beads and charms took quite a bit of time.


And my favorite piece is the brass panel embossed (with the rolling mill) with a leaf pattern, and embellished with a brass dragonfly element. I may just keep this one.

Using the Hammers!

After spending so much time prepping the metal for hammering, I didn't want to hide very much of it. In the spirit of keeping it simple, I used the same copper leaf charm as an embellishment on both necklaces. The charm is from The Beadin' Path, where I always manage to find unique elements to include in my jewelry.

This first necklace is brass -- the same piece from yesterday's blog post. I removed most of the heat patina and started over with Woodfinishers Antiquing Solution, which works wonderfully on base metals such as brass, copper and nickel silver. I sanded it with 400 grit paper to highlight the high spots. The bead is etched black onyx. I used copper chain, which I also patinated and selectively sanded.

This next necklace is copper. I used a different hammer to texture this piece of metal, but the rest of the treatment was the same. I drilled the hole for the chain on the corner, just because. The bead is Czech glass with an iris green metallic finish. I've always liked the way copper looks with green.
There you have it! My first adventure with the new hammers is now complete.

Hammers

While shopping in Tucson last February, I was intrigued by a demo of some unique hammers. These hammers transferred patterns to metal based on the intricate carvings on the striking face of the hammer. I was sorely tempted to purchase a few of these, but at $40 apiece, I decided against it.

I talked about these hammers with much regret for about a month after returning from Tucson. One day Rick surprised me with 3 custom made hammers. Each one has 2 different striking faces.



Here's a close up of my favorite pattern. It makes a great criss-cross pattern on the metal. You need to swing pretty hard to get good definition on brass, as seen in this photo. After hammering, I applied a heat patina and then sanded with 400 grit polishing paper to highlight the high spots. I'll probably turn this into a pendant.


Yay Rick!