Thursday, April 19, 2012

I love metal smithing

I don't know what was more fun, making the jewelry or making the collage in Photoshop.  But I do know that I love metal smithing...oh, love playing in Photoshop too.


This fun, funky necklace and earrings feature hand-made metal etched bead caps, green magnestie beads, lemon chrysoprase wire wrapped dangles, bronze and silver wire and deer skin leather. 


I taught myself how to metal etch.  It's easy really.  I first stamped a piece of bronze sheet metal with rubber stamps using permanment Stazon ink which you can buy at any craft's store like Michael's.  You use duct tape to protect one side of the metal and then basically float the exposed side of the metal in the etching solution, which you can buy at Radio Shack, which I poured into a shallow rectangular plastic storage container.  Needless to say, this container will only be used for metal etching.  You leave the metal in the solution for about 1 hour.  Then you rinse it and neutralize it in baking soda and voila...hand etched metal. 


Using my handy dandy disk cutter, I cut out circles from the etched metal.  I then drilled them and formed them on the dapping block that Joe bought me for my birthday (oh, how did he know!).  The ear wires are made from 20 gauge sterling silver - learned how to do that in Deryn's awesome earring class. The necklace has a focal similar to the earrings attached to a large bronze jump ring that I soldered closed. The magnesite beads are wire wrapped with bronze and connect to a bronze double ball hook and eye front closure. Deer skin leather forms the back of the necklace and connects to the beads with 22 gauge bronze wire that I balled on both ends, flattened with the chasing hammer and annealed to soften before I wrapped it around the leather.



Close up of the hand made jump ring, wire wrapped magnesite beads and focal

Double balled hook and eye.  And fun, funky wrap on the deer skin leather.


4 comments:

  1. love the hook and eye

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  2. Love all your wire work and caps. The finished piece is lovely...a credit to all your different skills.
    Jenni

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  3. Thank you Jenni, I appreciate your comments.

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