Forming and Texturing Copper

My yearly trek to William Holland School of Lapidary arts always results in some very much needed relaxation, enjoyment and inspiration. I enjoy seeing what all the students and teachers are wearing because most of their jewelry is hand made and their personal favorites. The copper bracelet was fashioned after one that one of the instructors was sporting and everyone was oogling over. It uses fold forming techniques and hammered textures. I bought three wonderful new hammers with two textures on each one.

The earrings were done with a brass texture plate made for PMC but used here with annealed copper and the roller mill.

Everyone says that copper is the "new" silver since silver prices continue to climb. I have always loved to combine metals and love the look of antiqued copper. Copper has that wonderful casual spunk about it. It seems substantial and earthy and looks grat against all skin tomes- especially when you have a tan!

We have a winner! $25.00 Shopping Spree!!!!

Congratulations Elizabeth, whose shop is called "ebogie" on Etsy!  I'll be sending you an email with your Gift Certificate for the $25.00 shopping spree in my Etsy Shop .  I hope you have fun picking out your favorite items.

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season I decided to do another "quick" giveaway - This one ends December 1st and is for the earrings pictured at the right and another pair just like them but with iridescent
gray pearls.  I call them my "go with everything" earrings because they really do work with just about everything you wear.  Plus they are incredibly comfortable - once they are on you really can't feel them - they are so incredibly light!  They are hand made of sterling silver and freshwater pearls.
These would make great gifts or wear and enjoy them yourself.

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1 point for every comment you leave on this blog (max.3 per day)

5 points for becoming a fan of  Divine3Designs  facebook page

5 points for following me on Twitter

10 points for any purchase from my Etsy shop

 (if you already follow me or are a fan- you can count those points!)

You can help me keep count by letting me know if you follow me on twitter and are a fan of my facebook page in the "comments" for this post - below.  I have a gadget on the right that totals up my comments for me.  If you want one like it -  it's free, just follow the link below it.

Making Your Own Ear Wires

Making basic ear wires is really quite simple and making them yourself gives you so much more flexibility as far as sizes, shapes and thicknesses go.  The majority of ear wires are made with 18, 20 or 21 gage wire.  I use sterling silver because it holds its shape better than fine silver (pure silver) and is antibacterial and for most people non allergic.  18 gage makes a fairly thick strong ear wire and is great for heavier stones or hammered hoops.  I don't find it as popular as 20 or 21 gage - which I also find to be most comfortable in my ears.
For ear wires I use the half hard wire. Wire is sold hard, half hard or dead soft. If you have a lot of bending to do and the wire is thick (lower numbers) use dead soft. Hard wire is very spring like and harder to bend - it can also break if you bend it too much. 
For a very simple french style ear wire - first cut  two 1.5 to 2" pieces of wire and make a small loop around the tip of your round pliers on one end of each (see picture at right).  This is where you will later attach your "drop".  Now use a sharpie, dowel or pen to bend both pieces around - this forms the part that rests in your ear.  I do them together so they match.  Then take your flat pliers and bend the back end up slightly (apx. 1/8"). Now file the end that will go through the ear to make it smooth.

Once you are happy with the shape- you now need to "set it". That means hardening the wire so it will keep its shape.  I do this by tumbling in a rotating barrel with stainless steel shot for several hours.  It can also be done by hitting the rounded part of the earring with a hammer several times (flattening it).  "Working" the metal by hammering or tumbling alligns the molecules and makes it stiffer or harder.
If you look through the Fire Mountain Gems or Rio Grande catalogs you can see the huge variety of shapes that are possible - you just have to get creative and find objects to shape your wire around! Have fun designing your own special ear wires!

Designating Jewelry Size in Photos

I'm trying to come up with a way that someone shopping for jewelry on the internet can visualize the size of jewelry.  In the example above I made a cardboard - life size ear "manekin". I added the ruler so that both inches and cm are displayed.  This is a mockup and I wish I could find a really nice display manekin that would incorporate these elements.  Most of the ones I've found are great in a store but deceptive in photography.  The ideal of course is a live model - not always easily available.  Plus people come in all sizes and even showing jewelry on a model does not always truly represent how it would look on someone of a different size.   I welcome suggestions or ideas to help solve this problem.

How To...Earrings -step by step 1-3

Click on the pictures to enlarge them for detail.

Materials:
                 10 gage half round, dead soft wire- apx. 2"
                 20 or 22 gage round, half hard wire- apx. 3"

1.  For these earrings I started with 10 ga. dead soft, half round wire - Apx 2"
I usually use my flush cutting pliers to snip the length I need. These cutters leave a sort of flattened angle on the ends. This will be fine for these.

Mark your wire to divide it into two equal pieces.


2. Then use a jewelers saw and holding the wire over a bench pin, cut the wire in half (more accurate than pliers).







   3. Use a good quality file and smooth any sharp edges.

Hammer Textured Earrings- how to make...

Here's a picture of some simple textured earrings. These can be made from wire or sheet, in silver, gold, copper, brass etc.  Several people have asked me how I make this type of earring and what processes go into making handmade jewelry - so I will try to show you here.  Bear with me as I figure this whole blog thing out and get some step by step directions posted.