Birthdays Galore!

Another birthday! My sister, Tara, is turning 30 next week, but her party was Saturday night. So, Friday afternoon she texted me a picture of her party outfit and said, "Need mod jewels to go with this for tomorrow!" "Oh tomorrow, okay then I better get to work," was exactly what I was thinking.

I decided I wanted to do something in copper and bronze. I also wanted it to be amazing - something that was cooler than anything else I'd ever made. In Tara's words it had to be "coolerster". She's a riot.

Anyway, I've been playing with some fold forming techniques and was totally inspired by Stacie Florer's recent blogpost about her Elemental Bracelets and how each piece of metal is it's own canvas. I decided to make my own Elemental Bracelet along with another somewhat personalized bracelet and a pair of big, bold, statement earrings.  Keep in mind I only had one day to do all of this and two little boys who always needed to be taken care of - thank God for an understanding husband and dedicated father!

I started by fold forming some bronze.

I then determined the shape I wanted the pieces for the earrings to be, cut them out and wrapped each one in very thin copper. Next I had to cut and texture all the copper pieces for the bracelets. I riveted pieces of fold formed metal, a handcut flower (textured using a method Keirsten Giles shared here), and a textured silver filled piece to the copper. Earrings and bracelet #1 were ready for the tumbler. Whew!

For bracelet #2 I cut a piece of copper and stamped a rustic, tribal looking arrow and hand-stamped the word "seredipity" on it. I let Tara pick the word since she's the one who will be wearing it all the time. This bracelet was a lot less work than the first one but still "coolerster".

After tumbling all the pieces, I oxidized it all with liver of sulphur and then roughed it up a bit with steel wool. I was so happy with how everything was turning out. Then I came to my big dilema, which I had already realized would happen, how the heck was I going to seal this stuff? I love Clear Guard, but that needs to sit for 24 hours and then a coat of Renaissance Wax put over the top, wait another 24 hours and then it's safe to use the piece. I did not have time for all that! So, I decided to go with Vintaj's new glaze patina sealer. I'm not really sure if it's supposed to be used to seal LOS but I didn't really have any other options. (I did send Vintaj a message so I'll let you know if I get a response from them.)

The pieces turned out beautifully! I sat and marvelled at them for I while when I was finished. I was so excited to show my sister. Honestly, these pieces are the most skilled jewelry I've ever made. I can't believe how far I've come in the last 2 1/2 years. I just had to thank God for giving me the ability to do this. I know my work still has a long way to go, but I'm excited about the direction I'm heading in and can't wait to learn more and experiment more with metals. Here are the finished pieces:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sister loved them all! Mission accomplished. Now the rest of the family wants some...