Copper and Silver in Mixed Metal Jewellery

Hello good people, how are you this fine morning? I've had a lovely relaxed week, playing with sheet metal and hammers, soldering bits of sterling silver wire onto my fold formed copper components and playing with patinas. I decided to use all the copper sheet remnants that I would otherwise have thrown away and make as many little pieces as I could, practicing a bit of soldering along the way. I formed shapes and curlicues in silver wire and soldered them onto the copper. Filing, patinating and burnishing the shapes I created and then hanging the earrings took a lot of time but I was having fun and hardly noticed it.

​ I did shudder with horror though, when I looked at my hands - they are all pitted from cutting sheet metal, where sharp edges have poked holes into them - they have also been impregnated with copper dust from filing the edges smooth, and of course I forgot to wear gloves and picked the pieces out of the warm patina solution, turning the copper in the little cuts dark brown - now I've got a jewellers hands!! Unfortunately that doesn't go with the day job, so I spent ages soaking them and scrubbing out the brown bits - not so much fun, I can tell you!

Weebly leaves

I particularly love the leaf earrings I made that I called my Weebly leaves - I patinated them with verdigris and stitched tiny glass ladybirds onto them. Cool, don't you think?
​Why Weebly leaves? - You'll have to read about my ongoing saga with Weebly to find out!

Fandango

I finally finished the pendant that I was making last week. Strung on a simple necklace of baroque pearls it is sumptuous and fun at the same time. I saw a picture of a woman in a dance called the Fandango, and I searched for the picture for you.  The artist has caught the flamboyance of the movement in the green skirts beautifully and I was attempting to recreate that energy in the necklace.

I've finally found a way to capture the movement of a dance without taking a step - I'd rather have done the real thing though, but am now at least thirty years too late. 
That's me for this week, folks, I have to go in to work now, so I'll say goodbye now. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you as usual next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
xx