Friday, May 27, 2016

Acorn Pendant With Oak Tree Remnant



I designed this little acorn to dangle along with an Oak Leaf Pendant I made.  
I made it so that it sits flat.  The whole thing is made of copper sheet which
was cut, formed, textured and soldered together.  
The best way to form a ball shape is with a dapping punch, a block and a hammer.

The wooden bead I made from a piece of an Old Oak Tree.  
I drilled a whole through the wood and through the copper cap (this step is not in the photographs).

Progress Oak Leaf Pendant


Custom Pendant With Piece of an Old Oak Tree-
I made the bezel with a strip of pure silver bezel wire, shaped it and sized it to my wood cab, soldered the ends together and then soldered it to the pendant plate.  I was so happy that I didn’t run into any problems!  I prepared the wood cab by forming, sanding and sealing it with epoxy (because the cab is made of old dead tree pieces, I thought it would be best to seal it in order to protect it from water.  

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Oak Leaf Pendant Almost Finished


I am almost done this pendant.  I'm working on the wood cab you see
on the pendant.  it will be a bit smaller than you see.  

Here is what I'll be doing next:
- Covering the cab with epoxy (the reason for this is because this piece of 
oak comes from old wood pieces salvaged from a dead oak tree and they're
quite fragile.  By completely covering them with epoxy, I figured they 
would be protected from wear and tear).  

2.  Adding a bezel (a strip of silver soldered to the plate to hold the wood cab 
into place).

3.  Finish the bail (to hang to the chain).

4.  Polish it up and add a bit of darkening solution to make the leaf pop out.

5.  Package it and send it on its way to my customer!


Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Enameled Oak Leaf Pendant Progress


Here is an update of the Oak Leaf that I am working on.  I finally finished prepping the leaf itself and  after rounding out the tips a bit, I finally was able to do the exciting part of this project:  enameling!
I used my jewelry torch to enamel glass powder over the top; so basically you end up with a lovely glass layer fused to the metal.  This is something I just love to do!  

The green I used is Jungle green;  it's a vibrant green which I find looks great for leaves! 
 I am very  pleased with how it turned out.  

I am now working on the acorn part of the pendant which will dangle freely on 
the necklace along the leaf. 



Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Hipster Ring with Robin Egg Enamel Experiment


Little experiment!  
Do you like the result?  I kinda like the overall rustic look of this earthy ring.  The robin egg enamel color combined with copper is just gorgeous!

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Comparing Pebeo Vitrail Greens


I’m running another test (you will notice I do this a lot):
I wanted to compare the differences between these green  Pebeo Vitrail paints and how they would look on metal.  I was looking for a beautiful leaf color.  The local art store only had these greens available in the opaque series and although the finishes are beautiful, it’s not going in the direction I want so I won’t be using these paints in my particular project.  
More money invested, but never wasted!!  I love these paints and although I will not be using them in my present project, I will be storing them for a future use; I have something in mind for using these little gem-like paints!

Friday, May 13, 2016

Enamel Leaf Pendant Test


Enameled Leaf Pendant Test: 
I’m working on a leaf pendant and wanted to run a test before enameling the actual leaf, so I made this little copper leaf and applied the enamel and it turned out pretty good! 
I'm loving the way the black formed all around the perimeter of the leaf, the center and the smaller crackles near the tip.  To some this might seem like a non-successful test because of the black.  But I’m the type of artist who most of the time prefers my results to be different!  If you’re like me and you would like to a achieve this look add less of the enameling powder before you fire it so that the copper will oxidize and will show up as black in any portion where there is less enamel (you gotta love copper!)
In order to make the center vein running through the leaf, I used a fine, stainless steel rod and dragged it through the molten enamel while holding my torch in the other hand… 
I loved this project!  So much fun!

Monday, May 9, 2016

A Surprise in my Inbox



I received a beautiful surprise in my inbox yesterday:  a customer had purchased my “Black and White Newfoundland Dog” photograph and framed it to hang in their living room.  He took the time to send me a thank you and these appreciation pictures!  I must say my handsome puppy looks beautiful in this room!  

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Beautiful Flowers From my Sweeties!


My little granddaughter and my daughter came in the door with a bouquet 
of these beautiful white Tulips! It made my day! 

The flowers opened up and I couldn't resist taking a picture to share with you!  
Have a lovely day!

Friday, May 6, 2016

Metal Forming White Oak Leaf Pendant


This project is coming along wonderfully!  Overall I really love the Oak leaf so far!
It still needs a few finishing touches such as rounding out the tips and a couple of 
inside corners before adding the enamel finish.

I will soon be starting the copper Acorn dangle.  

Factoid, White Oak:  The White Oak tree is a large tree than can reach up to 100 feet tall.  
The trunk can span up to 4-feet across.




Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Copper Oak Leaf Pendant Progress


Another custom Oak leaf pendant in progress!  This one is a copper leaf
overlay on sterling silver plate.  I just added a bit of texture to
give the leaf a bit of depth.  I still have lots of work to do on
the pendant, but so far I'm quite happy with how it's looking.

I hope the customer will like it as well...  

This is what is left to do: 

* make a bail and solder it to the sterling silver plate;
*sweat solder the copper leaf to the plate;
*make a bezel, solder it to plate;
*prepare the stone (which will be super special with an awesome little story attached).

Stay tuned for the end results!!