NEW TEXTURED PIECES USING THE SIZZIX

It got a little cooler tonight in the "studio" (the hot messy garage!), so I cut some 30 gauge copper strips and got out my newly purchased "on sale" embossing folders. Actually one was given to me by my good friend Ellinor who found it at Hobby Lobby (the fan shaped design). I had tried to duplicate the pattern using the Cameo Silhouette. It would have taken several layers glued together, weeding out all the little pieces, to get the same effect. Thanks, Ellinor!!!

I love these textures and can't wait to rivet them to heavier copper to make a few more new cuffs. Here's a cuff I made earlier that I'm sure I shared.

My Latest Project -- COPPER CUFFS

I first saw these copper cuffs in Art Jewelry magazine (September 2014), and only yesterday did I gather all my supplies and attempt to make a few. The article was written by Eva Sherman, a very well-known jewelry artist. She had taken a class taught by Charles Lewton-Brain, author of the wonderful book, Foldforming. She asked him -- if she created a brand new foldforming technique, could it be named after her. Yes, he said. Hence, the Sherman Fold.

The Sherman Fold is created using round nose pliers, twisting the edge of your metal piece until you like it. Twisting, annealing, twisting, annealing, twisting ......

I started with a piece of 30 gauge copper, 2" wide x 8" long, and twisted the metal around the entire piece.

You can see in the photo I twisted with my pliers pointing straight. After you anneal the metal, you twist with your pliers pointing to the right and go around the whole piece. Anneal. Then you twist with the pliers going to the left. Anneal. Repeat these three steps. You need to lightly hammer the metal with a rawhide mallet after each of these steps to flatten it so it's manageable.

Remember ... You are having fun. Here's how your piece looks. What??!!!

Eventually, you will put your piece in the pickle pot, brush and rinse it, and it becomes something really nice.

In the meantime, you prepare your base piece, which is 20 gauge copper, 1-1/2" wide and 6" long. Of course, the length depends on the size of your wrist. You cut your 30 gauge piece 1-1/4" wide by 6" long (the same length as the 20 gauge).

You can see by this photo that I have cut the two pieces ... and have the leftovers to make other projects! I stamped the two hearts to appear in the inside of the cuff.

Next, trim the sharp corners and round them with a file or sandpaper. Now it's time to shape the two pieces. You need to work harden the 20 gauge piece on a bracelet mandrel(or baseball bat or whatever you have). Then lightly shape the 30 gauge piece and center it on the base piece. You can use painters' tape to hold it in place. The two pieces get riveted together, so you need to drill or punch two holes on each end, keeping 1/8" from the edge. I used copper nail head rivets that I inserted from the inside of the cuff, trimmed to a credit card length and then secured the rivet on the top side of the cuff.

Here's the Sherman Fold cuff put together. It will get a patina treatment with liver of sulfur later. I'll be sure to post a photo of the finished piece.

With the leftover piece that was cut off, I made a narrower 1" wide cuff.

Here's the third cuff I made using the Sizzix BIGkick machine and an embossing folder. I love it too!

Fold Forming Projects

A few days ago I mentioned a friend and I were working with copper and trying our hand at fold forming. It's been so much fun, and no smashed fingers yet! This pendant is not finished, but it is looking good. There are scratches that need to be sanded and then patina to be applied. This photo taken with my phone looks pretty large here; the pendant measures 1-1/2" x 2-1/4".

I visited the local jewelry supply store last week because my liver of sulfur was no longer working.  I'm referring to the small chunks in a can and you use only a small piece in warm water.  Well, they told me they no longer carry the can with the chunks ... there is a new product for us to try, liver of sulfur in a liquid form that is supposed to last a long time. We experimented a little yesterday, but my piece doesn't want to be dipped yet.

I worked on this heart wall hanging yesterday and finished it today.  The center heart is raised about 1/4" with cut tube pieces and is attached to the bottom piece with rivets.  Then the little bird's nest with turquoise beads added a nice touch. The coiled hanger is done with "The Coiling Gizmo". This simple gadget is amazing and so easy to use!   Do you have one?

All the coloring on this piece was done with the torch.