Rolling Mill Pendants and Handmade Neckwires

My posts have dropped to about once a month - I've been busy adding tools, techniques, and new designs to my shop and my local artists' studio.  One tool I've been playing with again is my rolling mill - I still love this alternative to etching that is chemical and waste free!  Plus, it's more versatile too.

Copper pendant - patterned in a rolling mill and "painted" with fire.

Here are a pair of pendants that I created with the rolling mill - another cool thing about the mill is that when you make a metal sandwich to impress your pattern, you get two imprints at the same time!  I chose to use sterling silver and copper so the pendants are similar but different. 

Silver pendant - patterned with a rolling mill and hammer; painted with LOS.

I added additional texture to the silver pendant in the form of dots along the petals.  Both the copper and the silver pendant have been patinaed for create the variation of color on their surfaces.  Next, I made neckwires for both.

Completed necklace with handmade neckwire.

For the copper one, I flattened one side of the copper with the rolling mill and then hand twisted the wire.  For the silver one, I twisted gold-filled and sterling silver together and then finished it off with a handmade chain and clasp.

Completed necklace with handmade neckwire with chain.

Until next time!
Hannah

Art Piece - Jaguar in the Jungle

I have completed another wall art piece!  This one features cheetah agate, a brass jaguar, and copper imprinted with leaves and ferns.  Love the little details on this one!

Jaguar in the Jungle - a wall art piece about 12" long, mounted on wood.

The brass outline was drawn and then hand cut from brass sheet.  The copper was "etched" with my rolling mill and actual dried ferns and leaves.  I love the rolling mill - no acids or other chemicals and no waste to dispose of.  Plus, just look at those imprints! 

Copper - rolling mill "etching" with real leaves and ferns

Cheetah agate - gorgeous, natural cat-like pattern!

This piece has the cheetah agate slab embedded in the wood, so it is nearly flush with the surface.  It's ready to find a "forever home" and be hung up!

 

More to come!

Thanks for stopping by,
~Hannah

Silversmithing & Stonesetting - Pendants

I've met one of my goals for this year - setting stones in sterling silver again! 

I don't mean wire-wrapping, either.  I have loved wire-wrapping for the last couple of years and will continue to wire-wrap, but I'm very excited to be setting stones in traditional (and eventually a little less traditional) bezel settings! 

Bigg's Jasper Pendant in sterling silver

I have 2 completed pendants to show right now and more on the way.  I've handmade each bezel setting from sterling silver sheet metal and sterling silver wire, depending on the pendant.  My cabochons are usually impulse buys and they are rarely calibrated so even if I wanted to (and really, where's the fun and creativity in it?!), I couldn't just buy a pre-made cabochon setting to mount my cabochons into.  But I'm okay with that!

Bigg's Jasper Pendant in sterling silver - details.

The first pendant shows off a Biggs Jasper cabochon and a notched bezel setting.  My bezel wire was plain and smooth to begin with - I made each notch to add a little something to the pendant without overwhelming the stone. 

Azurite-Malachite Pendant in sterling silver.

The second pendant is a triangular blue azurite with a hint of green malachite cabochon.  I've held onto this cab since college!  Again, to dress up the pendant some without detracting from the stone, I textured the bezel wire with my rolling mill prior to making the cab setting.  I love the rolling mill, because unlike acid etching, there is no waste and no toxic chemicals to clean up.  It's simple, clean, and green - imprint any pattern or design into your metal with a quick roll through the mill!

Azurite-Malachite Pendant in sterling silver - details.

Hope you enjoyed!
Happy Creating,
SSS

Practice Practice Practice

(looking for my BSBP 8 Reveal?  Follow this link!)

My metalsmithing workbench is mostly setup - or at least as setup as it's going to get until I buy more tools - and I've begun the process of "trial and error" for original stone settings again!  I've drawn up several and want to dive right in to sterling silver again, but I decided maybe I should practice a little in copper since it has been several years.....

My 1st solder-free stone setting - Carnelian and Copper

This is my first piece of "practice" - a carnelian cabochon set in copper.  A prong setting isn't necessarily unique, but this one has a little something going for it because I used no solder!  The inspiration came from the May 2014 Art Jewelry Magazine, "Cold Captures:  Push-up Prongs" by Michael David Sturlin. 

Solder-free stone setting - Carnelian and Copper

I learned several things in practice that made me glad I didn't start with sterling. 

1. Sandpaper makes excellent sparkly texture on copper when rolled through the mill
2. Said excellent texture is much less sparkly if you have to re-anneal the piece.  Sigh.
3. More planning is needed to preserve the sparkles!

So the original finish, if you couldn't tell, was going to be quite a bit different than what I ended up with.  I'm still happy with it, but it's harder to really see the effect of the rolling mill printing in photos.  Instead of sparkles, I have a light flame patina over a low-relief rough texture.  The carnelian shows up nicely against the oxidized copper, though.....

Solder-free setting - push-up prongs and roll-over bail.

Speaking of the carnelian, I did learn that this prong setting technique is really much better suited to small stones.  I don't recall the article suggesting any particular size of stone, but the ones used were much smaller, or at least had a lower dome.  I tried the solder-free settings because I was curious.  This stone is pretty secure unless someone really pushes from the back and doesn't care about damaging the stone, but I like my settings to have a better hold on the stone than this one provides for this size cab.  I do plan on trying again with smaller stones because let's face it - a solder-free, glue-free bezel sounds pretty good sometimes! 

I do have a rather large soft spot for bezel settings though, and will no doubt practice on those for my next stone.  Now to pick out a stone.....

Happy Creating,
PZ