Week 37 of the Earring Challenge

These earrings are cutout copper discs that have been heat treated to bring out different colors. They have been riveted with a spacer so they float above the sterling silver disc, casting small shadows.  The copper has a waxed surface to preserve their color. These earrings have sterling silver ear post and nuts.

Week 35 and 36 of the Earring Challenge

The past few weeks have been very busy. I did my first show of this year at the Sertoma Arts Center and it was a beautiful sunny day. That was a lot of fun; it was great to see everyone that could come out.

These sets of earrings are part of a small series of colored pencil flowers I’m currently working on. They are copper cut out flowers that have been decorated with colored pencil then glossed to hold their design. The handmade hooped ear wires are sterling silver. 

Week 34 of the Earring Challenge

These fun little earrings are layered copper and sterling silver discs. I pierced a pattern into the sterling silver disc. The three discs are set one over the other and riveted together. They hang from handmade sterling silver ear wires.

Tin and Leather

This year my husband and I celebrated our 10^th wedding anniversary. I wanted to make him something unique and something that he would like to wear. This started a journey of “tinsploration” that took me 3 months to work on ideas, mess up, create, recreate and finally complete. He is wearing it now so I’m convinced the project was a success.

The cuff is black leather covered in small tin buttons. I cut and formed the tin so it would stand out on the cuff. Each tin piece was formed then sprayed with a hard gloss to keep its paintwork intact. I then tube riveted the tin to a copper disc on the opposite side of the leather. Once done riveting I glued a thin strip of leather to the back side for a comfortable fit. 

Week 33 of the Earring Challenge

This week I made simple sweet post earrings. These earrings are a take on my colored pencil patina I so like to use. They are small flower cutouts that have been colored and sealed with a gloss. The flowers are riveted with a small spacer to a sterling silver disc. They have sterling silver posts and ear nuts.

Week 31 and Week 32 of the Earring Challenge

These past two weeks I have been very busy with so many different projects to finish. I just caught up with my weekly earring challenge and, I am really happy with how they turned out.

These earrings are hammered sterling silver flowers with heat treated copper centers. I just love the all the great colors I can get from heat treating the copper. The copper centers are riveted with sterling wire and spacers to suspend them over the silver flower. They have handmade sterling silver ear wires. 

Week 30 of the Earring Challenge

This week technical difficulties caused a big delay. The colored pencil patina on these failed the first time and reapplying, then drying took all week. I’m working on a few similar pairs in blues, purples, and yellows. With so many color possibilities to explore I just have to make more.  

These earrings are sterling silver wire with three small flowers. The flowers are copper with a colored pencil patina that has been sealed with a gloss.