Happy 50th, Doctor.

I watched a lot of Dr Who this past year.  It was my time-passer of choice during the last weeks of my pregnancy.  At two weeks overdue in July, I didn't want to leave my couch or air conditioning.  After my son was born, I watched it regularly during middle of the night feedings.  I thought some of the images from the show would look cool engraved into oxidized copper - especially the cybermen and daleks.  I decided to start with a dalek piece and here is what I came up with:

 I started out by scavenging some pieces of copper sheet and trimming away rough edges.  Then I filed, sanded and buffed the edges smooth.  I used a series of sandpapers to finish the faces of each piece, starting with 220 grit, then 320, 400 and finally 600.

I wrapped 16 ga wire around a dowel and used my jeweler's saw to cut the resulting coil into individual jump rings which I used to link the three pieces of sheet and build the chains on either end of the bracelet.  I soldered the rings shut to make the bracelet as sturdy as possible.

The same 16 ga wire was bent by hand to make a hook for the catch.
I tumbled the bracelet in steel shot for about 30 minutes to harden it.  Here it is after being tumbled along with a few other "link" style pieces I am working on.

As much as I love the clean shiny, fresh-out-of-the-tumbler polished look, I wanted this bracelet to feel more worn, almost antique.  So I used one of my favorite patinas: Liver of Sulphur.

I warmed the bracelet in a cup of hot water before dipping it in the liver of sulphur because I think it helps the oxidation happen more evenly.
Once the piece was oxidized, I used my dremel tool to scratch the tardis and two daleks into the surface, exposing the shiny copper underneath.

It was a little awkward to avoid bumping some of the jump rings with the dremel and I only had one chance to get the pictures drawn.  Ideally I would be able to make the pieces first, get them exactly right, then link them.  However, I really wanted to solder the links and the heat from the torch would have burned off the patina.

Flowers for Valentine's Day

Now that it's February, I've been thinking about Valentine's day.  Jewelry and flowers make great gifts for your valentine, so I was inspired to make a set of jewelry using one of my favorite flowers: the dahlia.

I started out with a rough triangular piece of copper, then trimmed, filed and sanded the edges smooth.

Next, I drilled holes in the top two corners and threaded jump rings through them.  I attached some chain and soldered the jump rings closed.  Then I used my pliers to bend a piece of 16 gauge copper wire into a catch.

I oxidized the copper surface, then used my rotary tool to "draw" my design, exposing the shiny copper.  It seemed like a good idea to make a matching pair of earrings.

Both of these items are for sale in my etsy shop, Coppermare.