Skip to main content

New Designs - Enamel Earrings And Copper Bangles


I've been trying out some new designs with my enamel earrings recently by combining a layer of etched copper and a layer of enamel beneath it. The copper layer has pierced out sections which allow the enamel colour to show through as the earrings are worn. I've made just two pairs for now in orange and blue and it's possible the design idea may evolve if I think hard enough about it....... :D



I've also made a few new copper bangle designs partly as a result of a custom order for two bangles in sterling silver. Having copper wire meant I could try out what my customer was asking for using a less expensive metal first until a decision was made.
This inspired me to make a couple of new designs and an improved version of a recent addition to my bangle-ing enterprises.
The first is a hammered copper bangle made from 4mm round wire.


I kept the round shape by hammering the texture before the bangle was soldered {which was quite a lot of hammering!} instead of what I normally do which is to solder the wire then hammer the texture when the bangle is on the bangle mandrel which results in the wire being flattened slightly. The result is a lovely chunky, substantial bangle.

The second new design is a triple set of textured bangles with three rounded square shape rings linking them together.




I also made another loopy bangle this time making sure I had enough wire to form 7 loops instead of the 6 loops I made with the first attempt. The loops are also more upright than the first bangle.
I think it looks like a little copper tiara.......




Having an odd number of loops in the new version means the straight part of the wire is at the same level at either end of the loops rather than at opposite points as it was with the first attempt you can see in the photos here...


I'm very tempted to make a bangle that is almost entirely loops with a small section of straight wire for the join. I think that idea might need a bit of tweaking and the copper wire a lot of annealing but I'm sure it will be do-able!




Copyright © 2015 Cinnamon Jewellery. All rights reserved.

Comments

  1. I love the new peekaboo earrings; you can experiment with all sorts of keyhole shapes. Reading about your copper bangle reminded me that I made a copper wire bracelet entirely made of loops during my initial wire working days, I think I'll go looking for it now

    ReplyDelete
  2. The pieces are all gorgeous! I love the rustic look of the bangles.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the earrings, they're absolutely gorgeous! What a great design. I rather like the skewed look of you first loop bangle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kasia. I bet if I tried to repeat that look on the copper bangle I would be able to do it!

      Delete
  4. You are amazing, let me tell you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely - love the 4g wire hammered bracelet and the new peekaboo earrings

    ReplyDelete
  6. Those earrings are FANTASTIC! That orange enamel goes great with the warmth of the copper. You are inspiring me Tracy! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love using the orange enamel! Thanks Kalaya :D

      Delete
  7. Hi ya, just pass by coincidentally. Those earrings are absolutely beautiful. Tracy you are great, and copper jewelleries do inspire me great time.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Your comments and questions are very welcome!
If you would prefer to contact me directly please use the contact form on my "get in touch" page.

Popular posts from this blog

Combining Soldering And Enamel

The need to make cute, brightly coloured enamel studs propelled me into the world of combining soldering with enamel a couple of years ago. I knew from reading up on it that it was possible to enamel and solder on the same piece but wasn't too confident I was able to do it back then. It was a slightly embarrassing occurance that made me just get on with - I'd made some enamel studs with glued on stud posts. I'd used 2 part epoxy resin which was a job in itself as it set hard after 5 minutes so I had to keep mixing more up. The finished studs looked ok but that little voice in my head kept asking "are you sure you want to use glue?" I wasn't but didn't think I had any other way to do it so I used glue. I sold my first pair and merrily sent them on their way to Canada. A couple of week later the buyer got in touch to say the stud post had come off one of the earrings and the other was hanging off. I was mortified, apologized profusely and refunded her m

Torch Enamelling - What I've been Up To Recently!

I've admired enamelled jewellery for a while now and not too long ago did a blog post about Etsy seller tekaandzoe  and her wonderful kiln enamelled creations. I didn't think at the time that it was something I would ever be able to do as the cost of kilns plus lack of space would be a problem for me. That wasn't until I saw an advert for a torch enamelling tutorial from US jewellery supplies website Beaducation  by Steven James . It's a great tutorial showing the basics on how to torch enamel on copper. Of course I bought it! I then spent hours scouring the internet for more information on torch enamelling, where to buy the tools I'd need and of course the enamel powders. There are quite a few UK sites selling enamelling supplies and tools but as usual I found the US sites had more choice (why do we always lag behind?) I bought some enamel powders from a couple of UK sites to begin with - Cookson Gold have a good selection but bear in mind the leaded enamels ha

Etching Silver Using Nail Art Stamps

So my love/hate relationship with etching sterling silver continues. I've tried a few times now and always end up with different results most of them not that great to be honest. I've tried connecting the silver and a piece of copper to a 9v battery and also heating the ferric nitrate. Sometimes the results are good sometimes not so good. I currently have an etched piece of silver sheet waiting to be reticulated and rid it of the mess that is the etched "pattern".  I now know that using stamps and Stayz On ink just doesn't work with silver - the time needed to etch using ferric nitrate is much longer than etching copper and the ink starts to wear away after about an hour. This results in the pattern being patchy as the resist is eaten away and the silver ends up quite lumpy and course looking. I have yet to try using pnp paper. I don't know why but it all seems a bit of a faff to do. I don't have a laser printer so would need to find somewhere or