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Etched Silver and Copper Wirework Earrings



I managed to catch up with myself last week after a couple of biggish findings orders recently that kept me busy for two whole days and made a few pairs of earrings. I used some copper and silver I'd etched and ventured into wire work territory that I don't do a lot of these days. Just simple bead loops but it was fun getting my beads out again and choosing colours and the quickness of making them was a nice change!






I bought these czech glass beads a while ago from Lima Beads and I love the colours. They have a large selection of czech beads but I couldn't see the kiwi green colour anymore sadly.

I also used some of the sterling silver sheet I'd etched using nail art stamps. The etched designs are small so I was a bit restricted and kept it pretty simple.....




The shape of this pair with the garnet cabochons reminds me of little handbags (kind of). It's the first pair I've made with garnets and I love the colour combination with the oxidized silver. I put a piece of foil behind the cabs as the silver will continue to oxidize and will eventually go black. The foil keeps the area behind the cabs bright and also reflects the light making the garnets appear even redder.






I am back at night school again for my 2nd year of silver jewellery classes. It's nice as seven of us from last year have come back plus four new people have started. We've been learning to cast using delft clay and cuttlefish bone. I didn't fancy the delft clay method so I had a go at casting some of my scrap silver using the cuttlefish bone method last Tuesday....... more of which I shall blog about soon!
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Comments

  1. Tania CovoFriday, October 11, 2013

    Love the garnet earrings! I paint inside the bezels with metal lacquer to stop the silver oxidising behind the stones. I read that tip in a copy of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, so it must be common practice in the US?
    XTania

    ReplyDelete
  2. Keith@ Vintage Crab Jewelry and CraftsSaturday, October 12, 2013

    Excellent work, beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cinnamon JewellerySaturday, October 12, 2013

    Thanks for your comments!
    Good tip Tania :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Blackpool Music GroupThursday, October 17, 2013

    What a great combination of metals with coloured stones, especially the garnets. Well done!

    ReplyDelete

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