Zentangle Etching On Copper

I've never tried doing Zentangle designs, I don't think I'm good enough at drawing if I'm honest, but I do love Zentangle patterns! A jewellery maker friend of mine recently very kindly sent me two Deborah Read zentangle stamps (thanks Jill!)
I thought I'd use them for etching and decided to try a different way of suspending the copper sheet in the ferric chloride this time too. I normally stick the copper pieces to packing tape and suspend the tape across my etching dish so the copper is immersed in the etching liquid as shown in the photo below.....

This works fine for small pieces but anything larger than about 1.5 inches is too heavy for the tape and pulls it down so it ends up touching the bottom of the dish. It also means the copper pieces start to peel off the tape after about an hour which is not good news if you want to do a deep etch! The answer would be to get a deeper dish and more ferric chloride but I thought I'd try hanging the copper vertically in the etching solution this time.

I started by punching a hole in the top of each piece of copper then covered the back with nail varnish to protect it. You can apply nail varnish to the sides too but as I will be cutting shapes from the etched pieces and not using the whole piece I didn't bother this time. I then applied Stayz On ink to the zentangle stamp when I eventually decided which part of the fabulous crazy heart pattern I wanted to use! I cleaned the front of the copper with wire wool then placed it onto the stamp and pressed firmly.
The photo shows the copper piece on the stamp (with unintentionally colour co-ordinated nail varnish!) and you can see how I managed to get lots of bits of wire wool stuck to the back too :D

The second zentangle stamp inked up before stamping. This one has lots of cool designs to choose from too.

The stamped pieces of copper

Next I needed a plastic container suitable for hanging the copper pieces vertically. I found just what I needed in the kitchen cupboard. It was an old measuring beaker and was just the right size for the amount of ferric chloride I have. I found a couple of sticks outside and armed with some 16g copper wire I attached the stamped copper pieces to the sticks and dangled them in the etching solution. I left them for just over an hour, lifting them up and giving them a wiggle every now and then to remove any etched away copper particles.

I then soaked the copper pieces in water and bicarb, dried them and cleaned the ink off with wire wool. I've noticed this seems to produce fumes which could be a reaction between the etching solution and the steel in the wire wool. It makes me cough sometimes so I'd do it in a ventilated area or outside. I don't know of a quicker way to remove the ink than using wire wool. Heating the metal with a torch would remove it but will probably create fumes too and pickling it doesn't get rid of the ink.

The finished etched pieces partly cleaned up with wire wool. I removed the nail varnish on the back with acetone and washed the copper before pickling it which cleans it thoroughly and helps to stop it tarnishing too quickly.

I found etching this way was much less messy, and there was no fiddling with sticky tape. The only extra step is painting the back with nail varnish and adding the hanging hole. I noticed you don't get the "Jesus ray" effect around the edges of the metal you get with the other method either.

I'm glad I tried etching this way as it's ideal for larger pieces that I was having trouble with previously. I'm going to use the same method next time I etch some silver as silver takes so much longer than copper and I was having problems with it falling off the tape. I'm really glad I didn't throw that measuring beaker away last time I had a kitchen cupboard clear out!

The Perfect Wire Gauge For Hoop Earrings

I think I've found the perfect wire gauge for hoop earrings - 2mm. This is just my opinion and probably many would disagree! But..................I've made hoop earrings from various gauges from 20g/0.8mm (big no there, way too flimsy) to 1.5mm and 2mm definitely feels just right. It forms sturdy feeling hoops that don't bend out of shape but aren't too heavy so are nice and comfortable to wear.

I've always loved hoop earrings and I am wearing a pair right now. I've often seen the handmade hoops made from 20g/0.8mm wire with the hammered bottom section and thought they looked cool. These are the one's where you form a loop on one end and the hook on the other end of the wire. I did make a pair a long time ago but soon realised that they were much too flimsy and would easily bend out of shape as you tried to fasten them. I tried the same in 18g/1mm which were a bit sturdier but the 1mm wire was too big for the holes in my ears and actually hurt to wear so that idea was shelved. Reluctantly.

I've made various hoops since with complete hoops and separate ear wires and have always felt vaguely dissatisfied with them. They were fine but still not quite robust enough for what I wanted so when I made some hoops from some 2mm sterling wire I bought recently I was really pleased that they turned out how I wanted.

I made three different designs - one with a copper and silver etched disc dangling from the bottom ~

The second pair has a small silver heart that I cut out from sheet and soldered to a backing of copper before soldering to the bottom of the hoop. Making the heart was fiddly, I seem to have this perverse desire to make very small things and make life hard for myself! The ring clamp I sometimes use to hold things for filing wouldn't grip the tiny hearts so I did a lot of fumbling and managed to file part of my finger while I was finishing them :D

The wooden box is one of two I picked up from a local discount store. They were plain pine so I decided to stamp and stain them. They were sitting on the table when I was photographing the earrings earlier today and I thought they might be ok for the "dangle" shot so I tried them and I think they look alright and a change from the usual bright green vase/leather pen holder I normally use. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with the boxes, what I'm going to put in them or even where I'm going to put them but I like them!

 The third pair of hoops have a leaf shape in etched silver soldered to the bottom. The etched silver sheet was only 24g/0.6mm which would have been a bit thin on it's own so I soldered it to a base of 20g/0.8mm and trimmed the edges. Soldering the jump rings to the top was a bit stressful as I still struggle with the small fiddly bits but it got better after the first one. There was only a little bit of swearing this time.........

Summer Colour - Enamel Flower Earrings and Pendants

After a few weeks of concentrating on metalwork making hollow form pendants and earrings I needed a burst of colour so out came the enamel powders and some pretty pre-cut copper flower blanks. Yes I could saw out the flowers myself but I didn't :D
I felt like mixing up the colours a bit by sifting a mixture of opaque enamels together and firing at the same time. Previously I would only do one colour and fire it then add another colour, fire, then another colour but mixing the second layer of enamel colours saves time and doesn't do any harm. Mixing two different enamel powders won't result in a new colour as such, eg. mixing red and yellow won't produce orange but a speckled blend of red and yellow. Mixing similar shades is good as the different coloured speckles aren't as obvious so the end colour looks more solid. It gives you more options.

The earrings above are a base layer of seafoam then another layer of seafoam mixed with lichen and pea which produced a lovely sea green shade with sprinkles of brown and cream added on top.

I made a pendant with the same colours but this time I mixed the seafoam, lichen amd pea enamels and put them in a pot. The resulting colour was slightly different to the earrings but that's the fun of mixing your own blends - you don't know how they will turn out until you fire them the first time. You can then add another colour in the second layer to change the overall look if you want to. As I'm writing this I've had a sudden urge to try to achieve an ombre effect with similar shades of enamel. I think applying the enamels wet with a brush will be the way to go. This idea obviously need some thought.........

These bright young things, currently on their way to Oregon, are a mixture of sunset orange with sprinklings of scarlet, pink and brown. The pink completely disappeared in the orange and the brown is very subtle too (in other words you can hardly see it!)

I was asked to make the pendant for a custom order which means I'm now out of the cute flower blanks. I did create a few templates just in case I had a sudden rush of blood to the head and felt like sawing out my own flowers which I may do as I now do enjoy sawing which is something I never thought I would say, or I might just buy a few more which would be much easier if a bit more expensive!

I wanted to use up some sterling beads and spacers I've had for ever so combined them with some more mixed colour enamel discs and "lily pads". It's nice to do a bit of wirework every now and then!