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!

Handmade Bangles - A Version In Sterling Silver

I love making bangles and have so far just made them using copper wire. These, much to my surprise, have proved really popular and I must now be the copper bangle making expert of old Eastbourne town!

I had a recent commission for a cuff bangle which was to be a Father of the bride present. The theme of the wedding was amethyst so the customer wanted two small amethyst cabs set at each end of the copper cuff.

I used 1.5mm gauge copper sheet for the cuff which I textured with a hammer, shaped then set the 4mm amethyst cabs. Making the bezels was fiddly as the cabs are so small and I did keep my fingers crossed slightly when soldering the bezels to the bangle but it worked out fine and my customer was pleased. I now have plans to use more of the 1.5mm sheet to make more bangles.

So of course my mind eventually started wandering and thinking about using sterling silver. I have various gauges of silver wire and did think of using 1.6mm but when I tried it with copper the bangle was a bit too easy to bend out of shape even after work hardening and tumbling so I decided to go for 1.8mm which worked much better and forms a nice slim but sturdy bangle.

I think I will try 2mm wire next time as the weight should still come under 7.78g so I wouldn't need to hallmark the bangles. Strangely I found soldering the thinner gauges of wire much harder than the thicker 2.6mm and 3.25mm copper I'm used to using! There isn't much tension in the wire to hold the join together and I ended up holding the two ends together with my pliers to stop them moving as the wire heated up when I was soldering.
The silver bangles make a lovely jingling sound when you wear them and as it's my birthday soon I think I will treat myself with a set :D

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 someone to do the printing for me. The transferring of the pattern to the silver looks tricky to do too. It would by far be the most sensible way to go though so maybe I will get over my reluctance and just do it one day.

Nail varnish has been the most successful resist I've used so far so thinking about it a while ago I pondered on how to get designs in nail varnish onto silver. I'm not blessed in the drawing department so apart from doing dots, attempting to draw patterns freehand in varnish was not even considered! I did remember a project in Art Jewelry magazine from a while ago where the designer Dana Evans etched some silver using nail art stamps.  At the time I didn't really get it, the process looked complicated and I hadn't done any etching at that point so it didn't really grab me that much. But now it seemed a great way to get some patterns on silver so I researched nail art stamps and bought the stuff I needed.

This photo shows the metal plate etched with various designs, a nail art stamper (top right), a scraper and a WH Smith clubcard that I never use! I used the card instead of the scraper as I found it easier. I bought the nail art plate from Amazon - it's a Cheeky brand plate. The stamper and scraper came from ebay. Don't do what I did and order one of the cheap pattern plates on ebay as they are poor quality copies of the brand versions, the etching is shallow and the edges are very sharp and will shred your fingers if you're not careful. I still have the scars on my thumb. I spent a couple of hours one morning driving myself mad trying to get the stamper to pick up the design from the cheap plate which just didn't work as the pattern isn't deep enough. I thought I was destined to be a nail art failure! That was until I bought a genuine design plate and when I tried using it with the stamper it was so easy. I  didn't think the ebay seller of the faulty plate would want it returned with remnants of my blood on it (quite a lot of blood) but I did leave relevant feedback for a shoddy product which made me feel better.

So, how does it work? It's really simple - you apply nail varnish along one side of your chosen design (the one-coat varnishes are recommended or you could use an old varnish that has thickened), use the metal scraper or plastic card to spread the varnish over the entire design then press the stamper onto the design. The stamper picks up the pattern in varnish and then you stamp your metal (or if you're normal your nail).

I practiced on a bit of paper first and also swapped the nail varnish as the green one started peeling off the metal for some reason. You have to work quickly and have a supply of cotton pads/buds and nail varnish remover ready to clean everything after each use. It's a bit fiddly but I did get quicker as I got used to it. If you mess it up you just remove the nail varnish and start again. There are lots of videos on YouTube demonstrating the technique by people who have lovely nails unlike me :D You can't make metalwork jewellery and have lovely nails......

Stamped and ready for etching. I will admit I didn't think the nail varnish would hold up, it seemed pretty thin but after 4 long hours of being immersed in ferric nitrate the silver came out pretty well. I think my ferric nitrate may be on it's last legs as it is very cloudy and sludgy looking now. It might be time to replace it and find out from the council where I need to take the old stuff for it to be disposed of safely.

 

The silver after I'd removed the nail varnish and cleaned it with steel wool. You can click the images for a larger version for a better look.

It's still got a pink tinge from the nail varnish but that will disappear with the heat from my torch once I start using the silver. It etched pretty well and cleanly so I am pleased with it. 

The obvious drawback is the small size of the designs - they are about 17mm wide. I bought the "jumbo" size design plates but as they are meant for use on nails they aren't going to be very big. I think a bit of careful thought when it comes to how you are going to use the silver will mean you can make the most out of what you have. Which all sounds a bit cryptic! I like making small things so I'm happy with them :D