Week 21-Bronze Viking Knit Necklace

The theme for this week had something to do with red. I've been involved in the campaign to recall Rick Snyder so I'm so far behind I don't remember. :D So this is a bronze single Viking knit necklace. The center decoration is wired to the chain. I pictured it in my head as bigger and blingier but I wasn't about to do it over. The centerpiece is keishi pearls with garnets in the center. The spirals are wired with black spinels that have a nystic coating. I first photographed it leaving the wire bright but later decided to oxidize it. That was a good move because that's when it sold. People seem to like patinas lately.

Bronze Decorative Wirewrap Bracelet

This bracelet is based on a tutorial by Arja, a talented jewelry artist from Finland. This one is made from bronze wire with blue quartz beads. She has a very clever way of creating the loops and a hidden clasp. Nice tutorial, Arja!

Week 18-Victorian Key in Bronze

This was made on request from my Victorian Key Pendant tutorial only with bronze wire and silver beads with amethyst gems. It's been so long since I made one I had to get out my own tutorial to do it. :D Since the bronze oxidizes a lot faster than silver, it got very dark in the crevices. I wish I knew of way to remove some of the patina from the bronze without removing it from the silver.

Week 17-Dancing Leaf Necklace

This necklace is my version of a spectacular silver piece in Sharilynn Miller's new book Wire Art Jewelry Workshop. She calls hers the Dancing Man necklace. Since mine was constructed to showcase a gorgeous lampwork glass leaf by Jacqueline Parkes of Gems in Bloom on Etsy and I stink at thinking up clever names, I think I'll call mine Dancing Leaf necklace. :D My necklace is made of bronze wire with paraiba quartz and labradorite as the main stones. It's accented with smaller gems of paraiba quartz, iolite, pearl and chrysoprase that pick up the colors in the leaf.

Week 16-A Bit of Bollywood

Nothing too complicated for this week but I like the bright colors. I think they give these a bit of Bollywood feel. They’re made of bronze wire, purple and red hydro quartz, and peridot briolettes. I used LOS to oxidize them.

Bronze Bracelets and Patinas

I've had some questions about how to patina the phosphor bronze wire that I now carry in my Artfire shop. Here are three different Viking knit bangles that I made showing three different options. I love all of these finishes so it's really a matter of personal preference. The first one is the shiny bright wire just as it comes off the coil. I really didn't even need to run this through the tumbler.

The second bracelet with the squiggle clasp got a light patina using JAX Brown-Black Darkener although I'm sure the Midas brand that Rio carries would work the same. This solution is clear and the color develops slowly so it's possible to have much more control than with LOS. When using this type of patina it's important that your metal be well cleaned first to remove any oils that might interfere with the patina. One of my metalsmithing instructors insists on cleaning hers with a toothbrush and soap or scouring powder. But I've found that a run through the tumbler with a little dishsoap or burnishing powder does the job as well. I left this one in the solution until it got a slightly aged look, then rinsed it. I didn't use any steel wool or remove any of the patina.

The third example uses LOS which works beautifully on clean bronze. This got quite dark as you can see in the crevices and I did use 0000 steel wool to buff off some of the patina from the high spots.

Week 15-Bronze and Turquoise Earrings

I finally had a chance to sit down and actually make something with my supply of bronze wire. The lacy edging on these earrings was inspired by Yati Salem. The brios and dangles are turquoise and they're topped with a 4mm pearl. I haven't added a patina to these but I kind of like this wire shiny.