Chasing and Repoussé - Number Five

What does Wikipedia say about Chasing and Repoussé? Repoussé or repoussage is a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief. Chasing is the opposite technique to repoussé, and the two are used in conjunction to create a finished piece. It is also known as embossing.

I took another class in the Fusion Beads here in Seattle, this time with the wonderful Janice Berkebile. We were actually learning two techniques - basket weave and repousse/ chasing.

The piece was called "Fruit of the Vine" and this is what the finished jewellery looks like (Janice's own piece):

Here you see a pod filled with beads/ pearls and a beautiful leaf forged out of metal sheet. The pod was a very nice and intricate weave to learn, but I was primarily interested in the repousse technique. Honestly, it took me FOREVER to get a nice leaf shape out of a piece of copper sheet, but once I was finished, I was feeling like a king! unfortunately this is something I wasn't able to replicate at home yet, because the chasing tools are very pricy and I will have to find a very good reason (or sell some of my handiwork) to be able to justify a buy like this. So for the time being, I am keeping my beautiful leaf for myself. And hopefully later on I will find that reason to invest into a bundle of chasing tools.

Here is my pod:

And here is the leaf I'm so damn proud of:

Turquoise Set - Viking Knit Technique

Another bracelet I made with the Viking knit - I just bought these adorable turquoise beads (it's actually dyed magnesite of a brilliant colour!) - hexagon rondelles - and I want to use them in a thousand of designs!

The bracelet looks really nice on the wrist.

...and it comes with earrings!

My First Viking Bracelet

Here is my first finished design with the viking knit technique, a bracelet I made in the class with Tracy Stanley.
Copper wire and copper findings (handmade clasp:) and keshi pearls with handmade headpins.

Thanks Tracy! Such a great lesson! I can do it all by myself now! More coming...

Copper and pearls earrings

So couple days ago there were earrings with copper washers and pearls, here comes yet another design with copper and pearl combination. These earrings are wirewrapped - so far my favourite technique.

They were an order for my mum's friend - her ears aren't pierced, so I worked with leverbacks. The moment I put the photo on Facebook, another friend asked for the same design, for pierced ears. Nice networking:)

Coiled Coils

This was one of the projects, that were not properly planned in advance, where I didn't know what I was looking for and just experimented and went with the flow...

It's one of my older works that I never saw worthy putting on the blog (that was until somebody bought it:) - please note that all the coiling was done before I discovered the "Coiling Gizmo".

Old Design/ New Design - Reworking a Finished Design

More copper washers! Don't say you didn't see it coming (especially after I blogged yesterday how addicting working with washers is).

So there are two different designs on the following pictures. If you think that they look very much alike, you are completely right, because it is one and the same pair of earrings. First photo shows a combination of three different sizes of washers bound together by a copper wire - that was the original idea. I have added some silver coloured wire as an interesting detail, but then I noticed, that the washers are slightly turning while being worn, which caused irregularity in the detail (you can see the silver wire at a different position on the second photo).
I gave it a thougt and as much as I hate reworking a finished project, I wanted it to be 'perfect'. In order to stop the washers from turning, I drilled holes into them and secured with a piece of the same wire used for the contrasting detail.

I hope you like the "upgrade"!

First Wirewrapped Cabochon

My first wirewrapped cabochon ever...
It's not the greatest, not as good as I imagined it to be, but - there is a first for everything and this blog is a collection of firsts. That's how discovery works - a series of firsts. Wait for number 2 (oh no, not that, you dirty minds:), it ought to be better!