Making Copper Feather Earrings

I wanted to share some pictures of the process I go through to create a pair of copper sterling silver and brass feather earrings.

These earring are one of the few items that I make from a standard unvarying pattern I created. Because I don't have to think about each step making them, they are faster to make and the results are more predicable than my one of a kind pieces. 

But these feather earrings are a good example of some of the basic techniques I use to create many of my jewelry items.

The first step in making a piece is usually sawing the basic shape that will be the foundation of the piece, from a sheet of metal. In this picture I am starting by sawing the basic feather shapes from a sheet of copper.

After the basic form is sawed, all the edges that were sawed have to be filed smooth. When the shape has a lot of irregular edges or a lot of small details, this can take quite a while to do.

I do my soldering on a fire brick. This one is getting quite old and crumbly on top.

 Pieces that are created from metal through a process called fabrication are usually built up in layers. After the shapes of the feathers are sawed and the edges are filed smooth, I cut a piece of sterling silver wire and form it into a shape that will make a nice midrib or quill. This gets attached to the copper base using sterling silver solder and a torch. Soldering sterling silver on top of copper using silver solder can be a bit messy as the solder can flow out over the copper in patches. In some designs this can be a problem, but in feather earrings the different shades of colour that can result from this fit in with the natural colour variations that might be seen in feathers.

 The next step in making these earrings is to stamp the copper to give it some texture where it is representing the feather. This is a bit difficult because it is hard to see exactly where the stamp is sitting, and even a slightly wrong angle can throw off the general flow of the earrings.   

I then form ties on the sterling silver quills using brass wire. Once the tie is shaped, it is soldered into place on the copper back of the feather, the silver quill, and the loop where a ear hook will be connected. This is a bit tricky as it can be hard to see if all these points have been solidly attached when everything is coated with the flux, which becomes quite thick and glass like after soldering. This flux needs to be removed with a acid solution, and the parts closely inspected, before the piece can go on to be either fluxed and soldered again, or polished.

Once I am sure the parts that need to be solidly connected have been, and the pickling is finished I polish the earrings using progressively finer buffs and brushes.

I did a whole blog post on polishing which can be read here.

 Polishing is a greasy grimy dirty unpleasant finish to what was a more or less enjoyable task.  

After the earrings are polished and scrubbed off with hot water and soap, they are nearly finished and all that needs to be done is to make ear hooks out of .8mm sterling silver wire, and attach these to the feathers.

These are what they look like once they are finished. This pair is for sale on Etsy for $30.00 Canadian plus shipping.

Salt Spring Saturday Market Begins April 7, 2012

A new Market season is upon us, and I am looking forward to showing off all the new pieces I have created over the winter.

Here is a few samples

This ring had 2 set prehnite gemstones, on an unusual flowing sterling silver handcrafted ring band. It is found it's person and is no longer available.

This pendant has a large oval of soft pink rose quartz which is set in a cut work hand crafted sterling silver bezel. At the top, on the ornamental bail, is an oval cabochon of deep pinkish purplish tourmaline.   This pendant is $150.00. It is listed in Etsy.

These little sterling silver leaf, vine and grape earrings are $40.00

 These copper spiral earrings have sterling silver ear wires, a thinner spiral of brass which has been fused onto the copper, and a round deep red garnet in the center. ( Updated to add this pair is no longer available but this style is about $70)

These lacy sterling silver earrings have a long ornamental ear wire. ( Updated to add; This particular pair is no longer available, but this style ranges in price from $40 to $60 depending on the size.)

 This very wide ring has 2 soft green prehnite gemstones and a pastel oval of blue green tourmaline. This ring is no longer available.

These feather earrings are handcrafted from copper, sterling silver and brass. They are $30.00 and are available through Etsy.

This ring has a nice cabochon of peridot. It is no longer available but I have other rings that have a similar design.

This pendant is carved out of melinated chlorite. It is no longer available, but I am working on some pendants that are somewhat similar.

I hope to see you at the Salt Spring Saturday Market, but if you can't make it, you can see more of my work in my full service online store, in Etsy, Sunday through Friday, through link at the top of this page.

Enjoy

Elf Ear Jewelry

An important aspect of creativity is being willing to take a chance and try something new. As someone who relies on my craft of working with sterling silver, mixed metals and set gemstones for my livelihood, my creativity is often limited by what I am reasonably sure will sell, well.... at least someday. But I really enjoy thinking outside the box, and it is important for me to sometimes make things without knowing what the end result will be. Some of my more playful creations are an Elven looking type of upper ear jewelry.

The pair of peridot and sterling silver elf ears pictured above, is one of my first attempts at elf ear jewelry . They are beautiful on someone young, delicate and with a fair complexion, but I don't find them very comfortable, and I am no longer young or delicate. My ears are really sensitive and even a snug pair of reading glasses makes my head hurt after a few hours. Unfortunately these elf ears have the same effect in about ½ the time. When I made them sterling silver was a lot less expensive then it is now, and as a result of the rise in the cost of materials, these elf ears have become one of my most impractical creations.

I may modify these into a necklace or something more likely to sell..

But they are still pretty, and an interesting idea!

I have been working to modify this basic idea, and create something that is more comfortable and less expensive.

I came up with a design that seems to put a lot less pressure on the sensitive parts of my ear while at the same time clinging securely. I have made these newer Elf Ears or Upper Ear Leaf Ornaments out of copper to reduce the expense, and I like the leaves as they seem more subtly suggestive.

Single Copper and Bronze Elf Ear Leaf Upper Ear Ornaments With set Amber and Garnets
 This can be found in my Etsy shop.

This pair of copper Elf Ears is a variation of the pattern I used to create the pair that is sterling silver and peridot. They don''t  put as much pressure on my ears and the use of copper and bronze instead of silver makes them less expensive. they are set with glowing red orange hessonite garnets. This pair is no longer available, but I may make some along a similar style.

I will never be able to make more than a few pairs a year as they are quite labor intensive, but I have given someone in the Netherlands permission to use this design, to make more of these.

And my personal favorite are these simple single copper and bronze elf ear upper ear leaf ornaments.

These or similar ear ornaments are available through the ear cuff ear wrap section of on my Etsy shop, for $30.00.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ElfinWorks?section_id=11654137

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These look good on men too...

I will keep playing with this idea.

I hope you enjoyed your visit !