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Saturday, August 22, 2009

Copper Etching

The Cricket pendant and the Humming bird are my favorites. My sister Rosanne had a day planned for us to play while I was Michigan. Rosanne had copper shapes cut out in advance. She was prepared for our day of playing with copper etching. I tried this process 6 years ago at the Arkansas Bead Retreat in a class with Judith Giffin of Beadline Studios. I still have the cuff bracelet I made. It has really nice patina from age. I had to get it out and put it on while wrote this post. We tried not to get carried away. We limited ourselves to a dozen shapes. We stamped our pieces and set them in the acid to etch. After 30 minutes in the etching solution. We had to neutralize the pieces with baking soda. The pieces are rinsed in water and set out to dry. We used liver of sulfur and steel wool steel to color and finish the metal. I bought this great magazine from Interweave press called handcrafted jewelry. It is filled with how to's and comparisons using different materials to create your own unique one of kind jewerly elements. Additional information can be found on the Art Scene Blog under tutorials. Thanks for stopping by.

6 comments:

susanc said...

I've always wanted to try etching and now I will - thank you for sharing this process. I just bought the magazine yesterday after seeing at at Borders. It has lots of good information in it and I know I will get a lot out of it.

SummersStudio said...

What a fun way to spend a day with your sis. Those pieces are lovely.

Rosanne said...

Great post Bev, those pieces turned out so nice. I forgot what we should polish them with. Please tell me again ok? I want to see you "mix" them up with other mediums.......

Beverly Herman said...

Johnson Paste Wax. The can says "enriches, beautifies and protects wood, metal, leather and plastics"
It really put shine on the copper. Let me know if you would like me to put some in a container and send it to you.

Thanks everyone for stopping by!

KV said...

Neat stuff, Bev!


Kathy V in NM

Unknown said...

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