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Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Copper Love


I do love copper more than other metals. I always admire the jewelry others make using Sterling Silver, and have worked with it in wire form a very tiny bit, as well as brass, but they just don't feel as "right" to me. I have decided to expand my horizons once again and go back to trying both more silver and brass in the future; today it's still copper.

These copper "Ripple Slim Sticks" started as two small pieces of left over sheet. I played with them for a while pondering whether I wanted to use them right then or not. Then I grabbed a few high-tech devices, a slim pen, a paint brush, stepped pliers. :) That was the fun part.
Ripple Slim Sticks
was a bad day for picture taking ;)





The edges were ground and polished. As an aside. . . . have you ever used the polishing wheel on a dremel? I just recently tried it. It's an off white, small wheel attachment that looks like felt. Amazing! Doesn't seem to me as if it could do much of anything but it smooths the rough metal beautifully! Anyway, they were oxidized, then I applied a blue patina. These required only one coat, about 12 hours.

I started off dangling colorful beads down in the usual fashion and never got past a few beads. It blurred the Ripple Slim Sticks. So I decided to dangle them up! Pulled it together with a handcrafted copper bead at the top and a small piece of wire for the loop.

So that's about it. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by.

Norbel Marolla

10 comments:

  1. These are great Norbel! I adore the tiny Czech beads at the top! And the copper drops are perfectly rippled with just the right amount of color. Sounds like a lot of work! They turned out lovely!

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    1. Thank you, Cindy. Ya know, for me, it is time consuming but I Really enjoy it. It's the whole making something with your own hands thing. :) Thanks again!

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  2. Fabulous creations Norbel! I also love the beads on top, I actually had to enlarge the picture to see exactly how they were done. Love the Ripples too!!

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    1. Thanks Kristi. I'm glad you were able to enlarge it. It was a terrible day for pictures.Thank you!

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  3. Stupendous, Norbel. I love how you make your beads defy gravity!

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    1. lol You make me laugh, Susan. :) It really was a fun little experiment, and I was pleased. Thank you so much.

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  4. You do copper so well Norbel. One can tell that this metal does it for you. Love how you enhanced it with rippling and Patina. I'm always in awe when I see other artist working with metal. The little beads on top perfectly complements the design.

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    1. Janine, I do know exactly what you mean. Metal and I are still getting to know each other. I spent a couple of years admiring the metal work and thinking I would not be able to do it. This is a new venture for me. But there are some great products out there that although still relatively unpredictable, make patina work a little easier I think than it used to be. I thank you so much.

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    2. Janine, I do know exactly what you mean. Metal and I are still getting to know each other. I spent a couple of years admiring the metal work and thinking I would not be able to do it. This is a new venture for me. But there are some great products out there that although still relatively unpredictable, make patina work a little easier I think than it used to be. I thank you so much.

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  5. More Norbel cleverness! Love what you've done with the dinky beads here!!

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