Feather/Leaf Bracelet Part Two

Yesterday, I made another fold formed copper bracelet.  This one I will be donating to a silent auction for a fundraiser I'm helping to organize.  I wanted to donate something cool and unusual, that will hopefully get lots of bids.  If I'm feeling froggy, I may make another one (though with a different finish) for the auction next week.  

Remember these bracelets?  Well, yesterday I made one using the same technique, only I did not flip it inside out.  Thus, the fold in this one is on the inside of the bracelet, rather than on the outside.

Here's my bracelet -

I did what's called a torch patina on the metal, meaning the coloring is all from torch work.  It's a very inexact method and you never quite know what you'll get.  You heat the metal until you get the look you want and then you let it cool slowly.  When you heat metal and let it cool slowly, it stays hard and inflexible and will hold its shape.

I noticed that this copper kept having a bluish tint when I was heating it for annealing and hoped that I would be able to get that same tint in a patina.  I lucked out.  It's actually even more blue in artificial light.  The patina has the same effect as a fire opal does - it changes as you move it under light.  I have to admit, I'm amazed at myself for not only getting it to that point, but also for having the willpower to stop heating it so I didn't lose the patina! 

I love the rose gold look of the metal too.  It's amazing what you can do to just plain copper.  Also, I did seal the metal with wax to help hold the patina on.  That does slightly dull the shine, but also helps to prevent turning the wearer's skin green (from the copper).

Here's another picture -

And the last one (a picture of the ends) -

The reason the ends are sort of scalloped is because I forged them when the metal was folded.  This stretched the metal in places, forming a scalloped look. 

Comments

[Novell]

You need a pic of this on someone. Looks cool!