I got bees. But the good news is- I want bees!

Etched Copper Honeybee Earrings with Honey Opal

It's been a LONG time since I've posted anything here, so I decided to write a little process post about the earrings I just completed!  I'm really in love with them, but unfortunately I don't have pierced ears anymore (ironic, I know).  Hopefully they'll go to a great home.

Please note, this is not a DIY tutorial of any sort- it's just a visual of the steps involved in creating my pieces:

The first step, after a quick bee sketch, is to draw a pair of bees in sharpie directly on my copper sheet metal.  This involves hoping and praying that I don't mess up on making them as even as possible and have to start all over again!  After this, the etching process begins.  This takes a good couple hours of waiting for the etchant to nibble away at all of the copper not protected by the sharpie.

At last, they come out of their chemical bath and are neutralized and thoroughly cleaned.

Here they are after being cut out with a jeweler's saw.

Little holes are drilled for the lever back earrings to attach to.  The opal cabochons are ready to have settings created for them!

After soldering the settings and polishing by hand, they take an hour in the tumbler to clean and polish up a bit more.

The lever backs are attached, then they are oxidized, polished again, and set with the honey opals!  Finally they are ready for their photo shoot.

Are you interested in these earrings?  They are for sale in my shop: Lithic Design!  

An Art Nouveau Inspired Ginkgo Crown

Recently, I've been obsessed with Art Nouveau- particularly the jewelry made by René Lalique.  Art nouveau takes inspiration from nature and curves, and Lalique's pieces are the epitome of that idea.  His work is often over-the-top but incredibly imaginative.  Another factor that drew me into Art Nouveau is that jewelers during this time period used semi precious gemstones more and more as opposed to precious stones like diamond and emerald.  Here are a couple head ornaments by Lalique that inspired me to make one of my own:

Source: http://maries-jewels-royals.blogspot.com/2012/01/artsy-tiaras.html
Tortoise Shell and Moonstones

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonycarr/3593670232/
Peacock hair brooch with opals

While being able to cast portions of the crown would have been wonderful, I figured I could make a version of my design with simple metalworking techniques.  Ginkgo leaves were the inspiration for my tiara:

A lot of redrawing/sanding/filing is involved in achieving just the right shape of ginkgo leaf.

Hand cut and engraved...

These pieces soldered on pretty easily, but I had trouble getting the smaller pieces to adhere to the base:

Please excuse my gross soldering block...

I finally decided on two simpler pieces so that I could solder bezel cups to the front.  Here's how it turned out after oxidizing and steel wool-ing:

Not so bad!  It's much simpler than my inspiration, but simplicity is sometimes a good thing.  I used a rainbow moonstone in the middle and a labradorite cabochon on either side.  Feldspar minerals are my favorite, and they go so well with earth toned copper.  

I'll keep this one for myself as a display piece, but I might consider selling some similar pieces in the future.

Keep on the lookout for new jewelry soon at Lithic Design!

-Kaley