Wednesday 9 February 2011

Is spring finally here?!

Yesterday I worked on a Longship brooch for one of my Etsy customers.  I love this copper and silver pieces as it is really simple but very striking.  I'm hoping that this will be a popular items at craft fairs here on Orkney.
I thought I'd show you a few of the stages I go through to make it.

I draw a template on cardboard and attached this to a sheet of copper


Using a fret saw and a thin blade, I saw around the template




Once pierced out, I file down any rough edges


Then cut out the sails stripes from silver



Next job is to solder the all of the silver embellishments to the copper.  I place all of the metal into an acid bath for a few minutes to get rid of any dirt and grease.  Then I apply flux and solder and heat the entire piece until the solder melts and flows.



The brooch then has the clasp and brooch pin attached and then it is polished



Ta-da!


I hope that you like it Sarah!

On the way back from the daily dog walk on the beach, I noticed these beautiful pure white snowdrops had appeared at the front of the house.  This, along with me spotting a couple of hares boxing last week, surely must mean that Spring is finally on its way! :)


3 comments:

  1. wow seriously impressed! ... and I have snowdrops in my front garden already too! :)

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  2. I love seeing how things are made! especially things I have no idea of the techniques and would never do myself. Thanks v much for that!
    Toothillmedley
    http://loisdesigns.blogspot.com

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  3. Thanks for taking the time to read this! Love your blog by the way. Am going to sit down with laptop next week and take notes. Mr Taxman will be proud of me!!!

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