Project by Deirdre Oringer from Brewster, Mass.Deirdre Oringer was inspired to start making her own jewelry after seeing a craftsman hard at work in New Mexico. In this project, she makes sterling charms that she strings together with beads to make a gorgeous charm bracelet.
Materials:
20-gauge sterling silver sheet metal
sterling silver heart clasp/star catch
22-gauge sterling silver wire
4mm sterling rolo chain
turquoise beads
hand-cut, hand-stamped sterling silver heart charms
sterling head pins
Steps:1. For the heart charms, lay a paper template on the 20-gauge sheet of sterling. Trace it and cut them out with a 1/0 saw blade.
2. Use a single stamp repeatedly to create a pattern on each heart (figure A).
3. File the edges and buff off the sharp edges.
4. Solder the tiny jump rings into the center of the hearts (see again figure A).
5. Use a silver oxidizer to blacken the piece and then buff off the black. Note that it stays in the grooves of the design stamped earlier.
6. To create the bracelet, the artist uses a sterling clasp (heart) and sterling star catch that she designed and has cast.
7. Dip a length of sterling 4mm rolo chain into oxidizer and then into water to neutralize the oxidation (true for the hearts as well).
8. Cut four- to five-link lengths and then wrap 22-gauge wire onto the heart clasp, leaving about 2 inches of wire.
9. Feed on turquoise beads, and wrap the end of the bead length into the first length of chain. Repeat the process five times until the star is connected.
10. Buff off the black from the chain lengths, leaving a little to give it an antiqued look.
11. Choose four turquoise beads (per section of chain) and place them onto handmade sterling head pins (figure B).
12. Wrap each bead onto a link, and finally end with wrapping a heart into the center link of each section (figure C).
Website: www.HeartAtWorkJewelryDesign.com
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