Friday, September 9, 2011

Turquoise Bracelet

Last week I made a few of these penny/turquoise drops using a domed, drilled penny (pre 1982), a turquoise disc bead and a handtorched copper headpin.........yesterday I made a bracelet using one of them and a couple other handcrafted pieces.

Like a few enameled pennies (turquoise colored, of course):
Some copper wrapped turquoise disc beads (using the torch fired copper/enameled headpins - red ones):

A lovely handforged copper clasp:

And then patinaed the whole thing (with Gun-Blu) to add to the "rustic" feel of the bracelet:
and the back of the pennies - the patina really adds depth, don't you think?


All the components on this bracelet were handcrafted - from the chain to the clasp, to the headpins and the enameled pennies.  I love it when a plan comes together!





4 comments:

Gretchen said...

I love what you are doing with your pennies. I have not tried enameling as of yet, and your penny technique is actually enticing me to give it a go. Just had recently bought a torch, so we'll see what happens. I sell primarily at Junking shows such as (Junk Bonanza and Junk Market Under Glass) and do primarily vintage redesign, so these 1981 and prior pennies just barely fall into this category. How cool to include the corporation of a few of these treasures one day. Love the work your doing. Well done...
Gretchen of Mimi-Toria's Designs

Unknown said...

I LOVE this bracelet - it is gorgeous! The pennies and the enameling are so cool!

Lisa Yang Jewelry said...

I love that you are using pennies in your designs. They have to be the cheapest copper practice materials available - and you manage to make them look so great! I especially like the domed penny closure, but the enameled pennies are a close second.
Nice work!
Lisa
http://www.lisayangjewelry.com

mrs beadsley said...

Lisa
Thank you so much for your wonderful comments. (and you hit on my secret - I love using the pennies because they are so cheap!) I really, really love enameling them - a canvas that is just the right size!