So, first and foremost, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! Whatever you celebrate, or don't, I hope this time of year is filled with peace, love, and joy for you and yours :)
I have been
BUSY this season, and I'm loving every minute. Recently, I premiered some brand new pieces in my shop:
Etched Copper and Brass Cuff Bracelets. I'm really excited to be offering these pieces. They've been a blast to make, and I am just
in love with how they look and feel. Apparently I'm not the only one either--about 5 minutes after listing my favorite wide cuff in my
Etsy Shop, a very nice gentleman from Georgia snatched it up. This is my current favorite, a brass cuff with an organic crackled texture on the surface:
My plan is to make many many more, which brings me to the main point of my post :)
CALLING ALL ARTISTS!!I want to feature your artwork on one (or more) of my cuff bracelets!
I don't care if you draw, paint, or make graphics on the computer. I'm just looking for some awesome images to transfer onto metal.
Here's the skinny. I use a process called acid etching to make the cuff bracelets. Part of the process is transferring toner rich images from paper to metal to act as a resist. All the areas of the metal covered with toner (or paint, or wax, etc, etc...) will be protected from the etching solution. All the exposed areas will get cut away, creating recessed areas and awesome texture. In the cuff above, all the bright brass areas were protected from the etching solution, while the dark areas were exposed. Pretty cool, right?
I've managed to come up with some pretty cool designs that I really love, but now I'm interested in what
you all might come up with. Just about anything you can think up can be used; the only real requirement is that the image has to be black and white. JUST black and white, no gray areas. The black areas are what will protect the metal, and gray just doesn't hold up.
Crisp images like this one are perfect. There can be a lot of detail, or not, so long as the black lines are strong and dark, and the white areas are crisp and clean.
Images like the one below won't work because the gray shaded areas won't be protected well during the etching process. Thin black lines are also not an ideal fit for this project.
Getting the idea? I hope so. Anyway, anyone who wants to is more than welcome to submit artwork. I'd prefer high quality digital files since the crisper the image, the crisper the transfer, but I can generally make whatever you want to send in work.
What size should the image be?
- Full size cuffs are made from strips of metal that are 6 inches long, and from 1/2 to 2 inches wide.
- Half size cuffs are about 2 1/2 to 3 inches long, and approximately 1 inch wide.
- Ring stock is about 3 inches long, and 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide.
- Earring stock is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide, and can be up to 2 inches long.
It'd be awesome if you could size your images to fit these dimensions, because if I resize them, they could become less crisp, which would be a big bummer.
What do I get in return for sharing my super cool artwork?
Everyone who submits a piece of art work (whether or not I use it) will be entered to win a gift certificate to use in
my shop. And if I end up using your art, I'll credit you in the item description, on FB, and on the care card that's included with the piece featuring your work. I'll also give you first dibs on whatever jewelry I make using your design.
Sounds great! Where do I send my stuff?
Please put "Artwork Submission" in the subject line so I know you aren't spam. Also, include your name, email address, and website (if you have one) with each submission.
Just about any file type should work, but I'd prefer a .jpeg or .png file. PDFs, Word documents, and high definition scans of hand drawn images are fine as well.
The Fine Print
I'll be drawing the gift certificate winner on Friday, January 25th, 2013. You can submit as many images as you'd like, but your name will only be entered into the drawing once.
If you're sending me artwork, it must be your own. Seriously, don't steal images from the web and say it's yours, that's called copyright infringement and it's against the law. Plus, how would you feel if someone stole your stuff? So, original work only, please. You CAN use open source materials, but original is (almost) always better. By submitting artwork to me, you are certifying that you have the right to use and distribute it.
By sending in artwork, you are agreeing to allow me to use (or not use) the image as I see fit. This means the image may be re-sized, reshaped, or re-purposed as needed to fit the project. It also means you are giving me the rights to sell any and all projects featuring your artwork with no financial obligation to you, other than what's mentioned above.
Submissions constitutes a binding contract for non-exclusive rights to your image(s). You may sell, distribute, and otherwise share your image(s) however you like, though it'd be great if you didn't go handing them out to other jewelry artists.
And that's that. I can't wait to see what you all come up with! Be sure to stay tuned. I've got a TON of exciting new projects in mind for the new year!
Happy Holidays!
-Heather
The brooch was born in the simple way of "improvising", heh. What I did was that I dug through the small collection I have of assorted gemstone cabochons, and I ended up finding three really nice ones that looked good together. They were white and had a little bit of a mossy green (no idea if they are moss agates or not though, heh) color spread out here and there on them, and I actually liked the color combination so I decided to use the palette; white, olive green and amber as beads for the brooch.
I took it out again when the inspiration sprouted out again, and this time I actually decided to add some more colors to give the piece a lot more contrast; moss green iris, lavender and amethyst with gold luster beads.
When I started on the collar, I knew I wanted something sparkly and not too many details, as the other part has a lot of details. I incorporated a couple Swarovski rivolies as the focal point for it, and then I began to pretty much work from there. The design of it evolved as I worked on it. At some point however, I decided to also add a smaller feather on each side of the collar that would match up with the big feather I created on the first piece.
