Copper Work
My Copper Story
As my interests developed I started using materials that I found on the beach some of these materials were copper wire. Then i was given a whole load of electrical wires that I stripped the copper out of. This then gave me a good supply of copper to start making things. I like to use copper as it is a soft and malleable material that is relatively cheap.
Overview
My Corations And There Story
Dragon
I was scrolling through Pinterest looking for inspiration and saw a drawing very similar to this I wanted to try and make it out of copper. Once I got started my creativity took over and started changing the design from the Pinterest photo. I started off by braiding the body than adding the head, legs, and wings separately. The Wings took a lot of time to thread up as they have beads in between each part. What I found was when the wire was circular it could move around a lot. but if I hammered the peace it would stay in the position I put it as it could not move around. The flattened look also suited the dragon and completed it.
Bangle
This bangle is made from a copper pipe I found on a beach. The idea started off when I was told you could make a textured design by hammering in small locations on a pipe. But whatever it was it wasn't working for me so instead I just completely flat and the pipe and bend it into a bangle. Then I spent a lot of time sanding it and polishing it so it was very shiny. I tried coating the Bangor in nail polish to create a barrier so you didn't turn green but the nail polish just cracked after a few days. I also tried a clear lacquer spray but this equally did not work. From wearing this for some time I have learned that I need to round corners more as they dig in slightly.
Tree Neackles
Again this was an inspiration from Pinterest, I saw somebody has made a 3D tree from copper. then after some thought, I wanted to try and see if I could make a 2D tree on a stone. As soon as I had this idea I knew exactly what stone I wanted to use. I have had the stone for many years it is a perfect size and has a green blue tinge to it. I started off with a mass of thin wire and slowly bent each branch and root around and wrapped them around a loop at the back. By doing this all the way around encapsulate the stone it held everything it in place. I Soldered all of the loose sharp ends to the ring on the back so it is solid and smooth.
Tree
after making my small pendant tree I wanted to try and make something bigger so I started the same principle of having a large mass of wire, I then started branching out, twisting the wires together getting smaller and smaller, and just enjoy the feeling of making the branches. I made a border out of thicker wire to tie all the branches on to. I had originally wanted to put a swing on one of the branches but found I could not achieve something that fitted the scale.
Brss Neackles
From another project, I had managed to scavenged I long thick brass tube. I decided to save it as I knew I would have a use for it one day. Then an idea started to form that I could use the doming cude ball presses to bend the inside of the pipe out and make a bell shape. That is exactly what I did. Then I decided to shape one end into a square and drill a hole through it to attach a way of making it into a neckless. Throughout the whole process, I had to keep reheating the necklace so that it didn't split from going metal hard.
Dyslexia Scotland Ribbon
I had dyslexia Scotland ribbons that are already made but i wanted to make something more permanent and something that was more of my style. I started by making a long rectangle and adding in the beads. Then I gradually bent the rectangle and turned it around into the ribbon shape, I attached a safety pin on the back to creating the badge.
Paper Neackles
I've played about using nail polish before but I wanted to explore what else I could do with it. I decided it would look interesting to use a piece of paper on the necklace. The necklace itself is made from a piece of pottery from the beach. I then made a copper frame to surround the peace of pottery and to holds the nail varnish in. What I found was as the nail varnish soaked into the paper the words and text from the other side of the paper showed through. This created a great deal of depth and gave them an interesting look.
​Stone Necklaces
This started off with the stone I wanted to try and make something to support it. I started off by making the copper surround. The frame wasn't tight enough to hold the stone so I then made the back to support it. I really didn't want to have to put something over the front obscuring the stone but I needed to otherwise the stone would fallout. I opted for a simple singular line going across the stone. Once I was done the whole thing was tight and would not wobble out.
Wall Decoration
this took inspiration from a product somebody made at a county show. The concept was very simple by using a piece of driftwood and making copper links to hold the items of choice. I made this for an anniversary present and wanted to give it a style. I used sea glass and keys to hang from the chains.
Tie Clip
I thought it would be an interesting task to try and make my name out of copper and use it as a tie clip. It took Many tries to grasp how to make the lettering. I had a single piece of thick wire running along the bottom and then the piece on top was used to form the letters. Then by wrapping some wire around it all to hold the two pieces together I created a strong clip. Once I hade made my own one too other people then ask me to make them one as well.
Beach Stone
This one is very simple and doesn't really need much explanation but I really like the visual aspect of this necklace. The Stone is what makes it, its perfectly shaped and was completely natural. The only problem with this necklace is the stone is very heavy and too large.so is not practical to wear.
Glass Tree
I had found large thick chunks of glass on the beach and wanted to do something with them. After some thought, I decided to make a small standing tree. I reuse some gems I have in a box to create leaves.
Copper Braclet
This was the very first leather project I hade ever made so it is very simple but was highly effective. I wanted to make a wallet that was slim and easy to have in my pocket. So I designed a wallet to fit my cards and have the capacity to hold a few notes as well. After lots of googling, I discovered that leather sowing is different from traditional sowing. I learnt that you have to pre-make holes in the leather. Then using two needles sew on both sides using the pre-made holes. At first, I was mightily confused but after watching many YouTube videos I soon got the hang of it.
I used this wallet for several years. It was brilliant as it was so easy to carry around with me. The downside to using it was with prolonged use I was slowly damaging my cards. This was because every time I pulled out a card it would rub up against another card and slowly wore them down.
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Flower
This was the very first leather project I hade ever made so it is very simple but was highly effective. I wanted to make a wallet that was slim and easy to have in my pocket. So I designed a wallet to fit my cards and have the capacity to hold a few notes as well. After lots of googling, I discovered that leather sowing is different from traditional sowing. I learnt that you have to pre-make holes in the leather. Then using two needles sew on both sides using the pre-made holes. At first, I was mightily confused but after watching many YouTube videos I soon got the hang of it.
I used this wallet for several years. It was brilliant as it was so easy to carry around with me. The downside to using it was with prolonged use I was slowly damaging my cards. This was because every time I pulled out a card it would rub up against another card and slowly wore them down.
