They've been on my mind for some time because I wanted the copper. Something light enough in gauge to be able to do the embossing and repoussing (is that a word?) to make some really interesting jewellery pieces. No luck at all, anywhere, until John Rasmussen suggested Whimsie Studio, which has not only copper, but brass and aluminum! Woo Hoo, success at last, I thought. And then found out that Whimsie will not export. So John stepped up and offered to be the intermediary, shipping-wise, which he did. And because I couldn't order direct, instead of ordering small in case my ideas didn't work, I ordered a roll each of copper and brass. I might be doing all sorts of copper and brass embellishments around the house.
First step was to cut a piece of copper foil about an inch-and-a-half square and see if it was going to be easy to do the stuff. You know, the in and out stuff. Embossing and that other word that spell-check doesn't like. A pencil was perfect for drawing the design, the tools were little double-ended metal ball-type things that came from the hobby section of the dollar store. I have no idea what they were originally intended for but they were just the ticket here for the rubbing. I used the sharp end of a pair of compasses carefully over the pencil drawing to line the design. The compass was pretty handy too, for making the double line even all the way around, even though this was just an experiment.
The first attempt, I used extra easy solder pieces and sweat soldered it onto the back of the foil piece. I was using my mini-torch and it's almost out of juice so it melted the solder, didn't melt the foil but wasn't hot enough to heat the copper backing enough to make the transfer and hold the two pieces together.
Having learned the hard way that dirty solder will not melt and will not stick, I took my foil piece to the kitchen sink and scrubbed it with a piece of steel wool. Unfortunately, I forgot that the heat had made the little piece butter soft and I scrubbed away part of my design before I realized what I was doing.
The blacking was just done with a black sharpie with a quick sanding, just so that I could see what a finished piece would kinda look like.
Conclusion? This is going to open up some fun possibilities for me if I take my time and remember the lessons learned. Copper backing will work and leather too, although that might be a whole different experiment!
In 1975, Lady Susan Wood set up a fledging business making beads in a
small shed in her back garden. She started by hiring two disadvantaged
women, and quickly realized that there were many more women who were in
need of jobs and so Kazuri Beads was created and began its long and
successful journey as a help center for the needy women especially
single mothers who had no other source of income. In 1988 Kazuri became a
factory and expanded hugely with over 300 women and men. Here women are
trained and apply their skills to produce these unique and beautiful
beads and jewelry. The beads are made with clay from the Mt Kenya area
thus giving them authenticity to their craft. The factory acts as a
social gathering with the hum of voices continuing throughout the day.
With unemployment so high, one jobholder often ends up providing for an
"extended family" of 20 or more. Kazuri is a member of the Fair Trade
Act
Today
Kazuri, the Swahili word for "small and beautiful" produces a wide
range of hand made, hand painted ceramic jewelry that shines with a
kaleidoscope of African colors and Kenyan art that reflects a culture
and appeal to a worldwide fashion market. Kazuri's beautifully finished
products are made to an international standard and are sold worldwide.
These standards are maintained through high training standards and a
highly motivated management team.
