Day of the Cuff with Eva Sherman

I have been cyber stalking Eva Sherman for some time now.  I started following her "Year of Jewelry" project last year and was stunned by the different techniques and styles she used.  This year's "Year of Jewelry" project has been no different.

If you have time, take a look at Eva's blog.  Her jewelry is fabulous.

When I saw Eva was teaching at Bead and Button, I jumped at the chance to take a class with her.  I couldn't decide between two of her classes, "Year of the Cuff" and "Ruins of Pompeii."  Since one taught metal  techniques and one taught wire techniques, I signed up for both -- and I am so glad I did.

I had an absolutely fabulous time in Eva's classes and learned quite a bit.  I can't wait to see what she offers next year.

In "Year of the Cuff," we made five bracelets.  I was stunned.  We spent the morning texturing, filing and cleaning.  We spent the afternoon adding patina and assembling.  Everyone in the class had a blast.

I came out of this class so excited about metal.  I have a list of things to buy and a million ideas.

I also came away from the class with several cuffs.

Eva was kind enough to let me buy another copper strip and texture it in class.  It is sitting in the middle in the back row.  I have a few plans for it.

Eva gave us access to several types of texturing methods -- an embosser, a crank corrugation machine and several texture hammers.

She also taught us how to do a heat patina and gave us many other patina options -- paint patina, alcohol ink and liver of sulfur.  I had to try all of them.

Eva mentioned that she likes students to try a technique a few times.  The first time is the "starter" piece and you learn from all your mistakes.  The second piece is the "real" piece.  I love that idea and I learned with each strip of metal that I worked with.

My second class, "Ruins of Pompeii," was another day of fun.  We learned how to braze copper wire and created these awesome curly, open bracelets.  Brazing is similar to solder, but leaves more of a bronze color on the copper.

Eva wanted us to make two bracelets, a "practice piece" and a second piece.

You can tell that I did have a better brazing technique on the second (bottom) bracelet.

In this class, Eva gave us the option of using an ammonia patina.  It leaves a gorgeous green or blue/turquoise/teal color on the copper.

Because it is a multi-day process, I opted to apply the patina at home.  The bracelet turned this lovely blue.

I brushed this one with a diluted hydrogen peroxide to make the color more green.

These bracelets look wonderful on the wrist.  Eva said she called them "Tattoo Bracelets" at first because, with a liver of sulfur patina, they look a bit like tattoos. She decided to call them "Ruins of Pompeii" because the ammonia patina makes the bracelets look like a found artifact.

I hope to make more of these.  They are fun to do and I love the end  result.