Jungle Love

Jungle Love

In a fit of patina experimentation, I ended up making 16 patina coin focals like this one, in several different colors. They were the coins from my collection that weren't interesting enough to use for textures on my metal, and basically ugly as-is. So I covered them up with crazy colors! They will become bracelets, pendants, and clasps for necklaces. This one was all in kelly green and teal--the perfect occasion to use some of my "jungle green" recycled sari silk ribbon from Mudhound Studios.

I had made up some textured copper tube beads a while back (I haven't had much luck finding large hole copper tube beads for sale, and they're usually plated anyway and the finish doesn't match my handmade copper components), and added those to the silk, in between knots. Then I added some teardrops of emerald green aventurine between the tube beads. I needed some more length so I thought about it awhile and decided to add some wrapped bars accented with etched lampwork spacers in kelly green by The Spacer Shop. I added more petite lampwork beads to the bottom of the focal for a longer profile--variegated teal nugget by Kelley Wenzel, etched aqua spacer by Pinocean, and transparent emerald green spacer by The Spacer Shop. I used Swellegant patinas from B'Sue Boutiques on the riveted focal.

Serendipitously (or subconsciously) my new focals match all the sari ribbon I had purchased from Mudhound Studios. So I think you will see a big crop of stuff like this coming out of my shop until I use all that up. And by then, hopefully I will have begun soldering and you'll start seeing something completely different! (I found a local jewelry artist to come over and walk me through my mixed-fuel-torch-phobia--and then of course I discovered I needed a couple more parts so I have to wait a few more days before I fire it up.)