Flowers for My Ears

Finally time to make something for myself. I tried some simple enamel earrings made from pre-cut copper circles.

First I punched some holes in the smaller circle with a handheld hole punch. Then I dapped both sets of circles with some dapping punches to round them. I did some hammering on the edges to add some texture.

Both sets were enamelled. Then I cut some leaf shapes and enameled those. I punched a hole in the ends of them as well so I could thread them all together.

The center is a piece of silver wire. I balled the end and then threaded all the pieces through and bent the wire on the back so that all the parts would stay together. Finally I added a french earring wire made from silver wire.

What did I learn from this experience? I ended up removing the copper rings and simply hanging the flowers directly on the ear wires, since they were too long and the flowers tended to move too freely and end up showing the back, which I did not enamel. Secondly, four pieces of copper, even though they're small, ends up being pretty heavy, so I think I'll max at 2 pieces if possible so I don't bend my ears out of shape!