This next
series of blog posts will be a trilogy, as I’ve signed up to take a 3-week
crash course in
Electroforming at
Craft Alliance. Electroforming can be
described as a process that lets you create metal jewelry elements out of an
organic object or keepsake. Cool, right? (I had originally planned to take a
class on
Wood and Found Objects Jewelry that was cancelled at the last minute. All of the metals classes sounded fun, so finding a replacement wasn't tough.) I had no
clue what to expect, but brought a bunch of random trinkets to my first class
to see what could be electroformed.
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| I've got baby on the brain for obvious reasons, but this stuff is so adorable! Now, which pieces would make fun jewelry? |
The class
was small – only about 5 ladies of various ages and experience in
jewelry-making. The teacher,
Jen Bradford, immediately put everybody at ease with her
disarming, quirky personality. She has years of experience in all types of jewelry-making (her
earthy, handmade pieces are
amazing).
Although she described electroforming as “finicky,” she said it’s her favorite
medium. If it’s not obvious from the name (which is wasn’t to me – preggo brain,
perhaps), electroforming involves electricity. A device called a rectifier
converts alternating electric currents. You suspend an object that’s been painted
with metal into a “bath” of copper solution. The wires from the rectifier run electric
currents through the bath and several hours later, you’ve got a custom piece of
metal jewelry. (If this still sounds confusing, I feel you. Simple version? I
painted an object with copperizing paint, let it dry, and then had it suspended
into the bath. When I come back next week, we’ll retrieve the items from the bath
and see how they look all Metallica’d out.)
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| The white radio-looking box is the rectifier. The cooler will house our jewelry materials while the rectifier does its thing. |
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| I chose the stork and the baby bottle toys for my first crack at this. I super-glued little rings on top so the toys can be hung from a necklace or earring. |
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| Our pieces are going to look something like these, hopefully, |
For the first week, Jen
instructed us to use plastic items like toys to electroform. She had some army
men and bugs available, but l looked thorugh my trusty trinket bag and decided
upon a plastic baby bottle and stork that I found at the Green Shag Market.
Assuming it comes out looking halfway decent, both will make very unique and
fitting pendants for a necklace. I originally wanted to keep some of the
plastic un-copperized, but Jen cautioned that you need an uninterrupted current
of electricity for the process to work, so you can’t have a piece that’s
un-touched in the middle and then metalicized at the end. Jen also let us know that
even if you do everything “right,” electric currents are not always
predictable; it’s a true process of trial and error. I’m hopeful that Baby #2
really wants Mommy to rock the baby-themed jewelry, so I can’t wait to see my
pieces next week! My goal is to end the class with at least one wearable
pendant.
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| Here's our instructor in the studio. |
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| Lots of machinery in here. A crafty gal could get into lots of trouble here. LOL |
Next week, we will be using more “porous”
materials, such as dried leaves or flowers. I haven’t decided what I’m bringing
in, but a previous student did a piece of lace that looked awesome. Any suggestions
for me?
Are you interested in learning
about jewelry-making or artistic projects with other mediums like fiber or
wood? Visit craftalliance.org to learn more. They have classes that are one
afternoon, 3-weeks, or 6-weeks to fit most people’s schedules. You can also
follow Craft Alliance on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If the suspense of
how my jewelry turns out is too much for you, I will be live-tweeting during
next week’s class (Thursday evening) J.
P.S. - Thank you, Craft Alliance and ALIVE Influencer Network for making my crafty dreams come true!
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