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Jewelry holds a special place in our hearts, adorning us with memories, sentiment, and style. While commercial jewelry certainly has its appeal, there's something undeniably enchanting about owning a piece of jewelry that's been meticulously handcrafted by an artist.

In this blog post, we delve into the realm of artists’ jewelry and explore ten compelling reasons why you should consider investing in jewelry created by these talented artists.

1. Unique Designs that Reflect Your Individuality 

Here I show you how to make relief patterns by Keum Boo.

First of all, you need to parepare these things.

1. 0.3mm-0.5mm thick fine silver foil.

2. 0.02-0.05mm thick fine gold foil.

3. #14 Feather blade and its holder. Or any othe rblade that has a curve blade.

4. a burnisher.

The process is as below.

1.Cut the fine silver foil

The silver foil is too thin to saw and too thick to cut with a knife. I usually use #14 feather blade. Because of its cueve, you can cut the foil by pushing and rolling. And you should take care of the frindge after you cut it.

Description

1. I always add texture on the item. Because any patina will wear off someday. They somethimes cover it with lacquer to protect it. But lacquer will wear off, too. How you can keep the patina for long time is not the real question. The real question is how you can let patina wear off BEAUTIFULLY.  I added hair-line texture on this piece.

2.The agent I use is called "Kokka-eki" that means "Blackening agent". It might not be available in your country. But I think you don't have to worry. It's just ordinary LOS agent.

I got a rose cut Ethiopian opal.

I lined it with fine gold foil.

Please enjoy its effect.

If you don't know how to do Keum Boo on copper, please watch the previous video first.

1. Prepare a copper cab and file the surface. 

    I use a stick with #400 sand paper here.

2. Prepare annealed fine silver wire. I suggest the thickness is less than 0.25mm (#30).

    But it depends on your design and size of the piece.

3. Make a random shape with the wire. It's your world. Feel free. :)

4. Put it between a piece of paper and strike it slightly with a hammer.

Keum Boo on copper is a bit tricky because copper is easily oxidized when it's heated.

So you need to de-oxidize the surface using a torch.

Flame is an excellent reductant.

The preparation is exactly same as the usual Keum Boo but you don't need to do depletion gilding.

The point is brushy falme and de-oxidization by it.

I mean flame has 3 functions in this case.

1. Heating

2. Eliminating oxygen from the oxidized copper.

3. Protecting copper from oxidization.

1. Prepare the silver piece.

The depletion gilding must be apllied if it's made of sterling silver.

Because this patina is available only for silver. Without it, you wouldn't get good result.

2. In this video I polished it with a wire brush to get shinny surface.

3. And I polished it with baking soda to degrease.

Degreasing is very important in any patination.

4. Prepare the agent.

You need 100cc vinegar, 6g copper sulphate, and 6g salt.

You might find copper sulphate at aqualium, garden suppliers and hardware shops.

1. Prepare some borax solution

Mix 800cc water and borax until it comes up to the saturation point.

In this video I use the remain of the borax that I used last time and add some new one seeing the saturation.

They say 25% is good. Find your best density.

2. While you wait for the solution to boil up, polish your copper piece. 

Usually you can use a buffer but in this case I polish it by hand with kitchen detergent powder because I want to keep clear texture.

Of course the piece should be pickled clearnly previously.

FAQ]

Q: What kind of pliers do yuo use?

A: They are parallel pliers. I added dimples on both sides by a round bur so that the head of the rivet will be rounded. 

Q: What are the rivets made of?

A: They are made of fine silver so that yo can crash them easily.

Q: What is the yellow agent?

A: It's LOS solution. I wanted to make rivets' heads black.