Aubergine Earrings

Last May I bought some cool, sort of Art Deco style copper stampings for use as earring dangles and  I decided to use them for my Earrings Everyday post this week.  As I looked at that expanse of plain copper on the dangles, I started wondering, "What would happen if I used alcohol inks on these?".  I've dabbled (just a little) with alcohol inks on polymer clay, but I'd never used them on metals before.  It was really fun!

 So I sanded off some of the copper patina and then painted the copper with aubergine (purple) alcohol ink. I dabbed a bit of it off the center of the stampings, so the surface color would be more nuanced.  Once the ink had dried, I sanded back the ridges, exposing the copper there.  That last step transformed the whole look, as the contrast really gave it some pizazz!

I found some very pretty lampwork beads to pull out those purple colors.  Unfortunately I don't remember who the glass artist was.  Then I topped the lampwork glass beads with faceted amethysts.

I really had a blast doing these. In fact I went ahead and made two more pairs of earrings!  The pair in the middle of the picture below are dyed red and topped with cane glass.  The pair on the right are dyed purple in the outer portion of the stampings and red in the center.  I topped those with turquoise "sugar glass".  I think no piece of metal in my collection is safe from being colored now!  There will certainly be more alcohol inks in my future.

Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry