Rose Necklace

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• 

  Step 1

  Creating the Pendant
  1. Place the rose on a white background, and take a digital photograph.

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  Step 2

  2. Upload the photograph into an image-editing program so you can make adjustments. First, change the color mode to grayscale, which will make your image black and white. Using the brightness and contrast adjustment tool, remove all the halftones (greys) from the image to leave a purely black and white image.

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  Step 3

  3. Invert the image. (This means turning the blacks to white and the whites to black.) The black will stop out an additional color, leaving the exposed metal (white) sections to be replaced by a second dye. Print the edited image onto paper, and then photocopy it onto acetate.

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  Step 4

  4. Submerge the anodized aluminum sheet in a very pale brown dye to produce a cream-colored background. Rinse the metal, then dry it thoroughly.

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  Step 5

  5. Place the acetate image, ink side down, on the dyed aluminum sheet. Secure the acetate to the metal with tape. Set the iron on a medium-low heat. Gently and methodically press the acetate with the iron until the ink has transferred to the metal. Let the metal cool. Remove the acetate to reveal the transferred image.

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  Step 6

  6. Submerge the aluminum sheet in the pink dye and leave it until you achieve the color depth desired. (My dye is quite strong, so this piece only took about 20 seconds to dye.) Rinse the metal and steam it to seal the color. Use a solvent to remove the ink from the sealed metal.

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  Step 7

  7. Use a jeweler’s saw to cut around the outside of the image. File and finish the metal edges with emery paper.

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  Step 8

  Constructing the Chain
  1. Make 16 jump rings from the 1.5-mm round wire, each 1 cm in diameter. Make seven jump rings from the 2-mm round wire, each 1.5 cm in diameter (see photo). This design features a mixture of round and oval links. Solder the jump rings closed, then pickle them. Flatten each ring with a heavy hammer.

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  Step 9

  2. Make the link from 1.5-mm wire, using round-nose pliers to form a figure eight and leaving one end slightly open. Solder the closed end of the figure-eight shape. Pickle the wire, then hammer it flat.

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  Step 10

  3. Lay out all of the components in the necklace design and arrange them to your liking. I’ve used glass beads and freshwater pearls to bring some of the color of the rose into the chain and to complement the color of the dye.

• Step 11

  4. Saw apart half of the silver links so the chain sections can be connected. Once connected, solder these links closed. Pickle the chain sections, then place them in a tumbler to bring them to a high shine. If you don’t have access to a tumbler, you can achieve a good shine with a silver polishing dip or cloth.

• Step 12

  5. Determine and mark two points where you would like to attach the rose to the chain. Drill a hole at each point with a 0.8-mm bit. Thread a 4-mm jump ring through each hole in the rose.

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  Step 13

  6. Using figure 13 on page 67 as a guide, thread the beads onto 0.5-mm silver wires, attach each end to a chain link or jump ring, and make a wrapped loop to secure this connection. Repeat this process until all necklace sections are joined.

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