Creating a handmade pair of hammered copper earrings

i love the rich look of copper, i dont think copper is used nearly enough in jewelry. to create a pair of hammered copper earrings, i first draw my shape on a piece of paper then i cut out the shape to use as a stencil. i then get a sheet of 20 guage copper, lay my stencil out and trace the stencil with a fine tip marker. i now get a pair of shears, cut out my shapes. i take my cut out shapes over to my anvil and then use my ball peen hammers and start hammering. i usually use 2 or 3 different size hammers for different size hammer marks. to add some different texture, take a piece of old window screen and lay that over your copper and hammer over it to transfer that pattern to your copper. now place your piece in a dapping block and slight hammer to give it a nice domed shape. for this, my boyfriend took a part of a tree stump and cut me some different shaped indentions into the piece of wood, it works great. next, use your jewelers files and start filing your edges to make it nice and smooth. now figure out where to put your holes to add the earhooks, use a punch and slightly hit your punch in the spot for your hole. if it does not make the hole for you, take your piece to your drill press and drill that hole.now add any addtional beads you wish to add, then your earwire and wahla, you have a funky, beautiful pair of copper earrings.hope you have fun!
shannon