dangleearrings

Simple Dangle Earrings with Keum Boo In this tutorial you will learn to make fine silver jump rings and embed them into metal clay. Then you will create golden accents by bonding gold foil to fine silver using a technique called Keum Boo.
25 gm PMC3 PMC 3 paste PMC 3 syringe 23.5 or 24 k gold foil 2 5mm gemstone cabs 2 5mm fine silver bezel cups shaping tools - roller, cards, paint brushes, needle tool, craft knife needle files olive oil rubber stamps or texture sheets 20 gauge fine silver round wire flush cutters or jewelers saw hammer hot plate for Keum Boo agate, glass or stainless burnishers for Keum Boo Klyr-Fire sanding sponges 3 M polishing papers sunshine cloth liver of sulphur emery boards finishing tools - wire brush, burnishers or tumbler Stone setting tools - stone pusher and curved burnisher particle mask vermiculite kiln shelf kiln
	First we are going to make the jump rings. I am using the base of a 4 mm drill bit to form my rings. Wind the wire around the drill bit as show to form a coil.
	Cut the coil from the remaining wire. Cut across the coil, a few rings at a time with flush cutters. Or you could saw them apart with a jewelers saw.
	Flatten two of the rings with a hammer and set aside.
	Create a template for your earrings - I used a simple leaf blade shape. Roll out your clay 3 cards thick. Texture with a texture sheet or rubber stamp. Cut out 2 earring shapes. Cut out 2 small circles, about 7 mm in diameter. Stamp one with a signature stamp if you have one (there will be a tutorial on how to make one coming soon:) Allow to dry to leather hard stage. Refine the shape and edges of the earrings with an emery board. Work with both pieces at the same time back to back so that they will match.
	Drill holes in one earring where you want to place your gemstone. Be careful not to place them too close to the edge of the earrings. Place the two earrings back to back and drill through the hole in the first earring into the second so that the placement of the stones will match. Or you could place them asymmetrically if you want. Enlarge the holes with a round file until they are a little bit larger than the size of your 5mm bezel cups (they really were 5 mm cup - I set the wrong bag next to the earrings for this picture).
	Roll out some more clay 3 cards thick. Cut out small ovals using a plastic template. Set the flattened jump rings on the end of the ovals as shown and push gently into the clay.
	Place some paste on the still moist ovals over the jump rings. Moisten the back of the earring pieces and set gently over the ovals. Wiggle them a bit to get a good seal and then make sure the jump rings are straight over the top of the earrings. Allow to dry. Update: I've recently started making up batches of these in advance, letting them dry and having them ready when I need them.
	Refine the 3 pieces with emery boards. Use toothpick files to refine the area near the jump rings. Check to see if there are any gaps where the dry elements were joined. Fill them in and smooth with a wet paintbrush and allow to dry. Inspect your piece carefully. Smooth away any imperfections with a damp finger or paintbrush. Sand again if needed. Take your time and make it as perfect as you can. It's easier to correct any imperfections at this stage than it will be after it is fired.
	Place some paste on the small circles and moisten the area around the holes in the earrings on the back side. Place the circles over the holes and run a bead of water around the edges with a small paintbrush. Allow to dry.
	Moisten the holes for the bezel cups with water and dip the bottom of the bezel cup in some paste and insert into the hole. Allow to dry to bone dry stage. Fire at 1650 degrees for 2 hours. Allow to cool. Check around the edges of the cups. If there are any gaps between the clay and the cup, fill them with paste and refire.
	I like this style of hot plate for Keum Boo. It is very easy to use. Turn on the hot plate on high and allow to preheat. Cut gold foil to the desired shape. It's easier to cut the foil while it is between two layers of paper. Cut the foil a little larger on the sides so that they will fold over the edges of the silver. I used deckle scissors to cut the bottom edge to get the uneven look that I wanted.
	Put a little klyr fire on the silver and position the gold foil. Press the foil gently into the texture pattern and bend the foil down over the edges of the silver. Place the pieces onto the hot plate. You should use heavy leather gloves while working around the hot plate. Let the pieces sit on the plate for about 5 minutes.
	Touch a burnisher to the center of the gold foil. If the piece is hot enough it will immediately begin to bond to the surface of the silver. If it doesn't start to bond, carefully remove the burnisher without moving the foil and allow to get hotter. If bonding begins, burnish the foil onto the silver, working from the center out. If the burnisher gets too hot it will stick and cause the gold to tear. Switch burnishers every so often to prevent this.I used a long pair of tweezers to stabilize my earring while I burnished it.
	There is a small tear in the gold foil. This can be easily repaired. Leave the earring on the hot plate, place a small scrap piece of gold foil over the tear and then burnish it in. Repeat the process for the second earring.
	Remove earrings from hot plate and allow to cool. Check to see that all of the gold is completely bonded by running a fingernail along the edges. Remove foil hanging over the edges with a craft knife. Reheat and burnish again. Brush with a wet, soapy brass brush, avoiding the gold area (the gold layer is very thin and easily scratched). Tumble to polish for 30 minutes (don't tumble too long - again, the gold is thin and could be worn off by too much tumbling) or burnish by hand.
	Set the gemstone cabs following the directions in the Book of Kells pendant tutorial.
	Apply LOS patina with a paintbrush as described in the Shell Pendant tutorial and seal if desired. Attach earrings to ear wires.
Sit back and admire your work.