Coloring Embossed Metal Jewelry Components (Part 2) - Tutorial

Metal earring components - embossed, cut out, painted and riveted.

I don't know about you, but it seems that when I work on my jewelry designs, I tend to do so in an assembly line fashion.  Overall, it saves me time in completing several projects, however, it also takes awhile for my finished pieces to come to fruition.

True to form, I have several pieces of metal embossed and painted for up and coming jewelry designs; several of these are still waiting to be incorporated into necklaces, earrings and bracelets.  For this blog post, I want to share some pictures of my process with you.  I hope it helps to get your creative juices flowing.

The designs shown in the first picture of this post show earrings components that I riveted together. I embossed metal pieces, cut them out, sanded the edges, domed the "flower" pieces, painted them and riveted them together.  (I used 22 and 24 gauge metal pieces, in case you were wondering.  :) )

For this post, I will focus on the earring components shown in the upper right hand corner.  First, I embossed my metal, then I cut it into the desired shapes (circles) and sanded the edges.  I also punched holes in the spots where I want to attach my flowers with rivets. These pieces will serve as the base of the earrings.

Embossed, cut, sanded and punched metal pieces - these will serve as the base of the earrings.

I painted the metal circles with Vintaj Patina colors (Verdigris, Marine and a touch of Onyx around the edges.)  After painting, I sanded over the tops of the bases to give them extra depth.

Painted metal earring bases.

 Next, I took metal flower stampings and punched holes in the center of each flower.  I then domed each one with a dapping block set.  The flowers were painted in complementary colors with Vintaj Patina paints and alcohol inks, as shown in the photos below.

Painted metal flowers.

Painted metal flowers.

Last, but certainly not least, I attached the flowers to the round metal bases with rivets.  The rivets, which serve as the centers of the flowers, were also painted to complement the overall design.

Wa-la! The assembled design!

The assembled design.

 As an added bonus, I want to show you the earring components (before and after assembly) of another pair of soon-to-be earrings:

Painted metal pieces prior to assembly.

Metal pieces after assembly.

In my next blog post, I will share several completed painted metal jewelry designs.  Please be sure to check back regularly!  "See" you soon!