Earrings. I love earrings! I also like etching with ferric chloride acid. So I decided to make some earrings combining these two passions of mine. These earrings are easy to make, and have just the right amount of sparkle from the Swarovski crystals. See how to recreate them below!
Etched brass blanks with Swarovski crystals.
To make these earrings you need the following material, tools, and supplies:
- Brass Blanks
- Penny Brite Cleaner
- Ferric Chloride Acid
- Permanent Ink Pad
- Floral Rubber Stamp
- Packing Tape
- Baking Soda
- Sanding Sponges
- Novacan Black
- 6mm Antique Brass Jump Rings
- 12mm Swarovski Crystal Pears, Aurora Borealis
- Bronze Niobium Earring Wires
- Polishing Pads
- Metal Hole Punch
- Chain Nose Pliers
Clean the brass blanks with Penny Brite before you begin to remove any oil or dirt.
Apply ink to the rubber stamp with the ink pad.
Press the blank onto the inked rubber stamp to transfer the image to the metal.
Once you have all the blanks stamped place them onto the packing tape. Make sure the design side is exposed.
Suspend the tape in a plastic container and fill the container with ferric chloride acid.
After you let the metal soak in the acid for about 30 minutes pour the acid back into the bottle and pour a copious amount of baking soda into your container and onto the metal. This will neutralize any remaining acid. Run warm water over the container.
The acid has etched the metal where there was no ink. Using the sanding sponge remove any permanent ink from the blanks.
Now to assemble the earrings!
Dip the brass blanks into the Novacan Black solution to antique the metal.
Hand polish the brass blanks with the polishing pads so that the design really pops!
Punch holes on the top and bottom of each metal blank.
Connect the pieces with the jump rings. And add the crystals to the bottom and the earring wires to the top.
Completed earrings!
I hope you liked this project! Keep on creating! ~Tiffany
1 Comment
Looks cool! Upon looking at the earrings, I thought it’s hard to create but since you did it yourself successfully, I think I can also give it a try. Thanks for sharing!