Leaf textures

This week I tried out a couple more textures with the aluminum using a rolling mill.  My goal was to create a leaf impression.  I'm pleased with the results.

I dyed the aluminum first and sealed it. Then I ran it through the rolling mill.  All the little veins show up well on the aluminum.  It's such an intricate pattern and all that you see is texture, not different colored dyes.  I then did a little fold forming to bend the leaf,  filed the edges to show the silver color of the aluminum and voila!

The photo above reminds me of soft furry sage leaves - the green really does give them a soft look.

And you can see from the photo below that the veins even show up on the back of the leaf.

I haven't decided how I'm going to use them yet...whether a little creature will sit on them...or some flowers or.....what do you think?

Burnt orange flowers

You may recall that a few weeks ago I showed you a bangle I made which included texturing the metal using a rolling mill.  The bangle was all one color - a vibrant and strong burnt orange.  Today, I decided to add a few silver flowers to it.

The texture I used was floral lace, so the silver flowers pick up on that texture.

A total of four silver flowers were added. The two larger ones are riveted on with aluminum rivets. The two smaller flowers are riveted on with copper rivets to pick up the burnt orange color again, as you can see in the photo below:

I think it seems a happier bangle now! What do you think?

Adding texture to aluminum

I got a little package this past week from my mum.  No, it wasn't a food parcel - it was little bits and bobs of lace, fabric, paper cutouts etc.  I had been telling her about my rolling mill and how I wanted to try using it with the aluminum - so all her little strips of goodies were things to try running through the mill with the aluminum for my bangles to create texture on the metal.

I haven't tried them all yet, but here are a couple:

 This first one is a lovely rich orange color - as that was always my mum's favourite color.  Is it still I wonder????  Anyhow - a happy color.  I put the aluminum through with a piece of thick lace.  I hope you can see the texture that came from it in the photos.

The other was just a small piece of aluminum I colored but hadn't made anything with.  This went through the mill with an open weave ribbon.

It'll be interesting to add texture to some of my bangles and also other aluminum pieces I make. I'll be trying the other goodies later so will let you know how they work out.

Yes, the aluminum experiments continue!

Thanks mum!