I’m on a mission at the moment to use up some of the small pieces of silver that have been left over from larger projects. I buy my sheet silver in rectangles, and I inevitably get left with some oddly-shaped bits when I cut out circles or irregular shapes.
I collect these up in a pot, meaning to come back to them later, and usually forget about them. Some are too small to do anything with, but when I sorted through them a few weeks ago, I found several that were a useful size.
I have already used some to make the forget me not earrings that I posted about a few days ago, plus some oxidised circle earrings. Here is my latest creation.
The little silver birds are perched on circles, which I formed from 1mm silver wire. They have earrings posts soldered to the back. The birds are based on the shape of bullfinches. I think they look quite jaunty.
I’m actually enjoying the challenge of creating designs within the constraints imposed by working with smaller pieces of silver. It’s a good discipline, and it has made me think and plan more carefully at the design stage. Cutting out smaller shapes is also great for my sawing skills!
I’m gradually getting to the end of the usable pieces now. I will melt down some of the very small bits to make silver balls, and the rest can be sent off to a company which will recycle it – nothing will go to waste.
