Under the Sea

I've gotten some questions on making Under the Sea.  A couple of months ago a gal commissioned me to make a mermaid necklace  (you can see that here).  Strangely enough, I really had to talk myself into doing it.. I'm not really a mermaid person.  By the time I finished I ended up making 2 mermaid necklaces and I really felt like playing in the sea -- which eventually lead to this piece.

(Notice there are no mermaids in it... but I really like mermaids now! )

I did this great octopus necklace last year, so I really wanted to do something with a octopus again, but I hate to repeat myself.  So I laid out a bunch of vintage bits and a bunch of sea themed brass and played for awhile on the layout.  I finally came up with this rough idea:

Original layout

I wasn't completely happy yet.. I liked the general layout but it felt it was missing something.  Also I wanted it sturdy, so it needed a back piece to give it stability.

I wanted the back piece for structure, but I didn't want it to take away from the front design, I also wanted more color to tie together the patina pieces.

I used both patina paints and alcohol inks on the back piece, and then sealed it.  I also added another brass stamping to bridge the empty spot in the middle, to look like I open shell.  It also increased the stability of the piece.  I riveted everything together and a few places are reinforced with glue in spots.  it's riveted up to 4 layers in places, which makes this piece very stable and solid.  For all that, it's not heavy compared to it's size, as brass stampings are hollow and very light.

I really loved how this piece turned out.. it has vintage and modern stampings, vintage sewing machine pieces, vintage clock and watch parts and a vintage key.