What I did on my Quarantine Staycation

I grew up Pickens, South Carolina, a small town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains . Now that I live in the flatlands of Florida, I realize how special it was to have those pale blue hills in sight whenever I was playing outside. They are still in my thoughts.

For a while now, I have been designing jewelry that relates to my old stomping grounds. I made a couple of waterfall necklaces and have been torturing myself to get the color right for a sterling silver and copper ring called “Blue Ridge”. By salting and suspending the ring over a container of ammonia, the copper mountain portion turned a dark navy blue. This was too dark, much darker than the real thing.

Finally, I used my new skills with colored pencil to get the final color. This was done by roughing up the surface so that the color will stick. Then it was sealed with clear varnish to protect the color.