Lynne:
I have been accused of shooting down the last few ideas for crafty challenges, so when Loryn came up with the idea of using some scrap copper discs in the garage I couldn’t very well argue. I have had those discs for the last 20 years and had never been able to find a good use for them and now I was backed into using them in a challenge.
I searched the internet and found this video on YouTube. The most exciting thing to me was the minimal need for specialty tools. Of course, when you are not using many tools, skill is always a bigger factor in the finished project. I pulled out a vise, a wrench and a ball peen hammer and set to. I will tell you now that ear plugs are a very good idea.
We have another sister who lives out of state and she was here visiting. She had brought some tools and a willingness to hammer out some ideas. Together the two us managed to hammer a small bowl with turned edges. Turning that outer edge under is not so easy but I found that brute strength is not the best idea. A small hammer with a light touch goes a long way as a hard hammer hit will put a tear in the copper.
I folded copper, hammered copper, cut copper and cursed copper, but I could not manage to make any progress until last Saturday. I just seemed to make one good hit with the hammer and the copper began to do what I wanted it to do. Failure does lead one to success as long as you keep trying.
I ended up cutting a rectangle from two copper discs for the two halves of a cuff bracelet. I turned the long edges under and then hammered the finished rectangles into a roughly oval wrist-fitting shape.
One of my failed projects was a ring that was too wide for my finger and I had tossed it into the growing scrap heap. However, when I needed a bridge to hold the two bracelet halves together the too wide ring was perfect. All I had to do was hammer the ring flat, punch holes in it, punch matching holes in the other two pieces and connect them all with paper fasteners (not really sturdy but the deadline was twenty minutes away) and there was my bracelet.
For my first piece of hammered metal work I was extremely happy, and despite all my complaining I have become intrigued with the process and am going to do some more work with copper.
Lynne
the crafty sisters 
Wow Lynne! The bracelet is awesome!! I’d wear it. Really. It’s gorgeous!
Thanks Mel. I was pretty happy with it.
This is really beautiful!
Thank you. I always find it interesting that some of the projects we fight the hardest turn out really well.
Haha yeah and sometimes projects just dont turn out at all…which is the most frustrating! This one def turned out well! I love it
lovely
The ones that didn’t turn out ended up in the scrap heap and could be potentially useful.
this is gorgeous!! but does it turn your wrist green?
I don’t know. I haven’t had it very long. I wore it most of the day yesterday and there is no green, but copper will certainly stain if left next to the skin long enough. It probably is a good idea not to wear it all the time. I think there is a coating you can put on to prevent copper from tarnishing. I like bracelets and don’t wear the same one every day.
Thanks for the lovely compliment.
Lynne