Fabricating a Ladybug and Bloodroot Leaf Brooch

This was an experimental project for me to learn a new method of patination and see if I could layer a second patina on top.
Bloodroot is a favorite Spring ephemeral of mine whose leaves are even more striking than the flower in my opinion. The roots of the plant are blood red and historically used to create a dark orange dye. I chose the ladybug as a nod to the plant's namesake.
The bloodroot leaf pattern is based on tsuba (sword guard) surface granulation from historical examples, although mine is a bit flatter and wider.
In an attempt to streamline and condense everything, there’s a lot of repetition you don’t see in this video. I cut out several rounds of annealing, shaping, filing, sanding, re-fusing, etc. for the sake of brevity.
This was also my first time fusing fine silver to copper. I didn't include that process in the video, but the silver foil I used was hand-milled to a certain thickness. My first fusing attempts were done on a hot plate, but I found that the copper needed to be heated much more quickly than the hot plate would allow. If oxidation started forming between the copper and my fine silver elements, I had to pickle and try again.
Big thank you to @kaznesq for your wonderful video on hido!
This piece is available to own at:
www.lithicdesi...
Thanks for watching!

[@DigIntoGaming]

Wow! Absolutely amazing! Great job! That all looks so tedious to me, but I'm so glad you enjoy it! All of your pieces look so beautiful and I really enjoy watching the process. I feel it helps people to appreciate the piece more seeing all the hard work go into making it.

[@kgs2127]

Beautiful piece and another amazing video💖