Finished!

I finished my first sterling silver jewelry piece this week.  I'm taking a class and having FUN!  I can really get into this (as the newly acquired tools in my crafting closet can attest!).

The teacher calls this a Hopi-style pin, but basically it's an overlay.  Two layers of silver are soldered together, the top is 20 gauge and the bottom is 22 gauge.  The top layer has been pierced/sawed to reveal portions of the bottom layer, which was then lightly textured to add some interest.  The idea was to play with positive and negative space, and really show that by oxidizing the layer below. 

We were asked to choose a photograph as inspiration, and I ultimately chose a photo that I'd taken many years ago of a Dogwood flower in Yosemite Valley:

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