Red Bird (Cardinal) Copper 30″ Pendant Necklace

The cardinal is one of my favorite birds for the male’s solid bright red coloring, and I tried to represent that in this little drawing made with Prismacolor pencils. The bird is set inside a handmade copper bezel that’s soldered onto a notched background. The setting’s bail is also made from copper and attached to the setting with a cold connection that is accented with a flattened argentium silver nugget and a hammered section of sterling silver wire that surrounds the bezel. The upper copper wire bail is hammered and shaped in circles, to connect to each end of the copper link chain. 

Once again, I pre-polished the copper but left the metal as is after soldering. The natural colors that are a by-product of heating the metal nicely complement the bright colors in the drawing and keep a natural feel for the subject matter.

The 30″ copper link chain has an antiqued copper clasp that is attached to one of its links but the chain remains in one long piece. The necklace can be worn without engaging the clasp, but if a shorter length is desired, the clasp can simply be attached to any link on the chain. This is illustrated in one of the photos.

The pendant measures about 1. 5″ left-to-right and 2″ from the top of the wire bail to the bottom of the piece. The necklace was conceived and the pendant with double bail entirely handmade by Shauna Sopel.

For sale at Beadoholique Bead Shop #handcraftedjewelry #silversmith #metalwork #alonestarjewelry #texasjewelry #beachjewelry #southwestjewelry #leatherjewelry #turquoisejewelry