Jennifer Culp

This Christmas I took part in a Secret Santa gift exchange.

My assigned recipient was one Mayor of Bethville, author of Welcome to Bethville. When I considered what sort of gift might please the Mayor, I couldn’t get her particularly hilarious series of posts about Andrew Jackson out of my mind. So, I made a mourning pendant for the Honorable Mayor to wear on occasions of remembering our still-deceased seventh President:

I had such a blast making it!

The metal of the pendant is copper, darkened with liver of sulfur and sealed (so as not to leave black smudges on the Mayor when worn). After fabricating the metal components, soldering them together, polishing the piece and applying patina and sealant, it was time to add some Andrew Jackson. I found a public domain portrait of President Jackson, shrunk him down to the appropriate size, and set his face in the bezel. I measured the pendant’s circumference and calculated the appropriate number of beads carefully, but still ended up taking a grinder to the edges of the very last bead to make it fit just perfectly.

I never expected aventurine dust to smell so awful. Who’d have thought?

My slight olfactory discomfort was worth it, however, to achieve the intended effect. Finally, I mixed a two-part epoxy resin and poured it over Jackson to seal his portrait under a hard, shiny surface.

It was terribly hard to keep my mouth shut about the gift once it was finished, but my patience was rewarded when the Mayor opened her present and loved it. It looks fantastic on her, too:

I look forward to reading many more laughter (and jewelry)-inspiring posts on Welcome to Bethville in 2010!

Photo of Honorable Mayor wearing pendant courtesy Laia of Geometric Sleep.