More Curl Necklaces

I had so much fun making the aquamarine curl necklace, that I decided to make a few more for summer. I have a feeling there may be more of these in other colorways waiting to be made...

Regional Show Entries

It's almost May, and that means the Westerly Artist's Cooperative is holding their annual Regional Art Show.  This show is juried by an outside judge, someone who is not familiar with any of the cooperative members.  This means that even member artists who normally show in the gallery may not have their work approved and entered in the show.

This year, I decided to try some new items.  These are pieces I haven't tried before, and it was fun to experiment.  I have no idea if they'll appeal to the judge, but I certainly learned a few things as I tried to make these pieces, and it was a good experience.   Below are the 3 pieces I entered.

 These first photos are of a hollow convertible pin/pendant I made with an opening in the center of the top section.  Emerging out of the hole are several little pearl white buds - the "first buds" of spring.  It can be pinned, or a chain can be added through the loops in the back.













This next photo shows a pendant and accompanying earrings.  I've called these pieces "Pearls floating downstream."  I usually work with Premo! clay, but these pieces were made with Kato.  I wanted a really strong clay that could be rolled thin and still stand up to being manipulated.  The Kato worked perfectly.  you may not be able to see it in the photo, but there is a thin white layer of clay between the blue and copper sheets, and it just peeks out along the edges adding a bit of contrast.

The last photo is of a 20" necklace strung with Swarovski crystal pearls, and silver and crystal rondelles.  The five polymer beads have a very high shine and are larger than the beads I usually make for a necklace arrangement.  I really love the way the Ikat pattern in the bottom section of each bead adds such an interesting contrast to the top section.

Turquoise & Lavender

As is probably apparent from many of my entries, I am really fond of teals, aqua and all shades of purples. Here are a few recent pieces reflecting those hues. 

 

Foldover Bead Necklace with Extrusions

Here is a fun little necklace I just finished.  The polymer beads are simple circles, with a design on one side, solid color on the other, then gently folded so they don't quite meet.  This allows the colors from both sides to show and keeps open a channel for beading wire.
One experiment I tried for the patterned side was to shave slices off an extruded tube, place the strips side-by-side on a backing sheet, and then compress them in the pasta machine.  I really liked the resulting inconsistent striped look.
 Here is a closeup of one bead.

Extruded "Rounds"

I love extrusions.  I think my favorite part is the fact that while the outside of the extrusion looks so plain as it leaves the extruder, the inside hides wonderful surprises.  I have recently been playing with some thin extruded snakes, using them to create some fun and colorful round beads.  Of course, I couldn't stop at one bead or one color-way, so here are photos of a couple of necklaces I made.  There is also a bracelet also out of extruded snakes, but with a bit more dimension. The orange and purple necklaces have been rolled by hand and smoothed. Separating the beads with spacer beads or pearls helps highlight the dot design.

Notice that the beads in the bracelet have not been smoothed.  Rather they are composed of individual sections of the extruded snake. This adds dimension and depth.

Folded Fans Necklace

This is the last of five necklaces I made as entries into the juried Regional Art Show in Westerly, Rhode Island.  The necklaces in the previous 3 posts on this blog were the others I submitted.  I was very pleased that all five of my pieces were accepted into the show.  The show ran for the month of May and three of the necklaces sold.

I call this new bead style the "folded fan".  The use of a Skinner blend to make the beads change in color, and the graduated sizes added another dimension of interest to the set.  I used small filigree silver balls n between the polymer beads, and finished the necklace with galvanized silver seed beads.  A light and fun piece for summer into fall.

New Half-hollow Bead Necklace

I was playing around with an Ikat cane I'd made, and started making hollowed circles.  I used a sheet of the Ikat cane, laid it across the edges of a circle shape cutter, and gently smoothed the clay so it stretched down into the cutter.  Then I pressed the cutter onto a flat sheet of clay, making sure there was a firm connection between the domed section and the flat backing.  The pieces baked well, retaining the domed shape. I used a ribbon of clay and some Genesis Thick Medium to bond the various dome shapes together, and created this necklace.  I like the look and feel of the domes, and plan to be making more shapes and pieces in the near future.

Tube-Style Necklaces

I love the warmth and glow that translucent clay imparts to a piece.  Recently, I made a couple of blended "cell" canes that have a lot of translucent in them.  I call them cell canes because they remind me of a group of cells clustered together, or perhaps a bit like the inside of a bee hive.  Each "cell" is a bull's eye blend fading to translucent, with a white polymer wrap around it.  Of course, once you've made a cane, the next challenge is to use it.  I decided to make hollow tube beads, keeping the irregular edges as part of the shape.  I made a set which I combined into a necklace. I had done a similar necklace with this type of cane a few months ago in a different color combination.  I really like the way the navy pearls and light blue crystals complement the tube beads.

Just for fun, I decided to try something a bit different.  I made just one larger tube, and figured out a way to hang some chains with pearls from the inside of the tube.  The results are shown here.  I really like the way these turned out.  I particularly like the look of something hanging from inside the tube, and will have to give this idea more time soon.

Lei Necklaces for Spring and Summer

I really enjoy making these "lei" type necklaces, and I think they're fun to wear, too.  These pieces have some nice natural components.  The pale yellow core on the aqua ruffle beads provides a really lovely contrast, and makes the necklace "glow" from within.  I found some lovely turquoise stone beads with yellow markings, and they match the polymer beads perfectly.

For the burgundy and white petal bead lei I used freshwater pearls and garnets for contrast.


The orange and yellow polymer focal piece below went perfectly with some coral chips I had.  I like the way the unevenness of the coral chips compliments the swirled shapes and colors in the polymer.  Mixing natural stones and pearls with polymer adds another dimension to these pieces.

Translucent Vertical Tubes

A while ago, I made a sort of rock-look cane based on the lace cane concept.  I used lightly tinted translucent clay rolled into a bull's eye cane and wrapped in white. Then I reduced the cane, cut it into pieces, and joined them together in a large matrix cane.  At that time, I used slices from the cane to cover cabochon shapes and make irregular beads that looked like unusual stones.  The photo on the left shows some of the polymer pebbles I made.  For more information, take a look at my post of Tuesday, December 24, 2013 - Honeycombed Pebbles.

The other day, I was looking at a piece of this type of cane I had left and wondering what to do with it.  Since I've been playing with tube beads, I decided to make some tube beads using the cane.  I left the outer edges uneven as they were on the cane itself, and overlapped the rolled edges rather than cutting them to meet evenly.  Leaving the translucent tubes hollow makes them look like they glow from inside.  I found some peach freshwater pearls and some iridescent glass O beads, and set to work stringing the tube beads vertically.  Here is the resulting necklace.  It has a really soft look to it, and the rounded ends of each of the tube beads helps keep them gentle on the skin.

It's fun to visit "old" canes and do do something new with them!

Adjustable Tube-bead Lariats

I really like the concept of lariats, though I haven't made that many.  A few weeks ago, I taught a workshop on making hollow tube beads.  Of course, making beads often involves deciding how to showcase them.  Usually, you have to plan on how the bead will be used and displayed. Sometimes, I have a plan all set out before I begin, while other times I have not thought about it as much as I might have.  At the end of my demo on hollow tubes, I had a couple of sweet tubes without ends. Then came Clay Connection 2016, the every-other-year polymer conference, hosted by the Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild (SCPCG).  I always look forward to this conference, and this year was no exception.  I had the tube beads with me, made a couple more, then decided how I was going to use them.  Adjustable lariats!





Here are samples of 2 adjustable lariats.  I have a few more tube beads made up, but they're not in lariat form yet.  This particular design leaves the cording just loose enough so the length and the size for around the head and neck can be adjusted. I like making little pod beads at the ends, too.  They provide a form to hold while adjusting the cord length, and they're just plain fun.

A Few Things for Summer

How did it get to be July?! Perhaps the fact that I was traveling in Canada and California during June made that month fly by.  I have been feeling polymer withdrawal, and had to get back into the swing of things.  I wanted to make a lei necklace in summer colors, so decided to branch off into a color I don't use very much - orange! I came up with a semi-subdued orange, but it is orange.  I also made the ruffled disks go all the way around the necklace. This makes the lei stand out as it circles the neck, perfect for summer months when people are wearing tops without collars.

 

I was also in the mood to make earrings.  I have some sweet little flowers blooming in the yard, so decided to make up some posy earring, shown here in 3 colors.

A Couple More New Necklaces

I've been working on a couple of necklaces.  These always take longer than pendants, yet they allow me to use different techniques and create a complete look all their own.

This first necklace is made of small curved slices of polymer.  I made 2 complimentary canes by mixing embossing powder into translucent clay, then wrapping each of them in different custom-mixed solid clay. The curved slices are different sizes, so the pieces set each other off in a variety of ways.  Interspersed throughout the necklace are teardrop-shaped champagne glass pearls.  I think this design is fun and the look could be dressy or more casual.  I'm going to have to try it in different colors.

The second necklace here uses some beads I made a while ago.  I started with thin extruded snakes wrapped around a round core, then applied a sort of mokume gane approach to slicing into portions of the snakes.  Little O beads provide separation and a bit of sparkle.

New Necklaces

As you know, I make a lot of pendants, just not a lot of necklaces.  I think it's partly because pendants can be made up quickly and when I try a new technique, I'm eager to see what it looks like translated into jewelry.  Every once in a while, though, I make beads that want to be strung together into a necklace.  So today, I thought I'd share two pieces I just finished making.
The first piece was made from an Ikat Skinner Blend.  The pearls and gold seed beads seemed the perfect compliment.

The other necklace has a series of wavy discs cut from a translucent cane wrapped in solid cream polymer.  The translucent clay was colored using embossing powders, so there is a textured look to the pieces.  Small glass "O" beads separate the discs.

Symmetry in Fuchsia and Blues

It's been a while since I've made "just beads" rather than pendants, earrings and bracelets with their various components. I made this sweet wedge cane and decided to whip up some beads.  I particularly liked the way this cane looked with  deep fuchsia.  As you can see in the photos, some of the deeper color almost looks like velvet.

Obviously, I couldn't stop at just a couple of beads, and then I needed to put them together so they could be worn. Hence, a necklace in simple stringing.  The crystals, pearls, and sterling silver spaceers add a special sparkle.  I have a couple of the beads left over, and I see earrings in their future.

Another Segmented Necklace

As you've no doubt noticed in a few of my recent posts, I've been trying out some necklace styles that are different from my usual pendants and chains.  The teal, green & yellow segmented necklace was my first foray into this type of piece. I decided to try something using larger - and fewer - segments.

Today's piece is made from a mokume gane sheet in navy, white and fuschia.  The color combination pops, and the little calla lily in the middle echos the theme.  This necklace lays at the throat and across the collar bones so I gave the 2 segments some curve during the baking process.

Oh,  yes....I found a couple more tiny bottle shapes, and had to wrap them in  vines and flowers. The round bottle with the pink flowers is a little larger than the other tiny bottles I've used.  I particularly like the ability to see through to the design on the other side. These photos show the front and back of the same bottle.  You can see how the size and shape make for added interest.

Here's another tinier cutie. 

A Swirled Cane Many Ways

A few weeks ago, I made a braided cane and used it to cover a couple of boxes.  A hexagonal box was pictured in an earlier post. The other box I covered was an Altoid tin.  This photo shows the cane and the Altoid tin.  The slices I used for the tin came from the ripple blade-cut side of the cane.  The design shown on top of the cane I decided to use to make some jewelry.

First, I made several swirled beads in graduated sizes, then used jump rings to link them together into a necklace.

A pair of earrings followed.

Then I swirled the swirl a bit more, and made this "U" shaped pendant.  Fun!

Another shot of the necklace:

See What Wedge Canes Can Do!

Wedge canes are one of my favorite cane-types to make.   They can be fashioned into petals or flowers or leaves, or used in designs or kaleidoscope canes.  I start with a Skinner Blend bull's eye cane, cut it into quarters, and mush these wedges together.  Depending on how you decide to form each wedge, and whether you are using one or two bull's eye canes as a starting base, the variations are amazing.  I love the multiple thin lines that create illusions of even more color.

This is all preamble to the three necklaces I have to share with you today.  I decided to see how various uses of a wedge cane would look. Of course, knowing my penchant for circles, I suppose it makes sense that these three pieces all have a circular theme.
The green piece is perhaps the most elaborate, with the chain and dangles.  You can see the cane design, in which I used a wrap of white and black.  It also made a great twisted snake for a snail spiral, so I had to add that, too.



Enter a purple/blue mix. I had fun with this one, making a flower cane from the wedges, and opening the snail spiral for added interest.




Last is the red pendant.  This one is larger than the other two, and seemed to want more backing to add support and structure.  Here, again, is the snail spiral and some round shapes derived from the cane.