New Necklaces

I've been giving some new beads for necklaces a try, and thought I'd share what I've been doing. The Westerly Art Gallery put out a prospectus for entries into their Regional Show, and I entered these three very different pieces. I was pleased the aquamarine necklace was juried into the show, and I just found out that it has sold. Nice news! For the curls on this necklace, I made a jelly roll cane with translucent and white polymer. I mixed a new turquoise tinsel embossing powder from Ranger into the translucent, and spread an aqua colored glitter between the translucent and white polymer layers before rolling them up. I formed the cane into a rectangle and wrapped the slices over a small wooden dowel. The crystal aquamarine pearls between the slices added a nice touch.

I really think this second necklace is fun! It took me a while to figure out how to fold the clay so that the form stayed open while also remaining connected to the other components. The different colors in each folded section help the design stand out. I can envision this design in other places besides jewelry. How about as drawer knobs? Or perhaps an item on the end of a lamp or fan pull? Fun to make once you get the hang of it, and rather versatile.

Although it may be a bit hard to tell from the photo, the design on these beads is raised in a bas-relief method usually called the Sutton slice. Getting all the pieces from the texture plate to translate to the base often takes care and patience. I found the trickiest part was getting the design to flow all the way around and not stop abruptly at the seam. Some of the patternas worked better than others. Since I tend to think of black and white as a summer combo, I thought this piece had a summery feel.

Little Holiday Votives

I like candles. Of course, it's always best when the flame can be encased in something to keep it safe and away from flammable objects. That's one of the reasons glass votives were developed.
Although watching the flame can be mesmerizing,  it's also fun to watch the glow filtered through designs or colors.  So I decided to make some small glass votives covered with translucent polymer designs.  Once you have decided on your colors ( for the votive shown here, I used translucent and white) , you need to make a small cane.  Square canes work well for matching up edges of cane slices.  However, round or irregular shapes also work, as can be seen in the example shown in this post.  Very thin slices are placed edge to edge and pressed together to create a solid covering of the glass.  I wanted a matte finish on the outside so I used some organza fabric as I smoothed the cane slices. This kept the surface slightly textured and ensured there were no fingerprints showing.  After being baked at the polymer recommended temperature, the votive is ready to use.  If a shiny surface is desired, the polymer will need to be sanded and buffed before using.

These last two photos show the votives with small electric tealights inside.  This is another option for creating light inside a votive holder, and is, of course, fireproof.  The lighter photo was taken with a light on in the room.






The final, darkest photo shows the glow from within the votive in a darkened room.

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.

It's a Wrap!

During this time of year, I like to try making something new, and then see what type of response I get from shoppers. Bracelets are one item I make frequently, but most of the time I use a brass cuff or brass bangle with a channel to help hold in the polymer.  People seem to like them, but there are always those who find the brass forms don't fit.  I thought it would be fun to try making bracelets that are more "one-size-fits-all."
Enter memory wire.  Using this wire, I would be able to make bracelets that wrapped around the wrist, and would therefore be adjustable.

I haven't used memory wire before, and found the instructions that came with the wire to be helpful.  I also checked out YouTube and discovered I needed to purchase an appropriate cutter. Memory wire is tough and doesn't cut with regular wire cutters. Now I have a new tool!

I conditioned clay in sets of complimentary colors and then started rolling slender clay tubes.  Some tubes were solid colors, some were skinner blends and I also made lots of stripe tubes.

It was fun to watch the stripes twist as I rolled the tubes. I found it most helpful to use a very thin knitting needle for the core, and I pinched the ends of the clay so it stayed close to the knitting needle as I rolled by hand.  When the tube was the size I was looking for, I used a flat piece of acrylic to smooth the tubes.  I cut off the ends of the tubes, slid them off the needle, put a simple bend in each tube, and set them in the oven to bake. After baking, I used a sharp blade to cut the polymer tubes into varying lengths.  It's helpful to cut while the polymer is still warm.  I also made some flat round disks to intersperse between the tubes. Assembling the pieces on the wire was fun. I discovered I needed to make the cuts on the end of the tubes at a slight slant to help compensate for the curve of the memory wire.  It also took a time or two to determine order of the pieces and the final size I needed for each piece.

The photos here show 3 memory wire wrap-around bracelets.  The turquoise and purple bracelet includes some sections with translucent overlay.  I like the interest the round shapes add.  They're a nice contrast to the striped sections.

One final aspect to consider when using memory wire for wrap-around bracelets is how to finish the ends.  The ideas I considered included end caps, making wire loops, and adding some sort of end bead.  I liked the way end beads looked the best, so used an epoxy glue to fasten both the last polymer disk beads and the crystal or metal beads to both ends of the memory wire.  Voila!