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Learning as I Go

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Finished!   After 2 days of trying several techniques, this necklace is finished!   I started out thinking it would be cool to make links from polymer clay with some brownish clay, some cutters for the links and complete a quick project.   Cutting the links was the easy part.   Deciding how to attach the links and what to combine with them was more difficult.   The links were baked.   I drizzled Sculpey Bake and Bond and dabbed Pearlex Powder on the baked links to add interest and baked again.   Holes were drilled for metal rivets and the links are ready.     Later I realized I needed to put color accent on the back sides and again drizzled the Bake and Bond and Pearlex Powder.   Baked the links a third time.   Next came stringing the group of beads with flex   wire and using crimp beads to attach the group to 18 g jump rings.   Testing by pulling the flex wire parted the jump ring.   GRRRR!   Maybe soldering the jump rings closed would solve the problem.   When I tried that I b

My Labor Day Weekend Project

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I made cages!   Tiny cages!   While practicing some of the steel wire techniques I learned from Keith Lo Bue’s http://www.lobue-art.com/  online class, I realized that my collection of tumbled stones just might be the start of a new line of jewelry…..Caged Stones!     So here is my first necklace.   Watch for the new series on my Etsy store www.etsy.com/shop/lindabrittdesign    First I made spirals and turned them into tiny cages.   Then I made ‘s’ links and jump rings and combined everything.     I brushed and buffed them, waxed them and inserted the dyed turquoise.   I need more practice to really control the consistency but I like the first piece!

Combining Jewelry Components 'Now is the Time!'

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Several years ago I took Barbara Becker Simon’s class on Hollow Beads in Tucson AZ. http://www.bbsimon.com/pmc.html   I loved making my silver metal clay beads.   I made two that interlocked and actually finished the project in class.   I just could not decide how to use them.   They hung from a wire on my wall.   I’m sure you all have components just waiting for the jewelry gods to say, “Now! Now is the time to use this!” I’m finishing Keith Lo Bue’s Steel Wire class http://keithlobue.blogspot.com and just made the ‘U’ link chain.   It was on my work table when I decided I needed to see if I had anything to use as a focal.   That’s when I heard the voice saying “Now!   Now is the time to use your silver hollow beads!”      I must say that I am very pleased with the results and wanted to share this necklace with you.