Posts

Necklace On My Mind

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  A necklace design with components made from steel clay has been in my mind for quite a while now.  This week I decided to make a sketch so I could move the project along.  I want to use the long orange bead with a Middle Eastern theme as a focal (purchased it at the last Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.) Prima in Saran after pulling it out of the tube  I also want to use some of the basic techniques I learned in Hadar Jacobson’s class.  I bought a large block of Prima (a professional grade plastilina) that has wax and is great for forming a shape, wrapping it in saran and in this design, wrapping steel textured clay around it.  Then when the bead is dry, I will carefully pull out the saran with the Prima in it.  Works great as long as the ends are open enough for the Prima to exit.  I broke one tube doing this.  You also don't want to get the Prima warm as the wax will melt and there will be a mess! Sanding the tube I mix up Hadar’s steel clay, roll it out, texture

I'm Back with New Pieces of Art Jewelry

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It’s been a while since my last post and while I missed writing them, I hope you also missed sharing my adventures!  Between a road trip to Berkeley and having painful (very painful) shoulder tendonitis my activities really slowed down.  Now I’M BACK!  Ready to explore new techniques and have fun. When I see a good tutorial about something new that catches my fancy, I buy it and eventually the day comes when I just have to try it.  Staci Louise Smith wrote a tutorial “Gold Rush: The Rustic Crackle Technique” for Craft Art Edu.  I loved the pictures of her necklaces and wanted to see what I could do.  If you like the crackle effect  on my pieces or want to try something new, check out her tutorial on   www.CraftArtEdu.com    They have good classes on many subjects. When I started following tutorials, I expected my pieces to look like the instructors.  That just did not happen and it is not the fault of the tutorial or the instructor.  It is that my mind and hands take the

The Value of Restringing Jewelry

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broken pearl strands redone with added jade beads “Oh, my necklace broke.  I’ll just put it in my jewelry box and deal with it later!” and later could be years away.  Why not have it restrung so you can wear it again? There are many reasons to restring necklaces and I offer my services to several jewelers in town.  It seems that many of the jewelers are too busy or don’t want to take someone’s necklace and remake it.   I happen to enjoy doing just that.  A strand of coral to be restrung with added elements Restrung coral in a new design https://www.etsy.com/listing/279669910/red-coral-statement-necklace-with-bronze?ref=shop_home_active_2 another way to restring coral (with silver beads as spacers) When I have the opportunity to look at a necklace that someone else designed, I look at the way the beads are combined, how they are attached to the clasp and figure out why the piece broke.  Usually the string used has shredded from a bead that is rough on th