Learning New Things – 2013 Resolution!

Kim's Beautiful Beaded Necklace and My End Caps
What a way to start the New Year!  First time working with Sterling Silver Clay, using my rock tumbler and hand forming bead end caps! 
A very good friend, Kim Neff (www.beadjeweledraven.com) needed large size end caps for her beautifully beaded spiral necklace.  When she could not find any, she asked if I would make them.  Oh, why not???  I’d never done anything quite like them but I was certainly willing. 
Polymer Prototype
First I decided to use the Sterling Silver clay I had sitting in my drawer for way too long.  It needed to be used and I needed to learn to work with it.  Then I decided to make a prototype with polymer clay.  

Seemed like a mold would be good to create since I needed two matching caps and of course, my 2 part mold mix was way past its shelf life.  I ordered more.
Being impatient, the thought of creating the end caps using the polymer prototype sounded worth trying.  I cut a circle and formed it on the polymer prototype, a long strip for the sides, and made a snake for the lower part.  With some fiddling, the three pieces went together.  So I did another.  Not perfect matches but close enough. 
Ready to sand

After sanding and firing, they went into my new rock tumbler.  I’ve had that tumbler for months and just could not believe it would work. 
Fired before Tumbling

I was so excited after taking the end caps out and seeing their bright shiny surface, I called my neighbors in for a ‘show and tell’.  And of course, I put the pictures on Facebook.  (I also asked for advice as to why they discolored in the firing and we decided it had to do with the oxygen-carbon mix.  Thanks for helping on that one, FB friends!)  The sterling clay was easy to work with and I’ll use it again. 
After Tumbling!
Kim will have to decide about the patina she wants on the pieces.  I’m so excited about how they finished that I don’t want to do anything to change them! 
Good start to 2013!

Labels:
Location: Prescott, AZ, USA

Comments

  1. Pam McGinnisJanuary 4, 2013 at 2:08 PM

    Nice! Congratulations on your Sterling Bead Caps. I haven't worked with the Sterling yet but hear that it's great.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning As We Go!

Image
Viking knit is the oldest method of chain making and I've become fascinated by it.  Once I conquered the single knit, I decided to add beads.  I could have googled or asked how it was done but it seemed like something I could just figure out.  And I've learned a lot as I proceeded first with tumbled turquoise beads and then with pearls.  I thought I'd share a few of the things I've learned.   Iif you want a great tutorial on viking knit technique, Trina Ann at http://blog.trinaann.com/  has written a clear concise easy to understand tutorial.  I highly recommend it.    Tumbled tuquoise beads in viking knit  I used tumbled turquoise beads in the first viking knit chain and I did not really know what I was doing.  But I went right ahead and as it turned out, I liked the end result.  Since the beads were irregular in shape there was a random quality to the finished product. During that process, I beg...
Read more

Polymer Clay Conversation

Image
One of the polymer clay groups on FaceBook is 'Polymer Clay Collective'.  This is a group of artists working in polymer clay who share ideas and support each other.  I'm so glad to be a part.  A new feature of this group is the 'Polymer Clay Collective Conversations' where a different member answers a set  of questions.  I get to be first - the trailblazer! I hope you enjoy learning a little more about me and in two weeks I get to learn more about someone else. • Tell us a bit about where you live. I live in Prescott AZ right next to the national forest.   When I look out my studio windows, I often see large black ravens swooping between the pine trees.   Binoculars are always available for close viewing of our smaller forest birds.   You’ve probably read about the forest fires we have had in our area this summer.   The monsoon rains we are having are so welcome. • What do you do when you're not polymer claying? As of 2010, I...
Read more

I'm Back with New Pieces of Art Jewelry

Image
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 ...
Read more