Necklaces and Clavichords

My Necklace on the Clavichord Plans

This past weekend Peter and I were busily working on our individual projects - I was making my first large hollow bead necklace while he was building a clavichord.  Usually the noise is out in the garage but this weekend he had some delicate drilling to do and needed to be in our Arizona room while I was working in polymer clay.

Drilling holes in the soundboard of the clavichord

This is the story of the necklace I made and actually it is the second such necklace.  I threw the first one away.  I tell you this just in case you think I never make mistakes!

When I opened one of my plastic boxes, I found a layer of clay that had design lines made of various canes.  It dawned on me that it might make great beads.  I recently saw a video by Kathleen Halverson Dustin showing her technique and wanted to try it.

sheet of polymer clay canes in design lines

The first thing I did was to make scrap clay in the shape of the necklace and cover it in a layer of baking soda.  Then I wrapped a thin sheet of black polymer around that and sealed it.  The baking powder keeps the two layers apart.   After the necklace is cured and while it is still warm, I cut the big curved shape into pieces and the center scrap clay comes out.  That was pretty neat to see!

When the hollow black beads are cool they become hard and black end caps are added.  Then the beads are cured in the oven again.  

Black hollow beads wit end caps after curing.

The next step is to cut the design line sheet into strips that will go around the black hollow bead, seal the edges and round the sides into the end caps.

Design layer wrapped on black hollow bead 

 The bead is cured again.  I put the beads on a layer of baking soda to keep their curves.

Beads on layer of baking soda

 Now the beads are ready for sanding.  I just bought an acrylic stand to make sanding easier.  The acrylic sheets keep the dust controlled.  I used 6 different grits of sandpaper.

Acrylic stand keeps sanding dust under control.

 Here's the funny part of the story (at least I laughed about it!)  Once the beads were polished, I drilled large holes in each end and strung the beads of stretch shoestrings.  I bought the shoestrings for a pair of my walking shoes and had no idea what I would do with the 5 extra pair in the package!   I knotted between each bead and love the way this necklace looks and feels.  It is light weight, colorful and lots of fun to wear.

Me and my necklace!