Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Remember the post I shared with you about 'Choices'  ?   https://lindabrittdesign.blogspot.com/2018/03/choices-epic-fail-or-ive-learned-lot.html I had some requests wanting to see what I did with the two silver bands that started out to be symmetrical silver cuffs. And then I actually melted part of the design because the torch was too hot.  Well I finally finished the cuff and here it is!  The I've Learned a Lot part of the last blog!  I like the fact that it is not symmetrical and that it has a story.  I had to really think about how I wanted to put the pieces together and how to finish it (I used Liver of Sulphur for the color).  Hammering the bracelet with the two thicknesses of silver was also a challenge.  But I persevered and and happy with the results!   It pays to be patient with creativity. ps. Take a look at my new website and sign up to take advantage of  the discount!  www.lindabrittdesign.com

See this in my Etsy Shop!   https://www.etsy.com/listing/587427778/choker-necklace-set-beaded-necklace?ref=shop_home_active_1 When cleaning my work space I'm finding beads I've made but never put together.  One of this months goals is to actually put together unfinished parts into necklaces and earrings.   It is so easy to focus on parts instead of designing a piece, making what needs to be made and putting everything together.  Often I'll finish making beads, change my mind about what I want to do with them and put them in a container for future inspiration.  There isn't anything really wrong with that as long as there is space and patience!   This is one of the necklaces and matching earrings that I finished this week!  I made the petal from steel clay many months ago.  They are now polished and finished with Klear Cote to prevent rusting.  As I was looking through my stash these freshwater pearls called to me and I love the way they look with the steel

  The Finished Funky Chunky Necklace https://www.etsy.com/listing/599601461/colorful-chunky-bead-necklace-boho?ref=shop_home_active_1 These polymer beads have been on my work table for months!  They are hollow, light weight and colorful.  I love them but did not have any inspiration on how to finish them.   One evening I happened to pick up my box of steel wire (baling wire from the hardware store) and some leather strips.  Maybe I could use the leather and weave it through the beads.  Nope!  The central bead was curved and too long for the leather to go through.  Next I tried the steel wire and I liked the look with the chunky beads.  I have found that if I am patient and keep parts (like the beads I love but have no idea what to do with) a solution will surface.  It makes cleaning up and cleaning the studio harder to do! It has been a while since I used steel wire and I remembered how black my hands got.  I also needed heavier pliers than I usually use.  Got my too

Finished piece It's been quite a while since I tried to sculpt anything but it's been in the back of my mind for a time.  After watching tutorials by Aniko Kolesnikova better known in the polymer world at 'Mandarin Duck', I just had to try sculpting a journal cover.  This is a link to one of her tutorials that you might like to see.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2QLifZkONI Of course I had to try lizards...specifically young Bearded Dragons!  I have 2 live ones and was able to check on details often.  I'm sure 'Willie' and 'Mario' wondered why I was so interested in their parts. This picture is of the flat sheet of shaded brown polymer and acts as the background for the sculpture.  It is important to make this the actual size you want for the cover.  It can be trimmed when you are done but it's difficult to make it bigger.  This one is 8" x 11".   Background It took some time and a failed lizard before I got th

The Flower! The Prescott Art Market recently started a quarterly art show-competition.  There is space to hang 20 canvases that measure 20" x 20" x 2"  and anyone who shows their work in the gallery is eligible to participate.  The theme and color scheme is based on the seasons.  Spring is coming up!  March 1 is the opening show from 6 pm to 8 pm and you are invited! This is the color scheme for spring and these are my test pieces for the polymer colors. I'm trying some new (for me) ideas in polymer clay and instead of making only jewelry, I'm exploring polymer on a canvas with some 3 dimensional pieces. I gathered canes I had and made additional ones in the colors of the spring scheme and started to design a canvas that tells the story of making a 3 dimensional flower. Canes I selected for the project Several canes were selected to make a design line and then I sliced the long composite cane.  A thin blue sheet of polymer was rolled

Large Detail of rocks at The Dells It's been a pretty full holiday season already and it's almost Christmas.   This fall my younger brother and his wife came for a visit (something I never thought could happen for health reasons).  My nephew Matt came for a visit and it was wonderful to get to know him better.  Peter and I were tour guides and as often happens we saw places we had not seen before and got a little different perspective on things we had seen.  Matt in front of some of the rocks at The Dells We are co hosts of a holiday party coming up and attended another neighborhood party.  Long time friends from Tucson came to visit and we are feeling blessed with all the love from family and friends.  I am reminded of how special each person is and how important it is to acknowledge individual talents.  This month I'm finishing several projects that I started or wanted to start throughout this year and thought I'd share a few with you.  Part of the

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

Michelle's Finished Book The phone rang and my neighbor (who does the most amazing book binding) told me the  case for the book was ready!  I went right over to pick it up just in time to share it on this post.  This is the labor of love I am giving to one of my best friends who helped pick and press the flowers on our trip to Ecuador in 2008.  I'll gift it to her in April as a remembrance of our experiences. I made the book and my neighbor made the chemise ('shirt' for the book) and the beautifully constructed box.  The spine is leather and I was privileged to watch the gold foil being placed for the text.  My neighbor walked me through the steps as we selected the materials so I would understand the process. The chemise is solid wine colored fabric and makes a slip cover for the book How the chemise works The book A protected page in the book

Seedpods are a secret love of mine.  I collect them and many different kinds line my window sill.  I love to make them out of metal clay This bronze seedpod started out with bronze clay wrapped around a wax shape that was covered in saran wrap.   After the clay dried, I pulled out the wax through a hole I made for the bale.  The center seeds are thin steel circles that were placed over the bronze layer.  I painted veins on the sides and back with bronze slip (thinned bronze clay), sanded and let the piece dry.  The bronze clay was fired in activated charcoal in a 2 stage process and I always hold my breath when I remove a fired piece from the kiln several hours later.  Did the clay sinter (did it fuse into metal?)  or will I need to fire it again?  This time the clay did sinter except for one steel circle which got lost in the charcoal. After polishing my seedpod, I reviewed my choices.  I could leave the hole open or I could make another circle to fill the

Last week I started sharing my vision of a book for my friend, Michelle, who helped me press and collect the flowers from our 2008 trip to Ecuador.  My next step was to visit my neighbor who is a talented bookbinder.  I took my finished pages (at least I thought so at the time) and hoped he would have some suggestions for putting the book together. We discussed making an accordion of folded paper to hold each page or making a box to hold the loose pages.  I took home two books on bookmaking to read and experiment.  One of the requirements I had was to make sure I could open the pages fully without damaging the dried flora.  That presented challenges of protecting the flowers and I used a translucent paper to cover the dried flower cut smaller that the floral page.  It would be easy to lift the translucent cover to see the actual flower. Somewhere about this time I realized that I had 2 different widths of pages.  That would never do!  To solve that issue I ma