Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

2 Years of Simmering  Sometimes ideas sit and simmer.  Sometimes for years and then they need to be revisited. 2 years of moving these beads around my studio After cleaning off my work space in the studio many small containers of red beads appeared.  A couple of years ago (you know how time flies...) I had a idea for a necklace.  One group of beads I made were thin discs cut from a floral cane.  They cured on small muffin tins so they flared and ruffled.   The smaller thicker red discs and some much smaller round beads were added.  Then I stopped.  Probably a different idea got my attention and the red beads sat there.  Several times over the following weeks and months they were moved from place to place.  Then thinking about having to sand all those beads before I used them made me wonder exactly how I would put them together.  There were times I wondered why I just didn't throw them away. But there they sat. Dividing the beads and deciding how to string

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

Finished Conceptual Drawing This is one time when the finished product is true to the original drawing and exactly what I pictured. As you scroll  down you will see the entire set - necklace, earrings, bracelet!      There were several challenges and slight adjustments to directions as there are in any journey.  Every design seems to be a journey - sometimes in finding my unique path, sometimes in discovering new twists and turns of materials and sometimes learning or inventing new techniques to achieve the destination.  With each piece of jewelry I design comes a new adventure in creating something special for the end user.  "Wear your individuality" becomes more than a slogan for me and for my company. Taking the 3 strands through the steel tube where they become one strand. Focal I decided to make several earrings of various lengths to go with the necklace. And then I decided to add a bracelet!

  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

One of my goals is to use my last container of Hadar’s Steel XT clay!  I want to start on some of the new clay and am determined to use patience as I deplete my stash of the older clay.  Here goes a new project! Usually I just thumb through my new book Art Forms in Nature book by Ernst Haeckel but for this project I wanted to get serious and really think about the underlying structure or skeleton forms in nature.  Focusing on a couple of pages that reminded me of what sea creatures might look like under their shells, I sketched some ideas, closed the book and started to create. Mixing Hadar’s clay is so easy – as long as I creep up on the amount of water and not get it too wet - and it has a reasonable working time.  After mixing the steel XT clay it went into the refrigerator as I made the molds for my creation. Several months ago, this muffin pan, a treasure from a thrift shop, was sawed in half to fit into my convection oven for polymer clay.  It worked great. 

It is springtime and time for bugs!  This is a framed bug (dead – pretty much the only kind I like) from Malaysia that I purchased at a Reptile Show.  I could feel a spring project in the making! I studied the form of the body and thought about what materials I could use to construct my bug.  The result is a body made of Hadar Smart Bronze clay formed in segments.  The wings had to move and the best way was to make a hinge as an integral body part.      A nickel chromium wire feeds from tail to head.  The tail became one with the wire but the head remainedseparate. I finished the body and finally stabilized the head to the first segment by soldering.  With the body finished, the wings were next.  The colors were mixed with some translucent clay.  I could have used more translucent but generally the combination of 672 yellow,1150 Lemonade,380 Buried Treasure, white and translucent polymer clay worked well.    I made the cane, sliced the win

My first ever ‘Do Over Challenge’ was such fun!  I signed up to participate in Jeannie K Dukic ’s 6th Do Over Challenge not really knowing anything about how it worked.  I received a necklace that was very sweet with copper wire connections and pinkish pearls.  It sat on my work space for a couple of weeks while I pondered my next move.  One day I opened my polymer bead collection and was drawn to the pinkish and green beads.  They really looked good with the pearls.  I found some green crystal beads and a few other contenders.  But when I tried the small striped beads, I knew my combination!  This is the finished product for most of the pearls in the original necklace. It was the week to finish some of my long term projects.  I kept the wires with the red and green rubber bands from the braces I wore for 3 years.  When they finally came off, I asked the orthodontist if I could have them.  He wanted to know why since almost NO ONE wanted them and I told him I wante

Tansy Back of Pendant After completing Christi Friesen’s polymer class last week, I wanted to make a pendant using some of her techniques.   I also wanted the pendant to be my style (whatever that is!). The face of the girl in my creation was a bead given me by a friend and I knew someday she would call to be part of something.   I picked her up, held her, looked at my mix of clay and started creating.   It was fun to figure out how to place the polymer shapes to make her part of the forest and have personality.   Many years ago, a close friend and I corresponded.   We wrote to each other in our imaginary forest girl’s personalities.   Mine was named ‘Tansy’ and I think Tansy may have infused some of her personality into this pendant.   I just had to share her.