Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Small Bundle of Success #1 A small case of crystals has taken up space on my shelf for a few years and this December I decided to create jewelry using them.   There were vintage teardrops, Swarovski teardrops, and chandelier prisms - all have some kind of imperfection.   In the case of the teardrops the tops are broken and I just hate to throw them away.   3 Teardrop Crystals with Bead Caps My solution is to make bead caps with bales from silver metal clay and glue the crystals into the caps.   Since silver metal clay shrinks in firing, I knew I needed to make the caps larger.   I molded polymer clay over the top of the teardrop and baked it.   This gave me a firm form where I could build my bead cap of the silver clay.   I started with 3 forms and made 3 different caps with bales.   This was an experiment that worked!   The forms made the caps bigger than the crystals with room to shrink.  Also I found the perfect drying place for the clay caps......the points of my jewelry pli

It’s the New Year!   Instead of listing all kinds of resolutions or none at all, I’ve decided to share my goals for this year….     I will have fun doing whatever I am doing. I will experiment with new techniques and share them. I will exercise my willpower by enjoying and sharing small successes. Recently while listening to NPR, I heard Roy F. Baumeister talk about his new book, “ Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength ”. Recent research suggests that we might look at willpower as a muscle, exercising it and building it by achieving success in small things. Enjoying the small successes will make it easier to tackle bigger challenges and have success with those.   That made a lot of sense to me. In fact, I’ve used that technique in time management. So this year I will see how I can break down the things I want to accomplish into small bundles. I’ll be able to enjoy the success more easily and build up my will power muscle!   And of course part of enjoying that succ

Last time you read about the tortoise project, the silver clay was ready to fire.   After programming the kiln and waiting the required time, I held my breath and opened the door.   There it was!   Of course I had to try it on to see if it fit before I did anything else.   Success! When silver clay gets fired, the organic part of the clay burns up and the heat fuses the micro filaments of silver to become 99% fine silver.   After the firing the silver looks white.   Once I brush it with a brass brush, the color turns to the silver color one expects.      Now comes the sanding and polishing.   I want to be able to see the pattern of the tortoise better and that requires a patina of liver of sulphur.   The water is warm when I put a small amount of the liver of sulphur gel, mix it, and put in the silver pieces.   After the silver pieces start to darken to the color I want, they will go into a separate dish of water with baking soda to stop the color change.   The fin