Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

I made cages!   Tiny cages!   While practicing some of the steel wire techniques I learned from Keith Lo Bue’s http://www.lobue-art.com/  online class, I realized that my collection of tumbled stones just might be the start of a new line of jewelry…..Caged Stones!     So here is my first necklace.   Watch for the new series on my Etsy store www.etsy.com/shop/lindabrittdesign    First I made spirals and turned them into tiny cages.   Then I made ‘s’ links and jump rings and combined everything.     I brushed and buffed them, waxed them and inserted the dyed turquoise.   I need more practice to really control the consistency but I like the first piece!

Several years ago I took Barbara Becker Simon’s class on Hollow Beads in Tucson AZ. http://www.bbsimon.com/pmc.html   I loved making my silver metal clay beads.   I made two that interlocked and actually finished the project in class.   I just could not decide how to use them.   They hung from a wire on my wall.   I’m sure you all have components just waiting for the jewelry gods to say, “Now! Now is the time to use this!” I’m finishing Keith Lo Bue’s Steel Wire class http://keithlobue.blogspot.com and just made the ‘U’ link chain.   It was on my work table when I decided I needed to see if I had anything to use as a focal.   That’s when I heard the voice saying “Now!   Now is the time to use your silver hollow beads!”      I must say that I am very pleased with the results and wanted to share this necklace with you.

Isn’t it interesting how each of us looks at the world and sees different things?   On a recent trip to Willow Lake here in Prescott AZ, I walked to the water’s edge.   It was a lovely late morning and the water shimmered.   The rocks on the other side caught my eye.   Maybe it was the morning light and play of shadow that held my attention so that I could see the rocks and their reflections making new shapes and patterns.   I was so glad I carried my camera!