Bronze! I. Love. Bronze!

I love bronze - oh wait, I already said that... but I want to scream it!! It's tough... it takes the not so delicate handling I give it and says "HA! I'll take that and more!" and I love it for that!! The clay works much like silver and copper it's just that it has a different firing method. And the new Prometheus bronze is a shorter firing time (perfect for my muffle kiln) and thanks to a wonderful artist from France - Sabine Alienor - I have been able to get fantastic results with firing using her technique. I have not had any failures in firing the bronze and whether it's simply brushed or tumbled it comes out fantastic. And... can it receive a patina! (I know - it sounded like a question but heck no! It was a statement for sure... It CAN take a patina!) I've used both liquid LOS patina as well as torch applied patina - o m g. The torch applied is my favorite the colors are incredible.

Here are some examples - the earrings you've seen before ...
the bronze holds a terrific texture and plain old squares can be hammered to form hand-forged texture.

My favorite earrings lately are the pair on the left - a delicate floral carnation texture, slightly domed leaf shape dangle on hand-forged vintage bronze ear wires. Peace Stones add a touch of organic color.

The other pair are hand-forged square bronze dangles with turquoise rondelles. Paired with vintage bronze ear wires and coils. Very light, very pretty!!

Cinderella's Pendant...
This piece I adore. I found a little skeleton key with lock in a scrap book store and thought - that looks like a pendant. Like a Cinderella carriage. I molded the lock plate and covered the key-hole area with polymer clay to make a bezel-like area in the pendant. The cabachon is ... polymer clay! Yes I actually made a piece from polymer clay that did not burn on me! The colors came out fabulous but I have to admit - I cheated... I used glossy coating vs all the hours of sanding that my friend Lisa does to get a coating free shine like this.

Below the Cinderella Pendant hangs a bronze key with a Principessa Glass lamp work heart and finishes with a Swarovski Crystal fringe in colors from the cab. The key is made from bronze and is cold connected to the lamp work heart. The cabachon was created to work with this heart! I had so much fun making this necklace. There are two Vintage Aspirin Peridot AB Swarovski Crystals and two small bronze colored lamp work spacers by That Bead Girl. The piece is completed with a hand-dyed silk cord in the PERFECT color by Jamn Glass and a hand-forged bronze "S" hook with another That Bead Girl spacer.

(I made the "S" hook a little on the large size so that it will help keep the necklace centered while wearing.)

I love this pretty necklace. It's approx 22" long.

Serenity Prayer Pendant...
While at Pam East's I found a secret for easily and efficiently cleaning a Photo Polymer Plate (PPP) and let me tell you it works!! I created this Serenity Prayer pendant using a PPP that was created from a design I did on the computer and transfered to the plate and then used like a stamp with the bronze clay.

It worked very nicely. I used some liquid LOS patina to darken up the words a little and then hit it with a torch to bring up some torch-fired patina colors. It hangs on a brown leather cord that knots in the back. It's a fabulous little piece - approx 1 1/4" diameter.


Double Heart Bracelet...
This bracelet is light and very comfortable to wear. The focal is formed with double hearts stacked on a diamond base. The hearts were wire brushed to bring up some shine while the base was left to provide a contrast. I combined the patina'd diamond shape bronze components with hand-made bronze coiled beads and Olive Jade rondelles. The piece comes together with brown suede cord and hand-forged bronze hook. The Olive Jade rondelles are very understated on their own but when combined with the leather, wire work and bronze they pop.


Until next time... I leave you with this thought - Please take time to visit my friends using the links posted above. These gals make all their product by hand - in their work shops, rooms, studios. They are true artisans and I am so proud to present their work in my pieces.

Enamel Vacation!

November was a little crazy for me - I did something I've not done in probably 10 years. I went on vacation. Yes, a real vacation - not a vacation where I am traveling for work and go visit my family. A vacation where I did NOT even bring my work laptop with me! It. Was. FANTASTIC.

I traveled to Pam East's GA studio and took one of the most fantastic silver clay classes ever. Champleve Enameling on Silver Clay. The most important thing I learned was do not worry and take your time - there is a lot to be said about the actual finishing of a project. Pam taught 4 of us the ins and outs of silver clay in this two day class helping us open up to having no fear and creating beautiful pieces. We created pieces specifically for Champleve Enameling process. And the second day we enameled. What a blast - completely relaxing, you get into a zone and the pieces seemed to flow. I learned to build the enamel layer by layer creating the shading as you go. And then the finishing - how much I learned about this. When we were done you could run your finger across the top of our Champleve pieces and it felt like they had a layer of smooth, glossy varnish over it - but it was just the finely ground, smooth, beautifully finished silver and enamel. No edges, just smooth. I learned so much!

The second piece we did was at our request - she had a beautiful piece that had what we came to call a "river" of enamel flowing thru it. The silver piece was textured but the "river" was smooth and stood out from the texture. She showed us how and we had a couple of rivers and one heart from this project. I love my little heart on the rounded triangle shaped pendant. (So much that I bought a template of the rounded triangular shape to use at home.) On this piece we didn't carefully grind the enamel down because of the texture but what we did do was add patina using real liver of sulfur - something I had never used before. I have only used the gel form. I was / am very pleased with the colors I got that evening.

Those were two incredible days! Well... that wasn't the end of my vacation - ohhh no! I had found out that after our class Pam was headed to the John C Campbell Folk School in North Carolina - just over the border. So when I found out it was only a 2 hour drive from North Atlanta I signed up. I took Thursday off and relaxed and then checked out of the Hilton and headed north on Friday. The John C Campbell Folk School is an experience in itself. It's a little mini community a campus of buildings comprised of studios and living space. It was fantastic. You share a house (and sometimes a room - I did) with people you probably have never met before. You walk to the main building(s) for meals and gatherings, you walk to the studios for class and let me tell you - the classroom we had was fantastic.


Pam taught Enamel Bead class to 6 of us. Crafty ladies with differing levels of skill but none of us having had real hands-on large head torch experience before so it was great we all learned. I made over 60 beads in 2 days and was crazy happy with the techniques we learned. It wasn't a "making a finished piece of jewelery" class it was a "learning techniques" class. At the end of the weekend Pam gave us the opportunity to purchase our torch heads and other equipment. I came home from that week with the best new tools, techniques and FRIENDS!

OH speaking of new friends - you need to check out these gourd pieces... I met Judy Zeigler of Art of Critter Ridge at JCC in Pam's class. She was there to learn to make the beads to add to her beautiful gourds. I was so impressed I purchased this turquoise colored gourd and it sits proudly in my studio. She hand coils, paints and the inside is lined with hand-crafted papers. Check her out on FB!!

I finally returned home at 9pm on Sunday night to turn around and fly to San Francisco for Dreamforce conference (work) the next morning but let me tell you - that was THE BEST VACATION I have had in many, many, MANY years. Thank you Pam and all the wonderful gals I met!!


Until next time... I leave you with this thought - Please take time to visit my friends using the links posted above. These gals make all their product by hand - in their work shops, rooms, studios. They are true artisans and I am so proud to present their work in my pieces.

Anniversary Gifts & Still More Birthdays! Nov 27, 2010

Anniversaries are tough - specially in the jewelry creation world. I mean girls like bling - the husbands not so much. SO how do you create a piece for the wife and something coordinating for the husband that he won't be afraid to show because it's to 'girly'?

Here's my attempt -

My Niece (yes she and her little family are the main focus of my creative world in August and September!!) and her husband have been married for 3 years now. They had a GORGEOUS wedding w/ bright whites, dark reds and well - she's blonde haired, blue-eyed and simply gorgeous (LUCKILY she didn't get the family genes! ;o)) so it had to be beautiful.

To celebrate their Anniversary I contacted one of my favorite lamp-work bead artists and asked her if she could make me a custom bead. I had purchased a big-hole bead from Principessa Glass in the past that was larger than a normal big-hole bead ... this is what I wanted a bigger than normal bead. I asked for a sapphire bead w/ Amethyst and Peridot colors added to it. Sapphire for their wedding month (and her birthday month), Amethyst for his birthday month and Peridot for their daughter's birthday month. This is where my friend Audrey of Principessa Glass knows best - if the blue was the base color the others wouldn't show up well but she did have some shards in her words... "really look cool and have a different look from different angles". And they were plum which actually looks sort of "Amethyst-y" on the beads. So she created 7 beads for me to choose from. One was lighter than the others and I asked to have that one cored in brass (her brass cores look very vintage and cool) and two others I loved and asked to have them cored in sterling silver. B is the one I chose for her necklace, C has lighter dots and I had that cored in brass for me, and A you'll see below...

From those beads I created this necklace - "Anniversary Sparkles" - featuring custom focal big-hole bead cored in sterling silver by Principessa Glass with two of my hand-made, fine silver (.999) big-hole tube beads. I added tiny 3mm Amethyst and Sapphire CZs to the tubes before firing. Fired and tumbled them to a high shine. The beads are hanging on a hand-dyed silk Sapphire ribbon by Jamn Glass. I trimmed the ribbon to approx 20" and created the sterling silver coiled end-caps. It's finished off with a hand-forged sterling "S" hook with a Sapphire blue spacer bead by That Bead Girl (::wink:: part of my That Bead Girl booty!)

As you can see I think I spend too much time thinking about the pieces I make - but then, if I don't love the pieces making them wouldn't be as fun and thinking of how personalized they are and hoping that the reaction of the recipient is positive keeps me creating!

Now for the hubby... What do you create for a husband? Hmmm - how about a key fob? Something he can clip onto his keys and carry with him. Something not to flashy, something that represents them. So here's my attempt - Custom Principessa Glass bead "A" on a piece of hand-woven sterling silver viking knit chain. I coiled sterling silver wire over a thicker guage wire and coiled the whole piece around to make a sort of end-cap. I still really have no idea what I'm doing now... but thought hmmm ok - push the left over wire from the coil up thru the center of the viking knit chain, loop it and make a wrap at the top. BAM! One Anniversary Key Fob. "What do you think?"

Ok so not so sure about that so I'll be adding a gift certificate for both of them with the package when I mail it! ;o)

OCTOBER - Birthday -

I have a new Sister-In-Law ... well, relatively new - she married my brother last year on Halloween. Now think about it - kinda bizarre eh? Getting married on Halloween? I mean ... oi - never mind! ;o) Anyway - her birthday is in October. NOT a great month for birthstones in the silver clay world because most opals don't like FIRE. ::sigh:: which means you have to make a bezel and set the opals and it's something I struggle with! YIKES! So what do you make?

In this case I had purchased a set of beads in June from Bastille Bleu Lampwork that made me think of her. She's tiny and feisty and has dark hair and flashing eyes. PERFECT mate for my brother! "Tiger Tails and Leopard Spots" how's that for a name? I love the names that Nikki comes up with - actually all the folks that make lamp-work beads come up with some hum-dingers for names! It's the artist in them, they can't help it - it suits the beads and gets folks like me to buy them! ;o)I also scooped up a big hole bead w/ similar feel that she created later in the summer. I thought if I edge it w/ bronze it will fit in nicely as the focal for the bracelet.

I am rambling again aren't I? Any who... I've also been playing with Prometheus Bronze Clay... and I thought hmmm she's got pretty coloring that would work well with bronze - so I decided to combine the two - beads from "Tiger Tails and Leopard Spots" set and bronze metal beads. The Prometheus Bronze is interesting - different firing times, set-up and temperatures. Even the feel is different. You really have to work it to get it in condition to roll out. But I liked it. And I've not had any really bad firings. My first batch bubbled a little on the top which someone said was too high heat, but when I researched more I found that people who have really tested bronze clay say the bubbles are not from too much heat - they don't know what it's from. The bubbles go away if you hammer it. And let me tell you I hammered it! I beat the livin' crapola out of some chain pieces that I made and those babies held up great!

So I created some hollow tube beads w/ little 3mm Clear CZs on them. Very pleased with how they turned out. The texture I used was wood grain and it came out subtle but good on the little tube beads. I had used some bronze chain that I made on the first go round of the bracelet and although I liked it - it was too beginner/chunky for this bracelet. My next try was thinner and perfectly smooth! So I redesigned and restrung. It was also my attempt at an asymmetrical design... didn't quite sit right in my mind SO ... I created this lovely instead. The beads as I wrote above are by Bastille Bleu Lampwork and LOVE them! :o) (Luckily have a few left over from the set!) I added some of my hand-made bronze findings - big ole end-caps, the tube beads with clear CZs, the clasp bronze and wire - and then created some 2x2 chain using vintage bronze wire. Yep got all crazy on this one and cut, cut, cut, cut, cut and then connected, connected, connected, connected the chain together each little jump ring! LOL! I really enjoyed it actually and like how it feels. The little green spacers and bronzey/brown colored beads are all lampwork from my That Bead Girl booty! ;o) I really love this piece - it's the first piece I've done in bronze w/ no silver and I'm excited to see what she thinks.

OK so I'm finishing this one even though there is more - yes! So much more! Quick note - for my brother and sister-in-law's wedding anniversary I didn't make jewelry - SHOCKED? Me too! But I found something better! What do you get the couple that has each other therefore has everything? A custom, artisan made, lampwork wine stopper w/ coordinating appetizer forks! What? You didn't think of that? Well neither did I! Until I saw the most awesome stoppers on Amber's site! That Bead Girl is more than just a place for me to get a "bead fix". She has beautiful gifts as well - all made by HER hands!! I loved the wine stopper so much I had to get it and then ordered 10 forks to go with it as a set. She did a fantastic job and if I hadn't shipped them this afternoon I'd run and take a picture right now but I can show you a picture of the wine stopper!

Until next time... I leave you with this thought - Please take time to visit my friends using the links posted above. These gals make all their product by hand - in their work shops, rooms, studios. They are true artisans and I am so proud to present their work in my pieces.

Bracelets & Bling... July 17, 2010

I have gotten in to the swing of things and started stringing TWO bracelets tonight with another still in the creative mode. I have made silver lentils, silver beads, textured silver discs that I have started dapping into bead caps. I'm having a blast!

Here's a sneak peak...

The bottom one (blue) is right now, my favorite - I was loving the pink til I started the blue!! And then when my new BLING! arrived (swaros... lovely, lovely swaros!) I love these Chintz Lampwork Beads from Bastille Bleu and Swarovski Crystals!! I couldn't resist using the Montana rounds.

I played with the silver tube beads and I just adore the urchin texture and how it came out. I planned to use transparent enamels on that bead so you can see the color, the texture and ... well, I'm just excited!
There are two charms that will be added to this - more later.

The pink one will have the tiny little pink rose as a charm from the closure. I adore the silver lentil bead focal w/ the carnation texture. I can't wait to make more of these little beauties!

While I was working I 'NEEDED' a 5/8" round cutter to complete the sand dollar lentil for the blue bracelet so I ran to Hobby Lobby. MISTAKE! :o) I found some wooden pegs that to me say "LENTIL SHAPER!"
I was so excited. Then I came home and said how in hecks name am I going to keep these upright with two little 4-legged boys who like to "help" and often leap to the top of the studio to sleep on the bed up there?

POLYMER CLAY! Voila - my new Lentil Shaper Peg Caddies! (Isn't it interesting that when I make something from polymer clay that won't be a part of a piece of jewelry I do NOT burn it? ::grumble::)

Wanted to share :o)
Ok... back to the table! :o)

Creativity Flows July 5, 2010

NOW... creativity is flowing! I've finished the Charms for Charity and become what one of my friends calls a 'bead hoard'. I saw a set created by Bastille Bleu Lampwork Beads and the juices started. It was a blue 'chintz' set that made me think of my grandmother's house, my two great aunt's cottages on the beach in Maine and shabby chic all rolled into one.
I'm pretty bad at remembering people's birthdays... correction - I REMEMBER I just don't always get the gifts/cards, etc out in time and this set made me think of my god mother and the fact that her birthday was in May and yes, I still hadn't sent anything.

She has a cottage in Maine and I thought ohhhh this would be pretty for her! So the ideas started flowing. Definitely a bracelet. I just finished one for a friend to give to her friend and I love how it came out. I need to make more!

Problem! How could there be a problem? Some other lucky soul picked up the Bastille Bleu Lampwork Beads before I did!! Yikes! So I sent a note to Nikki and said - next set has my name on it. She convo'd me back and sight unseen I became the owner of a pink set.

The next day I had hollow form class at the Memphis Botanic Garden with Brandy Boyd (my silver clay deal... ahhh teacher). Instead of the typical class with burn out cores we did lentil beads. How exciting!! I wanted to create a big focal lentil bead and have been thinking about it for months! Now I had a chance to make small ones as a test... AND it clicked something else in me ... HAND MADE SILVER BEADS for the charm bracelet!! Plus... did I mention that she's into antique swarovski beads??? Well, she's got me hooked on those too so I picked up a bunch of square rose swaros, some pretty green and dusty blue bicones and rounds. Woo hoo - creativity flows...

THEN... (you knew there had to be a then right?) my beads came in from Bastille Bleu Lampwork Beads - O M Gosh! they are beautiful! Now I'm on a roll - I read Kate McKinnon's book Sculptural Metal Clay and have come to the conclusion that I HAVE to have a dapping block so that I can make bead caps - yep... bead caps! So off to Harbor Freight I went in search of said dapping block and the metal clay gods were with me... they had two in stock in the store so no waiting for me!

On the way home I swung by BB&B (coffee needed! ;o) ) and Hobby Lobby. Not a safe place either of them but I lucked out and found some AWESOME cutters!!! Larger rounds (they are for biscuits actually!) for my big focal lentil I want to do and some smaller size cutters that will make great shapes for bead caps that I can then carve and add designs to.

I've spent time the past couple of days texturing and cutting pieces of metal clay to be fired into bead caps. I also created a smaller version of my carnation lentil bead to see if it's the correct size for charm bracelets. I also created a little larger one of a sand dollar for the shabby chic bracelet. All that's left now is to fire the pieces "full fire 1650 for 2 hours" as instructed by Kate's book so that I can dome the bead caps with the dapping block.

I know that the beads I've purchased for this bracelet probably will not need (nor work) with bead caps - the cool thing about these beads is they have the bumps on them that people associate with lamp work beads but the location are around the holes in the beads leaving the center decoration visible and lovely! :o) BUT I'll need them for another project also floating around my head! :o)

OK, enough yapping, I'm off to fire the caps and lentils!
Have a great week!!

PS... look at some of the beads I've scored over the past few months... now you'll understand why my friends call me a 'bead hoard'. (These are only the ones I've shot... "Hi my name is Cindy and I'm a bead addict"

Fire in the Hole! New Paragon SC2 Kiln & Copper

At the beginning of March I decided I WAS going to take the next step in my obsession with metal clay and get a larger kiln. I love my Ultra Lite but it's to small to do anything larger than 2.5" diameter AND I can't do copper in it. SO at the end of March I ordered a Paragon SC2 kiln from Paragon rep Pam East.

How excited was I when less than two weeks later my new kiln arrived? :o) VERY! BUT... fear of the next step creeped in and it took me three weeks to open the box and 2 more weeks to fire it for the first time.

Here's my set-up.
Cleared out the rest of my garage corner and set up a 6' work station for "Blue" (my appropriately named SC2) and my enamel station. It's a bit "hoopty-bo-bo" but it works! Supplies - 1 - metal file cabinet, 1 - 16" x 16" x 2" cement stepping stone, 2 - 18" x 18" x 1/2" Travertine Tiles, 1 6' x 16" heavy-duty metal closet shelf, 5 - 12" x 12" x 1/4" Pinkish Marble Tiles. These, all combined together = one heck of a cool work area. :o) (I also borrow a corner of it to hold my light cube when taking photos... but I'm working on a new area for that.)

TONIGHT I fired up "Blue" for the first time. Did a pre-fire to get all the dust out and burn off any residue from my kiln furniture. Followed the great instructions that Pam sent with the purchase of my new kiln - much easier to understand than the garbly-goop that came w/ the kiln. Successful pre-fire! And yes dad, I had an extinguisher and my cell phone handy! :o)

THEN I heated it up to 1780 because I had a pair of copper earrings waiting to be fired. Of course, they've been waiting to be fired for 2 1/2 months. I purposely created them so that I would HAVE to get over the fear of first fire of "Blue" in order to get them done. They were too big torch fire! I had also done some quickie copper earring pieces from a mold I have so that I could test 'face up, face down' of firing Art Clay Copper on a shelf. See in my head I wondered - if I put it face down will it oxidize LESS or should it be face up.

I positioned the pieces on my small kiln shelf that came with "Blue" (the big one was already in and sitting on 1/2" stilts to allow for air flow and there were 2" stilts laying on their side to make them 1" above the floor waiting for the copper filled shelf to be placed on them) and waited for it to get up to 1780.

Note: I had a copper pod go to pieces after being fired for 30 mins in carbon and then picked, tumbled and refired w/ a torch to fix an 'issue'. I emailed Pam and told her exactly what had been done and asked for help and her recommendation was - if it's fired in carbon it needs to be fired for 3 1/2 hours. If it's done on the shelf - which she recommends for Art Clay Copper it's 30 mins at 1780, direct on the shelf. SO those are the directions I followed.

The kiln hit 1780 and I was ready. I picked up the shelf in some tongs opened the door, slid the shelf in - DANG 1780 is hot! - and then quickly closed the door. I wasn't that quick because it took approx 3 1/2 mins to get back up to 1780. Then the fun started... the binder started to burn off like it does normally - little flame... BUT the cool thing was (and I didn't know this so no pic) because there is limited oxygen the smoke that results swirls and twirls and looks so totally cool in the kiln (Love my window!). Then we wait. (NOTE: Pic is actually "Blue" cooling down after firing.)

30 mins later the kiln starts to beep and it's done. NOW... instructions are - pull the pieces out and immediately put into cold water to get as little oxidation on the pieces as possible and the cold water would help pop what oxidation did form off. WELLL... I didn't realize that the pieces may 'stick' to the shelf. So as I pull the shelf out and tip it over, nothing is falling out so what do I do?
I stuff the whole shelf upside down into the water ... bye, bye shelf! LOL! I had fire paper and why I did not use it I am not sure but next time, to be sure I will!!! (Pic is the remnants of the shelf. Kind of interesting. The pieces that came out had some areas of 'thick' oxidation. But the pieces that 'stuck' left that thick layer behind on the shelf.)

It sounded like pop corn as the oxidized copper popped off the pieces in the water bowl. Here's the results after I pulled them out of the water... Here's a pic of the pieces immediately out of the water.

The right pic shows the four pieces for the 'face-down, face-up' test. Unfortunately I forgot to pay attention to which was which but... here's my guess... the pair on the left were face up - and the back (shown on the lower left) was on the shelf and that is what stuck. The others.. the back (shown lower right) were probably up in the air and the oxidation is still there because there was nothing for it to stick to.

The left photo here show the back and the front of the larger earrings that have been very patiently waiting for a firing. These were put face down on the shelf BUT the design is raised. I used a stencil of a vine and used copper slip to fill in the stencil so that it is raised off the earrings. Because of this piece would not lay flat on the shelf which is PROBABLY why the oxidation did not stick to the shelf. BUT... I like it on this pair. We'll see how much comes off in pickling.

Right now, the pieces are in the pickle. NOTE... I have been using Silver Prep from Cool Tools to clean silver and copper... I recently bought the natural "Pickle It" recently released by Metal Clay Supply and not very excited about it. I ended up adding some Silver Prep to it and it's working much faster now. Maybe going back to my Silver Prep for future orders.

Cross fingers that the cleaning goes well because I have got some GLORIOUS Lampwork Beads from Bastille Bleu Lampwork Beads that will be used on the larger pair and some really sweet little natural beads for the little pieces.

Nervous Adventures in Copper & Lampwork BeadsApril 16, 2010

Greetings friends!!

Welcome to my nervous adventures in Copper and Lampwork Beads! I have already admitted my newly acquired addiction to beads... no, not just any beads but HAND-CRAFTED, Made in the USA, Lampwork beads. And not just any - I get mine from some very talented deale... ahhh artisans!

One of these is Canyon Echos - I purchased a couple of sets from her, the first being Desert Dreams. I'm sooo nervous about using these beads! They are so pretty - and professional and... oi! OK so, I saw this set and even though it has silver in it, I thought COPPER! For some reason I kept seeing wood when I look at these organic matte beads. That led me to thinking about bark... branches... you know - wood.

I pulled out my design book back in Feb and kept doodling a bail that is based on a tutorial by Deb Fitz of Paradise Cove. Except my bail kept turning into a piece of wood. Like a cut down branch w/ a thin branch still attached and swirling around to encompass the focal bead.

I have also fallen in love with Viking Knit Chain - and I learned to do this (thanks to one of my other deal... ahh enabler... ahhh artisans Nikki at Bastille Bleu). I kept seeing my chunky bail sliding on the viking knit chain.

That meant I needed end caps to finish off the chain and lead to the rest of my pretty Desert Dreams beads. Finish that off with a copper closure and POOF you have my first 'real' piece of creativity.

I used Art Clay Copper to create the branch, endcaps, and closure pieces. I crafted them and added the texture by hand before they dried. I feel more comfortable right now creating the texture of the bark when the pieces are wet rather than carving when they are dry. I fired the pieces w/ a butane torch, pickled and then tumbled them.

One of my evenings watching Project Runway I wove the Viking Knit chain. I love this chain. I love the fact that you start w/ a dowel and wire and end up with this smooth, silky feeling chain! And depending on how 'thick' you like it you can practically make it fit whatever need you have.

My hope is that the artisan of the Desert Dream bead set approves of the design and craftsmanship of the piece. Did I mention I was nervous? :o)

February 11, 2010 BEADS! I Love Beads!

I love beads.

I didn't realize it, but I do - I love beads. While working and learning and sucking the minds of my online mentors dry as I grow my metal clay addiction some how beads started to grow on me.

It could be the fact that I am SURROUNDED by these fabulous artisans who make the most gorgeous glass beads. It could be that I'm SURROUNDED by these fabulous artisans who USE beads to make gorgeous jewelery. Whichever it is, however it happened... I LOVE BEADS.

I have a small mason-like jar of what I call "Inspiration Beads"... beads made by Deb Fitz. These are so beautiful. They sit in the jar waiting for a design worthy of their beauty to dribble out of my brain and into my design book.

THEN... I bought the cutest (CUTEST) little cupcakes and lady bugs from Bastille Bleu. They look cute in the pictures, but photos do not do them justice... they are the cutest, littlest, sweetest cupcakes ever!

THEN... tonight, I ordered from Canyon Echos Johanna makes these gorgeous, organic beads that just look so natural and yet have these cool swirls of fine silver through them. I'm so excited to use her beads with my silver!! Here's what I ordered tonight... but add 2 more, slightly larger spacer beads to the brown set. She's special order making them for ME tonight. Yes... FOR ME! makes me all happy inside!!! :o)


OH OH.. and I know they are not beads, but I bought Titanium too. I used two gorgeous pieces of crystallized titanium that I got from Holly Gage in two pieces I made. AND when Chris & Holly sent out the email that they had to pull them off their site for a while I ordered three more pieces because they spoke to me... something pretty about them - and they too sit waiting for something gorgeously worthy of themI cant help but see grapes (thanks to Chris' description! :o) ) in the piece to the right and thanks to his power of description, I have an idea in mind for a larger pendant/closure piece. I'm excited because it will be the hardest, largest piece I try. And the piece in the middle... something about that chocolate 'lace' piece made me love it. I almost want to snip it into two... but the jury is out on that.

And finally - but not least. It is my goal to 'pay it back' to the people who help me on a daily basis as I learn and grow in this exciting medium. So I have allowed myself to purchase from the great artisans above and from some gorgeous jewelry makers. I lusted after this pewter heart necklace the minute Keirsten of Lune Design posted it.
And then when she posted the adorable earrings, I had to make them mine. Happy Birthday to me! The gorgeous pieces have a ton of garnet (my birthstone) in them and I simply love the look AND feel of these pieces. OH and her blog - the Cerebral Dilettante- hilariously delicious!!

And .. yes, there's more. I was asked by my brother and his new wife what I would like for my birthday ... well, I'd already bought the set above for myself (he he he) ... but I had my eye on a piece by Holly Gage. "When Peace Talks" this piece is strong, and meaningful, and gorgeous. All things I admire. And poof... two days after my birthday a gorgeous "When Peace Talks" arrived! Sterling silver on black cord w/ Venetian blue bead. mmmmm!! :o)

February 3, 2010Update...

What am I working on now?
Well, I have a 3" long copper pod that is waiting for me to figure out how to fire it. I was over excited by the pod I found in my back yard and thought ohhhhh copper! And didnt really give thought to firing it. Right now, Art Clay Copper can now be fired with a torch... but only to a certain size. You need to keep it evenly hot to completely sinter and my little micro butane is not going to cut it! (Maybe double handed torches but definitely not one.)

I also have a copper pendant that is actually fired and waiting for finishing! AND I worked more on the "copper canyons" for the wedding presents I'm still working on. BUT this time I'm taking it slow and easy. Hoping to do silver portion of the canyons this weekend.


AND right now, after I post this, I'm headed back to my 'studio' to box up a special package that is shipping to NH. My "Ribbons for Mitzi" were a big hit with her daughter and I received a request for 3 sets. One for Mitzi and one for each daughter. I finished those over the weekend and made the cutest box this evening. Sometimes I think I like making the packaging as much as I do the jewelry!!

I added some Red Picture Jasper beads to the ends of the chains. (OH THE CHAINS... I found the sweetest sterling silver chain made from linked hearts at Michael's this weekend. Nice find for this project!) The thought behind this was two-fold. One I had hopes that it would help keep the necklace from wigling around on them. And two - that the colors would help the ladies know which necklace was theirs. The mixed stone of blue/grey & pink is for Mitzi.

The box was made out of one sheet of gorgeous scrap book paper. One piece for the top and bottom. One piece. How cool! :o) The "Paris Couture" landing where it did was pure LUCK! :o)

After these are packaged and labeled for the post tomorrow, I'm going to work on a piece for my cousin who is also my 'god child'. Can't say what it is, she may be reading! :o)

More this weekend!

February 3, 2010 CRAZY WOMAN!

The weekend of January 16 & 17 I was a CRAZY woman! Not only did I complete Hope's Hibiscus and redo the 'googly-eyed' heart, I also created a puzzle piece for Hope. She saw the puzzle pieces in my blog and mentioned that they were used to represent Autism. Hearing the interest in her voice I took a neat looking piece of puzzle from one of mine and made a mold from 2-part molding compound. I then formed the silver puzzle piece.

LOVED the texture!
When I saw the texture the cardboard back of the puzzle piece left while making the mold I thought.. hmm COOOL! So I kept that along with the ridge that naturally formed around the piece during the mold process. The piece is .999 Fine Silver on a 17" 2mm sterling silver beaded chain with magnetic closure. LOVE IT!

And finally Sunday night I made another Awareness Ribbon. This one for a co-worker who lost a dear friend to Lung Cancer recently.

In my love-hate relationship with polymer clay I attempted to make 'pearl' looking inset. Not sure if I accomplished it or not but she was very happy with her surprise! The piece is .999 fine silver with polymer clay inset on an 18" sterling silver chain.