Got chatting to a Facebook 'friend' - she makes the most delicious jewellery, in the USA, and it turns out she comes from Bangalore, as do I. I originally contacted her over a year ago to enquire about one of her pieces, not realising that this would lead me down the path of a serious bead addiction and a quest to make my own stuff. Anyway, she was nice enough to look over my 'bits and bobs' album on FB where I posted stuff as I went along, and she encouraged me to set up a page and now here I am, talking to all of you with my very own blog - wouldnt have believed it 2 years ago. Promised D a piece of jewellery as a gift for all the encouragement -you know how important it is when one is starting out. She sent me a picture of her in a Yoga outfit and this inspired me to make this armband for her. Turns out she is one talented lady with a fab singing voice! Then went on to the next programme on my agenda - mixed media jewellery - I have wanted to make simulated gemstones, and glass out of polymer clay and set it in Precious metal clay. So, bought a tutorial from a lady on ETSY to make faux glass and spent a whole day painstakingly attempting to create faux glass beads - what a disaster! - I don't know what went wrong, and cannot find out. The lady who wrote the tutorial said it was meant for Pardo clay, which you don't get in the UK, so I substituted what I could find, and the resultant beads were so bad, they went in the bin - I did keep them for a couple of days hoping they would grow on me - like a wart - but they didn't. I saved pics of them in an album aptly called 'cr*p' - and that's the only reminder I want of that. Met and became a member of a Jewellery makers group on Facebook a couple of weeks ago - only those people heard my cries of anguish - and they were very supportive. So, I got back on the bike the next day, and made what I call The Desert Mambo necklace - am in a better mood after that, I assure you. The Desert Mambo NecklaceCreamy polymer clay ruffles, edged with gold, a reversible focal pendant, patinated and varnished copper wire, for a lasting finish and to prevent discoloration of the skin on contact, and a contrasting orange coral bead, just to make the colours 'pop'. Asymmetrically wired to satisfy my requirement for disorder! Also made a couple of brooches for Mike's friend's wife - he wanted a dove of peace as Mrs B was a prominent member of the CND in Wolverhampton in her time. He didn't like the first one - and he made so many requests for design changes, I just thought it would be simpler to whip up another one. Did you know the dove of peace has to look to the left - he says so - not borne out by Google images though, he wanted it to have a wing - 'couldn't you add on a wing?' he asked plaintively, he didnt like my beloved dangles - I cannot seem to make much without those - they add movement to a piece - I think - but of course, he commissioned the piece, and the customer is always right - right? So, the first one is the reject - am interested to hear your comments - the ladies from JAR were all in favour of a lynch mob, but I just made another one - I'm nice like that! The doves were made with copper wire and wired invisibly to vintage brooches. Finally got my kiln going - truth be told, I was a bit afraid of it - something that small that can go up to temperatures of above 1000 degrees C should the pants off anybody! So got my Copperclay bits made, dried them and took them to the kiln at the top of the garden - I have no other space for it. Mike and I toasted my first effort with tea, and then after a bit of faffing about with the programming, on it went. Got some credible pendants, although a couple broke as they were too thin - I suppose par for the course - this seems to be the week for a 'will do better next time' mantra. I have now made use of the Facebook Vendor shop application and put in a few pieces of jewellery - has taken me a bit of time uploading all the information - please go have a look and tell me what you think - I hope you like it. See you next week, same time, same place.
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Don't you just love that Dr Seuss! - I only read The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham as an adult as he was'nt popular reading for children in India when I was growing up - but he gave me many hours of sheer pleasure reading it to a friend's daughter in my twenties. Just like playing with plasticine! - Polymer Clay is just that, but the stuff that can be made with it is amazing. I have to say I was rubbish at it as a child - but I am really surprising myself with my first experiments with the clay. I moulded it and coloured it and patted it, and put it in the oven with a paper 'tent' over it and held my breath for 30 minutes - then I had to wait for it to cool without opening the oven - and this is what I found - after some polishing and buffing I think it is quite pretty, and I am now off and away. So, from these two and a few other shiny ingredients, and a bit of anxiety while my baby baked in the oven, I got this! Magic, or what?? - I am going to eventually combine these pieces with silver and copper clay and make mixed media jewellery - of course, my favourite, wire, will have to be in on the act. I made a bracelet for Jan, who is celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary in Barbados - she is an amazing midwife who used to be a seamstress before she did midwifery - needless to say, she repairs and renovates clothes for half the workplace, and I have had cause in the last couple of years to use her services - she has been ever so sweet, nothing was too much trouble for her. I hope she has a great time and that she loves the bracelet. I used my Wigjig to make the links - have owned for an year but never used - actually quite a lot of fun to use, although not as easy as it sounds - but is anything?? The idea is that all the elements come out more or less alike, so repetition is easy - hmmm...... - OK, I suppose it is better than going freeform -the makers of the Jig seem to take themselves extremely seriously and even have an Internet based WigJig University, with free designs a nd ideas - may be thats why it took me this long to actually use it - I prefer a light hearted approach to my hobby!!
Back from a lovely relaxing holiday in a Red Sea resort in Sharm al Sheikh - healing for the mind and body after a turbulent end to 2011. Unpacked and sorted and ready to go. I looked at a lot of Egyptian jewellery and have come back with a stash of ideas, sea shells, and pictures for inspiration. My kiln has arrived, but I am yet to fire it up and get started. Have also got all my bits and bobs together for the stuff I intend to make - will have a go next week I think. The Paragon SC 2! - my new toy. Am a bit fearful of it and all the programming I will have to do and the manual I will have to read and digest to prevent me from burning the room down! I also have these memories of cake making in childhood when my sister and I got out the blender and mixed ourselves a bunch of stuff and baked it into a mess - of course the oven was rubbish - that's my story and I'm sticking to it - but I hated the anticipation and the almost inevitable disappointment - I wouldn't want a repeat performance - but, on the other hand, I now have the kit and will have to use it sometime - and use it I will! I will, however wait till during the week so that the guy from Cherry Heaven who sold it to me will be available to me on the other end of the phone, when I scream for help. Egyptian Spiral Wire bracelet In the meantime, here's something from my comfort zone - wire - I just love the endless stuff you can make with a piece of wire - each of these spirals are made from a 16 inch length of wire - amazing! A friend of mine said I should learn to solder and then I wouldn't go near wire again - perish the thought! - anyone can stick 2 things together - with glue or solder - wire requires a thought process - the whole piece has to be thought through before cutting the length of wire, how the clasp is attached, how the dangles are placed - wire wrapping a cabochon is an art in itself and the possibilities are endless. There is no right or wrong way with wire - it just has to be neat and tidy, and without bits of sharp stuff sticking out of the piece. I have of course been to jewellery classes that entailed soldering and possess a torch - but have never seen fit to use it - I love my wire work so much. I made this bracelet using silver wire and a turquoise bead, and then antiqued the bracelet with Liver of Sulphur. So now, I have inspired myself to go off and create something. I bought some pendants a few months ago and have done nothing with them - I will have something to show you all next week. Am also reading a book called 'The crafter's guide to taking great photos' - will try to crack it this weekend and sit down seriously with my camera, trying to coax it to work with me, rather than obey me grudgingly. Have a good week folks! |
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