Marbled bezels and eye shadow cabs

I'm back into blogging now, feeling a lot better than just a week ago. Pretty much recovered fully now -- unlike how I was when making the two bezels (to be covered with clear cabs or glass tiles) above. They are actually failed, but I do really like the look of them nonetheless, especially the round one. Adding a cab/tile over the paint will also enhance the look, not least of the oval bezel.

The failure lies in the fact that I used Fantasy paints, but being ill on the evening I made them, I probably didn't stir them properly and I ended up really marbling the paints, which might be the main reason why the paints didn't behave as they should.

(By the way, anyone out there that knows why the image background is white in PicMonkey, but takes on a blueish tint when I upload it to Blogger? Or is it just my monitor?) [Problem solved: it was a change in Picasa, where blogger pics are uploaded, that I wasn't aware of, which autocorrected photos -- in this case making them worse. I fixed the setting and the pics are as they should.]

This is a cab I made before I got ill, about the same time I made the Pébéo Fantasy paint tests. It's made by painting a mix of acrylic medium and loose powder eye-shadow (essentially mica powder) on the back of the clear glass cabochon. I then covered it with magenta acrylic paint for a more opaque background that intensifies the burgundy mica powder.

Unfortunately, I made the biggest mistake you can do when painting: forgetting to let the first layer of paint dry fully before doing any touching up or painting a second layer. Because of that there's blot of non-shimmering magenta. Not that easy to see in the photos, but very visible IRL. Still, I really like the colour, shimmer and depth of the painted cab so I'm keeping it like this. At least at the moment, perhaps I'll scrape it all of and redo it some day.

Endless Leather designs -- part 1

Remember when I showed this pic above as a little tease (or just as a way of saying I haven't totally dropped on the planet, just not blogging much)? Well, finally I'm going to do some show and tell! But first the background:

Some time ago, I was made aware of the shop Endless Leather. After having looked around the shop, I was hooked: I love leather and their range was really inspiring, covering everything from basic leather cords to all sorts of flat braids and unique leather cords such as salmon fish leather. Who can resist that?

The next week I got these gorgeous salmon leather cords and a cool stingray print leather cord plus so stainless steel findings to play with. Due to many things the reveal got delayed several times, but today I'm finally ready to show you the result.

Because I'm redoing a design and searching for the perfect components, I've split the reveal into two posts, the other one to be posted on a not yet defined future date. Perhaps in a few days, perhaps in a week or two depending on the workload next week.

First design is the cat wrap bracelet I made with violet salmon leather cord, stainless steel end caps and d:o clasp. To add a little fun detail while still keeping the design simple and sleek, I slid a cat button unto the clasp's loop before attaching it to the end cap. An easy way to make a quick and simple design a bit more personal.

There's actually a "secret" to this clasp: it was created as a necklace/bracelet. Originally I planned on making it a triple bracelet, which would be a good size for it to be able to be used as a necklace too, but it felt a tad too chunky on my dainty wrist so instead it's just a doubled bracelet. In order to be convertible it need a little something I haven't made yet as I don't have the right purple beads. Yes, it's one of my favourite colour in the leather cord and, yes, I don't have the purple beads to match it! So that'll have to wait until part 2.

The second piece is a necklace made from turquoise 6 mm stingray print leather, stainless steel end caps and d:o clasp with a beaded bezel focal. The focal is attached to the end cap loops using jump rings. It would be possible to stitch the end caps directly onto the bezel, but I chose not to as by using jump rings, it is easy to remove the focal e.g. for repairs or to substitute it with something else. Like a chunky, irregularly facetted focal bead as was my original idea before settling for this beaded component instead.

The focal is made of a crackled mosaic stone with the usual white ceramic back, which I covered with a coin in order to add weight (to counterbalance the clasp) and a more attractive finish to the flipside. Of all the coins in my small collection, only two had the right size and of those two, this one had the most suitable design. I put the change from a Copenhagen visit in the supply box just because of the designs on a couple of the coins. And now it came into use.

The last piece of the day doesn't have a clasp, hence the oddly cropped photo. This is more of a fun thing I whipped together last night. I love the brown salmon cord as it looks like bark (though much, much softer!), very earthy and so totally my thing. Of cause nothing works better with bark than flowers and leaves. In this case a small bouquet of paper roses on wire. I simply wrapped the wires onto the cord for a quick, whimsical piece of jewellery celebrating the summer season.

More to come: a metal free necklace, a necklace made from the cat button bracelet -- and who knows what else as I do have more leather cord left. So stay tuned for part 2!

Having fun with rizo beads

No, I haven't disappeared from the online world, though for some reason I haven't blogged since new year's eve and I've forgotten a Meowy Monday. Partially it's been because I've had fun with a couple of "late christmas gifts" I got offered during boxing week.

During christmas, Karin from swedish bead shop Fru Pärla asked me if I wanted to have some new rizo beads to play with and blog about. Fru Pärla was the first swedish shop to get the new beads that were presented by Sabine Lippert in December. If you're into beadweaving, you've probably heard about these new rice-shaped top-drilled little beads. While they've been developed by and for bead weavers, they do work very well in all sorts of beading/jewellery making, from stringing to chain maille. As I hope to show here.

These are just my first designs: I still have beads left and hope to use them soon.

This isn't the first thing I made, but of the designs here it's the pièce de résistance. My own original design, but most of all a design where everything just fell into place. No frustration at all: no ripping up, no re-thinking the whole thing, no design issues at all (apart from choosing whether or not to add the big daggers). If only it was always like that!

sideview

I was really keeping my fingers crossed the colours would work as I picked them out at night in poor light... The preciosa rivoli is crystal honey, the rizo and seeds topaz, the 8 mm daggers crystal apricot and then I don't know the colour name of the 16 mm daggers.

This is actually the first thing I made, partially to show that the beads can be used for more than just bead weaving. It's a simple 2-in-1 chain maille bracelet with two rizos added to each jump ring. Maybe it'd look better with slightly smaller rings, but this is the only size I had. Still like it, though, and the topaz amber rizos have a ½ coat with a metallic finish that matches the rings and clasp beautifully.

Then I tried a few variations of the rizo chain, adding e. g. flower bead dangles, drops etc. However, the next design came about when I wanted to vary sizes rather than shapes. So why not add daggers? Well, it didn't turn out as planned at all as I forgot that even 11 mm daggers are too big to hang as freely and dangle as easily as e. g. rizos, drops or even long magatamas. Instead they form a much more stylized pattern. To keep that interesting new pattern still, the chain was turned into an earring rather than a bracelet.

I don't wear earrings so I'm not sure that the ideal length for this one would be. Any suggestions? Longer, shorter, as it is?

(I'm considering doing a new free tutorial for either the bracelet or the earring -- anyone want that? And if so, which of the two would you rather have instructions to? The earrings might need a little tweaking first, though...)

Last -- and least -- I made a tiny beaded bead. I'm thinking of making a handful and use them as space beads in a necklace or bracelet so it isn't a finished design, but I still wanted to show them now that I got photos of the other stuff I'm been making.

By the way: the colour used in the beaded bead and the earring is called emerald azuro and if you love jewel tones, you might want to check it out. Lovely emerald greens and metallic dark blues in that finish.


I'm going to play some more with my rizo beads today and hopefully I'll also get to work on few things with things I got in a blog partner programme (more on that later!). Then I hope to get some time to work on my first Bead Journal Project panel. So plenty of fun things to do. Don't feel like I'm on a creative roll at the moment, but I'm still being creative and that's a step in the right direction. The year seems to be beginning just fine. Not with a big, fabulous bang, but relaxed and filled with little progresses. And that's pretty decent, isn't it? Whether big or small, every step you take is a good thing. Even if it's slow, it propells you forward.

2x Artisan Clay: my may necklaces

So... I was supposed to blog about these a couple of days ago, but each day I've seemed to run into things that had to take priority over beading. Somewhat embarrassing forgetting deadlines. Putting it mildly. Well, better late than never I hope? Now at last you can see them, a couple of necklaces I made with the pretty crackled glass pendants from Artisan Clay. To see what Kristie and her design team made with these pendants and cabochon, check out this blog post.

These pendants feel like the perfect thing to frame and that's what I did, creating a RAW bezel using shiny petrol Gütermann seed beads. The bezel is embellished with amethyst charlottes and cinnamon luster hex cuts, which I stitched with an apricot red thread: the combination of the red thread and dark blueish beads underneath give the beads a special blended -- almost glowing -- tone that's hard to capture in a photo.

Normally you bezel cabochons, but it's almost just as easy to make a bezel on a pendant with loop. You just bead around and "through" the wire loop, which is a sturdy alternative to a beaded bail. Also, by attaching the middle row of beads to the loop it was easier to measure and fasten the bezel without having it sliding over the edge of the pendant.

The pendant is hanging from a doubled braided silk cord, which is space-dyed in dark green and blue. I choose the colour to balance the green and teal/petrol pendant with the purple frame.



For my second pendant, I choose a different approach. Here, I didn't want to obscure any part of the pretty pendant. Inspired by the black colour of the loop, I chose to work with blackened iron wire. I like to work with it, not least when doing designs inspired by nature. I think it has a certain dark romantic mood about it that I like.

This design is a variation of the links I made for this bracelet. I planned on doing double links then, but found it too time-consuming and dull. This time I didn't give up as easily. Still can decide whether I think it's too messy or just a pretty and natural tangle, though... I like the design, it's just that I wonder if I couldn't have executed the idea better. Hope you like it.

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I really enjoyed working with these pendants. I've seen them many times and they've had a place on my ever-growing wishlist of beads and components I want to buy so I was really glad that Kristie gave me this opportunity. Thank you!

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By the way, when I took these photos, I came up with yet another idea for the pendants. I'll show you what it was tomorrow.

The bouclé chain necklace

I made this necklace for the Vintaj monthly challenge, but never submitted it as I didn't think it was good enough. The focal is a boro glass cab that I set in a "Whimsical Spray" Fastenable riveted to a brass blank. The cab is a little bit too fat for the setting in my eyes, but it's not too big to be securely fastened. I just wanted the prongs to show a little more.

Anyway, the part I was pleased with was the chain. I've woven space-dyed rayon bouclé twice through a ladder chain (also by Vintaj). A very simple technique, but I really like the result. Especially when being careful to let the yarn/floss "wind" between the links when you weave the second layer. The result remind me of braided cords (e.g. a simple kumihimo braid) and if you don't overdo the weaving, the chain will still be subtle and flexible. I think the wavy texture of the yarn works especially well here.




The variegated thread makes the weaving more visible and also pick up several of the colours in the cab. So far so good. Only thing I worry about is that rayon is notoriously frail compared to many other fibres and bouclé is a very loose type of yarn, meaning there's both an issue of snagging and of abrasion when weaving, but also when using the finished piece. I do hope the yarn is heavy enough to stand up to some wear and tear because I like this chain.

Bronze rose -- a beaded rivoli pendant

And for those of you not interested in yarn, let me instead show you my latest beaded bezel pendant. As usual -- check out the bezel or rivoli tag for more examples -- the bezel is made using 2-needle raw that I then embellished on the front and sides.

The pendant is made using a 14 mm rose starlight rivoli (lovely metallic rose/dark gold hues), 15/0 bronze seeds and hex cuts in cinnamon gold luster. As always, it's not easy to capture all the colours in a rivoli with a surface effect, but trust me: if you like metallic and rose tones, you'll like rose starlight.

I made a similar pendant before this one where I added an onlay using just bronze beads in the front, but that version was just obscuring the rivoli too much. Adding the hex cuts, I got some more colour, making the rivoli appear larger instead of visually "shrinking" within a thich bronze bezel.

I keep using by bezelled rivolis as "simple" pendants, but I do feel like I want to make at least one more extravagant design, stitching together several bezels in an glamourous necklace. Not my usual down-to-earth style, but one has to make more exciting and complex projects sometimes in order to explore and challenge one's creativity. (As always, money is often the issue: buying a lot of rivolis and using them all at ones is just so expensive.)

New beginnings: my entry for the Vintaj January challenge

Today, you can begin voting for your favourite challenge entry at the Vintaj blog. Check them out here.

This is my entry, which I'm of cause hoping will be considered good enough to earn a few votes. As you can see, I used the bezelled #2102 Swarovski stone from this post to make it.

At first I planned on making another piece for this challenge, based on a sort of abstract idea of a new beginning, placed far, far away from me on a grand scale (the birth of a star -- I'll keep the idea for another project). But after all the new energy I got from making my beaded bezels, I realized I wanted to create something based on a more personal interpretation of the theme.

I've suffered from beading block, lacking inspiration and energy to make jewellery, for months now. Then, as I've written about in the above mentioned blog post, just before Christmas I participated in a colour challenge of a forum and decided to make a beaded bezel. That was like opening a flood gate, it's so addictive. I choose to incorporate one of the bezels I made during this period of flow in a necklace. The focal piece features 15/0 bronze seed beads, a #2102 vintage Swarovski stone in crystal tabac and two floral Fastenables suspended by a pretty textured chain. With the new year came a fresh start, a new beginning, for me as a beader.


This is a short necklace, almost choker lenght, so the chain doesn't show much in the front. I am thinking about making it slightly longer, but at the sime time I feel it looks pretty nice as it is. The lenght is more or less perfect if you don't have a low neckline.

More beaded bezels

I have two loves when it comes to jewellery making: metal and seed beads. Usually I alternate between the two and right now it's all about bead weaving. I've already mentioned here why I'm on a roll right now, making beaded bezels. These are my three latest creations in that department.

Above is a crystal vitrail light rivoli (18 mm) that I bezelled using metallic purple 11/0 seeds. I wanted to use 3 mm fp for embellishment and settled for jet lumi amethyst. Rather dark compared to the colour of the rivoli so I decided to use something less dark for the 15/0. Transparent Grey Luster didn't seem like a perfect match when holding the tube next to the rivoli, but the rainbow finish did look like it could have something in common with it. So I went for it. And I liked it: the blueish grey beads brightened up the dark purple bezel so that the nuances were more in harmony. The dark purple thread helped bring it together, I think, as it "dulled" the grey a bit.

When peacock was a new custom coating on Swarovski rivolis, I bought this one as I just had to see it IRL. Was rather ambivalent about it and thought about selling it several times, but each time I saw something in it that made me keep it. (Keep in mind, I don't like dots and stripes in beads so it was not like me to even buy it!) So in a way I didn't feel bad about "sacrificing" it for a bezel experiment.

For this one, I used two different colours to make the bezel base: Permanent Finish galvanized gold from Toho and Duracoat Dark Berry from Miyuki. I also added 15/0 in jet AB as I thought they picked up the colours from the peacock spots. As you can see, I used a different way of embellishing the RAW base this time. Not adding bows of beads on the diagonal as with the fp for example, but stitching them "straight" between the spokes. Not sure about the colours, but I like the result of my altered thread path for the embellishment.


Then there's this one. Again, a piece where I'm not sure about the colour choices (you got to work with what you have), but where I'm pretty pleased with the over all design. Here, I used a glass cabochon instead of a rivoli. To avoid gaps in the ring of beads in the front, I added 15/0 in sparkling beige-lined crystal. A couple of the same bead where stitched to each "hole" in the RAW base along the side. I then netted a border using the same Dark Berry seeds I'd used for t he base. 3-bead netting for the first row, then 4-bead. Will use this design again, but this pendant is in the danger of being frogged.

Bezelled crystals

For weeks and months now, I just haven't had much inspiration or energy to bead. Then a few days before Christmas I just had to participate in Noora's colour challenge at Inspira. I got the combo midnight blue, wine and bronze to work with. Nothing I use very often, but still not too far out, which meant less of a chance that I'd give up and yet again feel like a failure. After rummaging through my stash, I also found beads in the right colours that would work together: custom coated Swarovski rivoli in rose sphinx, 4 mm fp in garnet topaz luster (that was the closest I had to wine, and much darker than in my photo) plus some medium bronze Delicas and a few 15/0 bronze seeds.

I've never tried to bead a bezel using beads as large and cylinder-shaped as the 10/0 Delicas, which explains why it's a bit uneven. It was my first try and in retrospect I can see several things I'd do different. But seeing how this piece was responsible to giving me back the yearning to bead, I don't want to redo it. Unfortunatley, both garnet topaz luster and rose sphinx are hopeless colours to photograph in this combination so I'm a bit disappointed at how crummy the pendant looks here...

Anyway, bezelling is addictive so when I'd finished this one I just had to make one more, trying different beads and bead counts as well as embellishments. And then one more and one more and...

'I don't use bugle beads that often because I'm afraid they'll cut my thread, but sometimes I just have to use them as the shape alters the look of a piece considerable compared to using multiple seeds to acheive the same lenght. This is Alchemy mk III and I'm afraid I never got any pics of the first two incarnations. At first I used just 3 mm bugles for the RAW strip, but it got too wide. For the second version I used two 11/0s as "spokes", but that was not much shorter than using bugles so for the final version I just used one 11/0 and suddenly it fit perfectly. I was soo pleased.

Pity I used my 16 mm Alchemy rivoli (by Preciosa) as the black bugles (the only 3 mm bugles I have) blend with the crystal. But you can see the structure of the bezel better on the flipside. I never planned on keeping this so I didn't bother too much about choosing colours. After being pleased about the result I actually got a bit annoyed at not choosing different colours as the bezel turned out so good I didn't want to rip it...

This bronze bezel capturing a 14 mm Preciosa rivoli in crystal Marea shows the structure of my basic RAW bezel very well. I don't do peyote bezels as many other do as I don't get along with that stitch, but I love RAW/cross-weaving and netting. I really like RAW bezels for two reasons: a) they are so easy to make and alter to fit the stone in question and b) they form a base that's perfect to embellish in different ways.

This one isn't embellished as I'm planning on using it stitched to a pendant and don't want it too "frilly". At least not before I've worked more on the details of the design. I've used 13/0 charlottes for this bezel.

For this little charm or pendant, I didn't use a rivoli but a pointed-back foiled crystal, I was given in a secret santa swap just before Christmas. I wanted to use drops, inspired by Beadsmania, and due to the size of the crystal (perhaps 14 mm across) I choose Miyuki's new 2,8 mm drops and 13/0 (blueish) hematite charlottes. Another pic I'm not pleased with: the shape of the bezel looks wonky, but it really isn't IRL...

Back to rivolis. Once again, I just wanted to test a design and had to make due with what I had so I ended up using a 16 mm crystal volcano rivoli and metallic purple 11/0 seeds (japanese). This is the same typ of embellishment I used in my first bezel, but this time only using seeds. I also added bows of seeds around the bezel.

For this one I did just as before, using 15/0 japanese seeds, but here it's a vintage Swarovski stone that's a bit different. It's oval and it has a totally flat, not pointy, front while still being pointedback. #2102 if you want to look them up. Here, I embellished the front just as bove, using three beads on each bow. A bit of a pesky shape, not because it's oval, but because the girth is thicker on the two sides than at the narrow ends. But not so much of a problem that it shows on the front.

The latest version of my RAW bezels is this one I made today. I used Toho 11/0 seeds in copper-lined topaz. A shiny warm, golden tones that looks strange in this photo and more transparent than IRL. I also added 10/0 Czech seeds in copper-lined light olivine to match the pretty olivine stone. This is the same type of pointedback crystal I used in the grey pendant before, from the same secret santa.

The strip is slightly too short so the beads cover much of the crown, but I choose not to redo it, fearing that it'd be too loose if I added another section of RAW. The gaps between the beads, which you can see in the pic, aren't really visible IRL. Once again, I embellished the front with row of three beads (1 topaz, 1 olivine, 1 topaz) and then, as in the purple pendant, I added two-coloured rows around the bezel. This time I wanted to use picots in some way. I like working with picots. So I combined picots and rows, alternating between the two, after figuring only picots wouldn't look as nice as when combined with bows of beads between them.

I've already shown my tila bezel here, but as it was part of my rivoli bezelling obsession, it has a place here as well. I've tried to arrange the bezels in the order they were made, but this one was probably made first or at least after finish my challenge piece. This isn't made in RAW as the once above. The method here is more like stringing. And I keep repeating myself: I just have one colour of tilas and had to make due with a shrinking stash of rivolis so there wasn't much room to choose colours that'd look fab together. Besides, I wasn't even sure it'd work and thought I'd just rip it and return the stone to the stash afterwards. But I think I'm keeping it...

Like with my tila beads, I'm soon running out of rivolis and crystals to bezel. It's just so addicitive! I even had to stop myself from making more basic bezels before I ran out of stone to try different embellishment designs on.

So there we have it: I'm beading again. That is, beading for real and thinking about designs. But I soon have to buy more beads and stones if I keep this up. Having flow can be oh so expensive (and not being able to buy much needed/wanted supplies can be frustrating and throw me back into the bead block). But right now I focus on the important part: I'm beading again!

Invisible clasp -- when two ideas meet

I've been meaning to publish a pic of this bracelet first after it was finished, but with my cold, Randi (he escaped outdoors on Tuesday and ripped out all his stitches in the process...) and everything I just don't seem to get around to finish it. Yet.

So here's a "sneak peek". My original inspiration -- as I've mentioned once before -- was a smart craft tip on the Rings & Things blog where Dave wrote about how Anne, another employee, came up with the idea of using bolo slides for a larger bracelet blanks than those they sold. Well, that got me thinking of other ways to use bolo slides and this clasp was one of the ideas I came up with. A clasp.


It's really a very simple design: I added a link to one of the metal "loops" and then I bent up the other "loop" using round nose pliers. Just enough for a second link to slide in and out of the "hook" I made. It's a pretty secure clasp as there is some tension when sliding the link on and off, but it's still easy to undo with one hand.

I didn't really plan on making whole bracelet blank, just use the clasp in some sort of jewellery, but as I hadn't come up with a good design I thought I might as well make a bracelet blank in "Anne style". Just wanted something to do. It wasn't my intention to make anything at all, I just wanted to add a bracelet to my new clasp, but it turned out I've made a bracelet blank with an invisible clasp.

So I guess I'll keep the clasp in this bracelet. I like the idea of an invisible clasp. Now I just have to come up with a good idea of how to embellish the blank...

Brass "imitation bottle cap charm" -- or, what happens when you glue two pieces of brass together?

Third post in one day -- blame in on my camera: I good in a good and story-telling mood during the photo session, which meant going from taking pics of just three or four motifs for my other blog to taking... well, I don't know, let's just say it ended up being a much longer session than planned. And that was not just because of the annoying winds.

Anyway, this little thing (19 mm across) above is what this post is about. It is the result of putting round and cog-shaped brass stampings/cutouts/blanks in the same zip-bag just because they're both made of brass and bought in the same shop. I was bored, didn't get any ideas for the projects I wanted to work on and I began fiddling with these brass bits. Of cause I soon put one brass piece on top of the other and that was how this one came to life.

At first the patterned "frame" of this bezel -- I guess it can work as a bezel of some sort eventhough it's shallow -- didn't show very well so I thought it needed to be oxidized. Not having the right stuff for it at home, I took out my brand new bottle of alcohol inks. Not having used that type of inks before, this became the perfect time to see if I could make an imitation patina that resembled natural or man-made oxide in the recessed areas. (While brass can be oxidized some metals can't and then it's sometimes useful to know how to make "faux patinas" like this.)

When the ink was wiped off, the patterned edges was much more visible. And that's when I began thinking it looked a bit like a bottle cap, especially a "smooshed bottle cap", the kind used for charms and pendants. And that's probably how I'll use it, to frame a pic of some kind. Too bad I didn't see any big cog brass blanks (other than the 25 mm ones) because I'd be fun to make larger pendants too in this manner.

Well, picture charm it is then. That just leaves the question of suspension. Drill a hole to make a pendant (without damaging the edge), add a flat bail to the back or something else like attaching a pin/tie tack to make a small brooch or rivet it to a ring base? Right now I don't really know what I want to do with it. But I'll probably think of something soon.


Just two things I want to add before ending this post:

1. Yes, I know it's lazy to glue together metal that can easily be riveted or soldered. I prefer that too, but this was an experimental piece and I also felt glue might "fit the theme" if I want to use it as a resin bezel: gluing one part of it, why not glue it all?

2. It's really too shallow to work well as a picture bezel/frame so unless there's thicker brass "cogs" to be found it might be better to attach two pieces on top of each other to add depth. That would also enhance the edges without having to oxidize the charm.

The things I buy...

Do you know what that is in the pic above? It's a dozen bolo slides -- a finding normally used when making bolo/bola ties (a country/western thing). I'm not planning on making anthing along those lines. This was a thing that just had to find it's way to my wishlist after reading the post Make your own big bracelet blanks by Dave over at the Rings & Things blog. The background for the post was that one of the R&T employees had a smart idea for how to make a bigger bracelet blank, as requested by a costumer. She found the bolo slides to be ideal for the purpose.

And of cause that sort of idea triggers my creativity. I began thinking about what other ways you could use this slightly unusual -- if you're not into the whole country & western thing -- finding. I got one idea just while reading the post and when I received the slides -- of cause I had to buy them in the end -- I had a new idea.

So, I know how to use the first two slides. That leaves ten more to come up with ideas for. I did hesitate to buy a package as I felt I didn't have enough ideas for a whole dozen, but I do think I'll get around to using them all. Good thing is they weren't too expensive either so can experiment freely without feeling like I'm wasting money.


I've been on a spending spree lately, I feel, and so the bolo slides weren't the only thing I bought just to try them out.


This is a new typ on "clip-on" earrings for me. I'm always trying different versions -- from screws to cuffs -- in search for less painful fake earrings than the horrible clip-ons I found as a kid. This version is very simple and with the right typ of wire (I'm thinking springy steel) you could probably do these yourself. Also they weren't too expensive, something that is often the problem with clip-ons as they have all sorts of springs and hinges to keep the earring on the earlobe.

I've already got a favourite type of clip-ons that are similar to these, but with a spring thingy, which makes them more expensive. Below is an example of what I've made with that type.


And, oh, I got some bezel lace too. Isn't it pretty?


Had only seen it in sterling before, which is beyond my budget, so I was thrilled to find it in my latest favourite metal, brass. Bezel lace is used for setting stones and the smart thing is that the loops make this type of gallery wire useful for wireworkers that doesn't solder as well. The top bezel is so pretty on its own I'll probably use it as a decorative trimming on a pendant or something too.

My first resin rings

I found a pair of "old" resin rings I've made some time ago. Some of my first tests using epoxy resin and "resin powder", actually. Which would explain the sloppy work -- don't check for resin drops on the outside of the bezels...

Anyway, this first one is a simple ring where I cut out a rose from one of my favourite scrapbook papers. I had -- and have -- no special epoxy resin so I just used the common epoxy glue you can find in the hardware store. Non-yellowing according to the manufacturer. Looking carefully you can see some tiny air bubbles as I didn't know how to get rid of them.


I do prefer epoxy resins especially made for jewellery making, not least since those doesn't begin to cure as fast as epoxies intended as adhesives. But when you want to try something new you make due with what you have. Which was the thought behind the ring below as well.

This ring is made from japanese paper and UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamels). I wanted to try this as I'd just read about JudiKins' Amazing Glaze and thought it'd be fun to try. But I couldn't buy it at the time so what to do? Well, some time ago I'd bought some UTEE as I wanted to make some cool paper beads I'd found instructions for. That didn't happen as I don't own a heat gun, but I had read that you could melt UTEE in a melting pot -- so surely you could melt it in the oven too, as you would with Amazing Glaze?

Melting Amazing Glaze in the oven was fun, but I fear I'm not as steady on hand as I should in order to work with powders like this -- more than once I dropped my rings and bezels on the floor before I even got them into the oven. This ring I dropped directly when taking it from the oven and before the plastic powder had had time to harden...

As you can see in the close-up above the resin also "leaked" through the paper, but that is not as obvious when looking at the ring IRL.



Nowadays I've found another favourite that doesn't require mixing as epoxy does or handling powders and work with multiple "firings" as UTEE does: Gel du Soleil 1-part UV-curing epoxy resin. For some things I can't use it, but for resin bezels like the ones above I love it!

(There's also another brand of UV-curing resin: Lisa Pavelka's Magic Glos, which I haven't tried.)

Vintage bronze rivoli pendants

Earlier this week I got a "goodiebag" of wire and beads (and buttons) from Swedish bead shop Fru Pärla [= Mrs Bead] as I had taken the opportunity to volunteer and make a few creations for the inspiration galleries. The first thing I made was these rivoli pendants using the 20 G Vintage Bronze wire I got.
One thing I hate about photos is that they enlarge details: the wrapped loops look so much more sloppy on pic than IRL. Ok, now I've said that.
To the left you see a 16 mm crystal volcano Preciosa rivoli attached to a variation of the classic prong setting. I don't really have the tools to set a stone like this so I use what I have. Ideally I would have wanted to press the prongs closer to the crystal, but I was afraid of scratching or chipping it. Still pleased with the result, especially considering I rarely, if ever, make prong settings.
To the right is a 18 mm crystal sahara Preciosa rivoli that I set in a different way. This time I made wavy "frame", using a wire jig to keep the points even, that was shaped and wrapped around the perimetre of the crystal. The back look exactly the same as the front.
I had no intention of making anything steampunk-related (though vintage bronze is the perfect colour for steamy jewellery), but I realised the bigger pendant has the same colours as this book cover. Not my usual palette, but I quite like it. Nice contrast between metal and water (the crystal reflects the colours of the coating in a way reminding of moving water).

This was also my first time using the "invisible thread suspension method" when photographing. I think it made a huge difference as the pendants don't have flat backs, making it hard to shoot them at the same time. As usual I sing praise to Neat Image, my knight in shining armour now that my camera -- having been dropped in the floor a couple of times -- give me such noisy pics. (Keeping on the name dropping I might add the photo is edited in Picasa, the programme I use now that I can't access my laptop with my favourite, Photoshop Elements.)