Clay Day

Hi Everyone

I'm still slightly distracted with 'beading' projects rather than making my clay jewellery, so the blog series name is still questionable! Although, we do have a link to clay beads today. I've made quite a few new non clay (beaded) rings - see various posts from earlier this week. I've also managed to complete a very small experiment enamelling Sterling Silver (a former job on the list). I want to do more of this but for now the beading is still top of my list. Here is a quick look at the Silver experiment :

                                

I used a piece of Sterling Silver wire to create very small earring wires. The enamel was applied to the end of the wire, curled to create a slightly balled shape. I like the result but need the curled bit to be larger. I'm going to solder a larger shape onto the existing curl and add more enamel - maybe a different shade of blue ? I like the technique and will definitely focus on this one in the near future.

Getting back to the beading thing, I'm developing a new ring with a larger stone. I'm following the same technique as I have used for a few of the previous rings but the much larger size of the beads present new design issues and each step forward is followed by a new challenge. Here is a summary of developments to date :

                               

I want to get to the point where I can mix and match beads, some made by me and some manufactured. I like the shiney metalic seed bead in ring design, so am keen to keep that element. I do feel life is too short to make polymer seed beads which are small enough to make a traditional beaded ring band. However, I'm keen to develop some new customised shapes which can make a band using hand crafted polymer. The finished ring will be proudly shared when complete. You may have noticed the carved bead (above) which I made a while ago and I'd like to incorporate the bead into a ring - note the clay connection !, similar to the stone in the image above. I want the construction technique to be clean and the thread hidden via the construction, this means lots of taking apart and re doing. I like perfection and nothing less will do !

Thanks for reading.

Thanks for reading