Fly Girl Necklace by Jane Mormino.
A wall hanging from textile artist Kathy Marks
Fly Girl Necklace by Jane Mormino.
A wall hanging from textile artist Kathy Marks
Bead Review 2 is a snapshot of the artistic talent found in the contemporary art glass beadmaking movement - within the pages is a global overview of the finest handmade creations of the year. Thoughtful writing and artist insights accompany beautifully photographed art beads, all sure to inform as well as elicit “ooh's and aaah's."
The beginning of the book briefly covers the basics of metal clay, the types, the working methods, and the firing. But the heart of this book is the innovative techniques that showcase metal clay at its best. Bezel making and firing the clay around ceramic and glass stones is covered in several step by step pages, full of photographs. Also, methods of bezel making and filling after firing is covered, using concrete, resin, and cement as filling materials. Adding color to metal in the forms of polymer clay, resins, and collage materials is another focus of the book. Finally, various styles of clasp projects and ideas are shown, making this book a fully rounded exploration of metal clay uses in jewelry.
If you are coming to metal clay from another material, are looking for ways to expand your techniques, or just want an appreciation for the beauty and process of the art beads you have seen made of metal clay, I highly recommend this book.
Deadline to enter the ABS Monthly Challenge is April 30th.
To view the current entries, visit our Flickr group.
Heart Flame pendants by Earthenwood Studio
Bird Pendants by Virginia Miska, Sterling Bails available at Fusion Beads
Ceramic Pendants by Marsha Neal Studio
#3 (above) Make your own metal bail using wire
Doing your own wire work is an inexpensive solution to the frontally drilled pendant problem, and one that provides for additional creative opportunities. Use a soft, high quality wire such as sterling or gold-filled, and use some caution when applying your metal and pliers to the pendant. Shown here are a simple wrap, a more elaborate wrap with two wire spirals, and a wrap with an additional bead wired between the bail and the pendant.
Goddess Tablet by Earthenwood Studio, Hollow glass beads by Rejiquar
You may find a pendant with double frontally drilled holes, which happen to be on the smaller side. The holes int he pendant shown here would only accommodate a thinner cord, in this case a waxed cotton cord. Using thinner cord can be an advantage design-wise, and here it was used doubled throughout the necklace for a multi-strand effect. Knots placed atop the first bead section secured the pendant tightly and securely. The cords were then alternately separated for stringing and brought together for knotting, creating a chunky, textural feel to the necklace.
Sea Swoosh Pendant by Earthenwood Studio
Wingspan and other components by Earthenwood Studio
#6 (above) Use seed beads to incorporate pendant into necklace.
While we are on the topic of seed beads, here is an example of seed beads and accent beads weaving almost seamlessly in and out of a front drilled pendant (this one with three holes!) Notice the use of multiple crimps, which are hidden under the crimp covers, which look like little silver balls. Repeating the same seed bead throughout the necklace makes for a perfectly integrated solution, with endless possibilities for creativity.
I hope that these ideas have given you something to consider, and make the prospect of using those frontally drilled pendants a little less confusing!
Color Wheel & Designing with Color by Suzanne Copper
Eni Oken's Color Scheme Software
Project Spectrum is a Flickr group that focuses on creating in a specific color theme during a 2 month period. April/May's colors are pink/green/yellow.
Happy Creating!
Disk beads can be found at Humblebeads.com