Bails and Beads

                                                      Handmade bail by Mary Harding

It was one of those "happy accidents" that lead to the making of this bail a few months ago.  I  had apparently made a toggle bar that was way too long and had for fun wrapped some copper wire around it and then left it to one side of my soldering station.  Weeks later I came upon it and thought it could be salvaged if I added two more loops --one on each side and completed the wire wrapping along the entire piece.  It took one of my talented customers buying it to clue me in that it could be a viable and desirable jewelry component.

Today  I am sharing several of these bails that I have made since. I have just added a few of all of them  to my Etsy shop, as well.

                                     Handmade jewelry stringing bails by MaryHarding

And now for a look at how some art beads will look on the bail:  I will begin with a Diane Hawkey pendant which I recently purchased from the Ceramic Art Bead Market on Facebook.  This is the first bead by Diane that I have ever owned and I am so taken with it.  I have admired her work for years and am so pleased to have one carefully packaged up in my bead stash.

                                            Ceramic art bead by Diane Hawkey

Next I tried out a bird bead by Gaea  also from my personal collection

                                                       Handmade art bead by  Gaea


I tried out a long bead from Something to Do Beads and it looks great in this rustic setting

                                    Handmade art bead from Something to Do Beads

And finally one of Claire Maunsell's pod beads

                             Handmade art bead by Claire Maunsell

I hope you enjoyed seeing how a handmade bail can be versatile enough to be used with a variety of art beads.
 Thanks so for stopping by today!!  See you again next month.
 Mary
www.maryhardingjewelry.etsy.com
www.facebook.com/MaryHardingJewelry

Inside the Studio with Mary Harding Jewelry

Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive, we offer a prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard and tell us what you think. The following week a winner is chosen at random from all eligible entries.

Congratulations to Deb Stewart!  Yeah!! You've won a $25.00 gift certificate from Humblebeads.com.  Please send Heather your address and she will get your prize right out to you. 

Welcome to the studio of Mary Harding Jewelry.  I am so happy to have you visit today.  I have begun with a photo of some new pieces in my Etsy shop since that has been one of my projects for the last two weeks.  We have had such wonderful warm summery weather lately that I have been very distracted by the pull of the river for swimming and the deck and chaise for reading, that my inventory has sunk quite low.  Gradually I am building it up.  Above are a few of the new pieces in my shop.  

I have been working on making more of my hollow two sided beads like the one of the Maple Seed Wings in the lower left  hand corner in the collage above.  I love making these although they are very time consuming.  I am indebted to Claire Maunsell for teaching me the technique in polymer clay, which I have adapted to ceramic clay.  If you are not familiar with Claire's work I suggest you visit her Flickr stream!!  The beauty of these beads is that they have images on both sides.  I try to make the images related.  One of these beads is published in the current issue of Jewelry Stringng Magazine-in their Ultimate Shopping Guide.

Two sided hollow bead by MaryHardingJewelry  side 1

Two sided hollow bead by MaryHardingJewelry   side2

To move on, the bead in the upper right hand corner is a new plant for me.  I love its puffy succulent leaves and how gracefully they fall.  It is a common weed which you may know of, called Purslane.

Purslane Pendant MaryHardingJewelry

It is everywhere in every one's gardens and surprisingly it is very nutritious and good in salads in the early Spring.  I will be working on more pieces with it in the future.

The buttons and the clover are old standbys that I have added due to requests.  I am happy to have a good image of the clover since for some time I had difficulty painting that one.  Not quite sure why, but this one came out well, I think.

Cobalt wash on some disk beads before glazing and firing in the kiln

In addition to stocking my shop, I have also been having a wonderful time experimenting with cobalt wash. I have used it in the past but am finding new ways of working with it that are exciting.  The picture above shows some pieces with the wash on them.  It is a kind of sick pink color out out the jar which needs to be diluted with distilled water.  Like many things in ceramics, what you see is not what you get!!!  Depending on how much you apply to the clay and what colors are already on the clay, you get different shades of Cobalt Blue.  Some shades are very dark, some are like denim and some are like  Delft pottery from Holland.   All are beautiful!!  Reportedly VanGogh told his brother Theo that

‘Cobalt [blue] is a divine colour and there is nothing so beautiful for putting atmosphere around things…"

Collage of several pieces I have made using Cobalt Wash  by MaryHardingJewelry

I began by telling you how distracted I have been by the unusually sunny and warm weather here in the

 Northeast.  But I have also put my distraction to good use.  I have been storing up the warmth and color to nourish me for the long winter ahead.  It seems that the end of summer, early fall is a great time for keeping ones eyes peeled to the plants and leaves as they make seed pods and turn amazing colors.  This year has been especially beautiful and has been a color inspiration everywhere I look.

                                                                Rosa Rugosa Rose Hips 

Which brings me to my question:  How have you and your art been spending these dog days of summer and early autumn?  I would love to hear.  Please leave a comment below and you will be automatically entered to win a $20.00 gift certificate to my Etsy shop. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Mary

Tutorial Tuesday: Stacked Bezel Cup Ring

                                     Stacked Bezel Cup Ring Tutorial

Today's tutorial is about making a ring on an adjustable ring blank.  We will be using a beautiful art bead made by polymer clay artist Claire Maunsell.  We will be adding some hand felted pieces and a few pieces of sterling silver to attach the art bead to the micro screw rivet.
A list of materials and tools follows.  After that are the step by step directions.

Materials
Adjustable ring blank silver plated (available on Etsy or Rings & Things)
Center hole art bead disk about 5/8 inch in diameter I used one of Claire Maunsell's beautiful polymer beads
brass screw rivet (micro screw)  1/2 -3/4 inch long 1/16 inch thick ( Source Etsy) or
hand felted disk 1-1 1/2 inches in diameter or several scraps of Sari silk
copper or silver heishi bead and sterling silver bead cap used inverted --diameter greater than disk bead center hole, with 1/16 center hole
Optional supplies:  mica disks (daniel essig on Etsy), metal disks, waxed linen in a complementary or matching color
epoxy glue or clear nail polish
wooden dowel the diameter of your ring

Tools
hand drill  with 1/16th inch drill bit  or 1.8mm punching plier
Safety glasses
awl
Center punch
Flush cutters
Scissors
Tiny eyeglass screwdriver
thin tip Sharpie Marker
Metal file

Tutorial
We will be using a ring blank that has a very shallow round bezel cup to build a ring with felt, mica (optional), and a polymer clay art bead

1.  Find the center of your bezel ring blank by measuring and drawing a line through the widest part of the circle.  Then rotate the ring 90 degrees and draw another line.  Where the lines meet is the center of your ring.  Use a thin tipped sharpie marker to draw the lines and mark the spot where they meet

2. If you are going to drill your center hole,  slide your ring blank on the wooden dowel.  Hold the ring and wooden dowel in place with a vice.  Using the center punch make a divot where you marked the center of the bezel cup.
3.  With your ring on the dowel, securely in place with the vice, and  wearing safety glasses, drill a hole in the divot with your hand drill.  If you are using the punching plier, align it with the marked center and punched the hole. ( Please note:  You can only use the punching plier if you are making a hole through just one thickness of metal.

4.  Try the screw rivet in the hole you just made to make sure it fits.  It the hole is too tight, use the awl to widen it by working it around in the hole.

5.  Cut out a circle of your felt slightly larger than the disk bead you are using, in this case it would be about 1/14 inches since the disk bead is 1 inch in diameter.

6.  Make a hole in the center of the felted disk with the awl.


7.  To assemble your ring, insert the brass screw rivet into the ring from underneath the bezel cup.
String on the felted disk the optional mica disk and the copper or silver heishi bead.

8. Screw on the brass nut and make it as tight as you can.  Use the eyeglass screwdriver or your finger nail to hold the rivet in place as you continue to tighten the nut.  When you are sure it is as tight as it can get, clip off the extra length of the rivet and file it smooth.  Tighten it again and add a couple of drops of epoxy glue  or clear nail polish.  Let it dry completely.

9.  If you want to add additional color to your ring you can wrap waxed lined around part of the band as seen in this picture.  Use slip knots on the inside of the ring band to secure the waxed line.  Add a drop of epoxy or clear nail polish to secure the slip knots.

Or you could add in some mica sheet

10. Try on your  new ring and enjoy!!

 Thanks so much for stopping by!!