Silk, leather and clay

I was playing with new ways to use polymer clay beads.

Of course, no design is complete without silk strips...

This one has a little leather cord as well.

Hope you are having a great Tuesday!

Thanks for stopping by....

Archaeology Necklace

Sometimes it is just fun to do something that is outside your usual style.

A friend and I decided to try to make some things with a decidedly grubbier and darker look.

It involved a lot of JAX Pewter Black.

I used it to age some chains, focals, and beads.

And this Archaeology necklace was born.

Glass and polymer beads were combined into this fun necklace.

The smashed bottle cap with a map covered in resin looked so much better after it was painted with JAX.

Now I love it.

It was in my failures pile so I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained...

What a gain...

I made links for each of my beads and then dipped them in Jax.

They all got rubbed with wax and buffed.

The fiber piece was made from a bit of a muslin sheet.

I dipped it in watered down black paint and then waxed it.

And those little twisted wire jump rings...

I made them...

Now THAT was fun!

I thoroughly enjoyed trying a new look.

I will be doing more of this style for sure...

What have you tried that was new for you?

Thanks for stopping by...

Fossil Rings

I hope life is treating you kindly.

I feel like I have been attempting to hit a bunch of curve balls.

Everyone has their own curve balls, I know.

One thing that helps me when things get a little bumpy is creating.

I may not get a chance to take photos and blog about it, but I am always making something.

The fact that I haven't blogged just means I will have more to share with you when I get to blogging again so I am going to work on it.

I made these fun fossil rings from polymer clay, metal epoxy, and gold foil flakes.

Each polymer focal was made from a mold of a real fossil.

I picked some of them up at a gift shop for a cavern.

They had quite a nice selection.

I used the silicone molding compound to make a mold of each one so I can make as many fossils as I want.

Then I used some metal epoxy to make bezels and attach them to ring blanks.

The metal epoxy is 2 part epoxy that I got from the hardware store.

Just cut off equal pieces and mix them together.

They dry rock hard.

I have never used gold foil before so there was a bit of a learning curve for me.

I did not have gold foil sheets so I used some flakes.

I brushed on the adhesive first and waited an hour.

Then I used a soft brush to try to add the foil flakes.

It wasn't working to my satisfaction so I just started using my fingers to press and rub the gold foil on.

For me, that was much better.

And then I brushed on a couple coats of Varathane to seal them.

Probably my least favorite part is the adjustable ring base, but I learned a ton from the process.

Hope whatever curve balls are coming your way, I hope you are swinging with all your might....

Thanks for stopping by...