I decided to make a bracelet to go with the black and white necklace. I thought I didn’t have enough beads for it and was going to make more later but I decided to see if I could make it work. Since I wanted to use smaller beads for the bracelet, I ended up using more plain spacer beads so it worked out.
I finished another one. I really like the colored pencil piece but I did a bad job on the silver part and had lots of issues that I ran into. Mostly because I didn’t plan well. I’m not one to draw things out, I design as I go and it usually works out but in this case, not so much. One of the rivets got too close to the bail and I had a hard time hammering it without bending the tube bail. Then I used a dull drill bit on the bottom hole. It kind of mushed the silver around and left a rim. It’s hard to fix problems like these after I set the colored piece and sometimes working on it further just makes it worse.
The colored piece is raised off the silver 1mm. It’s hard to tell in the picture. I didn’t take a picture of the back as it’s too ugly to show. Guess I’m keeping this one for myself. Bummer. 🙂
I finally got enough black and white beads made to make this necklace. I decided to use sterling silver in this piece as it just makes black and white look so much better. It’s challenging working with just two colors, along with clear. I really wanted to add another color but resisted as I think these two colors look so striking by themselves.
So far I’ve cored 4 beads. I’ve had some big holed beads sitting around for a while. Since I’ve been using the same tubing on the colored pencil pendants, I got to a short end and wanted to use it up. It sure is hard to cut tubing with a short piece with a tube cutter. I should have just cut it in half, then I’d have two bails for other pendants, then start with a new rod for cording the beads. Lesson learned.
These also show the bad attempts at silver glass beads. The third on doesn’t have any silver glass in it, just got it cored. The other three are silver glass. Other bead makers so amazing things with silver glass, I’m happy is I get a decent color out of them.
This one didn’t turn out like I wanted it to. I had to make a change at the last minute because I stupidly scratched the colored pencil part. It’s really sturdy but touching it with a spinning drill bit will cause damage to most anything. So, I had to cover up the scratch. Still, I like it, maybe not as much as I envisioned but I still like it. I also learned not to do the highest most rivet until the end. I had to position the piece in the edge of my steel block to get the rivets done.
Front view
Side view
I’m having a lot of fun making these colored pencil on copper pieces. It’s nice working with sterling silver too. This piece I raised the copper piece off the silver base with crimp beads.
Front view
Side view. It’s still hard to see the piece is raised. It looks crooked in the picture but it really isn’t.
Back view. Probably should do more finishing on it. I like to do a brush finish as it is easier to take care of since sterling silver tarnishes so easily. The challenge in this piece was making sure the tube bail wasn’t going to be in the way of the rivets. I like using tubing for bails. It’s so much easier than having to make the bail from scratch. I have a few more colored pieces already done, just have to do the silver part.
This is something new and I plan to make more. They take a while to make. Lots of steps just to do the colored pencil on copper piece. Then I have to do the silver part and rivet the whole thing together. Still, it’s fun and a way to get some color onto metal. Since this was my first piece, I kept it simple.
You know I can’t just make one or two of the same things. So here’s another mica, copper and paper tag pendant with the Japanese stickers. I used two stickers for this one since these pendants don’t have a front and back side.
This is one side. I used an etched copper sheet that has music on it.
This is the other side. I’m still not done with playing with mica but I think on my next one I’m going to do something a little different. Not sure what – yet.
I finished up an order for several porthole pendants. I still have one more to do, just didn’t get the end caps and button clasp made last weekend for it.
These are tough to get a good picture of since they have a glass domed cab on the top. I did all the same end caps and button clasp on all of them so I’m only going to show one since they are all the same except in different colors to match the silk ribbon.
And since I’ve never shown the back of one of these, here’s a picture of one.
I use etched copper sheets for the backs. I’ve etched a bunch of copper sheets with different designs on them to use for different projects.
Lisa Fletcher on Lampwork Etc posted a picture of her little people sculptures. They are so cute!! I had to try to make some. I finished two of them and plan to make another one. I ran out of components. I’ll finish the third one tomorrow after making a few more components tonight. I’m not selling any little people. They will be just for my enjoyment.
I used steel wire for the armature. It’s so stiff it’s a killer on my hands. The components are fun to make and a great way to use up all my short rods as I can use whatever color. Anything goes on these.
Mewkittie Creations 