In this post I am showing you my Mosaico collection. It’s not a making of though, because for this collection I used the Art Deco Earrings tutorial by polymer clay artist Bettina Welker. So I can’t really share too much of the process. For these designs I went for a […]
Christmas isn’t far away now, so in today’s post I am sharing 7 Christmas gift ideas for her. 1.Beautiful Bangles If the woman in your life (or your mum, sister or friend) loves wearing bangles than you might like the bangles I am offering here. My bangles are handcrafted with […]
Working with polymer clay means you end up not only sanding a lot, but also polishing to give the pieces a nice sheen. I often don’t polish and instead use varnish, especially when working with Mica powder, which requires varnish. However as varnish is a bit messy and mainly reserved for designs with Mica I have started polishing. My first attempt using my Dremel tool with a buffing wheel has ended up in dents – mainly because I wasn’t careful enough (even the lowest speed on the Dremel is pretty fast and you should only touch the wheel lightly with the item you’re trying to polish) but also because I used the wrong buffing wheel – felt – which is far too coarse for polymer clay.
Frustrated I asked on the BPCG’s Facebook page for advice and started a long discussion about not only the best use of the Dremel, but also alternatives. One member advised me to make my own Dremel buffing wheel out of denim, as it works well as a polishing cloth ( you can even see the difference when you are just using it without a Dremel).
Following the instructions on FloRaeMe’s blog I made my own wheel.
This is something jewellery designers have to deal with from time to time – you made a beautiful item and it is just sitting in your inventory. You tried selling it through your website and at fairs and shows or even at jewellery parties, but it just doesn’t shift and you are getting tired of the sight of it and simply need the space.
Don’t despair, because here are 9 things you can do:
If you only list it on your website – try other shopping platforms such as Artfire, Etsy, Folksy or DaWanda. This is especially useful if you only have one-of-a-kind items
Offer discounts for this item (if it’s part of a range) or reduce it.
Earmark it as a giveaway for a good cause that is close to your heart. This can also potentially help you in attracting new customers.
See if you can simply improve the piece by making slight changes – this is obviously something you can’t do with every item as it depends on the materials you are using. It would be difficult to alter a finished silver ring, but is achievable with a charm bracelet.
As it’s Valentine’s Day this month, hearts are obviously playing a part in my new designs and I decided to make two wire wrapped heart pendants – but not just with round wire. Instead I used square wire. I have a nifty little device from Beadalon with which I can twist the wire into a nice shape. So for the two hearts I made, I used two square wires of different colours (copper, silver plated for the first one and brass and silver plated) and twisted these together. Only downside is that the wire hardens using this method, which means it’s harder to manipulate into a nice shape.
A while ago I bought a selection of Chalk Turquoise pendants and didn’t really think much about what to do with them – the end result was a rather dull and uninspired necklace.As nice as the pendant looks on its own – something was just missing. So I decided to experiment a little with wire and different ways of wrapping the pendant. It has two side drilled holes which determine the direction of the wrap. I first started with thicker wire of 0.8mm but realised that I couldn’t cross the wires within the holes and thus not wrap it the way I wanted it.
I have decided to share with you a few images of some of my jewellery, which show them in the process of creating them and you can find these under the new category “The Making of..”
This bracelet was made on a beading loom, with tiny Japanese seed beads.
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