I am done...

Written by Patti Vanderbloemen of My Addictions Handmade Jewelry Blog

I am done making a batch of these beads, that is! The picture below is what is left after I made a bracelet. 

Making this bracelet has given me new meaning to the words "One of A Kind". This is due to the multiple-step process in creating each of the beads, which translates to I will probably not be making another one! :)  Kidding!

In all seriousness, it involved so many different metalsmithing techniques for each step in the process. It feels WONDERFUL on the wrist - substantial but not weighty. When I was wrapping the bracelet together, I toyed with the idea of connecting each beaded link without a jump ring. But, given that beads are 3/4" in length, they move better on the wrist with a jump ring between each link, so I just doubled up on the jump rings.  

I made two sets of these beads without the "toppers".  We are working on a Fiber Boot Camp at Love My Art Jewelry and I am trying to complete a project by next Monday, using these beads with the fiber...wish me luck, as I so very rarely use any fiber in my work.

  

In between steps for those beads, I also made a pair of earrings. These feature heat rivets at the bottom of the wires.

These are so darn lightweight - but long - 3 1/4".  The pearls have a wonderful rainbow opalescence, and dare I say it, these are sexy earrings!  Swingers!

Totally unrelated to this blog post, my Monday Post at Love My Art Jewelry was hijacked and posted on another site - including the links, but my name was suddenly gone.  This type of stealing has become, unfortunately, quite common in this day and age.  So, I am now adding what may appear as weird bi-lines and footnotes to my own personal blog, in the off chance this happens "here" as well.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by today, and I so very much appreciate your comments!

xo

Patti

This blog post was written by Patti Vanderbloemen for her own personal blog, My Addictions Handcrafted Jewelry by Patti.  If you are reading this on another site, it has been copied and used without permission of the author or blog owner.

What in the world is THIS?

Written by Patti Vanderbloemen for My Addictions Handcrafted Jewelry Blog

So...still no kiln.  It is supposed to be shipped sometime this week.  In the meantime, I have been giving my torch a workout.  Do you know what those are???

They're beads!!  Still in love with the bracelets I made (you can see them here) , I decided to try and make a bead...from copper tubing.

Oh my goodness...these are A LOT OF WORK!  Cut the tubing, sand the ends of the tubing PERFECTLY FLAT...roll out the clay, texture the clay, cut the clay to fit, add the clay to the tube (VERY GENTLY I might add)...let dry....sand...touch up the clay where I sanded too much...dry....fire the clay and hope like heck it works... pickle.  Cut teeny tiny discs...sand the edges of the discs so that you do not cut your finger (I did cut my finger)....find the center and drill a hole....solder the discs to the ends of the tube....PICKLE...tumble...add liver of sulfur patina...buff...tumble.  

Phew..

These are not nearly as large as they appear either. Only 3/4" in length.

I only made two of these, as I was not sure it would work...but it did!  MUST. MAKE. MORE.  This is going to be a FANTABULOUS bracelet when it grows up with some siblings (once I make them of course).

How was your week????

Thanks a million for stopping by today!!!

xo

Patti