Faux Raku

I've always loved Raku pottery in all its many varieties, but I'm particularly fond of this vase that I've owned for years.  I used it for inspiration in designing this Faux Raku necklace.

Faux Stone Necklaces

These unique polymer clay and sari silk necklaces make quite a statement. The gold crackle suggests seams of pyrite running through the stones which have hints of color. Although the faux stones look like they might be heavy, because they are made of polymer clay, they are actually quite light in weight. The stones are wired together with antiqued copper wire and the same wire is used to bind the ends of the beautifully colored sari silk. A handmade copper clasp or a lobster claw makes secure closures.

I was inspired by and credit must be given to Staci Louise Smith’s tutorial on Craftart.edu for the design ideas and technique for making the faux stones.  I love the fact that the sari silk comes from women’s cooperatives in India and Nepal - the scrap silk doesn’t end up in landfills and the women have a safe place to work and make a living.

Back to the Wrap

My very first jewelry pieces, years ago, were wire-wrapped stones, but silver wire became very expensive so I turned to other media.  Once I discovered polymer clay and the ability to make my own colors and shapes, I was hooked and focused almost exclusively on clay.  In the last year or so, however, I've been doing more with metals, wire and stones, and I've fallen in love with copper.  When I found some beautiful Jasper stones, I decided to wrap some of them.  As you can see from this example, I like simple wire shapes that expose most of the stone.

I'm published!!!

My first "how to" article was just published in Easy Metal 2015, a special issue from Step by Step Wire Jewelry.  The design is a brooch made from copper sheet and polymer clay.  The paper edition should be on magazine shelves soon, but a digital version is available now from the Interweave online store.  I'm doing my happy dance.

Working with stones

I've been very busy preparing for my spring shows.  The Toronto Knitters' Frolic went well, and I have the Milton Farm Craft Show this weekend, the 2nd and 3rd.

The Milton show will be my first opportunity to show off some of my new jewellery designs.  One thing I've been working on is making necklaces with beautiful Jasper stones.

The necklace above features a big Jasper stone and handmade bronze wire links.

This necklace features a beautifully colored stone, bronze bars woven together with copper wire and an antiqued copper chain.

New Shawl Pin Design

Here is my latest shawl pin design.  I made them using my new "Now That's a Jig".  I choked on the price of the jig, but it works beautifully and is easier to use than my homemade jigs of nails hammered into pieces of wood.  I've got a lot of experimenting to do with it.

Week 29 Year of Jewelry

Here is another new design for my line of copper shawl pins.  I used wire wrapping to define the shape and it features a large lampwork bead from Laurel Mountain Glass.

Latest Shawl Pin Design

My copper shawl pins seem to sell very well at the knitting oriented shows I do, but I decided I need some new designs.  This one is simple in concept, but it was difficult to make the 10 gauge copper wire cooperate.

Half way through

I'm half way through with the Year of Jewelry project.  Here are my entries for weeks 24-26.  The first earrings are made of polymer clay scrap canes and look sort of like little quilts.  They are folded into a wavy shape to look like fabric.

The earrings below are made from large copper "beads" placed on niobium ear wires which are colored to look like copper.

 These are copper wire pieces I purchased and put on the niobium ear wires.

Weeks 9, 10 and 11, Year of Jewelry

I'm a bit behind in my posting.  Here are my entries for the 9th, 10th and 11th weeks of The Year of Jewelry Project.

This is made with three lampwork beads from my sister, Melissa Blanton of Laurel Mountain Glass and the two copper elements at the bottom are my first attempt at wire weaving.

 

These earrings represent my very first attempt at soldering sterling silver.

 

Another necklace with my sister's beads and handmade copper elements including the clasp.

 

Year of Jewelry, Week 7

Back again with another piece of copper with a heat patina on a torn piece of polymer clay.  This one looks completely different.  I took last week's to the melting point to get the red color, but I was more gentle with this one.

Year of Jewelry, Week 6

I like the look of distressed metals, and this piece is really distressed.  I tortured a piece of copper with a torch until I got this amazing red and gold patina.  The black polymer clay backing piece has torn edges and is textured to look like lava rock.  The copper is riveted to the clay.

Year of Jewelry, Week 5

These weeks sure roll around fast!  Here is my entry for Week 5.  It is made from a piece of copper with a naturally occurring patina.  Then I laced around the edges with green leather and also made the cord from it.

More metal fun

Playing with fire and copper is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you are going to get.  And you never know if it will stay when you try to preserve it.

The center of this convertible brooch/pendant is made from copper which was heat treated with my torch.  I got an amazing array of colors.  Then I sprayed it with PYMII, to prevent further oxidation, and the color stayed.  Sometimes a heat patina will go away when you seal it, no matter what you use.  Then I framed the copper with some black clay with a torn-out window.  The edges are torn too.  There is more black clay for the backing and the convertible pin back is held in place with a clay covering.

More metal work

I made this necklace by etching the hand-drawn design on copper and then doming the piece.  I used a brown patina to give it a nice warm look.  I made two paddles by hammering bronze wire and wired the two pieces together with very thin copper wire.

Working with metals

I'm taking a bit of a break from shawl pins and working on some jewelry.  I've been experimenting with copper and looking at different patina options.  Of course, the best patina I've seen is some that occurred naturally on some old copper flashing.  I just wish I had more of it.  In the necklace below, the disk beads are faux turquoise made of polymer clay and the patina on the copper panel is all natural.  I sealed it with Renaissance Wax.

Primitives Collection

Here are the latest pieces in my Primitives collection, faux stone and copper, inspired by cave drawings and petroglyphs.  The drawings are hand carved after the clay has been baked and then antiqued.

Latest necklace for sale

I just put this Madonna and Child pendant necklace into my Artfire store.  I'm not a religious person but I love the warmth of this image.  It looks like a vintage oil painting or an antique icon.  It is an image transfer onto polymer clay and the frame is real copper electroformed in place.   I feel like a mad scientist whenever I do the electroforming.

Shawl Pins

I've been making a bunch of shawl and/or scarf pins lately.  Here are some examples:

Psychedelic

Denim complete with "stitching"

Copper

My first etching project

Some folks from my clay guild got together for a class on etching copper taught by Elaine Kennedy, who did a great job of introducing us to the technique.  During class I just experimented with various resists, but after I got home, I tried to do something for real. This is a copper shawl pin etched with figures modeled after petroglyphs.