From Sample to Pendant

Hello, everyone!  I'm so happy to have you visit today.  I hope your day is going well.  I think we've finally turned the corner on this long winter.  Spring isn't far from us now!  I'm itching to get outside into the garden to start "spring cleaning"!  I do more spring cleaning outside than inside. 

Today I wanted to share a beadwork pendant I made the other day.  When I was planning my first geometric beadwork bracelet,  last spring I thought I would make a sample to see how it would go together.  I had decided to make one of Jean Power's Power Puff bangle.  Well, I really like the sample I made so I put it aside and started on the bracelet.  I didn't want to continue the sample and turn it into a bangle because in stitching it I decided to change the colors around and use them in a different order.  Well, it sat on my table and I kept thinking I should do something with it. I decided on turning it into a pendant but, as usual, I never got around to it until the other day.  Here is what it looks like finished.

 

 

 

The Power Puff bangle is a series of beaded triangles that are connected to each other with a short peyote tube. The whole thing is a tube so you can thread wire or cord through it.  I love stitching triangles for some reason and it becomes quite addictive for me to go from one triangle to the other.  This sample has the triangles getting larger by one row for each successive triangle.  You can also change the orientation of the triangles as you stitch.  That's my next trial!   I ended this sample with the start of the fourth triangle.  When I decided to turn it into a pendant I thought that would be the perfect place for a bead to end it off nicely.  I searched through my stash of torch-fired enameled beads because I thought I had one this color.  I also had some enameled head pins and one used the same green enamel.  As you'll see in another photo I had a spacer that was the same color also and I put that on top.  Here are some details.

 

 

I love enameling beads!

Here is the spacer.

 

 

 

I love the way the bead sits right in the partial triangle.  In the second photo you can see the graduated size of the triangles.  If I hadn't decided to change the color sequence I could have gone back to the original size and continued the graduated triangles.  There are several variations on this idea.  Also, you can tell I love this color green since I had so many pieces that worked with the beadwork!  To finish it off  I decided to use a purchased copper chain for a necklace.  I'm really happy with the result. 

 

 

The blog post about the finished bangle can be seen here.  I really love geometric beadwork and I haven't done any lately.  But, I have some ideas to work on so I think I'll be getting back to it! 

 

I just discovered that the blog Anything but a Card Challenge theme this month is Green with Envy, so I'm going to enter this pendant in that challenge.

 

Thank you for visiting with me today.  I hope you have a wonderful day and that you have some spring weather in your world! 





...and, now for some jewelry!

Yes, all my jewelry making blog friends, I do still make jewelry.  In fact, I just took a bead looming class this past weekend, so I have another method in my arsenal!  But, I digress.  I have finally gotten some enamels and did some torch fired enameling, ala Barbara Lewis.  Some of you may remember that I took a class with Sally Stevens over the winter and fell madly in love with torch fired enameling.  So, I finally acquired some different colors of enamel from Barbara's well stocked online store and I set myself up on our screened porch and spent three hours enameling copper beads, swirly headpins I made, and other fun pieces. 

The headpins were made with the idea of creating my version of Sally's bib necklace that was on the cover of the April/May issue of Step by Step Wire Jewelry.  Here is my necklace.

 

 

 

I used ceramic beads, along with some small copper beads to make the links on my cool enameled headpins.  I decided to make the chain after seeing the beautiful chains my blog friend Patti has been making.  So, I used 16 gauge copper wire and made infinity links which I linked together with jump rings.   The hook is a variation of an infinity link that I saw used on a necklace on Pinterest.  I wish I could remember when I saw it and who made it, but unfortunately, it's been a while ago.  Here are a couple of detail pictures.

 

the clasp

 

 

 





The headpins and the chain.

 

 

I also made a pair of earrings from two enameled beads. 

 

 

 

So, there you have some of my adventures in enameling on my own!  There are more pieces coming!  I really love doing it.  Its a very fast technique and you can end up with a lot of different components is a very short amount of time.  Its very addictive!

 

I hope you are enjoying the quickly passing summer.  Have a wonderful week.  Thank you for stopping by and welcome to any new readers.  I'm so happy to have you join me!

 



 









My Spring Necklace

 

 

 

You remember these?  They are the enameled beads and things that I made in the torch-fired enamel class I  took a few weeks ago.  Well, now that I had all these great components I had to do something with them.  It wasn't hard to decide on a project because I had always loved Barbara Lewis' Floral Cascade Necklace.  And, as anyone who knows me knows, it's always all about the flowers with me!

 

Here is my version of her design.

 

 

 

It was fun to put all the beads and filigree bead caps together, along with glass beads and other pieces of filigree, to make flowers.  I was able to use all the enameled headpins I made in the class and I also used some wire to make tendrils.  I took a cue from Barbara and used some of the ribbon from my very large ribbon stash to tie little knots of ribbon between the "flowers".  All of the components are attached to copper chain.  It turned into my favorite spring necklace.  Spring has been slow in coming this year and I've enjoyed wearing this to remind me of the beauty that's to come! 

 

This picture shows more of the individual "flowers", the ribbons and the tendrils.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful day with lots of sunshine and time to create!

 







Torch Fired Enamel

I have wanted to learn torch fired enameling for a while now.  Actually, I've been interested in it since Barbara Lewis' book, Torch- Fired Enamel Jewelry,  came out.  I love metal and I love color.  So, now that coloring metal has become so popular I'm thrilled!   There are so many products available and so many ways to color metal now.  It's really exciting to someone like me who loves to incorporate color into everything. 

To get back to my desire to learn torch-firing enamel.  While I really love enameled metal I'm hesitant around torches.  I've used my little butane mini-torch, but not enough to be comfortable with it.  Torch enameling requires the use of a MAPP gas torch.  Bigger torch and a canister of gas!!! Oh my!!!  Well, I kept saying I was just going to buy the materials I needed and get started.  But, like so many other things I want to do, I could never "find" the time!! 

A friend and I were talking about taking a class from Sally Stevens sometime, and Sally had even talked about a group from Bead Soup going to her studio to take a class.  Then a couple of weeks ago my friend discovered that Sally had a class scheduled that wasn't full.  So, we decided to take it.  What a fantastic day!!  We had the best time and discovered that you really can make a lot of enameled components in one day as Barbara Lewis says in her book!  It like instant gratification.  Unlike kiln firing enamel you don't have to clean the metal first and then use sifters to get the enamel on the metal.  All you do is heat the metal, dip the hot metal into the enamel and heat it again.  It becomes addictive seeing how the enamel color reacts to the heat.  Here is a picture of what I came home with.

 

The picture doesn't to justice to the colors of the components.  But, they are vibrant and varied.  Some don't look at all like the color of the enamel  in the jar.  It has something to do with the oxygen and the heat and all kinds of stuff I don't understand and don't care too much about because I just love the color and the fun watching it happen.  And, I can't wait to put these pieces together and make a necklace out of them.

 

So, now I'm ready to get my own torch and set up and get to work.  In a short time I can have all the components I want.  Exciting!!

 

I'll leave you with a close up of some of the beads and headpins I made that day.  I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by.