Spiro Pendant Revisited again

Spiro Pendant

Revisited again

 

Awhile ago I showed the new Spiro Pendant I had made. It was available in several colors and I showed a picture of the crystals but not made up.

 

Since then I was able to make up three more. Well, one is in the same color, one in green and one in Golden Shadow.

 

Here is the original color I showed, Bermuda Blue:

 

 

 

and here is Green

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bermuda Blue shown on a chain

 

 

 

 

OK, where is a picture of th Golden Shadow?

 

Well, I hate to admit it but my comfy chair ate it! I'm not kidding. We turned the chair upside down and looked in all the crevices, flash light in hand and it is no where to be found. Darn! I dropped it while sitting in the chair, on the left side and abracadabra it disappeared.

 

I did find several missing beads, a dime, and some legos but no Spiro. Go figure.

 

Well, I've added these two to the website. Hope you will enjoy having them available.

 

 

Spiro Pendant Revisited

Spiro Pendant

Revisited

 

It is not unusual for me to get the comment

"Oh, it looks better in person than in your newsletter picture" from people I see while wearing a piece featured in a recent post.

 

However, this week the comment I got most was "It is smaller than I thought" or "My, it really looks different"

 

I know that pictures can never really give an accurate look at my jewelry pieces. No matter how hard I try.

 

 

 

 

The "close up" Bermuda Blue AB

 

The pendant is 1 inch in diameter

 

 

 

Shown hanging on a silver chain.

 

I don't know about you but sometimes all the "verbiage" used to describe something is never enough. So thinking of how I could possibly get the look across, I thought about a picture of the pendant being worn. It is shown on a 20 inch silver chain. Of course, it can be on a 16, or 18 inch chain it you prefer.

 

 

Not sure if it helps but I'm trying. Am I succeeding any at all?  Bev, you are or are not succeeding.

Let me know - click on the link above

 

My other problem is the explaining the color of the crystals available. This is a Bermuda Blue AB Swarovski Rivoli crystal. While it has blue in in, I'm  not sure it is what I would really recognize as Bermuda Blue. Remember the AB or aurora borealis changes the look. I like to think of it as an oil slick in color. Changes with movement or light change. I have to learn more about the AB effect.

 

 

 

I've ordered some different colors (2 each) Golden Shadow, Heliotrope, Aqua AB and Vitrail medium.

My personal favorites would be the Heliotrope and the Vitrail. Do you have a favorite?

 

To help me out please let me know if this post has helped to explain this piece any better.

Bev, you are or are not succeeding.

 

 

Spiro Pendant

Spiro Pendant

a new design

 

Remember the picture I asked about last week? Did you figure out what it might be?

 

 

 

I know it is hard to see so I took a closer picture.

 

Doesn't help much, I suppose.

 

 

 

I subscribe to lots of jewelry related newsletters. One caught my eye the other day. It was from Beaducation and featured a Spiro Pendant. They even had a video on how to make it.

 

So, I ordered the required material and followed the video instructions. Here is the results:

 

 

 

 

After wrapping the wire around the notched washer and Swarovski Rivoli crystal and fastening the ends, I added a jump ring and a chain. Voila a "Spiro Pendant"

 

 

 

 

This is a Bermuda Blue Swarovski Rivoli crystal. They come in lots of colors. This pendant will just be a sample as I am still perfecting the method. But I will be able to make it in any of the Swarovski Rivoli crystal colors. If you are interested, I'll show you what all those colors look like. Still working on pricing but I'm guessing $35- $45. All depends on availability and wholesale price.

 

Oh, yes, the pendant is about 1 inch in diameter.

 

 

Wire Wrapped Pendant

 Finally!  

I've been sharing my "struggles" with learning to wire wrap a gemstone for a Pendant. I realize it is hard to tell from pictures just what it is I don't like.

Well, I finally made one that I'm (relatively) satisfied with. I like both the design and the way the wire looks. 

The picture could be better but here it is:

Here is one of the things I've improved. 

The wire I use is "half round". Just like the name says, half of the wire is round. The other half is flat. Now, when I was working before, I was not always able to get the rounded side where it should be, round on top.

I realize that is a hard thing to see (even if the piece is in your hand)  but if you are going to use nice half round wire, it should show it is nice half round wire! Standing on edge, as in the others, really doesn't cut it. 

Here is a picture of wire on its edge. See the top middle wire is on edge? The bottom middle wire is round as in the good one.

The other thing I like about this one is the three coils on the top. (Reminds me of the three rings in my Ring by Ring Designs' logo)

I expect that I will have more improved pendants to show you in the future. See it on the website.

You can help me, if you would, by letting me know if you like this type of jewelry. I won't feel hurt if you don't like it because, I do not really love it myself but it is growing on me. Click here:  Bev, I think...  

I discovered another thing I'm going to work on this week. Dangly earrings.

I know many of you prefer smaller earrings, but not all of you, I've found out. So, I'll have something new for next week in the earring line. Stay tuned.

Let me know if you like dangly earrings or not.

Click here: Bev, I like .... earrings.

Thanks for taking time to let me know what you are thinking, what you like or don't like. I really appreciate it.

Until next time,

Bev

New Silver Pendant

New Silver Pendant

I haven't made many new Silver pieces lately (Chain Maille)

I've been teaching some Chain Maille classes recently and that has sparked my interest in looking for some new things to make.








Now when I comes to Chain Maille, there isn't much that is new under the sun. The patterns are often referred to as "Ancient" patterns such as Byzantine. Plus, I've heard people say they were playing around with rings and thought they had come up with something new only to find out that many had already discovered the same thing.





So, when I found a picture on line of a Star pendant called "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" by Unkomen Supplies, I was pleased to find something different. It has all the usual, common, patterns but put together in a very unique way. I really liked it and ordered the rings and instructions.


What do you think?












Here is a close up of the Star.

At the moment, I only have one on hand but have the rings to make more.

Click on the pictures or go to the website for more information.











Until this Friday's special

Bev

website:http://ringbyringdesigns.com

Email:info@ringbyringdesigns.com
or       bevcarlson@comcast.net

Bead Show Trip

and the beautiful "finds"

 

 

 

 

I've been to lots of bead shows. Some are good, some not so much. I really don't have a list when I go. If you do, you usually won't find what you are looking for any how.

 

So, I was pleased to find some beautiful Black/white swirl hand made tear drop beads - at a reasonable price. At the same vendor there were some purple ones, also.

 

 

 

 

But since I never purchase on the first go round, I was off to the next vendor. Nothing special. So, I went on until I found the table of Michael Harrington and his "Beads that Bounce" What a find that was. He not only was an extremely interesting person but had some great beads.

 

He almost had the banter of a carnie salesman but what he had to say about his beads was fascinating.

 

As you might guess from the name of his beads: "Beads that Bounce" the first thing he did was bounce the glass like beads on a steel surface. They did not break as glass or Lampwork beads would. Then he asked me to hold his bead and a similar looking glass bead. His bead was very light. But he wasn't finished with the show.

 

 

The beads are made from recycled eye glass lenses. His method is proprietary and he wasn't sharing when another lady pushed for more information. Further, the process does not require heat as Lampworked beads do. (A torch, yet) He did say the process uses optical resin in many layers with things added as he proceeds with the layers. And his last "surprise" piece of information was to say what was inside the beads I purchased. Look close (Sorry, I know the picture isn't very clear) Can you see what is in the middle?  Let me know what your guess is.   I'll let you know next week what the surprise is.

 

 

 

 

Be sure to read Michael's biography. He has had a fascinating life. (An Opera Singer, movies - he has an IMDb file - worked with NASA etc)

 

 

 

 

 

The other beads I found were beautiful but lack the "story" of Michael's beads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now comes the fun part!  What to do with these beads? The are nice enough to just string on a nice chain. But what fun is that? Well, we will see!

 

Let me know what you think of Michael and these beads. Do you have a favorite?

 

 

Until this Friday's special and next week,

 

Bev

 

website:http://ringbyringdesigns.com

 

Email:info@ringbyringdesigns.com

or       bevcarlson@comcast.net

 

Also find Ring by Ring Designs on Facebook http://facebook.com/ringbyring

and Twitter http://twitter.com/#!ringbyring

 

New Ideas

New Ideas ??

(looking for suggestions)

 

 

 

 

Usually, it hits me in January. For various reasons, it took me until February this year to starting to look for new projects. Mostly because I've been working with Melanie on the new Lexie Jewelry, Wings of Hope pendant.

 

I'm amazed, sometimes, how long it takes to design a new piece. Gathering appropriate materials, getting a good price and good supply etc.

 

Anyhow, now I'm waiting for more materials and looking for a new project during the waiting time. I have several ways of looking for new ideas. The first one is to check out The Beading Gem Blog.

 

Pearl Blay, the very prolific blog writer of the Beading Gem, has some great posts about all kinds of jewelry.

 

 

 

 

She has featured Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry collection when it was sold for $115 million. She also has many posts about recycled materials. Some of those are nice and some not so much. Monday's post was about "Knitted Yarn and Chain Mixed Media Bracelet" This is the type of post that gives me ideas. Not sure if this will or not.

 

A few years ago, I my new project was chain maille, then the next year it was Kumihimo.

I still make pieces using those techniques. Chain maille has become very expensive to make any sizable piece.

 

So, this year, I'm looking for a new project that will be both pretty, popular and inexpensive.

Tall order, no? (That, of course, will be in addition to the Wings of Hope pendant, earrings and any other additions we come up with)

 

If any of you have some things you like to see me attempt, please, suggest away.

 

I'm thinking about making some personalized pendants. Personalize in "theme" rather than initials or names. Themes like music, Irish, school mascots and ??? Is there a favorite thing you would like?

I'm hoping to get some materials to get started this week. Maybe I'll have something to show you next week.

 

In the mean time, I'd like to have some of your ideas too.

 

 

Until this Friday's special and next week,

 

Bev

 

website:http://ringbyringdesigns.com

 

Email:info@ringbyringdesigns.com

or       bevcarlson@comcast.net

 

Also find Ring by Ring Designs on Facebook http://facebook.com/ringbyring

and Twitter http://twitter.com/#!ringbyring

Twist and Curve Pendant

Twist and Curve Pendant

 

 

 

 

Several years ago, I tried various ways to make something similar to this pendant. I took a class in PMC (precious metal clay) and tried to make something like this. You can make many different styles of items just by molding the PMC just as with regular clay. Then you need to fire the pieces in a kiln. I have several friends with kilns and I could use them but it still could come up with a pleasing design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then last week, I featured some of the new Twist and Curve earrings and mentioned how I love it when designs just seem to "come together". If you look at the way the wires lay in relation to each other, you can see the Fish design. Just sitting in my chair (I should call it my thinking chair) the Fish appeared in my mind. Then I figured how to easily add the loop and voila here is the design I'd been working on for a long time. (Just like an "overnight success")

 

 

 

 

I twisted a piece of wire, made the loop and bent it around the round tin I use as a mold and hammered it to harden the wire and get the pieces to stay put.

 

It still needs some tweeking and I'll probably need to make several more before I'm happy with this design. But I really love it. Just add a nice silver chain and wear. I wore it to a Birthday party on Saturday and got some nice compliments.

 

 

 

Until next week,

 

Bev

 

Website http://ringbyringdesigns.com

Email: info@ringbyringdesigns.com or

PMC Pendant Part 2

This was the pendant before it was fired in the kiln. See Aug 11 post.
After is was fired, it looked about the same except it was hard.

The next step is to remove the white look. It was explained that by brushing with a bronze brush, "You make the silver molecules stand up" Seems weird to me but it makes the piece shiner. You do remove some of the filler in the clay and with lots of elbow grease you can start to get a shine.



Taking pictures of shiny things is a loosing battle. But you can see the difference. To get more of a shine you can tumble the piece. If there are any marks you can now sand them out. Cool Tools has some great tutorials for all of this. Since the resulting piece is now 99.9% silver, it oxidizes much less than Sterling Silver which is 92.5% silver. The addition of other metals, mostly copper, is what makes Sterling Silver tarnish. (Just think of a shiny penny after awhile)

My next step is to Patina the piece which oxidizes the piece. That always seems a bit wrong. Getting rid of tarnish is the goal usually but the results of a Patina (doesn't that just sound better?) is highlighting the valleys because after the Patina process you polish the high points and get dimension in the piece.

So, stay tuned tomorrow for the next step. I hope a picture can show the difference.


B



www.bevsjewelry.com and www.bevsjewelry.1000markets.com

Start on PMC Pendant

I haven't made any PMC pieces since I took my class a few weeks ago. Summer got in the way plus I needed to gather new tools to start. However, I got antsy the other day and decided that I would start and go as far as I could. Then, at least, I would know what I'm missing and need to purchase.

I did get some items soon after the class. For example, I went to our local hardware store and purchased a small length of PVC pipe for a roller. Cost me 50 cents. Good deal. Then someone in our group was placing an order from www.cooltools.us. I added a few things to the order. That included a brass brush (to clean off the residue after firing in the kiln), a small work surface that I could clean and designate to PMC. (You can see part of it in the pictures. It includes measurements) I also made up some packs of cards that are used both in PMC and polymer clay to roll out the clay in different thicknesses.

So, I gathered the new work surface, the roller, cards, clay and stopped. I didn't have any "cookie cutters" to make a nice shape. I then went scavenging in my drawers and found some old round tins that I had purchased jump rings in from Urban Maille. After they were empty I naturally saved them. Well, the top is clear and has a very sharp circular shape. Perfect! I found some larger similar containers that I could use for the oil and water containers. Off to the local hardware store to buy a sponge and shortly after I had two nice round sponges that fit right in the round container. (With the help of my kitchen scissors) Add oil and water and I'm now almost ready to start.

Check list: work surface, roller, plastic for top and bottom of the clay, cutter, oil, water.
Oops, need something to add texture for the circle pendant. I looked around my desk and found the little flower I had added to the copper piece from my Cold Connection class. Hmmm... So I tried it and it worked perfectly.

Oh, and then I had to make a hole for the jump ring. And sitting right there in my pencil cup was the little red straw we had used in my class. I don't throw away much. It just surprised me that I was able to find it.



To me, the pendant, right now, looks like the surface of the moon. I need to do a bit of cleaning up of the edges. (Need to get some sanding papers) and then have the piece fired. It will be more efficient to make a few more pieces before firing as that takes time and a kiln. I have a good friend (she took the class with me) and she has offered to share kiln time with me. As I said, a good friend.

I have some more tools and items coming soon and I think I'll wait before making another piece. Got to get those designing juices going. So, stay tuned for the next step (kiln process) with this pendant and other pieces too.

B


www.bevsjewelry.com and www.bevsjewelry.1000markets.com

New Chain Maille Pendant

This is a result of, I don't know. Funniest thing, if someone asked me how I made it or if I could make another one, I don't think I could.

I try lots of little samples of different Chain Maille weaves. Most often, I finish off a bracelet from the sample. In other words, I get it and now know what I did and how to do it again.

This little piece has been in my box of rings for awhile. I pick it up and put it down again. I really don't remember what I was trying to do.

Well, the other day after I finished a Parallel Rose pendant which involves making Parallel Chain - straight - and then making it into a circle, I picked it up again.

I looked again at this odd sample in my box and played with it. Suddenly, turning it into a circle I came up with something that looked nice. (See picture) In order to keep it in a circle, I added a few rings and one to be able to attach it to a chain. I'm certain, it will take me a long while to make another one, if asked.

I was surprised with and like the results. Now I need to find something to hang it on.

Have any of you made something in this manner?

B

www.bevsjewelry.com and www.bevsjewelry.1000markets.com

Snowflake Pendant !!!!

The world's tallest snowman is no man. Olympia, towering in at 122 feet is the tallest on record.

You ever wonder what is done with a winter snow that is more than needed in Bethel, Maine?

The "snow woman" towering over this village features eyelashes created from discarded skis and bright red lips made from painted car tires. She wears a giant red hat and a 100-foot-long scarf, and her blond tresses are made from rope. The arms are large "Christmas" trees.

She gets a little bling from a snowflake pendant that's 6 feet long. Now I've made big pendant necklaces before but this takes the cake, so to speak.

Here is a picture of the "installation" of the snowflake pendant.

As much as I love the big snowflake pendant, I really love the eyelashes. Somehow, it gives perspective to me. Each lash is a SKI! Oh, yes, the lips made of 5 red tires!

When was the last time you built a snowman/snow woman? How large was it?

B