New Ideas

I've been experimenting with a couple things this past week.  Or couple weeks.  I took a picture of the three bracelets I've done.  On my left arm is a hemp and wooden bead bracelet.  There is also a square knot bracelet made from strips of an old t-shirt.  On my right arm, is an anodized steel bracelet.  I once again discovered my joy of working with metal!

I love how the dark steel wire looks, but I'll need to figure out how to treat it.  Since it's anodized, it can be dirty.  I wore it while doing some service at church and my sweat pulled the oxidation off it and got my wrist dirty.  Hmm...  time for some more research and experimentation!

Let me know what you think about these.

Polyclay Cuff Bracelets

So, I've worn the cuff off and on over the past couple weeks.  I've got to say, it turned out better than I expected.  That being said, I say there's room for improvement!  Polymer clay is a very versatile, and that's one of the reasons I love it.  But... it's not very comfortable!  Having that hard plastic press against my wrist for several hours a day got to be painful.  It felt like I had a bruise on my wrist. 

If I wouldn't like wearing it, I'm certainly not going to make it for other people!  That would just be... well, wrong.

So, I'm modifying the design.  I'm going to make large polyclay squares with stamped designs and I'll lace it all together with leather lace.  I think it'll be awesome.  I really do.

Well, that's that for the experiment.  It was fun and I learned quite a bit from it. 

A Brand New Item

We've just posted a brand new bracelet! It's a lot of fun. If you like ruby colored crystals, this one's got'em!


On a side note, we've been very busy these past couple weeks. Or however long it's been. I've had a bunch of work to do in my day job and Karla's been working in every bit of free-time she's had to create new pieces. She has a jewelry party scheduled for later this month. A lady from church is setting it up. And I'll get to stay home and take care of the little guy. I'm sure she'll have a lot of fun!

And, I still have those photos for the tutorial, I just haven't made time to write anything yet. Hopefully soon!

Polyclay Cuff Bracelet, Pt. 2

Ok, so I think I'm making progress!  I took the polyclay blank that I made the other day and tried to superglue some wire to it.  Yeah... not so much.  It didn't work as well as I'd hoped, mainly because the superglue took SOOOO long to dry.  So I gave up on that.

I rolled out another 'slab' of polymer clay.  This one was a little bit thicker than the base I made and with colors!  Of course, I'll put more work into this layer if these things actually get off the ground.  Into this layer, I embedded the two thin wires.  I learned that I have to just embed part and leave a curve to the wire, otherwise it blows out the topside of the fresh clay when I try to wrap it around the blank.

So I got it wrapped around.  It looked good.  I took a Bic pen and just made some knicks in the clay and some small slices with the blade to make it look a little worn... "stylish" if you will.  *grin*  I made sure the wire was bent so that the cuff would be a small size while baking.

Then I put it in the oven.

I let it cool for a half an hour in the oven after it was done cooking and then pulled it out to let it cool the rest of the way.  I'm wearing it right now.  I was afraid to put it on.  It was really small, but it bent very well to go on my wrist.  It's stayed on for at least 20 minutes.  The only thing I'm noticing is that, since it's plastic, my skin isn't breathing very well.  I'm not really concerned with that at the moment.  The thing is pretty comfortable.  It's gripping my arm well.  It even felt tight a little bit ago, but I think it's conforming a little to the size of my wrist.

So... this part of the experiment is done.  Now to see if it stands up to a weeks worth of daily use!  Stay tuned...

"Same Cuff time!  Same Cuff channel!"

 

Polyclay Cuff Bracelet?

Can it be done?  I'm determined to do it!  There has to be a way to get a quality cuff bracelet made from polymer clay.  I've seen quite a few people put the clay over a metal blank... but I'm too unique to do that! 

I began experimenting with it tonight.  I first made a form out of folded aluminum foil with some wire running through it to help it hold the shape I wanted.  I rolled out a sheet of polymer clay and applied it to that form, the baked it.  Once it cooled, I peeled the form off the inside.

I immediately saw that I've got a problem.  The Sculpey Premo that I used has a good amount of flex to it.  That's the reason I used it for this project.  It's too much.  I put the basic cuff on and it falls right off.  It's own weight makes it open and close.  I need some wire in it to help it keep it's shape. 

I see the wisdom in using the metal blanks.  But I'm still not going to give up on this and use them!  Not yet, anyway.

So... here's the plan.

1.  Roll out another sheet of clay to put over the basic cuff.  I'll stamp designs and such on it.

2.  Put wire in between the second sheet and the basic cuff.  This should help it keep the form I want.

3.  Bake it and finish it.

4.  Wear the darn thing for a week!  I need to see if it's durable enough.  If it breaks because the clay can't support the daily use then there's no point in going any further.

Ok, now.  GOGOGOGO!

Polyclay in the HOUSE

I've been wanting to try to make a bracelet or wrist band out of polymer clay for quite some time. It's an idea that keeps coming to my mind and I had to try it out. So, last night, I finally broke down and started the project. It was a little more complicated than I anticipated and took some more thought than the initial idea, but I think it turned out really well! The one I listed in our online store, I have on hemp cord. I'm not sure that I like that look, but I didn't have anything else to use and it looks decent. I'm thinking it would be better with leather cord. I have more ideas for wristbands that I'm going to implement.

And Karla is going back to Mexico to visit her family again, and this time, I'm going to join her there! She's lucky and will get to go for over a month, and I can only take 2 weeks vacation. So I'll join her down there later and then we'll come back with new toys!

Our Fourth of July sale is still going on, buy one, get the second at HALF PRICE! You just can't beat that. We'll see you 'round!

Safety Pins

I would never have thought to use safety pins as a medium for jewelry. But, my genius wife, has created a lovely bracelet using just that. I can't believe it, it's so cool looking.

I have never seen this before. I wonder if anyone else has used something like this in a design. I wouldn't doubt it. I often wonder if there are any original ideas on this earth. Or, are there simply too many of us who think too many things for there to be any truly original ideas. Then, that brings to the discussion, what is original?

Anyway, I veered way of the point. Check out this rad bracelet, buy it, and take it home for yourself, your daughter, your pet goldfish, anyone who would use it!

Wire Weave

All hail the mighty wire weave! I learned how to do the basics today. I made a bracelet out of silver colored wire. It looks COOL! I'm definitely going to have to dedicate more time to doing this. It's great, looks great, feels great. And, I can finally wear metal jewelry. Most of the stuff we make is more geared towards the female. This can be very masculine and looks wonderful. I'll have to take a picture to get it posted. I can tell you where my energy is going to be going for the next little bit!

Edit: I just got a picture posted on the Etsy site. I posted it again here so you can see it. Cool, huh!

D