Bead Fest Inspiration!

As you may know, whenever you go to a big show like Bead Fest, even if you don't get to take classes, you come away with massive amounts of creative energy and inspiration!  When I got home, I cleaned and organized my house non-stop for two days before I took a break!  Then I started working on the design for this necklace!

I was influenced greatly by our own Jenny Davies-Reazor - I love how she combines gemstones with her own ceramic lovelies to create amazing necklaces!  And I was also influenced by Deryn Boyd Mentock.  I have taken a few classes with her, in person and on-line, and I really like her style (although it's not necessarily mine) and love learning her techniques!

While I was at Bead Fest, I only purchased three strands of gemstones from Holy and Pure Gemstone (like them) specifically for this bead!

I then went to work with my little bead board, trying to come up with a pleasing combination of beads.  At first, I was only using the three strands that I purchased and just wasn't happy with the combinations I was coming up with!  Here's two collages that show the process I went through!

 I solicited a little input from my facebook friends, and decided to really mix up the beads and not stick with the three strands originally purchased.  I used copper wire that I patinaed with liver of sulpher - I really like the antiqued look of copper rather than super-shiny for this necklace! 

I made my own clasp as well - just a simple one, but I like it!  I hammered it with my rawhide mallet to harden it and patinaed it as well.

I'm very happy with the final design.  This did take me a couple of days, and even though my bead stash seems huge to me, I think I could use a few more strands of gemstones in my pile so I have more options! 

Here's the finished necklace, I really like!

What's your process when you make a piece of jewelry - do you lay it out, switch out beads, ask for advice?

Experimentation - Warm Pickle and LOS

I'm sure you all do it, experiment and things either come out good or bad, right? Here's what I did with warm pickle and LOS!  I had these balled copper headpins I made a while ago and just dug out when cleaning out something or other (a quote from my friend Jill - "there's beads all over the place in your house....").  I liked the color I got when I quenched them in water after balling them up in the torch - you get that pretty rose color, and sometimes blue.  But they had firescale, so I thought, I know, use a warm pickle!

I used the recipe of 1 tablespoon salt to 1 cup vinegar - heat in the microwave - and dump  your stuff in!  Use a glass container, and if you use one that has a lid, you can use this over and over.

Not only did the pickle take off the firescale, it took off the pretty rose color AND made these things super super shiny.  Like shinier than any copper I have ever seen!  Not what I wanted - insert sad face.

BUT, I thought, I can use liver of sulpher (LOS) to darken them a bit.  So I mixed up a little bit of LOS gel I received as a prize from ArtBLISS and Jeanette Blix.  I like the gel, it's very easy to use.  Just mix a little bit in some warm water, again in a glass container, and if you have a lid, you can store it for several uses.  Just make sure that before you dispose of it (down the toilet is a great place) that you neutralize it with baking soda first, since LOS is an acid and may hurt your pipes (although I have read that if you run water for a minute or so, it will be fine).

ACK.  I only put them in for 2 seconds, max, and they turned out SOOOOOO dark!  Too much LOS, I am guessing, although I think the super shininess also may have made the copper a little porous.  In any event, guess where they went next?

Into the tumbler.  You can get a reasonably priced tumbler at Harbor Freight and they usually have 20% off coupons, as well, in the Sunday newspaper or you can sign up for coupons on-line.  Use stainless steel shot as the tumbling agent.  Put your items you want to tumble polish into the container, then add a drop of Dawn dishwashing liquid and enough water to cover all items in the tumbler.  Make sure there's enough room, though, for everything to tumble - don't fill it too full!  Also, make sure you have the lid on correctly, so it doesn't leak (personal experience)! 

And here's what I got after a few hours of tumbling. 

They are now all work hardened and some of the patina has worn off.  They actually look almost bronze or brass in color, I think I like them!   It's kind of an amazing difference to me, though, from how they started out!