The Joy of Metal Clay - Information Resources and a note about donations.

There is a plethora of information online, the following is a series of great online references for information related to metal clay. I have shared in the past the Squidoo Lens on Bronze Clay by Margaret Schindel. Here are more of her compilations of metal clay information worth mentioning:

• A comprehensive one on PMC and Art Clay Silver and Gold.
• One about Textures.
• One about setting Gemstones in metal clay.
• One reviewing metal clay products, books and magazines.

A note about Japan's Earthquake:
On a more important note the recent disaster in Japan has rocked us all and has left many of us wondering what we can do. The metal clay community in the Yahoo Metal Clay Gallery Group have been discussing ways to contribute. One option offered has been to donate shelter boxes and this has recently been organized and has already lead to over $2000 being donated. You can contribute to this effort by donating money via Paypal to the Fund on behalf on the metal clay community.

HOW can you contribute?
You can send money via Paypal. Jackie Truty at Art Clay World USA has offered to coordinate this effort. This is not brand specific and the contribution is being made as the Global Metal Clay Community.
Go to Paypal.com and sign into your account.

• Select Send Money option
• Select Personal, Click "other"
• Click send money to type in Jackie@ArtClayWorld.com
• Donate
• in memo/message line write shelterbox

Donations are being accepted through tomorrow March 21, 2011

ShelterBox.org is an organization that "provides shelters and lifesaving supplies to families who are affected by disasters".

Every little bit can help those who have lost so much.

The Business Chat - shop policies

No matter how big or small your business is, online or at a craft show, it is a shop. And shops need shop policies. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to prethink any problems a customer can present you with so that you always have a ready answer. What if your customer is buying your work as a gift and the recipient doesn’t like the colour? Can she exchange it? How does she do that? Humming and squirming and not having a ready answer doesn’t put you in a good light; look professional and state clearly what your return policy is. Of course you know your return policy because you’ve already thought about this and written it down. In turn having specific information about shipping, returns and other things makes a customer feel more confident in you and your work. The more professional and business like you appear the more the customer will treat you as such.

Here’s some tips and advice about creating your own shop policies.

Make your policies fair and treat your customers as you would like to be treated. If you feel that a 7 day return policy is too short then create one that is longer. Do you feel that you should be able to return items after 2 months? Then make that your policy. Your policy is your standard however you can always bend the rules in certain cases (it’s your shop).

Keep your policies positive. Phrases such as “I don’t take responsibility if you break it” can be worded in a better way.

KISS. Keep it simple seller. No need for wordy legalese, make sure people can understand. This is especially important for an online shop where some of your customers are non-English speaking.
Refunds and exchanges. What is fair? What would you want? Make sure to include under what conditions you will accept an exchange or return and within what time frame. Think about the whole process, including who is responsible for the cost of shipping the item back. If you don’t have a storefront or a website, how is the buyer going to exchange this?

What payment methods do you accept? Post this on your sales table at a craft show, post this on your website/online storefront.

Your shipping policies for online stores. How often do you ship and within what timeframe after an order is placed? Do you offer shipping upgrades for those you’ve left their gift purchases until the last minute? Do you offer special touches like gift cards? Spell it all out for your customer. Leave them with no questions to ask.

Packaging. Online it’s really important to describe your packaging as they can’t see it. At a show it’s also important, having an item nicely gift packaged can be a deciding factor for some buyers (especially men).

Miscellaneous policies. If you have any special things you offer tell your customers. I offer gift cards that customers can send me the text for. They’re nice cards by a fellow artist, I write birthday greetings or whatever and include them. This way someone can have me send a present and it looks that much more personalized. What can you do to make a customer happy? What would make you happy?

This is what is boils down to. What would make you want to buy? Find those magic buttons and make them yours. Now tell your customers all about them.


· Other policies and additional information —
Do you offer gift wrapping? Do you have policies that do not fit into any of the listed categories?
For most sellers, developing shop policies is an ongoing process that goes hand in hand with learning what works and what doesn't work for your shop and the types of products you sell. Shop policies are as unique as the handmade items in your shop, so take some time to develop policies that will work for you.

Inspiration Friday

Happy Friday! And here in the Toronto area we had a fabulously wonderful mild day. Spring is finally coming. 



I spent most of my very quiet week (sans kids) on the torch, making beads. I'm starting to amass quite the little pile that still needs to be cleaned.  I did manage to make up a little bracelet using some of my heat patinated copper bits.  I'm not entirely sure if I'm happy with it yet. I may rework it a bit more - it still needs something.

We would love to have you show off your stuff! We're you inspired this past week by anything? Send us pics of your creation to info@beadfx.com with the subject line "Inspiration Friday"

Luck o' the Irish to you

Happy St. Paddy's day! It's almost Spring, and any excuse to get out there, wear a silly green outfit, possibly get a wee bit - well tipsy, and sing Irish folk songs, sounds good to me.


The Wearin' O' the Green

Today is the day fer the wearin' o' the green.
Today is the day when the little people are seen.
Today is St. Patrick's Day, so if ye'r Irish me lad,
Join the celebratin' fer the grandest time ta' be had.

Ya' put yer hand up in the air, the other hand on your hip.
Ya' tap yer toe, ya' tap yer heel, ya' bounce yer knee a wee bit.
Ya' prance 'n dance around the room, n' circle one two three.
The saints be praised, I must admit, ya' all look Irish ta' me.

To help you in your wearin' o' the green, I've gone on a little jaunt around the site to show a few of our green beads. Many more to be found! http://www.beadfx.com

The Madness may be over...but the fun continues

Thanks to everyone who showed up for the Diane Fitzgerald courses and the Tierra Cast Make and Takes. And our March Madness Sale was nothing but Madness!

The fun still continues. The Corsage Project Open Beading Nights will be taking place till the end of March. The Corsage Project is a charitable organisation that aims to provide prom dresses and accessories to graduating high school girls who would otherwise not be able to afford to go. Since 2005, Beadfx has been a proud sponsor of this project and we would love your support. Thanks to everyone who has already dropped off jewellery and to those working on some pieces. The deadline to drop off already finished jewellery for the Corsage Project is March 31st 2011.

Drop by on the following days for our Corsage Project Open Beading Nights and make jewellery for a good cause!

Dates & Times:

• Wed. March 16, 2-4
• Tues. March 22, 6 - 8
• Wed. March 30, 6-8

Regular classes continue as usual at beadFX, so take a look at our class schedule for what coming up for the rest of March.

Lastly, I'm wishing anyone affected by the earthquake in Japan all the best.

Adios Amigas!

Heat patina on copper

Love the colours!

Last week I promised a little video on how I add heat patina's to copper. I think the video demonstrates it quite well. The main trick is to practice a few times, and keep in mind that the patina will continue to grow even after you remove the heat source. I also find that I get much better colour if I do not quench the metal after heating. Just let the metal cool down naturally.

You'll notice that you'll see the colours appear in the following order:
Gold
Orange/Red
Pink
Purple
Dark Blue
Light Blue - pale blue silvery tone
Black

The torch I use is the Blazer Spitfire Torch that we sell here at beadFX

Your metal also needs to be very clean. You can use commercial copper cleaners (like pennybrite). However, I find that a bowl filled with water and the juice of a lemon works just as well. I just keep my metal in my lemon/water mix until I'm ready to torch my copper. Be sure to clean off any extra bits of lemon pulp - they catch fire :-)

Lemon Water

The video seems to be larger than our blog width. You may need to go to youtube to watch it.

All Sorts of Ideas

All sorts of ideas - sleeting through through my brain!

Attended the Swarovski new product presentation on Friday with Marg - she's already seen all the new stuff - well - heck - so have I - I've photographed a whack of it and you will see some of it in this week's update. That's not the point - the point is to get ideas about kewel new ways to use the new stuff, and the old, and generally be inspired!

One of the things that Swarovski does is present their new items on "flags" - beautifully crafted fabric wall-hangings that photography does not do any justice to at all. Rich silks and exotic fabrics - all hand-made into a limited-edition series of "art objects" that display their new products, and old, in innovative ways. I wish we could get some for the store - but they are not for sale, at any price.

Here's a detail from one - an idea that has my wheels turning. This is a large fancy stone, held in place with a smaller one. It's a way of holding some of these items that don't have stringing holes - just big holes, in place. Hmmmm - I can use that idea.

A necklace, by a designer with an Indian influence - as if the pink and green colour scheme didn't give that away. Notice the very fine wire - almost invisible, but becoming part of the design - holding the stone in place in the metal ring - love the way it adds texture and becomes part of the design. Hmmmmm. (Click on the image if you want to see this up close.)


and here is the back. A counterweight - to offset the front pendant. Hmmmmm. Always love the hidden details.


This flag has pearls juxtaposed with the rough looking ceramic beads. Hmmm - pearls and rocks.


This detail shows some of the stones that have mounts available. Hmmmm.

And these show some of the metallic flat backs that are available. Not only are they really neat looking, but they are less expensive than the crystal flat backs - so you can really expand on your designs - without expanding your credit card. Hmmmmmm.



I'm not one to believe in creative slumps or artist's block - but it's sure fun to get out into an environment that stimulates the ideas coming even faster than usual! So - you'll just have to watch for what we come up with next!

The Joy of Metal Clay - Nickel Pin Backs???

I found myself out of fine silver pin backs and didn't' want to wait for (or pay for shipping) of new ones, so I decided to try out using nickel pin backs with my silver clay. Let's just say it is not the best option but much less expensive (at 27 cents a piece or less depending on the size you buy).

Before embedding anything that you are unsure of how it will handle the temperatures of firing metal clay it is best to test fire the item (so that you don't waste your clay). First, I researched the melting point of nickel = 1453 Celsius (not sure what that is in Fahrenheit). That temperature suggests it should work. Knowing that even though a melting point is high doesn't necessarily mean it will tolerate high temperature firing (for example Sterling can become brittle if fired at a temperature too high), I decided to test fire a nickel pin back (without clay).

Test Firing: Torch firing - Before I kiln fired the nickel piece I tested it with my torch as if it doesn't tolerate the heat of my torch the likelihood of it tolerating the kiln would be slim. The piece survived so on to test 2.

1. Kiln Firing - I fired the backing in the kiln at 1550F for 1 hour. The result....the pin back survived but turned black so I tried a third test.
2. Kiln Firing in Carbon - It seems the carbon to help reduce oxidization so I test fired a pin back in carbon. The result less blackening, it did loose its luster but it was satisfactory enough for me to proceed with embedding it in a silver piece.

Now that I knew that the nickel would survive kiln firing ...now I needed to test its ability to be embedded into silver clay. So I made my piece and to put the backing in.

I used the nickel backs pictured above (at the beginning of the post) from BeadFx - item # 24211265 - at 27 cents a piece they are inexpensive to experiment with....

I cut the pin backs (reason - I was concerned that as the clay shrank around the full pin back I would get cracking...didn't test this).

Cut Pin Backs (I do not use the middle section, only to help place the pieces, then discard)

The first attempt at embedding the pins was a failure. I put the backs on a treble clef that did not have a smooth flat surface (this can be a little more challenging, leave it to me to experiment the hardest way). I used syringe paste to paste the pin back pieces onto the treble clef. The result after firing was some slight cracking in the clay and the nickel pin back was able to be pulled of with some force.

Pin back pieces embedded in soft balls of clay.

The second attempt I embedded the pin pieces into a ball of soft clay then attached to balls to the dry treble clef piece. This time success!!! The pieces fired successfully but as noted the pins do discolour slightly and should be fired in carbon. (NOTE: To fire silver clay in carbon, first torch fire the dry piece to allow the binder to burn off, I do this by heating the piece allowing it to catch on fire, removing the flame, then allowing the flame to burn out then heating again until the piece no longer catches on fire)

RESULTS: The pin back attached but discoloured and when tumbled the pin backs rust slightly. Once tumbles I used my dremel tool to remove the discolouration and any rust. The use of the nickel pin backs work but may not be the finest finding for your precious metal clay pieces. Personally, when money is tight it may be an option for you. They should work great with the base metal clays which I will be trying next.

Discoloured piece prior to polishing with dremel.

Post Dremel and filing, The pin back does not have its orignal luster, it is more pewter coloured.

Overall, the nickel is not a good option for fine finishing and is not for everyone but can work in a pinch with a little extra effort. For best results I would recommend using the fine silver findings I talked about last week, but they are more expensive. I will let you know how theses nickel pin backs work with the variety of base metal clay I use later on....

The Business Chat - craft show tips

So you’re off to a craft show! Good for you! Having participated in over 150 (to be honest I’ve lost track) shows I know how many hours of frenzied preparation you’ve put into this event. Are you ready? I mean really ready? Not just your inventory but are you ready to DO the show? Sometimes we focus too much on the product and forget all the other parts of doing a show. It’s not just about what you sell at the show, it’s about building your clientele, marketing your brand, the contacts you make and how you use all of this.

Craft shows are a brilliant way to kick-start your micro business. You can test new work, build a clientele, build a network of colleagues, get your name out there, and make cash! Bonus! So here’s some tips to make your show an awesome experience.

Display is critical. You can have the best work in the show but with a bad display you will sink like a rock. Spend some creative energy on your display, it’s the make or break factor. You want to stand out in the crowd, not get passed by for the neighbouring blingy booth. This is especially important if your artwork is currently a popular trend and you have lots of competition. If you sell jewelry right now, you know what I mean. Laying your jewelry out flat on a table on a black cloth (which will be dusty in about 8 minutes) is the kiss of death. Worse, laying your jewelry out flat on a really patterned fabric so that you can’t even see it. You need different heights, preferably bringing it up to eye level. If you have to use tables get yourself some bed risers or some other way of raising the level of the table up.

Get marketing materials! Believe it or not, about 50% of vendors at a craft show don’t have business cards readily available in their booth! If I have to ask you for a card while you’re talking with another customer I’ll probably just walk away. What if I don't want to buy today, but really like your stuff? How will I ever find you again? You absolutely must put out business cards. Business cards don't have to be expensive, if you have a bit more money (still really cheap) people LOVE postcards. If you have a website make sure your web address is on your cards, along with any other sales venues you’re in (Etsy, Artfire etc). Make sure you put a contact card in every package, if the item is a gift you want the recipient to know how to find you.

Build your mailing list. A lot of people will love your work, it’s just not the right time for them to buy. Ask them to join your mailing list so that you can keep in touch with them and let them know of other opportunities to purchase. Leaving a guest book on a back corner guarantees that the only people who will join your list are 4 year olds. Keep a handy clipboard and when someone expresses interest ask them to sign up.

Use your mailing list. Once you have your lovely list of your fans make sure you use it to keep in touch with them. You don’t have to bombard people weekly, even a quarterly newsletter with where to find you, how to buy your work, and a couple of pictures of new items is good. Newsletters are cheap, (as in free using Mailchimp) and easy. Sending out small discount codes to regular clients has worked brilliantly for me. I ran a campaign for fans, a free pair of earrings with the purchase of a necklace, and it gained me not only a lot of devoted fans, but an increase in sales. Reward your fans.

Build your network of colleagues. It’s hard when you work by yourself, there’s no one to gossip with at the water cooler everyday. So take advantage of the craft show and chat with your fellow vendors. They are a tremendous source of information. Ask them if they’ve done certain shows, where’s a good cheap motel for out of town shows, good sources for packaging, any questions you have they can answer. In turn be generous with sharing information yourself. We can all benefit by helping each other. Pick up business cards of everyone you talk too and send them a friendly email soon after the show. Build your network. Be nice, it all comes back to you.

These are just a few simple steps that can bump your experience up from "it was OK" to "WOW that was great!". Follow them and you should have anice list of client, current and potential, new friends and colleagues in your possession. You're on your way!

Inspiration Friday

Hi all,

I didn't get much of a chance to actually get any jewelry made this week. I've been highly distracted with making little copper bits, and adding various patina's to them. I've showed them off enough, so I'll spare you from having to look at them again. ;-)

One thing I've been playing with especially is heat patinas. I'll try to get a little video done next week to show you how it's done. I finally started to get some absolutely amazing colours and peacock effects.

For a stunning example of a heat treated copper/mixed media - I found this on the Kuriosities blog, where you can read about the creation. Lovely!

We would love to have you show off your stuff! We're you inspired this past week by anything? Send us pics of your creation to info@beadfx.com with the subject line "Inspiration Friday"

Have a great March Madness weekend!

Shopping cart all fixed - Sale Extended!

It turns out our shopping cart provider experienced a major hardware malfunction shortly after we posted our biggest sale of the year.

Thank you all so much for your patience while we sorted out the problem. We've decided to extend the sale an additional 24 hours. The sale will now end at the end of day Monday, as opposed to Sunday.

Happy shopping!

Shopping cart update

The shopping cart seems to be functional again. I'm still waiting to hear from the tech team, and I'll update again with more info as I have it. But you can now shop! Whohoo :-)

Shopping cart down

Sigh....We post our biggest sale of the year, and then the shopping cart goes down. We're working as quickly as possible to get this resolved. I'll post an update as soon as the site is functional, or as I have more information.

Jennifer

What a busy crazy week

This will be....It's looking like it's going to be a very exciting day in the store tomorrow, between the Make and Takes, Dianne Fitzgerald in town, and the cool Swarovski display the store staff are working on. If you get a chance, come by and have a look. The jewelry, and inspirations on display are fabulous. Maybe we can get someone in the shop to take a pic so that I can post it... (hint, hint)


Personally, in any and every spare moment I've been making copper components. The patina bug has hit me hard.

Here's a pic of the 'blank canvas'. Pure shiny copper components created with copper clay.

And here in all their patinated glory:

I can't go into too much detail about the process, as I purchased a tutorial from Shannon of MissFickleMedia on all of the tips and ticks to getting a successful patina. But of course you can buy your own tutorial here  :-)

I'm thinking of bringing a bunch of these components into the shop on the weekend if you're interested in purchasing any. Question to all of you - Do you like them patinated, or do you like the bare copper so that you can make them your own?

Class and Event Reminders

There is a lot going on this week at beadFX. First, the much anticipated Moorish Tile Beads and Gingko Leaf Necklace courses by Diane Fitzgerald. The Moorish Tile Beads class is no longer open for registration. Tomorrow is the last day to register for the Gingko Leaf Necklace class.
2 spots left. Sign up while you can!

Lezlie Winemaker's Murrini Madness is this weekend, March 12th & 13th.

On Thursday, TierraCast will be at beadFX doing Make and Takes. The Make and Takes are scheduled for 1pm and 7pm (Thursday, March 10). TierraCast makes a really wonderful, high-quality line of metal beads, charms and findings. Stephanie Dixon will also be on hand to demonstrate some crystal clay with rivolis.




















So, mark Thursday on the calendar as a great day to drop into beadFX!

Thursday Make and Takes

This is going to be an exciting week.

Friday, Marg and I'll be going to Swarovski's Trends and new product presentation - to see the new stuff. I already showed you some of it earlier, and I have some more of it here for processing. Let me just say - someone on the Swarovski design team must have a new love - because this update if heavy on the hearts. I think I've count 6 new styles of heart pendant so far!

In fact - there will be presentations (to the trade only, sorry) by other manufacturers too, but ... one of them, TierraCast, has graciously agreed to come to beadFX on Thursday and do some make and takes.

TierraCast makes a really wonderful, high-quality line of metal beads, charms and findings. These "Victorian Heart and Key" necklaces feature two of their charms, including a customizable frame that you can add an image too!

Stephanie Dixon will also be on hand to demonstrate some crystal clay with rivolis.

So - mark Thursday on the calendar as a great day to drop into beadFX and see some new ideas and techniques.

The make and takes are scheduled tentatively for 2:00 and 7:00 pm (Thursday, March 10) - if that changes - we'll post it here.

The Joy of Metal Clay - Brooch Findings

The challenge of making a brooch with metal clay is to figure out what type of finding to use.

There are several types of findings that you can embed into metal clay. My preference is to use fine silver components. Most findings have a component that is embeddable and then after firing you add the pin or other components. Here is a selection of some of the brooch findings on the market:

Embeddable Fine Silver Finding (photo from Art Clay World USA)

This finding has two fine silver pieces that you can attach with paste, fire then add the pin (after firing). I have found that these findings work well.

Screw type fine silver finding. This finding has fine silver threaded pieces (the round pieces it the bottom of the picture) that you embed into the clay, once fired you screw and glue in the findings (pictured on the top portion). One important thing to keep in mind is when embedding the threaded fine silver pieces it is best that you have the screws filled with the findings otherwise you run the risk of getting clay into the holes (remember to remove the findings before firing. Once fired you screw in the findings. One occasional problem that I have found it that since the threads are fine silver if you are not careful you can strip the threading off making it difficult to screw the findings in place.

Here is an embeddable finding that I have found at Fire Mountain Gems. Again it has two embeddable ends for the brooch that are placed in the clay. Once fired you attach the pin. The only thing I don't like about this is there isn't a springy feeling to this finding (the pin swings freely).Above is the Pin Back from Metal Clay Findings. This one I have not used. It appears to be a nickel pin back which you do not fire and an fine silver clip that you embed then attach the nickel piece afterwards.

In addition to fine silver findings, there are sterling silver findings that are on the market. It is important to keep in mind with these that the sterling silver as it will become brittle if you fire at a temperature that is too high. Generally I will only fire sterling silver at 1250F. I have found that I have difficult time to getting these type of findings to fit securely. I prefer to use fine silver findings and fire my metal clay at higher temperatures. The sterling silver findings are not my favorite options.

Finally, I have been experimenting with embedding regular nickel pin backs into metal clay. I haven't finished all my experiments but hope to elaborate more on this next week.

If you have any brooch findings that you have been using and would like to share. Feel free to let the rest of us know.

Have a great day!

The Business Chat - time to make lists

It’s that time of year again, the craft show acceptance/rejection letters are coming in! Did you get in? Are you doing your happy dance?

Your application form should have told you when you will be informed of your status. Do yourself a favour and don’t call before that date. If you haven’t heard by 2 weeks after that date then you can call. Show organizers tend to be busy people and many of them have jobs on top of the show, so they aren’t always on top of deadlines.

If you are reading a rejection letter don’t despair, it happens to all of us more often than you know. Even to those of us who are professional full-time people get rejected.
If you’re turned down it’s most likely because:

• The quotas for your category are full
• No space due to returning vendors
• You have an inappropriate product for the show

You could call the organizer to discuss why you didn’t get in. Be professional and ask what you can do to improve your chances of getting in next year. If you are new you want to form a good relationship with the organizer, screaming at them won’t do that. Here’s an insider tip: If you didn’t get in check the application to find out when the cancellation date is, or ask the organizer. On the cancellation date call the organizer and ask if anyone has dropped out. Life happens and sometimes people have to cancel, although theoretically you are on a wait list your chances are much better if you happen to call on the day that someone else has just backed out.

If you are accepted you should note the cancellation date and policy. Just in case something comes up.
The second thing you should do (after your happy dance) is to make a schedule for the show. You don’t want to leave anything until the night before. Start making lists for inventory, how much do you need to make? Of what? This leads you to the next list, your supplies. What do you need to buy and when are you going to buy it? Now start a third list for your production schedule. Again, don’t leave it all to the last minute. Think about your marketing materials. Do you have enough packaging? Business cards? What about your signs? If you need to have these made how long do they take? It’s always more expensive to leave this stuff to the last minute.

Then start thinking about your display. Are there any special requirements for the show? One of your best show tools is a good display checklist. Every single thing that you need for the show goes on a list, right down to the stapler and the pens. Setting up your display in advance is always a good thing but most of us don’t have the space or can’t get it together to do this. Sit down and brainstorm. It’s much easier to pack your car when you have a list telling you “3 tables, 3 tablecloths, double-sided tape”. (the double sided tape is to hold the table cloth onto the table so it can’t be pulled off by small kids).

Keep all these lists together on a clipboard, I have one clipboard per show on my desk, I find it easier to refer to than online files.

As it gets closer to the show date and your display starts coming together it’s a really good idea to create a booth set up list. Setting up your booth or table is going to take a lot longer than you thought and you’ll be doing this very early in the morning. A set up list is also really useful if you have anyone helping you. Rather than them staring at you saying “what do I do now?” you just show them the list.
To create your set-up list think about setting up. Literally walk yourself though this mentally. Here’s an example:
First I set up the table then I put the tablecloth on. Then I put up my signs. Then I put the risers on. Then the earring stands. Then I put the earrings on the stands, and so on.

As you stand in your booth at show opening, with every thing all nicely laid out, all ready to make your fortune while your neighbours scramble to finish you’ll be thankful that you were so organized for the past 6 months.

Inspiration Friday

With a new year, how about we make a few little changes to our Inspiration Friday posts? This year, you pick your inspiration reference! There are lots of places to find inspiration. Photo's, magazines, fabric, nature, patterns, textures...Have a really good look at the little things around you, and make something - anything at all. The whole point is to get you out of your comfort zone, and experiment with new beads, materials, found objects, ephemera - anything you can find!

We'd love to see what you come up with. Send us a picture of your new creation, along with a pic, or description of your inspiration reference.  Send it to contest@beadfx.com with the subject line "Inspiration Friday"

If you have a personal blog, or etsy/artfire/bigcartel type site - send us a link to that as well!

Nathalie sent us pics of two absolutely gorgeous  rings this week.

My latest inspiration has been what is sitting on my bench.

I really needed to clean it up, but in doing so, I kept thinking "Oh, I could use this part to make a ring" and after grabbing several various parts, I created a couple of "Bench Rings". I call them Bench Rings because they were designed using only things that were sitting out on my bench. It's a great way to clean up and make things at the same time!

The first one features a lovely Pink Botswana Agate with copper and brass rivets /accents, a sterling silver chain, sterling jump rings, etc, that I had sitting out.

The second ring features a very neat Peruvian Blue Opal cab, set in a Fine Silver bezel with sterling accents, and sitting on a thick PMC3 textured band.

Both rings are listed in my Canadian Rockies Art Studio on ArtFire if you want to see more pictures and get detailed information: http://www.CanadianRockiesArt.ArtFire.com

TGIF!
Cheers,
Nathalie

My inspiration this week is rusty, time worn, mossy, dug out of the earth kinda things. I really think I can play on this theme for quite some time.

None of these are technically finished. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with them yet. The necklace is not 'done' yet either. I think this pendant wants to be part of something larger, or patinated - we'll see.

Copper, fine silver, verdigris patina.

MissFickleMedia Heat Patina's on copper clay

Bronze, and fine silver metal clay.

Have a great weekend all!

Last call for Inspiration Friday

From now on, you can just pretty much assume that my Inspiration Friday posts will not be live until Friday evening. I just can't seem to get it together in time. :-)

That said, I've got stuff in the kiln, some pictures done - and patina's to apply. If you've got something for us this week, send it on to info@beadfx.com with the subject line "Inspiration Friday"