Siren's Song necklace

Time to dust off the blog...Do people still blog?  Seems like Instagram and Pinterest have taken over the world. 

I am dusting this old girl off in order to share some tutorials with you.

My first is for this Siren's Song Necklace I made 2 years ago. It took me a whole month to make the beads and components and about a week to put the piece together.

I ended up sending this one to Stampington and they published it in an issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry.  It took a couple years to get to publication, but it was worth it.

This post has the basics from the article, but no step-by-step photos.  I won't be able to take a month to remake them and take pictures so you'll just have to let your own imagination fill in the missing blanks.

What you will need:

Supplies

Scissors

2 pieces of Plexiglas

Waxed Linen Cord

RIT Dye-Purple, Aquamarine, Navy Blue, Green

Alcohol

Plastic containers with lids

Slotted Spoons

Micro beads

Sand

Varathane Clear Gloss Water-Based Interior Polyurethane

Metallic Lustres by Deco Art (all colors)

Bamboo Skewers

Floral foam

Small alphabet rubber stamps

Sculpey Mold Maker

Seashells, sand dollars, starfish

Ocean themed pendants

Premo Sculpey Clay in White PE02 5001

Premo Sculpey Clay in Cobalt Blue, Green

Stampers

Texture tools

Spray bottle of water

Baby wipes

Sculpey Clay Conditioning machine

Sculpey Etch-n-pearl

Steel Rebar Wire

Heavy Duty Side Cutters

Needle Nose Pliers

Sculpey Super Slicer

Vinyl gloves

Silk Strips

19 gauge black steel wire

Hammer

Bench Block

Step-by-step instructions

Making the beads:

·         For beads, condition the white clay, then pinch off a piece of clay and roll it into a ball. Then poke a hole through the center of the bead.  Repeat from the other side of the bead. Add texture or words.

·         For the quote pendants, roll a ball of conditioned clay about the size of a golf ball.  Flatten with fingers and press the clay between two pieces of Plexiglas that have been misted with water to your desired thickness. Stamp desired design into disk.   Poke holes in the pendant.

·         For Disk Beads, roll clay into a ball and flatten between fingers.  Poke a hole in the bead.  Leave on the skewer and roll over textured surface or roll into micro beads.

·         For unique beads and focals, use Sculpey Mold Maker to make your own molds from seashells, pendants, and starfish. Then use the molds to make your own unique beads and focals.  Roll clay into a ball and press mold onto the ball.  Either use the skewer to make a hole through the whole bead or add a piece of wire bent into a U shape for a bail.

Following manufacturer’s directions, bake the beads in toaster oven. Keep in mind that thicker beads will require more bake time than thin beads.

Finishing the beads:

·         Once the beads are baked and cool, make dyes by adding about 2 tablespoons of liquid dye to about one cup of alcohol.  Mix thoroughly.  Add white beads and focals to the dye bath.  When you have achieved the look you want, remove from the dye bath with a slotted spoon.  Rinse with cool water until it runs clear.  Spread out on trays or paper plates to dry.

·         Use DecoArt’s Metallic Lustres waxes to add color to beads.  Layer multiple colors over beads and pendants using your fingers.  Once dry, buff with a soft cloth.

·         Seal beads with Varathane.  I place my beads on a bamboo skewer and dip them into a small jar with the sealer.  Then I set each skewer in a board that my husband drilled with holes.

·         For the beads with micro beads and sand, I dipped the bead in Varathane and then dipped it into a small container of sand or micro beads.  For some, I mixed the micro beads right into a small amount of sealer and then rolled the bead in the mixture.  I also dipped some beads into the Varathane and then sprinkled the beads with micro beads all over.

Making Clasps:

·         Make a necklace clasp with needle nose pliers and a piece of wire. Curl end around needle nose pliers to make a small loop.  Turn over so loop is on top of the pliers and bend around to make a hook.  Grasp end of wire with needle nose pliers and curl up into a loop.  Harden wire by pounding it with a hammer several times on each side. Make heart loop for clasp by cutting a piece of rebar wire about 3 inches long. Bend in the middle and pull the ends so they make a loop at the bottom.  Use pliers to bend tops of the heart. Harden wire.

To Make the Necklace

*For the necklace back, use 4 silk strips and loosely braid 3, adding and dropping a strip in an organic way repeatedly.  Add wire clasp and loops to ends so each necklace strand can be added. If the piece is too long, you can shorten it by knotting it in the middle.

* Build your collar by creating each necklace strand on waxed linen cord or silk strips.  Add them to the necklace as you work to check lengths and placement

Of course you can use these techniques to make your own  earrings, bracelets, rings etc...  This is just a starting point for your own fabulous creations.  Please feel free to comment with a link of your own goodies.  I'd love to see what you come up with.

If you are reading this, I'd love if you took a moment to comment so I know you are still out there...

 Thanks for stopping by....