Snap Jewelry DIY Findings Update

When I first came up with combining the interchangeable snap jewelry idea and polymer clay, I approached Wendy at Shades of Clay about carrying some of the snap components.  She loved the idea and it was nice to have them available to purchase through her website instead of just through us.  We did a lot of research into finding supplies that were good quality and that would work best with the polymer clay and I also published several tutorials with lots of tips on working with these findings.

Things have changed over the last few years and while we have expanded our snap components, Shades of Clay has decided to go in a different direction and not carry them anymore.  (You can read her blog post about this here.)  Wendy has been very supportive and we plan to still continue on with bouncing ideas back and forth for inspiration.

Oh, and by the way, did you know that Shades of Clay now also has a blog?  You can follow it here.   They have some cool free tutorial links and one of them is a video Wendy made about the buna cord and o-rings.  I found this video very informative and some of her ideas are so inspirational!  I really like the softglass cord and joiner charms that go with it but if you are looking for different thicknesses and cord that isn't hollow, Shades has buna cord in several sizes.  I haven't tried the really thick size yet but I love how Wendy hid her clasp in this bracelet!  You have to watch the video to find out!

Bracelet created by Wendy Orlowski

Shades has also added some exciting and cool artist materials plus other brands of clay such as Fimo.  I love how we can buy almost everything we need for our clay at one place that is right here in Canada and at very comparable prices!

You might also want to sign up for her newsletter so you can get in on any new product announcements and specials they might have.

And by the way, I am not promoting Shades because of any kick-backs or pay for advertising.  I am just a happy customer and want to show my support for my fellow Canadian friend, Wendy and her fabulous shop! 

Creating an Interchangeable Snap Base Necklace

A little while ago, my friend Joanne and I got together to clay.  We made some textured rollers like the ones we learned to make from Bettina Welker at her workshop last summer.  I made two new ones (left and center) and the one on the right was the one I made earlier in the class.

The textured sheets (below) were made with the three rollers and I think I still like the first roller I made the best but now I have some ideas to make some more and will try again when I have a bit of free time.

In the meantime, I was experimenting with some different shapes to make into larger size snaps to use in a necklace.  These are some of the snaps I made from the clay sheets shown above.

I then figured out a way to make a multi-snap base necklace to arrange the decorative snaps on by simply combining some softglass cord, rubber o-rings and several snap pendants with tube bails.

To do this, cut the cord to the length you want your necklace to be.  I like to make mine a little longer and then trim it after if it is too long rather than accidentally making it too short.  Thread on an o-ring.  Because the cord is hollow and slippery, it is a little tricky to get them on so I insert a piece of heavy wire and hold it tight with the cord while pushing on the o-ring.  Next slide on a tube bail snap base pendant and then another o-ring.

Repeat this two more times.  Arrange the center pendant with the o-rings nice and snug against it to hold it in place.  Position the other snap bases on the cord the same way so they are evenly spaced. 

You can use Buna cord instead but I love the feel and look of the softglass cord.  I also like the interchangeable plug like clasps or joiner charms which are available at Shades of Clay.  Because the softglass cord is hollow, the clasps have a plug at each end that fit inside and hold tight by friction,

Here are the decorative snaps on the necklace arranged two different ways.  I am really excited about this and opens up more ways to wear our snaps!

The decorative snaps can be worn individually as well by adding only one tube bail snap pendant to a cord with an o-ring on each side to hold it in place.

When working with larger clay designs, our flat snaps work well for these so they do not add extra bulk and they fit nice and flat onto the snap base pendant.  If your pieces are very large (1-1/2" or larger), I recommend baking them on a curve and using the bezel snap for a tighter hold.  I share how to do this along with extra tips in Part 1 of my tutorial.