Framed Art Deco with the CaBezel Molds

We have been creating more snap designs using the CaBezel molds.  These ones are a smaller size made from the Geometric CaBezel.  I recently discovered that my Art Deco designs work beautifully in these!

I found that even though the design was slightly smaller than the cabochon part of the CaBezel, it actually increased the size of the pattern without distorting it!

Since we make a lot of snaps at a time we like to be organized and we make batches of the Bezel Frames at a time in the basic colors (black, purple, blue, etc.) and bake them.  They go into a bin ready to fill with the clay designs and they are even handier now with the snap added to the back!  This way I can see which shape and color frame goes best with the design I am working on.

These CaBezel with the Art Deco Snaps are on the Softglass cord (mini tutorial here) and is cool how you can rotate the snap to create your own look.  This is something you cannot do with a fixed bail.

I like the Softglass cord but sometimes we want a pop of color.  We finally found some beautiful polished cotton wrapped cord in an assortment of rich colors.  We have added a magnetic clasp and snap pendant with the tube bail to create a gorgeous choker style necklace.

These snap necklaces are now available in our online store in a wide assortment of colors.  They are perfect for adding larger size snaps as well as the regular ones.

Strut Your Stuff With Our Interchangeable Boot Bracelets

With the cowboy festival coming up in Kamloops this week it has got us thinking about our boot jewelry and creating some new designs.  Boot bracelets and boot charms are a fun way to accessorize if you enjoy country western style dancing or just as an accent when going out.  Our original boot jewelry designs consist of using our faux turquoise, feathers and lizard tails. 

Faux Turquoise Boot Bracelet

Feather Boot Bracelet

Lizard Tail Boot Bracelet

Since we started our Snap Decisions collection it got me thinking about interchangeable designs.  These bracelets were made using the snap base connectors, beads and chain.  I love these as you only need one bracelet (or some people like to wear a pair) and then several decorative snaps to create different looks.

Interchangeable Snap Boot Bracelet

Boot Bracelet with Interchangeable Snap

Our latest style is a simple design combining the thicker (4.5 mm) softglass cord with a joiner charm (from Shades of Clay) and the snap base with the tube bail and several rubber o-rings to hold it in place.  I show an easy method for doing this in my mini tutorial for the snap necklace here.  The wonderful thing about this boot bracelet style is that you can also use the larger-size snaps like the ones shown here.

Softglass cord boot bracelet with interchangeable Canadian Maple Leaf Snap

Boot Bracelet with Softglass cord and Joiner Charm Clasp

Boot Bracelet with Softglass cord and Joiner Charm Clasp

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.

Memory Wire Bracelet Tutorial

It is that time of year again to pull out our supply of candy cane beads and make some more jewelry.  We made a huge supply of beads last year so still have a bunch on hand to play with.  If you play with polymer clay you will find my free tutorial here to make your own.

We like to use the shorter beads in bracelets and so we made some up in the spiral memory wire style.  The nice thing about this type of bracelet is that they are easy to put on and take off and they fit any wrist size.

Working with memory wire can be a little tricky at first, but once you know what you are doing, it can be a lot of fun.  When you first unpack the wire you will notice it is a lot like a "Slinky" toy.  When you stretch it out a bit and then let go, it will spring back into the same shape.

With this type of bracelet you want to have 4 to 5 "rounds" or rings so it will wrap around the wrist several times making it more secure and giving it that stacked bracelet look.  It is best to cut a bit more to allow for finishing at each end.  Do not use your good jewelry cutters for this type of wire as it will ruin them.  There are special "memory wire shears" you can buy for this.  These are very strong cutters and are like a mini "bolt cutter" so are also handy for cutting other things like soldered chain or other steel or brass wire.

Make an eye loop at the one end of your wire with your round nose pliers.  The loop acts as a stopper for your beads when stringing and you can also add some pretty dangles and charms on it after.

This type of bracelet can take quite a few beads which can make the bracelet rather heavy if you are using a lot of glass or metal types.  Because Polymer clay beads are light, they work really well.  Long tubes also look really stunning on these bracelets and the typical ones are made from metal.  Not only are these tubes rather expensive, they are also heavy and can tarnish quite easily.

I discovered a great substitute for the metal tubing which is called Softglass cord and is available at Shades of Clay (scroll down after the buna cord).  The Softglass cord is like Buna except it is hollow inside so you can thread wire through it.  It also has a beautiful satin glass-like finish and comes in a wide range of gorgeous colors.  The other cool thing about using this type of tubing is that you can cut it to any length.  You can use scissors or I find using a heavy tissue blade makes really clean and straight edges.

Now the fun begins.  You can play around with different patterns to see what works for you.  The main idea is to have your beads somewhat evenly spaced or "weighted" all the way around.  You will notice that the bead placement can change drastically with different tube lengths.  If you find it isn't working, then try cutting the Softglass cord longer or shorter and see what works best.  For the bracelet shown here (below) I am using the Emerald Green Softglass cut into 1-1/2" lengths.

Start threading your beads and cord tubing on the wire.  When you are happy with your pattern, slide the beads down to the end of the wire.  Keep adding your beads until your wire is full.

When you are happy with your bracelet, finish off the other end with another eye loop.  Add some pretty bead dangles and charms at each end and you are done.

Pantone Fall 2014 Fashion Color Cypress

Shades of olive and lime green are my absolute favorite colors and I was really happy to see this rich shade called Cypress as one of the Pantone fall colors.  I love this green and it combines really well with most of the other fall shades.  To create this color I have used some metallic gold in the mix which gives it a beautiful sheen.

Whenever I mix up my colors, I like to make up a set of sample chips to double check the colors as sometimes they can change or darken slightly after baking.  If the recipe needs a little more tweaking, I will remix and then bake another sample chip until I am satisfied.  When I am happy with the color mix I like to then bake up several more color chips.  The first set goes into my "Color System" album.  The second set is for my "Pantone color collection card".

The third set is mainly for playing with on my work table to help visualize different color combinations like the ones shown below.  I also like to keep them in a little pouch in my purse so when I am shopping I can identify the various colors in the stores.

"Color Combinations using Cypress"

Cypress with Aurora Red

Cypress with Misted Yellow

Cypress with Radiant Orchid

Cypress with Sangria

So here is the color recipe for

Cypress

Follow the clay color recipe for

"Forest" #7-7*

-- add 2 parts of Kato Black

* The clay color recipe for "Forest #7-7" is found in my "Clay Color System" tutorial.

One more thing.  When the softglass cord we ordered from Shades of Clay arrived the other day I was pleasantly surprised to see how the Avocado color was a perfect match for the Pantone shade of Cypress.  I am so glad we ordered extra in this color as it will go nicely with some of the jewelry pieces we are making.