From Art Deco to Art Nouveau

I have been sorting and cleaning up more of my "scrap clay" piles and creating new designs from them.  All of our clay "left-overs" go into containers that are either sorted by color or color combinations.  I had picked out enough combinations that I thought would make some good Art Deco patterns using my new technique that I now have published in a fun and easy tutorial.

When I mixed up one of the combinations, I was quite pleased with the results and how the overall pattern was much softer and had more of an art nouveau look rather than the brighter art deco.

Teal and lime green are two of my favorite colors and when I saw the results from this batch, I had to make a set of snaps for myself to wear!  The cool thing about this technique is that you can make up lots of beads, snaps and even buttons to create a coordinating theme, yet each pattern is completely unique and one of a kind.

If you look closely, you will see there is some mirror imaging involved.  If you are one of those who can not slice your clay perfectly even or have one of those expensive or fancy slicers, you do not have to worry about that.  We do not have a cane slicer of any kind and slice all our canes by hand.  In my lesson I have some tips on how to create perfect mirror images, even if your slices are not all evenly sliced!

You can now purchase some of our best selling findings like the gorgeous rhinestone ring with the snap base (above) and snap base pendants and bracelets (below) in our snap supply section of our online store. But hurry if you want some as we only have a limited supply and will be several months before we can get another shipment in!

And don't forget to use the coupon code to receive a discount on your total purchase from our online store. 

Kaleidoscope Rings

I still had some cane left over from the pieces I showed you yesterday and so decided to make a few rings.  I just had to reduce the cane down a bit more to get the smaller size.  I managed to get 3 style variations.  I like the Swarovski crystal in the center but I also like the one without.  What do you think?

Wear a flower on your finger

We now have some new floral cocktail rings with Swarovski crystal centers for added sparkle just in time for summer.  A lot of the flowers coordinate with our brooch-pendants and earrings.  I'm now working on some floral beads for bracelets and should have some available next week if all goes according to plan.

More Quilt Block Inspired Rings

Here are some more "quilt block inspired" rings in a variety of colors and patterns.  They were pretty much made the same way as the brooch-pendants but in miniature form.

Star Quilt Block Rings

These are some rings I made with the same star pattern in assorted color combinations.  The ring bases are adjustable to any size.  They all have Swarovski crystals embedded for some added bling.

We are getting ready for Heather's Fabric Shelf's "Quilt Show & Tell" in Kamloops a week from this Sunday where we will be set up to sell our jewelry and accessories.  We will be featuring our new line of "quilt block inspired" jewelry along with our new summer items.

Double Take with our Fiesta Spiral Beads

The Fiesta Spiral in

Sapphire Blue & Peridot Green...

Necklace...

Earrings ...

 Bracelet ...

Ring...

Shawl Pin...

Beads...

Tutorial...

Fiesta Spiral Rings

These rings match the Fiesta Spiral double-sided textured beads in some new jewel tone colors.  I used the polished pigments by Lumin Arte  in powder form here and find the colors more intense than the typical mica powders.  I'm still experimenting with ways to use this medium and discovering some fun new colors.

The bands on all of our rings are made from textured clay and available in two sizes:  Small - Medium and Medium - Large.  There is a slit at the back that expands slightly to fit the finger.

I experimented with some Premo clay and made some bands but found they were too soft and flexible to hold their shape.  The Kato clay is much stronger with just enough flex for a comfortable fit without stretching too far.

New Rings For Summer

Other than wearing my wedding band, I've never been one to wear fancy type rings until now.  Since I'm the type that everything in my wardrobe has to coordinate I discovered adding a ring as an accent piece can be  more fun.

These rings went out to the Shuswap Festival of the Arts gift shop this week.  We filled an hors d'oeuvre dish with some glittery silver sand and the rings fit nice.

Here are some new designs for the summer.  The top two are made using my sculpted flowers technique.  The bottom two were using left over blends from our Bargello series and have Swarovski crystals embedded in the centers.

Some New Rings

I've been having fun playing around with some new adjustable ring blanks I purchased the other day.  By adapting my double-sided bead technique I can create some gorgeous rings that match my other jewelry pieces.  I created the matching post earrings in the same way.  I tested them out in our last show we did and they were quickly swooped up by several customers.  I guess that is telling us we need to make more!