Jewellery Making Supplies Blog

This is a guest project designed by Tansy Wilson. Tansy is a professional jeweller and runs her business from beautiful rural Somerset. She also teaches a jewellery evening class at her local college. Tansy has a BA in 3-D Design and has been in the design industry for 20 years. 

“There is an array of textured surfaces that are already incorporated onto hammers now. This means you can easily create a range of fabulous textures on your chosen metal without having to make a patterned stamp first. I have used sterling silver to create this bangle, combining the use of a textured surface against a smooth surface to give a good contrast and make a detail in the design.”

Create these striking textured bangles to wear together or on their own!

You will need:

• Silver Sheet 
• Saw Frame
• Texturing Hammer
• File
• Soldering Block
• Borax Cone and Dish
• Silver Solder
• Hand Torch
• Pickling Unit
• Emery paper
• Bangle mandrel
• Polishing cloth

STEP 1:  Planning

Plan your design to scale and draw onto your silver sheet. Planning is essential as mistakes can be expensive!

STEP 2: Piercing

Pierce out your strip of Sterling silver sheet 20mm wide x 180mm long. Then pierce out the diamond pattern.

STEP 3: Annealing

Anneal the diamond section only.

Please note that you can buy sterling silver sheet already fully annealed so this step would not be necessary.

STEP 4: Texturing

Texture the diamond section only, hammering evenly across the piece back and forth.

STEP 5: Getting straight

Texturing may have altered the edges of your piece so file any edges that are to be soldered, so that they fit exactly flush together.

STEP 6: Preparing to solder

Degrease areas to be soldered and place onto your soldering block so that you solder on the back of your bangle. Flux along all the joins and place small squares of silver solder (paillons) along the joins approx 8mm apart.

STEP 7: Soldering

Heat the metal evenly, build up the heat until you are able to melt the solder and make it run through the join. Carefully place in a cleaning pickle.

STEP 8: Cleaning up

Rinse clean and using a range of files from course to fine, clean off all traces of solder so the back of your bangle is smooth.

STEP 9: Drawing to shape

You will probably need to redraw your bangle shape onto the metal as during texturing and filing the shape may have been distorted.

STEP 10: Perfecting shape

File and use emery paper to get all the edges of your bangle smooth and straight.

STEP 11: Polishing

Polish all surfaces of your bangle. Next wrap a piece of soft material around your bangle mandrel to protect the inside surface of the bangle when shaping.

STEP 12: Bending

Finally bend your bangle around the bangle mandrel, lightly hammering into shape. Lightly re-polish if needed. You have completed your project!

You can also find this project in Making Jewellery Magazine! Hope you have enjoyed the project.

When the supermarket shelves are brimming with Christmas goodies, your summer clothes all packed away in boxes and your thick winter coats are hanging up in the hallway again, then it’s time to start thinking about Christmas! About cosy winter evenings in front of the fire, about trees and gardens covered in a thick layer of snow … and snowball fights. All those who don’t want to wait any longer for the first snow to fall can get into the Christmas mood early by putting on this attractive combination made out of FIMO. The adorable snowmen and sparkling snowflakes are a real eye catcher – each one cuter than the next. Not only does this jewellery guarantee you an instant white Christmas, it also makes a superb present with a personal touch.

You will need:

• FIMO Effect Glitter White
• FIMO Effect Glitter Red
• FIMO Soft Tangerine
• FIMO Soft Black
• Ring Base
• Metal Shaped Cutters
• Bead Roller
• Modelling Tools
• Blade Set
• Acrylic Roller
• Gloss Varnish
• Oven Thermometer
• Paint Box
• 40cm finished chain
• Earring hooks
• Silver-coloured florist wire
• Pliers
• Glass, ceramic bowl or cup
• All-purpose Glue

Step 1

Basically, the snowman is made out of two different-sized balls. For the body, take the larger of the two balls (approx. 25 mm in diameter) and flatten it a little. Then, for the head, do the same with the smaller ball (approx. 15 mm in diameter), placing it so that it slightly overlaps the first one. Make a sausage approx. 5 mm in diameter for the arms and cut off two 1 cm long pieces.

Step 2

The snowman’s hanger is fixed in his hat. To make the hanger, take a piece of wire and shape it into a loop. Then, bend the ends to the sides to give it a good hold in the FIMO later. Next, using black FIMO, roll out an approx. 1 cm thick sausage and cut a 1 cm long piece off it. Make an indent in one side of the top hat.

Step 3

Now it’s time to give the snowman a broom. To do this, roll out a thin string of black FIMO. Cut a 3 cm long piece off it for the broomstick. Then shape the FIMO into an approx. 1.5 cm long, cone-shaped piece and, using the knife, make lots of fine grooves on it. Place it on the end of the broomstick. A final fine string of FIMO placed across the broomhead makes it look as though the bristles are being held together.

TIP: It’s best to harden the broom in the oven on its own first. This makes it easier to position on the snowman’s arm later and ensure that it keeps its shape.

Step 4

Now put the hat on the snowman. Then add the broom and the arms and press everything on firmly. Use small black balls for the eyes and buttons. The orange coloured carrot nose and mouth are made out of fine strings of FIMO. The scarf is made out of a sausage of FIMO. Flatten it a little, cut one end off straight and use the knife to fray it.

Step 5

To make the snowflakes, roll out an approx. 5 mm thick sheet of white glitter FIMO using the acrylic roller. Place one of the two small six-pointed stars on it and – just as if you were making biscuits – cut out a number of stars. Fill the ring base with white glitter FIMO and place one of the stars on it.

Step 6

Make a hole through the middle of the snowflakes using a straight piece of wire – this is for stringing them onto the necklace later. A tool for making a snowflake pattern can be made easily out of a piece of wire. To do so, take an approx. 10 cm long piece of florist wire and bend both ends at right angles as shown – one end about 2 cm in and the other end about 2-3 mm in. Press the ends onto the snowflake carefully to make the desired pattern.

Step 7

With the bead roller, it’s easy to make nice, uniform-shaped beads. To do so, roll the FIMO to form an approx. 1 cm thick sausage. Then cut approx. 1 cm wide pieces off it and shape them into balls in your hands. Place them in the bead roller and slide it back and forth a couple of times. This gives you perfectly shaped beads.

Step 8

Cut off approx. 10 cm of florist wire and use it to make a hole as close as possible to the middle of the beads. Turn the beads around and push the wire through the hole again from the opposite side. This is the best way to keep your beads in shape when making holes. Next, thread all of the beads onto the length of wire and hang this over a glass bowl. Place in the oven like this in order to avoid a denting of the beads.

Step 9

Harden the finished pieces in the oven for around 30 minutes at 110°C. After cooling, the snowflakes are given an extra treatment: To make the pattern stand out more, brush over the grooves with a thin layer of blue watercolour paint. Allow to dry for a moment and then remove any excess paint with a piece of kitchen roll. Leave to dry properly! Finish off by applying a thin coat of FIMO gloss varnish to all pieces. Now all that remains to be done is string the pieces onto the necklace and add the clasp and thread the earrings onto a piece of florist wire and fix onto the earring hooks. If necessary, you can stick the snowflake onto the ring base with glue. This will keep it stuck tight.

TIP: You can make the small, silver-coloured spacer beads yourself: To do so, use the bead roller to make small balls out of silver FIMO effect and then add a layer of silver coloured leaf metal. Make holes, harden and add a coat of gloss varnish – finished!

We really loved last night’s episode of Kirstie’s Handmade Britain especially her exploration of Silver Clay. This project allows you to make a similar painted leaf that featured on the programme so you can enjoy the rewarding experience of creating beautiful, delicate designs.

You will need:

Agate/metal burnisher or tumbler
polisher

Badger Balm

Clayshapers

Leaf

Paintbrush and cup of water

PMC3 6.3g silver

PMC3 Paste (1 Paste pot
covers approximately 3 leaves of 3cm square)

Rubber block

Sandpaper

Stainless steel brush

Snake roller

Straw

Torch and block to fire or Kiln

Work mat or Teflon

Step 1

Open your Paste pot and paint the reverse side of the leaf thoroughly. Leave to dry and repeat until you have built up 8 layers of paste. Leave the leaf to dry completely. Fire it using a kiln only- if using the Evenheat Pro-Set kiln fire on the preset PMC3 Slow Programme (600C/45mins). Once fired do not polish before attaching the bail.

Step 2

Use the snake roller to roll a coil. Press down on the coil to create a flat block. Wrap the flattened coil around a straw and leave to dry.

Step 3

Attach the bail to the back of the fired leaf using some paste. Allow to dry. Once dry gently remove the straw and refine your piece until you are happy with the finished look. If required you can create a long coil from the lump clay by using a snake roller. This can then be attached to the back of the leaf as shown in the image above to improve the look of the bail attachment. The bail can be torch fired onto the leaf. Simply heat until it glows orange and time for a minimum of 2 minutes or kiln fire using the PMC3 Fast programme (700C/10mins).

Step 4

Place the fired piece on a rubber block to support the leaf and use a stainless steel brush to polish. To achieve a high shine finish, continue using a burnisher or place in a tumbler polisher with mixed stainless steel shot and 1/3 teaspoon of tumbler soap.

Aftercare: Polish using silver polish and a soft cloth.

Tips – Choosing a leaf

Don’t use a leaf with a waxy or fleshy surface like holly or laurel as these have no texture

Do choose a leaf with good veins as these will show nicely on your finished piece. E.g. sage, ginko or geranium leaves.

Do choose a fresh leaf.

Stone setting is a way of securely attaching stones into a piece of jewellery.  You can use various techniques to incorporate stones into your designs including: Claw, Gypsy, Bezel, Illusion, Pave, Channel, Tension and Grain. The stone’s shape and hardness dictate which type of setting technique is suitable.  Stones can add colour and a focal point to your design and helps your design attract customers’ attention!

Types of settings

1.  Claw settings: A small amount of metal is used to make up claw settings, allowing light to pass through the stone and also allows easy access to the stone for cleaning. Claw settings are made up of prongs. The prongs are bent over the stone to secure in place.

2. Gypsy settings: are done by using the surrounding metal to set a stone. which makes the stone appear flush within the piece of jewellery.

3. Bezel settings: or rub-over settings require a tight wall of metal around the stone. It sits on a ledge of wire or a sheet of metal at the base. Creating a wall and pushing it against the stone.

4. Illusion settings: are used to visually exaggerate the appearance of a small stone. This is done by a stone being set into a collet with a large wall.

5. Pave settings: the word pave originates from the French meaning paved.  Pave setting uses small stones to cover the surface of a piece of jewellery. Tiny beads of metal are pulled up from the surface and are pushed up over stone.

6.  Channel settings: are usually used in lines. Stones that are channel set are supported on two sides and underneath. The two sides are pushed down to tighten the stone in place.

7. Tension settings: use the metal surrounding it to secure stone in place. It requires tension through the metal to support the stone. A tension setting allows light to pass through it and show its full beauty.

8. Grain settings: consist of small stones in lines. Tiny beads or grains of metal are pulled up from surface and are pushed up over the stone.

Bezel Setting on a Pendant

You will need:

Tools:

• Texturing Hammer, Wide Stripe
• Half Round File and Handle
• Flat Stake
• Emery Paper
• Emery Stick Flat, Medium
  
• Dividers
  
• 6″ Steel Ruler
• 3″ Adjustable Saw Frame
• Saw Blades 3/0
• Soldering Block
• Hand Torch
• Pickling Powder
• Borax Cone and Borax Dish
• Flux Brush
• Shears and Stainless Steel Tweezers
• Triblet
• Square ended pusher
• Burnisher

Materials

• 1mm Silver Sheet (15mm x 40mm and 12mm x 50mm)
• 20mm of 0.3mm x 3mm Fine Silver Strip
• Solder Strip
• 3mm Moonstone Round Cabochon
• Silver Snake chain

STEP 1

Take the 12mm x 50mm Silver, the texturing hammer and the flat stake. Place your silver sheet onto the flat stake, hold one edge of the silver sheet, use the texturing hammer strike the sheet numerous times in one direction, turn the silver sheet and repeat on opposite end.

STEP 2

Using a half round file, use flat edge and file the edges straight and using Emery sticks buff the edges to become smoother.

STEP 3

Using Dividers measure 42mm on steel ruler and score a line width ways in the textured sheet. Saw pierce along this line. The textured sheet will have become hard as it has been worked on, it is ready to anneal, quench and pickle. To create a curve, push the non – textured edge against a large curve of your choice. If you have bangle mandrel this would work perfectly.

STEP 4

Place curved edge against 15mm x 40mm piece, approximately the same length. Take a sheet of course emery paper and rub edges down until flat and sit flush onto the larger piece of sheet.

STEP 5

Using borax cone and dish make up flux and with a flux brush dab flux on sheet and the just buffed edge, then place the curved piece of sheet onto one side of silver sheet. Then with shears snip two small pallions of hard solder and place on the fluxed join.

STEP 6

Using hand torch gently apply heat, gradually increasing until it is hot enough and the solder flows. Then quench & pickle.  Repeat on the opposite end, again using hard solder. Quench and pickle.

Tip:  When using more than three solder joins, use hard solder as many times as possible!

STEP 7

To make the bezel, wrap the strip around the stone, letting it strip overlap, once you have the correct shape remove the stone. Where the strip overlaps saw pierce or cut with end cutters and make sure the two ends are flush with no gaps. Flux the join of the bezel; place a small pallion of hard solder on the join with tweezers. Apply heat gently and evenly to the bezel until the solder flows remove flame. Quench and pickle.

STEP 8

Place bezel onto triblet or use round nose pliers and tap with a mallet to get true circle.  Check the stone fits at this stage, if bezel is too large saw pierce down the solder line, if the stone still does not fit file the ends. The bezel strip will be higher than the stone, to reduce the height rub the base against course emery paper. The height of the bezel needs to be approximately level with the beginning of the curve of stone.

STEP 9

Place the bezel on right hand corner of your piece. Flux and add medium solder pallions around the outside of bezel. Solder on wire mesh and soldering block. Apply heat evenly starting gently and gradually increase until the solder flows. Quench and pickle.

Tip: A wire mesh is advisable so the heat can be spread evenly through the piece; this will also prevent the bezel overheating and maybe melting! Using remaining textured sheet curve over triblet or using round nosed pliers and this will make your loop for necklace.

STEP 10

Rub edges on emery paper until flush. Flux loop and centre of piece. Place together. Using shears cut pallions of easy silver solder and place two pallions either side. Heat gently and gradually increase until solder flows. Quench and pickle. Clean up piece going through grades of emery paper leaving a matt finish.

Tip: Use oxidizing solution on the textured strip of the pendant and polish raised areas to enhance the appearance of the texture.

STEP 11

To set the stone, try to gain as much grip as possible. Using a flat bezel pusher, push one part of the bezel wall against the stone. Push in at points ‘north’, ‘south’, ‘east’ and ‘west’. This is to avoid a build up of metal. Push in between these points and continue to do this around the stone. Bringing the pusher up to a higher angle, and apply pressure against the middle and top edges of the bezel. Use a burnisher rib for the top edge to get rid of sharp edges and brighten the silver.

.

STEP 13

Now hook the silver snake chain through the loop. You have finished the project!

You will need:

FIMO Effect White Glitter

FIMO Effect Red Glitter

FIMO Effect Blue Glitter

Blade Set 

Acrylic Rollers

Ruler

Cocktail stick or large needle

Jump Rings

Clasps

Chain

Small Pliers

Baking Tray

Step 1

Knead 4 portions of blue FIMO to soften and roll 5mm deep. Cut a rectangle 3.5cm x 5cm. Roll 2 portions of white FIMO until 2mm deep and cut strips 1cm wide for the vertical and horizontal cross pieces. Cut strips 6mm wide to make the diagonals. Trim the ends at an angle so the strips fit neatly together. Gently roll over your cross to flatten it. Trim any white FIMO from around the edges. 

Step 2

Roll 3 portions of red FIMO until 2mm deep. Cut strips 5mm wide and place over the vertical and horizontal cross pieces. Cut strips 3mm wide, trim the ends at an angle and place over the diagonals. Gently roll over your cross to flatten it. Trim any red FIMO from around the edges.

Step 3

Gently bend your flag. Make a hole in the corner with a cocktail stick and place onto a baking tray. Oven-bake for 30 mins at 110°C / 230°F and allow to cool. Attach a jump ring through the hole in your flag and add a clasp or clip chain.

 This is a tutorial on how to use the moulding compound; at the end you will string as desired to obtain a finished piece of jewellery! Perfect to wear whilst you are on holiday this summer!

You will need:

• Fossil
• Moulding Compound
• PMC Clay
• Hand Torch
• Stainless steel brush
• Agate burnisher or Tumbler

STEP 1

Take equal parts of the Moulding Compound and work the 2 parts together until the Moulding Compound is a uniform colour.

STEP 2

Press your Fossil into the compound and leave it to set.

STEP 3

Once the Compound has set, press your PMC into the mould making sure it is pressed into all the edges. Carefully pop the clay out of the mould, if you re not happy with the result you can work the clay till reformed and press in again. Avoid doing this too much as the clay will start to dry and crack.

STEP 4

Once your PMC piece is dry, sand and refine your edges and back.

STEP 5

Drill a hole for your Jump ring using a hand drill or make a bail from any remaining clay.

STEP 6

The Fossil can be torch or Kiln fired. Torch fire for a minimum of 2 minutes, time this from after the binder has burnt off and the piece starts to glow orange.

STEP 7

Once fired use a stainless steel brush, agate burnisher or tumbler to make your fossil shine. String as desired.

This is a project designed in association with the PMC Studio in Coventry. For similar projects go here! As always if you have any thoughts or suggestions, let us know in the box below.

This is a guest project designed by Tansy Wilson. Tansy is a professional jeweller and runs her business from beautiful rural Somerset. She also teaches a jewellery evening class at her local college. Tansy has a BA in 3-D Design and has been in the design industry for 20 years.

You will need:

• 1 x fully annealed soft sterling silver sheet 1.2mm
• 2 x silver scrolls 110
• 2 x silver 5mm pegs and flat disc earring posts

STEP 1

The first crucial step in any design project is to plan your idea on paper first to ensure you have the right shapes and sizes of required material. This step avoids mistakes which can be costly if you cut straight into your silver sheet. I have used a 50mm x 50mm piece of 1.2mm thick sheet enabling me to plan 4 pieces the same size. All measure approximately 34mm x 16mm.

STEP 2

Mark these measurements onto your silver still keeping the protective film on. Use a piercing saw to cut out these 4 pieces. Remember to keep the blade at 90° to the sheet to allow the blade to cut smoothly and for you to keep control of the saw.

STEP 3

You should now have four pieces of silver sheet all the same size. Remove the protective film from one side only of two of these pieces. Using a ball nose or texturing hammer,  place one of these pieces onto a hard flat surface, protective film side down and hammer across the exposed side of sheet to reveal an evenly textured pattern. Repeat this for the other piece.

STEP 4

When both pieces are textured, using double sided sticky tape, stick one textured piece to a non textured piece ensuring that you leave the non textured piece on the top, so you can easily draw onto the protective film. Also ensure that the two pieces are aligned as closely as possible.

STEP 5

Again using the piercing saw, cut your shapes out. You will now be cutting through two sheets of metal at exactly the same time. Try and use as fine a piercing saw blade as possible at this stage. This is because the thickness of the blade will not remove too much silver when cutting, meaning that your opposite pieces will fit together as closely as possible.

STEP 6

When you have finished piercing out your shapes, pull the stuck pieces apart and remove all the protective film. You will now have positive and negative shapes that are textured and smooth. Place the best fitting opposite pieces together so you have a contrasting texture next to a smooth one.

STEP 7

When happy with your combination, place onto a piece of emery paper and rub all of the backs only of the shapes to remove any grease and then place face down onto a soldering block. Paint flux and place tiny squares (paillons) of hard silver solder along the joins of all the pieces. Soldering on the back means that solder will not run onto the textured fronts of your pieces. Heat slowly so the flux doesn’t bubble and continue heating so the solder melts and runs along the joins. Place in a mild pickle and wash.

STEP 8

When your pieces are clean, remove any blobs of solder from the back with a file and emery paper so it becomes a nice smooth flat surface again. Now you can draw a final shape onto each earring. Again plan this on paper before hand so you don’t make any mistakes when marking onto the silver.

STEP 9

File your earrings into their final shape. If you are removing a lot of material, it is advisable to cut excess away using the piercing saw. When you are happy with the final shape, polish both sides of each earring, ensuring you do not remove too much of the texture.

STEP 10

When all clean and polished, I have bent each earring over a former to add some shape. You will probably be able to bend your shape by hand but if not use a plastic ended hammer so you do not mark the surface of the earrings. Finally solder an earring post onto the back of each earring using easy solder. This enables you to solder the post on without melting any of the previously soldered joins. Pickle and rinse and polish up with a silver cloth.

STAMP AND CUT: An effective but simple project for Precious Metal Clay in association with PMC. Design this pendant in only 7 steps!

You will need:

• Badger Balm
• Spacer Roller Set
• Texture mat
• Circle cutters
• Oval cutters
• PMC3 Clay
• Work mat
• Teflon sheet
• Sandpaper
• Butane Torch
• Stainless Steel Brush
•  Burnisher
• Antiquing solution (optional)
• Stringing material – Cord or Leather thong

STEP 1

Roll out some Precious Metal Clay on a piece of Teflon sheet using a Spacer Roller set. Remember to lightly apply Badger Balm to your tools to prevent your clay sticking.

STEP 2

Use a texture mat to add texture to both sides of your Clay.

STEP 3

Cut out 2 circles that are the same size. Cut a large oval in the centre of 1 circle. Cut a small circle near the top of the second circle.

STEP 4

Leave the pieces to dry thoroughly and then use sandpaper to refine the edges.

STEP 5

Torch fire each piece. Torch fire for a minimum of 2 minutes, time this from after the binder has burnt off and the piece starts to glow orange.

STEP 6

Polish using a Stainless steel brush and Burnisher.

STEP 7

To bring out the depth in the piece use an antiquing solution such as Liver of Sulphur or Platinol. Use the agate burnisher when the solution is dry to bring up the highlights on the piece. Loop a piece of cord around the top of both circles and your pendant is ready to wear.

This is a guest project designed by Jane Kharade. Jane is a craft designer who designs beautifully coloured pieces with the aid of clay, crystals and silver.

You will need:

• Rubber Stamp Mat – Fleur De Lis
• 7 x Silver jump rings   7mm heavy
• 2 x Silver jump rings   5mm heavy
• Silver curb chain 7”
• Silver 14.5mm plain Ring and Bar
• PMC3 – 25gm

Tools

• Scalpel 3 handle 10A blades
• 2 x Roller spacers
• Teflon mat
• Needle Files
• Hand held blow torch
• Soldering block
• Oxidising solution (Liver of Sulphur)
• Tweezers
• Pliers: round nosed, flat
• Emery paper fine, extra fine
• Wire brush/ metal burnisher

STEP 1

Carefully cut out four shapes from medium weight card. Use a 10A scalpel blade and a cutting mat then trim the card down on each one.

STEP 2

Roll out the PMC3 clay to approximately 1.5mm on a Teflon mat. Use a plastic roller, and two spacers to roll the clay to an even thickness. Lightly dust the Fleur De Lys rubber stamp with talcum powder and carefully but firmly press the PMC onto the stamp.
STEP 3

Carefully peel the PMC from the rubber stamp and lay it on the Teflon mat. Gently place the card template on top of the PMC and cut out the clay with a scalpel. Work quickly and cut out seven shapes in total, you may wish do make a couple of spares; choose the better ones for the bracelet and the spares can be made into pendants.

STEP 4

Use a 7mm Ø paintbrush protector and cut out a circle from the centre of each shape. Roll the clay into a ball and wrap it up immediately as it can be re-used.

STEP 5

Use a sharp instrument to make a hole in each charm for hanging.

STEP 6

Use a needle file to file all the rough edges on the charms, do this while the PMC is in its ‘dried out plaster’ state. The task will be time consuming once the PMC has been fired and is metal.

STEP 7

Fire the charms on a soldering block with a hand held blow torch. Make sure they glow steadily pale orange all over. Begin timing for 2.5 minutes – enough for pieces under 10g. This stage is known as ‘sintering’. Don’t worry if the charms become curved during firing. Simply leave them curved as I have or turn them over with tweezers and re-fire.

STEP 8

Oxidise the charms in a solution of Liver of Sulphur; use it in a well ventilated room as the fumes can be dangerous.

STEP 9

Polish the charms with emery paper, as the PMC is soft fine and extra fine will be sufficient to create a polished surface. Finish off by burnishing them with a metal burnisher.

STEP 10

Use pliers and add a 5mm jump ring to either end of a silver curb bracelet. Thread on the ring and bar and attach a 7mm jump ring to each charm and hang them from the bracelet. Make sure all of the jump rings are tightly closed. You have finished your Chunky Charm bracelet!

Designer Tip

Peel a little part of the clay away from the stamp and check that a good impression has been made in the clay. If the impression is weak simply apply more pressure to the clay with the fingers.

Make sure the holes made the charms for hanging will be big enough. As the charm shrinks during firing so will the holes.

Hope you enjoy the project and let us know what inspires you this summer!

This is a guest post by Tansy Wilson. Tansy is a professional jeweller and runs her business from beautiful rural Somerset. She also teaches a jewellery evening class at her local college. Tansy has a BA in 3-D Design and has been in the design industry for 20 years.

“I loved the pink and white swirls of their stunning glass marbled beads and this gave me the idea of creating the summery strawberries and cream theme influenced by the classic treat at Wimbledon or any summer picnic. I also used their Swarovski crystal pearls to compliment the design. The marble beads are sold in a mixed bag of 50 grams so you do not know what shapes you will receive so plan your design and then you can utilize all the beads you do get so you can make either a bracelet or necklace or both! What you can guarantee is that you know your piece will be truly unique. The daisy toggle clasp adds that extra summery garden feel and is such a pretty feature it won’t matter if you wear the clasp at the front or back.”

You will need:

Necklace

• 2 x 20 inch lengths of 0.5mm Beadalon elasticity
• 2 x silver crimp tubes 2.00mm long
• 1 x silver flower ring and bar clasp
• 21 x glass marble pink beads
• 40 Swarovski crystal pearl white beads 4mm
• 40 Swarovski crystal pearl rose beads 4mm

Bracelet

• 2 x 12 inch lengths of 0.5mm Beadalon elasticity
• 2 x silver crimp tubes 2.00mm long
• 1 x silver flower ring and bar clasp
• 7 x glass marble pink beads
• 24 Swarovski crystal pearl white beads 6mm

STEP 1

Look at all your beads in your mixed pack and decide what shapes you want to use to make your bracelet and necklace. Lay the beads out next to each other planning that an average adult bracelet length is 7½ inches long including the daisy clasp.

STEP 2

Cut two lengths of 0.5mm elasticity 12 inches long for the bracelet and two lengths that are 20 inches long for the necklace. Starting with the bracelet, hold the two 12 inch lengths together and thread onto both a 2mm silver crimp tube. Then thread both ends of elasticity through the jumpring on the daisy clasp and then back through the crimp tube. Slide the crimp tube up towards the jumpring so that the elastic is trapped nice and tightly making sure you still have long lengths of elasticity to bead onto. Using crimping pliers, squash the crimp tube so it secures the elastic and trim excess short ends away.

STEP 3

Starting with your first bead in your design, thread both lengths of elasticity through the hole of this bead.

STEP 4

Now split your elasticity and thread two 6mm white Swarovski crystal pearls onto one length and two 6mm white Swarovski crystal pearls on the other length.

STEP 5

Taking your next larger glass marble bead regroup the elasticity and again thread both lengths through the same hole of this bead. Keep repeating steps 4 and 5 until you reach your desired length of bracelet.

STEP 6

When you have finally added your last glass marble bead, holding both lengths of elasticity together, add another 2 mm silver crimp tube and this time thread both ends of elasticity through the loop on the bar of the clasp and then back down through the crimp tube. Ensure all the beads are nicely packed together before finally crimping in place. Cut off excess ends.

STEP  7

As each 50 gram pack of beads contains a mix you should have enough smaller beads to make a necklace. So again work out your design and lay out the beads planning a necklace that is at least 16 inches in length including the clasp.

STEP 8

Repeat steps 2 to 6 this time using the two lengths of 20 inch elasticity. As I am using smaller glass marble beads for this necklace, I have used 4mm Swarovski crystal pearls. When threading the pearls onto the divided elasticity, I have added one 4 mm white Swarovski crystal pearl and then one 4 mm rose Swarovski crystal pearl to add more colour then reversed this combination to create a pattern.

STEP 9

As you repeat the process of adding the Swarovski crystal pearls either side of each marbled bead try and plan your pattern so the colours alternate all the way down the necklace. Finally repeat step 6 to add the bar of the clasp and secure the necklace. The beauty of a 16 inch necklace on elasticity is you can always double it and wear as a bracelet!

STEP 10

You have completed the project. This is the finished Strawberries and Cream necklace. You can get everything you need to design it by clicking here. Have fun making your own!

You could also try…

Bracelet 

There may be odd shaped beads left over from your 50 gram mixed bag that you could make additional bracelets with. You could combine with beads you have already in your bead box to make quite a different style!

Designer Tip

- Using elastic rather than nylon coated wire means that putting your bracelet or necklace on and taking them off is easy and simple as you do not have to undo the clasp at all!

- If you order two packs of the mixed glass marble beads you will be able to be more selective with bead sizes and then have enough left over to make more designs for your friends!

This project has also been featured in Making Jewellery Magazine.