Definately Different Donuts!

A while ago I watched Debbie Bulford, guest designer for Jewellery Maker TV, use jewel enamel to add subtle colour to polymer clay.
I am not a user of polymer clay but I thought the technique definitely deserved trying out so I bought some translucent clay to have a go.

The clay has to be conditioned which means working it until it become really pliable and smooth. This took quite a bit longer than I was expecting but after a  little bit of work I had a thin smooth piece.
Then I sprinkled some jewel enamel onto the surface and worked it in adding extra in small amounts until I had a pale even colour. It was a bit like trying to work sugar into dense pastry, bits kept falling out but I presevered and eventually had an even coloured piece.
I started with a turquoise mix using aquamarine and apatite jewel enamel

once the jewel enamel granules were worked right through the polymer clay I divided it up and made small balls which I flattened and then using a straw cut a hole in the middle to create a donut

I then made some deep blue using Lapis Blue jewel enamel

and finally I made a subtle green using Apatite

I put all the donuts on a piece of baking paper and popped them into the oven at 120C for 15 minutes

At the end of this time I saw that the jewel enamel had not actually melted so I turned the oven up to 140C and returned the clay for another 5 minutes but watched carefully - I didn't want to burn the clay.

This time the jewel enamel had melted and the colour of the clay had darkened considerably.

The clay had a matte finish and looked a little like sea glass. However I decided to let it cool and apply a glaze which really brought out the colours

I have some suede cord and silver tribal spacer beads so I think I will make a necklace. Watch this space for the finished piece!!

A little Surprise

Some of you may remember that one of the Facebook groups I am in does a gift exchange occasionally.
The Autumn exchange was set over the summer and I was very lucky to be drawn to get a gift from the supremely talented Bev who does a wide range of jewellery skills but is stunning at beading. How she uses such tiny beads is beyond me.
One morning the postman brought a small box.......soooooooo exciting
And this is what was inside

this stunning small box all made from tiny seed beads with a little lid that I gently opened to find a pair of the most incredible earrings

The detail is stunning, the workmanship quite amazing - even these photos also taken by Bev are superb

I have made for the lovely Stacey who told me she wasn't into hearts and flowers and fussy; she loved lots of colours but blues, teal and turquoises were her favourites.

So I decided to go right back to my jewel enamel roots and create a colour gradation from light turquoise through to deep teal. 

yes you can see some hearts....after reading her message again I made a few more roundels and have kept the hearts for another project

I used these tiny roundels for charms which I added to a chain along with a quirky selection of metal charms.

a close up of the charms

I also poured some large hemispheres to make a pendant for a necklace

I poured  two sets so that I had a choice and then decided I quite liked a mixture

All the gifts are being photographed and uploaded to our group website mid September

This is such a lovely thing to do because we all have different talents and use such a variety of media

I expect we will do it again for Christmas