A few silver clay pendants

Thought I would show you a few silver clay pendants I made ages ago. The first one I did in stages. I made the leaf first, fired it, and thought it looked a little boring, so I added the cubic zirconium. I wore it a couple of times but still wasn't happy with it. Finally added a bug. Someone once asked me if I coated a real bug with silver clay paste then fired it to make the pendant - eeeewwww, no way! I'm happy to say that the bug was made with wire and lump clay, and no insects were injured or killed in the process. The cabochons in the second and third pendants (rhodonite and snowflake obsidian respectively) were cut by me from roughs, and I'm quite proud of how nicely they're polished. These days I rarely cut stones as it is rather time consuming, and I rather spend my time making the actual jewelry. The silver clay roses and the snake were moulded/hand carved by me too. Hope you like them.

Time Fairy - My steampunk collage.

With all these steampunk talks and challenges on the Australian Beading Forum, I've been wanting to make something with this theme. Decided to try a mixed media collage using colour pencils, acrylics and water colours, as well as cut outs of bits and pieces and some rubber stamps and embossing powder. The inspiration came from a quote I found on the internet, by an actor named Jeremy Irons:

"We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams."

This is a work in progress. I plan to reduce the size of the collage, turn it into a resin coated cabochon, and use it as the focal for a necklace. I decided to draw the fairy myself and took photos of the watch parts, so I can use the collage whatever ways I like without having to worry about copyright issues. This is the first collage I've ever made, and I really enjoyed it and will definitely do more.

Tibetan style wire wrapped necklace

This necklace was made for one of the challenges on the Australian Beading Forum. From memory I think the theme was "Oriental". I decided to make an antique Tibetan style necklace, using a largish Peruvian opal bead I bought a while ago as the focal. Teamed it with coral, turquoise coloured howlite beads, small sterling silver beads, and a few cubic zirconium. The piece was constructed with sterling silver wire, patinaed with liver of sulphur then polished. I haven't actually been to Tibet but did visit a Tibetan village in Sichuan province in China a couple of years ago. Somehow these were the colours that stuck in my mind. I would love to go to Tibet one day but am just a little worried about altitude sickness as I did suffer a little from that even when we were in Sichuan. Please click on the photos if you would like a larger view.

Onyx, crystal and silver pendant

I made this pendant for this week's Year of Jewellery Challenge on the Australian Beading Forum, and the theme is "Art Deco". My take on the theme is to use strong colours and geometric shapes. The crystals are actually all the same colour (Swarovski clear AB) but somehow they came out different in the photos. The pendant was constructed with sterling silver wire then patinaed with liver of sulphur and polished again. I'm keeping this one for myself as I'm loving black jewelry at the moment.

A Moment in My Heart

I made this necklace for the the Silver Accessories Contest 2006 held by Art Clay Silver in Japan. The theme of the contest was "Moment". The pendant represents a moment of my childhood that I treasure, deep in my heart. I have always loved picking up fallen leaves, and I used to press them in books and turned them into greeting cards, bookmarks and pictures etc. There's a photo that my father took of me as a little toddler, with unruly hair, picking up leaves in a park. It's a moment that has been forever captured in my heart. The pendant was made out of silver clay, with a howlite cabochon and a few cubic zirconium stones set in it. The blue background behind the leaves was achieved with enamel. The little girl represents me. The shape of the pendant, you may notice, is that of a heart - it's a section of my heart where I hold all these fond memories. The piece was a finalist in the contest.

Goddess pendant

I made this piece for one of the monthly "Clay Play" challenges on the Australian Beading Forum, the theme of which was "release the goddess in you". The participants were allowed to use clay of any sort, including polymer clay, ceramic and metal clay. I must admit I'm not usually a fan of goddess style jewelry, but decided that I would give it a try. The pendant was made with bronze clay with a few cubic zirconium stones set in it. I used a mould bought on ebay for the goddess face, and sculpted a leaf and bail and added them to the goddess. The dangles were made with amethyst and Swarovski crystal beads. Teamed the pendant with a simple strung necklace using more amethyst beads and crystals. I chose amethyst because it's my birthstone, hence linking the whole piece to the theme. (Please click on the picture if you would like a larger view.)

I really love bronze clay - the colours are warm, rich and beautiful. I have found it quite easy to work with, perhaps because of my experience with silver clay, although the firing can be long and a little cumbersome. I'm hoping to try copper clay next.

Enamel Cat Pendant

Haven't posted anything for a little while as I have just returned from an overseas holiday. Anyhow, here is a picture of a work in progress - an enamel pendant I made sometime ago, still waiting to be turned into a proper pendant. I cut the shape out of copper sheet, then made the piece with various techniques including cloisonne and overglaze painting enamel. The pendant measures approximately 6.5cm x 4.8cm, and the white patch in the top right hand corner is just a light reflection (difficult to photograph because of its reflective surface). I have collected a few cabochons with matching colours, and will probably wire wrap them together with this. This piece (together with works from a few other members) was included in our lapidary club showcase (Parramatta-Holroyd Lapidary Club in Sydney) in the 2008 Gemkhana competition, and the showcase came first in that category.

I do like cats but unfortunately am allergic to their fur - I would sneeze badly if I touch them. Otherwise I would love to have one, maybe a Siamese or Persian.