Glittered Christmas Light Bracelet

Today I have a fun and relatively easy Christmas project combining polymer clay are Art Glitter.
These glittered Christmas lights could be used in decorations or as embellishments for mixed media projects or in this case for jewelry.
For this project I used:
Pardo Jewerly Clay in Ruby, Peridot and Gold
Art Glitter - Ultrafine Opaque - #1 - True Red, Ultrafine Transparent Neon - #241 - Fresh Lime, and Ultrafine Opaque - #65 - Old Gold
Antique brass spacer beads from Metal Gallery
Antique brass eye rings
Antique brass chain and toggle clasp
Art Glitter - Designer Dries Clear Adhesive (DDCA)

Begin by cutting one ball of Pardo clay into fourths.

Roll each of the quartered sections into a ball and then pinch and taper the end to form a teardrop shape.

Trim eye pins to about 3/4" long so that when they are inserted through the spacer bead and into the clay, they will not come through the bottom of the clay.  Insert the eye pins to secure the spacer beads to the fat end of the teardrops.

Roll the clay in glitter corresponding to the color of the clay.

Repeat with the other two colors.  And bake according to clay instructions.  Be careful not to over bake!

After baking, pull the pins back out of the clay, dip the pins in DDCA and re-insert into the clay for a secure hold.  To keep the glitter from shedding, brush on a layer of gloss acrylic sealer and let dry.

To finish, add jump rings and attach the "lights" to brass chain.  Attach a toggle claps to each end of the bracelet chain.

TIP:  The transparent glitter is a little lighter in texture than the opaque glitters and when baking may "disappear" into the clay if you over bake.  If this happens, simply let the bulb cool and then brush on a light layer of DDCA and reapply the glitter.  (Do not re-bake)

Please visit the Art Glitter Blog for more glittering project ideas!

Happy Holidays!

KC

Fall Crystal Necklace

Today I'm sharing a project that was inspired by the colors and textures of fall.  I love the fire and brilliance in Connie Crystal's colored crystal beads.  I mixed them with some metallic beads and copper and pewter colored seed beads and spacers.  The beaded section was then attached to vintage copper chain.  I like to mix beaded necklaces with chain for a few reasons - 1- I have long hair, and it makes no sense to do a full beaded necklace, when the back half will never be seen.  2-  I like the additional mix of textures from smooth, shiny beads, to vintage (or vintage-like) chain.  3- I find the chain to be more comfortable on my neck than beads. I also think the necklaces go together faster.  This necklace took me less than an hour - start to finish.





Detailed Instructions:

I began by gathering some of the Connie Crystal beads I had on hand in a fall color pallet.  Most of these colored beads are available in Connie Crystal Sun Catchers, but if you have a wholesale account, you can request specific beads or colors in bulk.

I selected and arranged the beads that I wanted to use for the necklace.

Then I raided my jewelry stash to come up with some metal beads, seed beads, spacers and chain.

I threaded a copper head pin through a small red crystal bead and the into the large copper focal bead and formed a loop at the top.  The small crystal bead at the bottom keeps the headpin from being swallowed by the large bead, as this bead has a larger hole.

I used Metallic Copper Soft Flex - about 18", a copper colored jump ring, and a copper crimp bead.  Thread the crimp bead onto the bead wire, run the wire through the jump ring and back through the crimp bead.  For the jump rings, I like to use split rings - the kind that are like a double loop - for a more secure hold.

After crimping securely, I trimmed the excess wire so that it could be concealed with the first bead.  For this, make sure that the first bead that you string on has a hole big enough for the end to tuck inside - a small seed bead won't work.

I continued beading the first half of the beaded section, alternating larger beads with seed beads and spacers.

I ran the wire through the loop at the top of the focal bead, and then reversed the bead pattern going up the second side.

After completing the bead pattern, I added a crimp bead, copper jump ring and brought the wire back through the crimp bead and first bead.  I crimped the crimp bead and trimmed the wire below the first bead. 

Then I attached copper chain to both of the jump rings.  This necklace was made long enough that I could get it over my head without a clasp, but since I may decide to sell it, I wanted to add a clasp.  To do this I simply found the center point on chain section and opened it up to add a lobster claw clasp on one side and a jump ring on the other.

Finished necklace against a light neutral background.

Finished necklace against a darker background.

As you can see, the mix of fall colors makes this a very versatile necklace.  Which color do you like it with?

Be sure to check out all the beautiful crystals and beads at Connie Crystal!!

And please visit the Connie Crystal Blog for more crystal projects, tips and tricks!

KC