Securing post earrings - how I do it

Although I've never had a problem with backs coming off of post earrings, I know cyanoacrylate
 glue (Super Glue) can break down with time. So I decided to start covering/securing posts by enclosing them with another thin layer of polymer clay. This is the process I've come up with. 

(Sorry for the blue photos - dang this winter light!) 

First, I glue the earring back in place with cyanoacrylate glue and allow to dry. This will hold the post in place still while I work.

My materials are...the earrings, small piece of scrap computer paper, small lump of clay the same color as the back of the earrings, tiny needle, tiniest circle Kemper cutter, blade and Genesis medium (you could use liquid polymer but the Genesis is thicker and does ooze as much). 

 I roll the clay very thin (second to the thinest setting on my pasta machine) and cut 2 circles with the Kemper cutter. 

I put a small dot, just as a marker really, in each of the circles of clay using a small needle. And I put a hole in the paper using the same needle. 

Next I put a thin layer of Genesis medium on the back of the earring.

 I put one of the circles onto the earring back and push it all the way down to the base. 

Then I put the paper right over the post, all the way down to the clay circle. I've shown it here in one hand but I actually use both hands, pinching with thumb and forefinger, pushing the paper down, turning the earring as I go, making the clay circle flatter and flatter to the earring. Pull the paper up, check the clay, push flatter if you need to. Until it looks like this... 

This is what they look like when they're finished, just about perfect circles, no texture, smooth against the ear. (I've already darkened the earrings so that the circles that I just made show up but normally I would do my finial finish with acrylic after they are cured.) It really doesn't take very long at all to do this extra step and I think it will increase the strength and longevity of my earrings going forward.

And I'm all about going forward.  

A bit about the next things

One project flows into the next...so I shouldn't be sitting here playing with shavings. It looks like I should be cleaning.

Two new shops will soon be carrying my work. Watch for Jibby and Juna in Atlanta and Austin this spring.

And...drum roll... I will be included in a book about polymer clay coming out next year! This will take up a lot of my time and attention over the next couple of months and will probably mean that the Etsy shop, when re-opened, will be limited (because unfortunately there are still only 24 hours in a day).

Off you go...

Our daughter leaves for college one week from today. (can this really be happening?)

I made this necklace for her (and a couple like it for the shop). This type of beading is rather calming when the world feels like its rushing by.

So very timely...found a back to school treasury I was in over at The Handmade Gift Guide today!

And so...

...someone has copied some of my pieces. Its was unsettling to come upon their Etsy shop, a bit like seeing your own head on another body. My designs are simple so maybe this is an unfortunate but natural side effect.

They openly state in their shop that they are "inspired" by me. Now I've had people say that before, that is, they see something I did, they change the ideas, they make their own, they let me know they posted a picture on their blog or flickr and its humbling and kind ( and exciting). That is not wrong. We learn from each and then we can make the KNOWLEDGE, not the item, our own. And when everyone plays by the rules...it's actually great! Those with more knowledge have more of a "reserve" from which to share and the rest of us need to be respectful of that. (and to heighten the effect you can do what I do and stand in the Ford/Forlano booth at ACC and weep ;-)


No, inspiration is something completely different than copying. So where is the dividing line? MOST of us don't want to step over that line - me included!


Forging head with new rings, new necklaces, new earrings!

Time is almost up

Just a few more hours to save 20% off in my Etsy Shop. Use Christmas20 in the coupon code section at check out!

Restocked Stone Upon Stone Rings today. They continue to be my most popular piece. (I am sure being dubbed "cool" by Cynthia Tinapple was what did it!)


Lest you think I live a wonderfully bohemian/artistic life, the rest of my day went like this...upsetting orthodontist visit, ruined a custom carved ring and had to start over, bat in bedroom.

And thats where I am right now. Waiting for my husband to get home from work to save us from Dracula. This has happened before and we've found that a Lacrosse stick can be wildly effective. I think we'll eat out tonight.

I hope that you are having a much better day!

Cyber Sale

I'll be having a Christmas Sale in my Etsy shop Monday, November 29 - November 30. Use coupon code Christmas20 at check out to get 20% off.

Winter soul

I've been in a lot of treasuries lately. This one really says winter to me.

Very clever

Mary of MaryMade purchased one of my Stone Upon Stone rings a few months back. She was kind enough and clever enough to include the ring in one of the photos of her recent listing of her beautiful Blueberry cowl! Aren't those colors wonderful?


I, in turn, chose her cowl as the inspiration for my current treasury.


See how much fun advertising can be?!

Carving

I have my first carved piece (earrings) finished and posted on my shop.

Part of the way through the process the design changed. The top photo shows my original plan for the drop (top left) and the bottom two show how the earrings eventually came out. This happens a lot with me. I sometimes think "it must look like I have no plan" but the truth is I always start with a plan...I am just very willing to change it if things head another direction.

I have a thing for rings

I have a growing collection and a keen interest in more exotic varieties. I often match my clothing to my ring, not my ring to my clothing. Perhaps that gives you a better picture of my weakness.

You'll understand my excitement when visiting UnaOdd's studio over Thanksgiving weekend and finding one of these little, engraved, acrylic numbers on her work table! I gave the proto-type a test drive.


I was thrilled to see she had started posting them to her shop. At just $12 each they are a real deal! They are comfortable and sturdy but so amazingly light weight! Which one should I get?


If you share my weakness for rings also check out The Carrot Box!

Scoutie Girl Gift Guide

I happened upon my own earrings on the Scoutie Girl Gift Guide tonight! Hurrah for gray! So thrilled to be in the company of other talented folks including my good friend Lynn (UnaOdd).

Now I am considering if, at 41, I could get away with those leggings. Aren't they lovely?

Relatively unrelated

Enjoying some shots I took for my Etsy supply shop, Box Lot. Simple shapes, nice light. Unrelated to anything else here but pleasing to my eye.

Learning a new language

I haven't been in the studio much these past two weeks. The rest of the things that I am responsible for in life seem quite pressing (homeschooling, peeling apples, buying new pants for boys who seem to grow over night). Then there have been days when its just so lovely...that I go here instead.


I think thats ok though. Seeds of inspiration often get planted on days such as the one pictured above.

I did start making lots and lots translucent "shell" beads, as my friend Natalie calls them.



They made an appearance in this necklace that took me months to complete. ("Why?" I ask myself because it isn't really a complicated piece in any way.)

Mentally for me though it was a departure in that being trained as a metal smith I often still design/think in metal. Then I translate to polymer, modify and moved on. This is the first piece that, in my head at least, I felt like I thought through the process in the new language (polymer). I designed it to lay asymmetrically against the neck by stringing, trying on, stringing, trying on. I'd like to be able to get a little more control over that process.

Make new friends, and keep the old.

When I signed up for Etsy in February of 2008 I did not expect to "find" a dear friend from college, Lynn of UnaOdd, but I did. (Check out her 6 Friends Cube.) Nor did I expect to find new friends. Again, I was wrong. I have "met" quite a few really nice folks, artists with whom I can talk shop and from whom I can LEARN (always learning, always learning).

Since I started selling a selection of "supplies" I sometimes also have the great honor of part of my work becoming a small part of another artist's work. Its humbling, really. I was honestly surprised when Michele, from Michele's Art Jewelry, purchased my Orange beads a couple weeks ago. Within a week or so she had incorporated them into her own earthy necklace titled Total Meltdown which is now listed in her Etsy shop. I like that she chose a decidedly asymmetrical focal point for this piece.


I'm a fan of chunky bracelets - check out her Mardi Gras Bracelet. Those big beads are great, aren't they?!

Treasure!

I've currently found myself in two incredible autumn treasuries! I thought I'd share them here along with some of my favorites from the curator's Etsy shops.

First, the aptly titled "Autumn Cool Down" by UnaOdd, an excellently chosen grey and spice collection.


I love UnaOdd's new polymer pendants, especially the one below. I went to college with Lynn and am the proud owner of several of her pieces. Her sense of design is amazing and her work is always impeccable.


...And another Early Fall treasury by My Selvaged Life. (Those with a quirky sense of humor will really like the Poe Paper Dolls.)

Check out Heather's great Cicada Song necklace! I love it - very "Smithsonian Natural History".

Thanks Lynn and Heather!

Hey...

...aren't those my beads?


Well, they WERE my beads (the 3 earthy green ones) or I should say I made the beads but then Lorelei Eurto purchased them, worked her magic and voila! This bracelet is already available in her Etsy shop.

Back to school

The kids and I are on day three of a complete cleaning and re- organizing of the classroom in preparation to start school on September 2. Time management is not my strength. I thought for sure two solid days of work would complete the task. But alas...we continue. Perhaps by the end of the day today we'll be done.


The UPS man has been a frequent visitor with boxes of supplies arriving daily. I mourn the fact that full days in my studio are coming to an end for the year but the kid's excitement for the learning that lies ahead is infectious!


In celebration I am offering a BACK TO SCHOOL special in the Etsy shop. August 28-September 2 all $12 post earrings are 1/2 off with any other purchase. (applies to any $12 posts already in my shop)

Button Down

Upon the request of Sarah from Old Glory Woolen Co, I am working on some polymer buttons. (I was already working a large focal button for a great sweater I have that sports a bland, single, black button at the chest so the timing was fortuitous!) Its exciting to work on a functional item and think that this coming winter, someone may ward off a chill by buttoning a lovely handmade sweater with one of these!


It wasn't a huge leap from some of my earrings and pendants really since the techniques are essentially the same. I'll be offering them in the etsy shop after I finish Sarah's order.

Necessity...the mother of re-invention

The very first pieces I posted to Etsy were my mini watercolor illustrations set in polymer bezels. (polymer + interest in illustrating children's books = watercolor illustration jewelry...follow the math?)


I worked for months before I made one piece that I was happy with. But even after that each bezel was a struggle because I didn't want to use a mold and lose that slightly organic look. I can not tell you how many bezels I formed around the glass, then scrapped. Formed another, then scrapped it.



Finally, after a year and a half I had a eureka moment while wrestling a bezel and came up with a different, significantly better, cleaner, more consistent method. I can't say I "invented" anything here. Surely all I did was realize I could use my tissue blade in a different manner but wow, am I happy with the results! Its more geometric (although I can totally lose those corners if I want to) but I really like that contrast to the round glass. This new earring design will hit the shop soon.