As everyone who has ever succumbed to the lure of beading knows, a
great deal of the fun is found in "putting things together" and
finding JUST the right bits and pieces. A strand of shells or coral here,
some glass leaves there...
There are so many KINDS of beads, and so many colors, that it really is neccessary to have quite a few on hand for a full "pallette".
A designer needs some choices! You don't have to own a warehouse...but a few strands here and there will always be useful eventually!
Collections grow along the way and while it may take a while, interesting things eventually find their right "home" in a project.
It takes a lot of looking and digging through to unearth those little treasures and bring together all the needed elements for collage, costume, and jewelry work
Its never wise to pass up beads or components that catch
your fancy JUST because they aren't what you need at the moment.
In fact, if you regretfully pass on beads that you've found but have no project in mind for, chances are very good they will be a vital--and now missing-- piece in some design right around your creative corner.
The necklace seen above uses some of my collected beads including Bali silver along with branch coral and a fused glass pendant by Margie Drake. There are four strands of intertwined beads in this piece.
Mad Margie also made the fused glass cabochon in the purple fringed necklace seen at left. Fringe is so luxurious--I love the motion that fringe imparts to a piece!
The purple and silver necklace shown below was made with more Bali silver, glass, and polymer clay beads made of scraps of canes that were created in our Best Faces Forward project at our local Columbine Elementary School.
Lentil beads (so called for the shape) are great places to use up bits and pieces, and to display cane designs. Nothing need go to waste with polymer clay!
Of course, a proper collection takes some care to put together. This
requires maintaining a small treasure trove of things waiting to find their
place, and keeping an eye out for new additions.
Polymer clay beads can tie together an entire grouping of many different kinds of items, and make them all "fit together".
I like to use small plastic ziplocks to bag my treasures, and I have them sorted by color grouping. Clear plastic clamshell boxes purchased from American Science & Surplus for a few dollars per dozen allow me to keep small bags and bundles together and viewable too!
(Be forewarned that this surplus sales site has some fascinationg and
fabulously priced items useful for artists, and their paper catalog makes
for very funny reading)
By collecting FIRST, I can easily search to find what I'm looking for and not even have to leave the studio! A charm here, a bead there, some buttons and a few more beads...maybe a pendant...and a necklace is born.
Polymer clay allows for making beads and pendants that can pull a collection together, and is versatile enough for a thousand different looks.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Some my necklaces have even appeared in books and magazines, like the Faux
Ivory Tassel Necklace and Kimono Tassel Necklaces shown above, and the red and black Quilt Block Charm necklaceat left. It is made with quilt block cane slices by Judith Skinner from out book "Adapting Quilt Patterns To Polymer Clay"
Each combines many hadmade polymer clay beads with metalic, antique glass, and modern glass beads. There are often vintage buttons used in stringing these treasures as well. Antique buttons are also used in making molds that become parts of new beads.
Polymer clay's versatility can be a real help in converting older pieces, or "broken" bits that are too nice to toss. Earrings can become pendants, or pins, and pins can become necklaces!
The textural and color ranges that can be done with polymer clay allow for matching other items, and imitating other media. Any outfit or accessory can be successfully matched or coordinated. Its a designer's dream material!
I like to mix many kinds of beads in my necklaces, and polymer clay goes with all of them.
The lavish Cobalt and Faux Bakelite Necklace (shown right) appeared
in the August 1998 issue of Bead & Button Magazine ("Great
Impressions").
It features cobalt glass, and lapis beads, along with polymer beads made using molds of vintage buttons, and many other techniques, including filigree and canework. This necklace is a single strand of spectacular beads.
Although it has a certain amount of weight to it due to the number and size of the beads, the equivilant amount of glass beads would be much heavier.
The same batch of beads was used to produce the Cobalt, Faux Bakelite & Face Pendant Necklace (shown below) with very different results.
 |
 |
 |
I love using faces that I create using polymer clay, ceramics, or metal clays. After making an original and then a silicon mold, I can create as many faces as I like, and use then for necklaces or dolls.
 |
 |
Multistrand pieces like the "Hand Me The Moon Necklace" take a little while longer to string but they are worth it. The moon cane slices have been pierced at the
top and wired to become dangles.
There are also moon beads scattered throughout. Small hand beads mix with crystals, stars, coins, and more five separate strands. Each end is capped to create a smooth finish with a lobster claw clasp.
The gold and cream necklace beside it has a face pendant for the center piece. It also has beads made from fish vertebrae...all sorts of things can become beads.
Here are some other hand bead necklaces. They can be strung up with very simple elments like the leather cord and bells with faux coral beads at right, or with more beads like the two shown below. I love the faux ivory mixed with the fossilized coral on the left! But its the simpler mehndi hand necklace that I wear more often.
 |
|
 |
 |
