Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Polymer Bead Necklaces

These were my very first canes applied to beads made in the late '90's. They were crudely strung and desperately needed re-stringing. I wore them a lot and actually still wear and enjoy them. Going on a five day little retreat on Saturday and will wear these. As I re-strung, I remembered way back when getting up an extra hour earlier to hand roll them (no bead rollers) and cure them before going to work.
When I was done re-stringing these, I moved on to the amber and coral beads from yesterday.
Amber and Coral:
One more box of beads emptied and strung! Well, ok, except for the one triangular amber bead with the little polymer clay turquoise stone in it (see yesterday's post). I'm saving that for another necklace. I'm very happy with the results and am amazed at the translucent depth of the amber in particular.
The amber is a choker and the coral hangs about 22". Finished both with sterling "S" clasps attached with french wire and crimps. Will pick up the crimp covers today.
I have to admit though, my arthritis did not like the sanding. I should have split it up over several days, but at the time, it didn't hurt. It was the next day that I couldn't close my hand.
The photos of the amber are OK, but for whatever reason, I could not get the coral to come out. I finally gave up and posted what I have. I think you get the general idea.
In the photo below, it looks like the one front long bead is a little hairy. The light just kept bouncing (it was the camera, not me-honest). I used sterling silver spacers purchased through Fire Mountain catalog.
The neck beads are vintage metal.
So now I will go clean up the results of this project and see what else I can get into today.

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