Making a new jewelry series....

I've been working on a new series of colorful rainbow jewelry for a while now and am so happy to let you know they're finished! They'll be available online at my website very soon. To be notified when they're available, join my mailing list if you haven't already and you'll be among the first to know.

Here's some pictures and videos of the new pieces being made.....

This video shows a large circle bead being made in the flame of a torch, using the lampwork technique:

After being made in the flame, the bead goes directly into a kiln to anneal, which makes them more durable. These are the circle beads like the one in the video after annealing.

I also made many round beads with a wavy rainbow pattern. Each bead is made freeform. I don't use any molds, only shaping tools like graphite paddles, tweezers and dental picks.

These are jewelry components made from an amazing material, silver metal clay. It's worked like clay then fired in the kiln. The binder burns out and only 99.9% fine silver is left, This is what they look like before firing.

After firing, the flat discs in the picture above are hammered into a dome shape.

Then they get a patina in a stinky liver of sulfur bath that causes the silver to oxidize and blacken.

After polishing, they're ready to be used in a piece of jewelry. I use a small piece of silver tubing to attach the caps to each bead with a rivet.

Here's the finished pendants and earrings....

And a one of a kind necklace....

I also use my riveting press and a larger silver tube, to line the large circle beads with silver. This video shows it being done.

The finished beads...

The beads made into necklaces.....

I hope you enjoy these pictures and videos! :) Larissa