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Monday 24 November 2014

12 Days of Christmas Jewellery




Hi Everyone
We are in week 3 (the final week) of the '12 days of jewellery @ thepapersac'. This week it's the Rounds Bead series. My jewellery item of the day is a pair of Stud earrings using a basic round punched shape. I've embellished the shape with a star - this star is a very thin version of the stars used in week 1 (10/11/12 post).
To make the Rounds range of beads, I used my pasta machine (number 2 setting) to prepare the clay for punching out (same process again as week 1). I used the middle size of round punch for my Round Star Studs (1cm across). A very small quantity of clay is required for a single pair of earrings. I planned to produce my whole Rounds series ie 4 jewellery pieces and prepared the basic beads as a batch. This planning does help make production times efficient. For each single round red shape, I made a thin star shape in Old Gold and baked the beads. I've placed the stars just off centre, I like the look this gives the piece.



The posts are glued onto the round shape after the first bake (to secure while I move to the next process). I embed the posts with a tiny piece of clay and mold into the round shape. I bake the bead again, this gives the earrings a smooth and clean, secure post for the back of the earring. The earrings are sealed and polished before packaging.
I'm making a few of these designs for little presents, they are ideal for placing in a cracker and quick to make. The gold stars give the earrings a festive theme and look pretty. As usual I've made myself a pair !

Hope you are inspired.

Thanks for reading.

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