Monday, September 12, 2011

In The Groove

I have been working through some practice projects for my new faux bone and ivory tutorial and honing some recipes which I hope are a little more interesting for you than the standard stuff.  

Some unusual things have come from all these exercises, and my mind is now wandering toward other applications the recipes may have.
Thursday night, I worked straight through without stopping until around 10:00 Friday morning.    

Saturday night, I went to bed not intending to work at all on Sunday, but woke up at 3:00 a.m. with an idea for these faux terra cotta curved beads which nagged at me until I made a few.  I only sanded these with 400 grit sandpaper, but I sanded them for almost an hour.  I buffed them after sanding but thought they looked too shiny, so I hit them again with the 400 to take the shine off, then rubbed them with my fingers.  I let the natural oils in my fingers give them a bit of a patina.   

These faux bone and faux ivory buttons and beads were sanded through 8 grits of wet-dry sandpaper before being buffed with a Dremel.   I know, I know.  I am obsessed with sanding, but I can't help it.  If it isn't sanded and buffed, it feels unfinished. 

I really had to hold myself back from sanding the terra cotta beads through all 8 grits, too.  I love making these buttons, they are so much fun to do!

I'm waiting on a shipment of clay, and I hope to finish up the new tutorial in the next week.  I've still got a few more ideas to play with before the tutorial debuts. 

If you'd like to see more of the faux bone, check out my flickr photostream Faux Bone Photoset


           





10 comments:

ClickNCamera said...

Holy Cow! These are amazing...I don't think I pick a favorite, I love them ALL!

Roberta Warshaw said...

You love sanding?????? Can you come to my house and sand for me......I hate it like poison. I'll do anything not to have to sand.....lots of textures. Can't sand those. Too bad....

Diva Designs Jewelry said...

Thank you both.

Yes, Roberta, I'm a sanding fool. :)

Marlene Brady said...

Simple elegance. Beautiful. I'm with Roberta....are you sick? You love sanding?

m.e. said...

I LOVE those buttons !!!
Great for jewelry or clothing !
I can just image a fabulous hand knit sweater with those gorgeous buttons !!! sigh......
Lynda you are such a wonderful person that I can over look the fact that you love sanding... LOL!!!
Do Not be tempted to touch those Terra cotta beads !
They are PERFECT!!!!
this a wonderful eye candy post made my day !
m.e. :)

Lupe Meter said...

Love your faux ivory and bone...these really are amazing! I am not a fan of sanding but when I want something to look fantastic, I will definitely sand and sand till I like what I see.

SueBeads said...

Wow, they are just beautiful!!!! All of them!!!!

Diva Designs Jewelry said...

Thank you all so much for the encouragement and compliments, my friends! :)

Diane said...

I'm seriously going through withdrawal waiting for your new tutorials Lynda. Do you have a date that you will be listing them?

Diane

Diva Designs Jewelry said...

Hi, Diane. I am working hard to finish up the faux bone tutorial. I hate to give you a date, but I hope, hope, hope it will be in the next two or three days. I had to start again after erasing two weeks worth of photos, and had to order more clay. I am trying to come up with recipes that are not the same old stuff and interesting projects that will appeal to all my customers, some of whom don't create jewelry. It's been the hardest one to write so far! I appreciate your patience.