Friday, January 24, 2014

Egyptian Inspired Jewelry

I love the clean, simple lines of Egyptian jewelry. This piece was inspired by a collection at the Metropolitan Museum. It is an elegant piece of jewelry, but the project is one that even a young artist can be success with.


I started by extruding several lines of clay using different tips to see which would give me the look I was trying to achieve. I decided on the finest full round tip for this jewelry piece.


I extruded a 24" length of clay on my work table. Measuring the clay helps ensure size consistency from piece to piece. You could also roll the clay into a long, slender snake by hand. The extruder makes it quicker—and I'm an instant gratification kind of gal. ☺


I worked flat on the table, rotating the disc rather than trying to wrap the length of clay around the outer edge. I used a coffee stir as the foundation for the coiled bead. Carefully rotated the stir with one hand while guiding the length of clay around it with the other.

When I was finished with the coiling, I gave each piece a gently water wash with a soft brush dipped in warm water. After the pieces were dry I coated them with Duo Adhesive and Brilliant Gold Gildenglitz. Alternatively, you could coat the pieces with a gold metallic acrylic paint. Here you can see the disc and coiled bead during the gilding process.

Coiled bead

Coiled disc base

I used E6000 to attach the coiled bead to the center of the disc and to and a pin finding to the back of the disc. My Egyptian inspired pin look fabulous on a dark jacket lapel!!



Mark your calendars for our blog hop on February 8!! Lot's of fab projects to share.


2 comments:

Dianie said...

this is wonderful! Such a pretty piece of jewelry.

~Diane

Charmed Confections said...

My mom loves Egyptian jewelry too. Will have to try this. Thanks Carole ... LeeAnn