A Little Bit of Old, A Little Bit of New

by Susan Anderson.
As I was cleaning up the scraps on my work table I just could not bear the idea of discarding even the smallest pieces of copper wire. “What can I do with this?” is always the next question on my mind.

Finished Polymer Clay and Copper Necklace

The Ah! Ha! moment hits, when I see a piece of polymer clay- a textured pendant with pieces of copper wire comes to mind.

The clay is conditioned, rolled into a rectangle, then further cut into 2 parts- one for the base, one for the bail. I have to be honest, I never strive for perfection with my cuts, rather preferring a more organic look. I also do not measure, but eyeball the sizes.

Close Up of Pendant

To texture the bail, I go high tech. I find a patterned stamp, spritz it with water, place the polymer clay on it, cover that with a piece of paper, and put a wooden block on top. It is laid on the floor where I can easily step on it applying quite a bit of pressure. When opened, I have a very nice, deeply textured piece of clay.

For the base, first I pressed some texture onto the clay. After that, the pieces of copper wires were added, followed by more texturing.

Necklace Chain with Copper Spirals

To make the bail, clay was curved around a small round stick, creating an opening large enough for wire to thread through. Liquid clay adheres the bail and the pendant together. It is smoothed out and a final strip of copper wire is added.

A highlight of gold metallic paint was applied, before curing. Once cured, it is immediately submerged into a bowl of ice water, making the clay very hard.

Back of Pendant

Now of course, I couldn’t stop there, so using some new pieces of heavier gauge copper wire, several spirals, links and a decorative clasp were made.

A piece of wire was fed through the bail and two loops at each end closed it in place. Digging into my Bits & Pieces Jar, I found some small sections of chain and two lonely beads that were looking for some place else to hang out.

Then it was just a matter of assembling the necklace. So that is how I use a little bit of old and a little bit of new to make a piece of jewelry.

Susan Anderson
EarthyByDesign
EarthyByDesign at Etsy