Crafts by Chris

Musings on beads, polymer clay and jewelry

dragonflies

It has been a LONG winter and I’m so ready for Spring and Summer. What says Spring and Summer more than bright colors and dragonflies? This beautiful bracelet was created by Kim Houston from my dragonfly gems. Kim’s bracelet is currently for sale on ebay and you can check it out here. Be sure to [...]

kato vs fimo

I was going to title today’s post, wild wednesday (to stay with my naming theme this week). The day has started out kind of wild. My 13 year old came down at 5:45am to tell me he thinks he has strep throat. Yikes! So, after getting the little one off to school, calling the older [...]

Spring!

Spring is my favorite season! I’m not even sure what kind of trees they are, but they have gorgeous pink blooms on them. When the blooms are almost spent and the wind blows, it looks like it’s snowing flower petals. Mother Nature really does put on quite a show.

On another note, I just received my [...]

experiments

I have a confession to make. Not everything I make turns out how I planned. Ok not a big deal, happens to everyone right? Here’s a pic of some recent experiments. I do have to say, that I always learn something from my experiments. For example, I learned that it’s quite difficult to drill a [...]

floating garden/dragonfly gems tutorial

(Adapted from Dona Kato’s layered “dichroic” effects tutorial.)
Supplies Needed:
~sterling silver bezel cups with loops*
~FIMO decorating gel
~foils (I used Jones Tones foils)
~liquid silver leaf (for the dragonfly gems)
~tiny polymer clay flowers (for floating garden) I used ones similar to those shown in my hibiscus cane tutorial.
Tools Needed:
~small ceramic tile
~small scissors
~heat gun
* I purchase my [...]

on the subject of fimo gel

My friend, Tina T. has been doing some fun things with Fimo decorating gel as well. I just love her mermaid focal.

upcoming tutorial

I’m working on a tutorial for the floating garden/dragonfly gems beads. If you would like to play along, I’ll give you the supply list now.

Materials:
sterling silver bezel cups with loops*
FIMO decorating gel
foils (I used Jones Tones foils)
liquid silver leaf (for the dragonfly gems)
tiny polymer clay flowers (for floating garden) I used ones similar to those [...]

dragonfly gems

Donna Kato was my first polymer clay idol and continues to top the list. These were adapted from Donna Kato’s layered “dichroic” effects tutorial. The colored foils give these an almost candy-like look.

Installed by SimpleScripts