Many people who see me working on jewelry at shows will say, “You must be so patient to work with those little beads!”. My normal response is, “Beads don’t talk back!”.
Now, I find myself longing to create my OWN focal pieces for my popular brooch bracelets and bridal necklaces. I am a huge fan of the Art Deco period, so I set out to figure a way to create these pieces. Several months and much research later, I ordered Ferido- a colored 2-part epoxy resin. Once mixed, you have 75 minutes to shape, cut, design, and press crystals and rhinestones into the surface. It sounded fairly simple. I drew out a design, mixed the 2 parts, and formed a small rectangle. Into this practice pendant, I pressed clear cubic zirconia shapes. In order to make the “silver” (read: gray) Ferido look like metal, I spray painted the pendant with metallic spray paint. Problem #1: it still doesn’t look like metal. Problem #2: the CZ’s came right out when I gently pulled on them with my fingernail. What is strange is that the bezel-set ring that I made at the same time worked out perfectly! Needless to say, I was frustrated and disappointed.
As a very impatient person (surprised?), I wanted to give up. But my husband encouraged me to try again- we exchanged the spray paint for a “Chrome” version today, and I got some molding and shaping tools. Perhaps if I can press the crystals in further, they will stay in place. After all, this is not just a clay, but an adhesive! I will be sure to update the story on my Facebook page soon!
It’s not easy to be persistent- my husband seems to have enough patience for two people (good thing)! But I really want to make this work. So I will try, try again!
