I have just finished posting the brief instructions for the designs I showed on the afternoon show on Jewellery Maker on Tuesday. I was given two kits and I made 4 designs out of each kit. All the designs were shown on the show and two of them were demonstrated.
When I unpack each kit I am pretty apprehensive because I have no idea what I am being sent and I know that I have got to make several designs from each kit, one of which needs to be intricate enough to be the subject of a one hour demonstration slot. I try to spend as much time as possible mulling over the possibilities because there a danger of rushing into the first piece without saving enough material for the other designs. I also need to be sure that I have different techniques to explain for the two demonstrations.
Working with gemstones brings many new challenges to someone who is used to the regularity of glass seed beads. Some ideas which may have worked well with size 8 Japanese glass beads turn out to be impossible with a graduated strand of gemstone rondelles. The flip side is that a few simple wrapped loop charms made with those same emerald rondelles can give a design a distinct character and individuality, which can never be achieved with mass produced glass beads.
To find these instructions click here.