A Bevy of Bezels

February 10, 2019

First, a quick announcement … the new Polymer Journeys 2019 book is now available for pre-orders!

As usual, we offer a HUGE discount for pre-ordering: $7 off the print edition cover price and $4 off the digital edition. So jump to our website to pre-order this great tome of beautiful polymer art with artist’s insights into their work as well as a historical retrospective that we hope will help continue to elevate how people see polymer in the art world and beyond.

Now onto a Bevy of Bezels …

What is your favorite kind of polymer bezel setting? Would you say you even have one? Let’s be honest, when it comes to bezels do most of us really give them a lot of thought? Some people really do but I think for many of us, when we do create one, it is probably not much more than a functional element we need in order to hold and maybe frame a stone or focal element. So, I thought this week we would take a look at what else you could do and where you can take the functional, and often essential, bezel.

Like any other element on your jewelry that can be seen, a bezel is a part of the piece’s design and so their form and finish should be quite consciously decided, which means, with polymer clay there’s a tremendous range of things that can be done with it. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with the bezel been simple and primarily functional, as long as it makes sense for the design.

That said, let’s get to the interesting point … there is so much you can do with bezels and bezel style settings in polymer clay! I could yammer on and on about all the things you can do but I think it’s better to just show you. Make notes and start considering what you do with the clay that holds in the focal pieces on your creations and how you can expand on it.

A World of Bezels

One of my favorite bezel-ers, Chris Kapono, has the most wide-ranging ways to hold down a stone with polymer. Her tile and home decor pieces are also a great examples of how bezels can be used for pieces other than jewelry. She has many more tricks up her sleeve in this regards as seen on her Flickr photostream and in her Etsy shop.

Susan Waddington has always been one of my favorite polymer bezel makers. Her bezels are almost always black but are formed into pretty much anything but a basic square or circle and they are textured and inset with additional embellishments to work with the focal piece. This one may be a decade old but it is still inspiring as is her entire collection shown on her Flickr page. I don’t think she does much polymer any more so you have to scroll down past her paintings although looking through them is no hardship either.

A bezel can also be made from individual bits, all lined up. As seen in this pendant by Elsie Smith. The setting around this bezel continues the radiating lines that those lined up little squares start around the gem.

A bezel does not have to be symmetrical, continuous, sit with the stone or focal point straightforward or even completely surround what it’s holding. These pendants by Switzerland’s Chandani of ChaNoJa Jewerly on Etsy give you a few examples of non-traditional bezel settings with polymer.

And don’t be afraid to consider creating, or having a metalsmith create, metal bezels to put your polymer clay creations into. Making her own custom precious metal bezel settings is standard for Grace Stokes’ beautiful jewelry as seen here.

The How-Tos of Polymer Bezeling

Now, if you’ve not created polymer bezels before, or you would like a refresher or some jump-start, hands-on ideas, there quite a number of tutorials and such that you can reference.

Here’s a super quick way to make a bezel that works especially well for small round stones and crystals.

  1. Roll up a ball of clay about the width of the stone you want to set
  2. Press the ball flat but not too thin then press the stone or crystal into it.
  3. Gently push the sides of the clay in towards the stone so that the clay sits up around its edges and holds it in. At this point it can be further embellished with powders.
  4. Then just scoop it off your work surface using a blade and place it on your piece, maybe with just a tiny touch of liquid polymer to guarantee its adhesion.
  5. You can embellish it further here too. Just impress dots or lines into it with a needle tool, being careful not to move the clay away from the stone’s edge and lose its grip on it.

That’s it! It’s a super quick and easy bezel. It can be used on other shapes besides round too. You just have to shape the clay to the same size and shape as the stone before you press it into the clay.

By the way, you can see this quick set bezel and how I often use them in Issue #1 of The Polymer Studio in my tutorial, “Shimmering Scenery Pendants”. That same tutorial also shows you how to make an easy polymer clay frame which can readily be used as a bezel setting in addition to the techniques use for frame setting surface treated polymer sheets. Get your issue or a subscription if you don’t have it already. Single issues are only $7.95 in print, $5.95 digital, and that’s for eight detailed tutorials plus other fantastic articles. Can’t even buy one tutorial for that!

For a polymer bezel similar to traditional metalsmithing bezels, take a look at Tina Holden’s tutorial on her blog here. She shares her basic bezel and then some ways to embellish that are very easy to do but give the bezels a very rich look.

For a dainty frame bezel frame with filigree, there is this classic filigree tutorial here. If you stop after the first rim is placed on and cured, you have a bezel frame for cabochons or cut polymer sheets. But the filigree stuff is fun if you have the patience for it. The text’s English may sound a little wonky because it will be translated but it’s worth trying nonetheless.

If you want, or need, to create bezels quickly, you might want to look into purchasing Cabezel molds from Shades of Clay. These molds allow you to create a frame and a perfectly fitting cabochon for it in seconds. Once you have the basic frame molded you can expand on the setting in the area beyond the bezel frame or embellish the bezel itself so although it’s a mold, it has a lot of room for customization. Shades of Clay is a great resource for all kinds of unique polymer related supplies as well. (Keep in mind, this is a Canadian retailer, so the pricing is in Canadian dollars although Wendy does ship via USPS. To estimate what it will be in US dollars, deduct about 25%.)

Got Bezels?

Do you have any great bezels of your own? Or are you aware of any other great tutorials for polymer bezels? Leave links and comments in the comment section below. If you get the this by email click here to leave a comment. Myself and many a reader here would love to see more.

Its Time! The Polymer Studio Subscriptions & Bonus Gifts

Today we’re going to do a little bit of business but it is exciting business!

I am so pleased to announce that subscriptions to The Polymer Studio are finally available online. I appreciate your patience while we worked all the kinks out in our new website but yes… there is also a new website! Tenthmusearts.com will house all of our publication information, purchasing, the biggest polymer resource list in the world, and your account if you’re a subscriber. We are very excited about the beautiful new layout and worked to make it as easy as possible to navigate but if you have any suggestions, don’t hesitate to write us.

If you subscribe now, before the end of the month, or you are an existing subscriber to The Polymer Arts rolling over into the new magazine subscription, you will receive a couple of gifts to thank you for your support and to hold you over until January when the first issue comes out: bonus discounts and a video magazine!

Bonus Discounts! Subscribe before the end of the month and we will send out an email with exclusive discounts worked out with some of your favorite online polymer shops. As we enter the holiday season, you can use these discounts to purchase gifts as well as stock up on your own goods all while supporting small independent businesses run by polymer artists and enthusiast like yourself. You’ll get discounts and deals from the likes of Christi Friesen, Shades of Clay, Linda’s Art Spot, Nemravka.cz, Helen Breil, ilove2Craft, Lisa Pavelka, The Whimsical Bead, and Tenth Muse Arts. Give us 1 business day to get that discount email to you.

Video magazine! What is a video magazine? It’s just what it sounds like—a collection of videos on a number of related subjects, collected much like articles in a magazine. This is an idea I started looking into earlier in the year and I will wrap up my first trial edition to share with all new and existing subscribers—you get to be my exclusive viewers who can help me shape this into a possible future publication or bonus material for magazine subscribers. Not sure where this is going yet but it sounded like fun for us all!

For this trial video magazine, you get to hang out with me in my studio and Tenth Muse headquarters for a behind-the-scenes peek at how we put together a magazine, as well as seeing a number of product demonstrations and technique tips. I’m still working out details on the other cool things going into this but I guarantee it will be a great time and should hold you over  some until the magazine comes in January. So subscribe now if you’re not already on our subscription list so you don’t miss out.

For more information about the new magazine or to purchase books or back issues, go to the new website at www.tenthmusearts.com.

Waterfalls of Color

August 9, 2017

Although there isn’t a full rainbow of color in each individual piece here, I just had to share the work of Carolyn and Dave Good who recently posted these lovely mokume components for their fall (as in draped or like a waterfall) necklaces. These pieces use a similarly high saturation of color among them all and a lot of contrast within each piece. It makes for a great looking collection that I’d be happy to have just hanging on the wall together. Well, I might be inclined to wear them too, I’ll have to admit.

These pieces were made with some new CaBezel molds by Wendy Orlowski of our long time supporter, Shades of Clay. This series is actually called Holy CaBezels, due to the hole, of course. But maybe they can also be a bit of divine inspiration for the right person. It would be hard to say unless you bought a set and tried it out. Just saying.

The Goods always have something yummy to share on their blog so if you like having great eye candy dropped in your inbox, sign up for the 2GoodClaymates blog. And to get your set of molds, go to Shades of Clay.

_________________________________________

Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.

    The Great Create Sept 15 blog   businesscard-3.5inx2in-h-front   Shades of Clay Sept 15 Blog

_________________________________________

Variations in Faux Metal

December 12, 2013

Wendy Orlowski, the new proprietor of the online polymer clay supply shop Shades of Clay, has been an innovative artist in the polymer community for some time. Her CaBezel molds have been very popular with many clayers. I have quite a few myself. They’re easy quick solutions to creating a well-fitting cabachon and bezel, but that is not what we are here to talk about today. (Although if you’ve needed to add to your wish list for potential gift givers, CaBezels and the many other unique items sold at Shades of Clay might fill out your list well! They’re great stocking stuffers!)

In the necklace pictured here, Wendy created medallions with her “straight and narrow” texture stamps. She then cuts apart the different lines of texture, applies Guilder’s paste to the surface of the textured clay, and staggers the lines of texture around a centerpiece or CaBezel form. For a little more excitement, she adds a few colored highlights. The result is faux metal with the richness of texture and depth of color one sees in real antiqued metal jewelry.

Just Steampunk 4

There is a video tutorial illustrating how to make this faux metal technique with polymer clay on the Shades of Clay website as well if you’d like more details on this.  And, of course, you have to browse the Shades of Clay offerings for new toys and supplies while you there!

 

If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.

Cover 13-P4 web  120113 snowflake display ad  WhimsicalBead051512

A Bevy of Bezels

February 10, 2019
Posted in

First, a quick announcement … the new Polymer Journeys 2019 book is now available for pre-orders!

As usual, we offer a HUGE discount for pre-ordering: $7 off the print edition cover price and $4 off the digital edition. So jump to our website to pre-order this great tome of beautiful polymer art with artist’s insights into their work as well as a historical retrospective that we hope will help continue to elevate how people see polymer in the art world and beyond.

Now onto a Bevy of Bezels …

What is your favorite kind of polymer bezel setting? Would you say you even have one? Let’s be honest, when it comes to bezels do most of us really give them a lot of thought? Some people really do but I think for many of us, when we do create one, it is probably not much more than a functional element we need in order to hold and maybe frame a stone or focal element. So, I thought this week we would take a look at what else you could do and where you can take the functional, and often essential, bezel.

Like any other element on your jewelry that can be seen, a bezel is a part of the piece’s design and so their form and finish should be quite consciously decided, which means, with polymer clay there’s a tremendous range of things that can be done with it. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with the bezel been simple and primarily functional, as long as it makes sense for the design.

That said, let’s get to the interesting point … there is so much you can do with bezels and bezel style settings in polymer clay! I could yammer on and on about all the things you can do but I think it’s better to just show you. Make notes and start considering what you do with the clay that holds in the focal pieces on your creations and how you can expand on it.

A World of Bezels

One of my favorite bezel-ers, Chris Kapono, has the most wide-ranging ways to hold down a stone with polymer. Her tile and home decor pieces are also a great examples of how bezels can be used for pieces other than jewelry. She has many more tricks up her sleeve in this regards as seen on her Flickr photostream and in her Etsy shop.

Susan Waddington has always been one of my favorite polymer bezel makers. Her bezels are almost always black but are formed into pretty much anything but a basic square or circle and they are textured and inset with additional embellishments to work with the focal piece. This one may be a decade old but it is still inspiring as is her entire collection shown on her Flickr page. I don’t think she does much polymer any more so you have to scroll down past her paintings although looking through them is no hardship either.

A bezel can also be made from individual bits, all lined up. As seen in this pendant by Elsie Smith. The setting around this bezel continues the radiating lines that those lined up little squares start around the gem.

A bezel does not have to be symmetrical, continuous, sit with the stone or focal point straightforward or even completely surround what it’s holding. These pendants by Switzerland’s Chandani of ChaNoJa Jewerly on Etsy give you a few examples of non-traditional bezel settings with polymer.

And don’t be afraid to consider creating, or having a metalsmith create, metal bezels to put your polymer clay creations into. Making her own custom precious metal bezel settings is standard for Grace Stokes’ beautiful jewelry as seen here.

The How-Tos of Polymer Bezeling

Now, if you’ve not created polymer bezels before, or you would like a refresher or some jump-start, hands-on ideas, there quite a number of tutorials and such that you can reference.

Here’s a super quick way to make a bezel that works especially well for small round stones and crystals.

  1. Roll up a ball of clay about the width of the stone you want to set
  2. Press the ball flat but not too thin then press the stone or crystal into it.
  3. Gently push the sides of the clay in towards the stone so that the clay sits up around its edges and holds it in. At this point it can be further embellished with powders.
  4. Then just scoop it off your work surface using a blade and place it on your piece, maybe with just a tiny touch of liquid polymer to guarantee its adhesion.
  5. You can embellish it further here too. Just impress dots or lines into it with a needle tool, being careful not to move the clay away from the stone’s edge and lose its grip on it.

That’s it! It’s a super quick and easy bezel. It can be used on other shapes besides round too. You just have to shape the clay to the same size and shape as the stone before you press it into the clay.

By the way, you can see this quick set bezel and how I often use them in Issue #1 of The Polymer Studio in my tutorial, “Shimmering Scenery Pendants”. That same tutorial also shows you how to make an easy polymer clay frame which can readily be used as a bezel setting in addition to the techniques use for frame setting surface treated polymer sheets. Get your issue or a subscription if you don’t have it already. Single issues are only $7.95 in print, $5.95 digital, and that’s for eight detailed tutorials plus other fantastic articles. Can’t even buy one tutorial for that!

For a polymer bezel similar to traditional metalsmithing bezels, take a look at Tina Holden’s tutorial on her blog here. She shares her basic bezel and then some ways to embellish that are very easy to do but give the bezels a very rich look.

For a dainty frame bezel frame with filigree, there is this classic filigree tutorial here. If you stop after the first rim is placed on and cured, you have a bezel frame for cabochons or cut polymer sheets. But the filigree stuff is fun if you have the patience for it. The text’s English may sound a little wonky because it will be translated but it’s worth trying nonetheless.

If you want, or need, to create bezels quickly, you might want to look into purchasing Cabezel molds from Shades of Clay. These molds allow you to create a frame and a perfectly fitting cabochon for it in seconds. Once you have the basic frame molded you can expand on the setting in the area beyond the bezel frame or embellish the bezel itself so although it’s a mold, it has a lot of room for customization. Shades of Clay is a great resource for all kinds of unique polymer related supplies as well. (Keep in mind, this is a Canadian retailer, so the pricing is in Canadian dollars although Wendy does ship via USPS. To estimate what it will be in US dollars, deduct about 25%.)

Got Bezels?

Do you have any great bezels of your own? Or are you aware of any other great tutorials for polymer bezels? Leave links and comments in the comment section below. If you get the this by email click here to leave a comment. Myself and many a reader here would love to see more.

Read More

Its Time! The Polymer Studio Subscriptions & Bonus Gifts

November 19, 2018
Posted in ,

Today we’re going to do a little bit of business but it is exciting business!

I am so pleased to announce that subscriptions to The Polymer Studio are finally available online. I appreciate your patience while we worked all the kinks out in our new website but yes… there is also a new website! Tenthmusearts.com will house all of our publication information, purchasing, the biggest polymer resource list in the world, and your account if you’re a subscriber. We are very excited about the beautiful new layout and worked to make it as easy as possible to navigate but if you have any suggestions, don’t hesitate to write us.

If you subscribe now, before the end of the month, or you are an existing subscriber to The Polymer Arts rolling over into the new magazine subscription, you will receive a couple of gifts to thank you for your support and to hold you over until January when the first issue comes out: bonus discounts and a video magazine!

Bonus Discounts! Subscribe before the end of the month and we will send out an email with exclusive discounts worked out with some of your favorite online polymer shops. As we enter the holiday season, you can use these discounts to purchase gifts as well as stock up on your own goods all while supporting small independent businesses run by polymer artists and enthusiast like yourself. You’ll get discounts and deals from the likes of Christi Friesen, Shades of Clay, Linda’s Art Spot, Nemravka.cz, Helen Breil, ilove2Craft, Lisa Pavelka, The Whimsical Bead, and Tenth Muse Arts. Give us 1 business day to get that discount email to you.

Video magazine! What is a video magazine? It’s just what it sounds like—a collection of videos on a number of related subjects, collected much like articles in a magazine. This is an idea I started looking into earlier in the year and I will wrap up my first trial edition to share with all new and existing subscribers—you get to be my exclusive viewers who can help me shape this into a possible future publication or bonus material for magazine subscribers. Not sure where this is going yet but it sounded like fun for us all!

For this trial video magazine, you get to hang out with me in my studio and Tenth Muse headquarters for a behind-the-scenes peek at how we put together a magazine, as well as seeing a number of product demonstrations and technique tips. I’m still working out details on the other cool things going into this but I guarantee it will be a great time and should hold you over  some until the magazine comes in January. So subscribe now if you’re not already on our subscription list so you don’t miss out.

For more information about the new magazine or to purchase books or back issues, go to the new website at www.tenthmusearts.com.

Read More

Waterfalls of Color

August 9, 2017
Posted in

Although there isn’t a full rainbow of color in each individual piece here, I just had to share the work of Carolyn and Dave Good who recently posted these lovely mokume components for their fall (as in draped or like a waterfall) necklaces. These pieces use a similarly high saturation of color among them all and a lot of contrast within each piece. It makes for a great looking collection that I’d be happy to have just hanging on the wall together. Well, I might be inclined to wear them too, I’ll have to admit.

These pieces were made with some new CaBezel molds by Wendy Orlowski of our long time supporter, Shades of Clay. This series is actually called Holy CaBezels, due to the hole, of course. But maybe they can also be a bit of divine inspiration for the right person. It would be hard to say unless you bought a set and tried it out. Just saying.

The Goods always have something yummy to share on their blog so if you like having great eye candy dropped in your inbox, sign up for the 2GoodClaymates blog. And to get your set of molds, go to Shades of Clay.

_________________________________________

Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.

    The Great Create Sept 15 blog   businesscard-3.5inx2in-h-front   Shades of Clay Sept 15 Blog

_________________________________________

Read More

Variations in Faux Metal

December 12, 2013
Posted in

Wendy Orlowski, the new proprietor of the online polymer clay supply shop Shades of Clay, has been an innovative artist in the polymer community for some time. Her CaBezel molds have been very popular with many clayers. I have quite a few myself. They’re easy quick solutions to creating a well-fitting cabachon and bezel, but that is not what we are here to talk about today. (Although if you’ve needed to add to your wish list for potential gift givers, CaBezels and the many other unique items sold at Shades of Clay might fill out your list well! They’re great stocking stuffers!)

In the necklace pictured here, Wendy created medallions with her “straight and narrow” texture stamps. She then cuts apart the different lines of texture, applies Guilder’s paste to the surface of the textured clay, and staggers the lines of texture around a centerpiece or CaBezel form. For a little more excitement, she adds a few colored highlights. The result is faux metal with the richness of texture and depth of color one sees in real antiqued metal jewelry.

Just Steampunk 4

There is a video tutorial illustrating how to make this faux metal technique with polymer clay on the Shades of Clay website as well if you’d like more details on this.  And, of course, you have to browse the Shades of Clay offerings for new toys and supplies while you there!

 

If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.

Cover 13-P4 web  120113 snowflake display ad  WhimsicalBead051512
Read More
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