Polymergence Newsletter - April Edition

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a nice lady called Charlene Therien asking to include a picture of my Fried Egg earrings on April's edition of the International Polymer Clay Association Newsletter, Polymergence.
I was thrilled to be asked and wrote a little paragraph to go with the picture. All the works featured are egg-inspired (or should I called them eggspired?) and in a variety of styles, showing once again how versatile the medium of polymer clay can be. My earrings are different from the rest because they're the only ones featuring the inside of the egg rather than the egg's outer shape but they are far from being the most interesting or beautiful pieces featured.
You can read the newsletter here, and see all the other wonderful egg creations from several talented polymer clay artists.

Chaos necklace variation

Original version, according to tutorial

A while back I bought Eni Oken's chaos necklace tutorial. I've always loved her jewelry and wanted to try some of her designs. I followed the instructions and made my turquoise version but I didn't want to use the charms, something that is very much Eni's signature element. I tried using spiral bezels on top and bottom of every stone but the result was not satisfactory. I liked the look of the necklace but the spirals moved around more than they should and didn't stop the stones from turning.

It bugged me for a long time until one day I just took the necklace apart and remade it with a few changes. I used "S" spirals connecting the top and bottom frame at the front of the stone instead of two separate pieces and I attached the second half of the frame further up so that it doesn't need the last pass with the decorative beads to keep it steady.

Second version with S spirals

In the end I decided not to add the beaded frame because it makes the necklace go a bit over the top. If I leave it simpler it goes from a party piece to something you can wear on more informal occasions and I like that. Besides, I can always add beads later if I want to.