Fusion Beads & Nunn Design: Free Project!

This month, I received a package of Festive Crystal Clay* and a channel bead bezel* from Nunn Design as part of my FusionBeads blog partner program. Coincidentally, I am on the Nunn Design Innovation Team, so while these pieces were not new to me, I decided to try a new-to-me finishing technique with them.

I have been using the Nunn Design channel beads since earlier this year for my Story Beads. The shape is unique and the metal has some weight with a nice rich plating on it. There are so many possibilities for these channel beads!

The one that I received has the really neat domed bead caps already soldered on. I like this style so much that coincidentally this was the type that I recently ordered from Nunn! There is a head pin strung through it but I decided to cut that off in favor of making a wrapped loop on the bottom. As I was creating this I thought that it ended up looking rather old fashioned with a modern twist, so here is the tutorial for you to make something similar! I call this my 'Victorian Time Capsule.'

Victorian Time Capsule

{Crystal Clay has a slight corn nut smell to it. Pleasant! But the package warns not to eat it ;-}

1::CLAY::For the pendant, I chose to use the lightest blue clay. The instructions that come with the clay are easy to follow. I don't really like wearing gloves, but this stuff is extra sticky, so do follow that advice. After rolling the part A and part B together you have about 60-90 minutes of work time, so have your ideas ready to go!

2::FILIGREE::I found a four sided silver plated filigree in my stash. I cut the petals apart, filed the rough edges and used my bail making pliers to gently form the petals to the curved shape. I happened to make up just enough of the clay for this one bezel, but it helps to have some extras handy in case you make up too much because you won't be able to reuse it like you would polymer clay.

3::GLITTER::I have tons of really fine glitter in various colors. I decided to see if it would stick. I pinched little bits of it onto the clay and then rubbed it in with my fingers. Then I pressed the filigree pieces into the glittered surface. Unfortunately, I pushed some of the filigree into the clay a little too aggressively to the point where it is embedded a bit too deep. I tried to scrape away the excess clay oozing out as best I could and just smoothed it over and applied more glitter. The nice thing is that glitter really is embedded in the clay now, and when I rub my fingers over the finished piece I don't get a glitter trail, but I could still seal it with something to protect it.

4::CHAIN::I have a little bowl with leftover bits of chain and this was a perfect opportunity to use them up. This shape was screaming TASSEL to me! I grabbed some wire and made a loop, leaving it open to add the chains. I found several different silver plated chains as well as some black or gunmetal plated chains in various lengths. I cut four different lengths in the two finishes.I added them to my loop then made a substantial messy wrapped loop to the bottom.

5::FINISHING:: I threaded the tube onto the wire and added some intertwined jump rings for texture surrounding a large cut glass bead for some more bling. I happened to have some of the Nunn Design antique silver plated etched chain in my stash, so I opted to use that for the necklace. I like that this chain matches all their finishes and that it has open links! I recently ordered some of the matte black chain variants from Fusionbeads and that seemed like the perfect way to bring in the black with a different texture. I staggered the pieces of black chain for interest and made sure that this would be long enough to go over my head without a clasp.

{Victorian Time Capsule}

Thank you to Nunn Design for making such lovely components and to FusionBeads for the opportunity to share this tutorial with all of you!

*FTC compliance disclosure: the '*' items mentioned in this post credited to Fusion Beads were provided as a promotional gift for
review or design purposes.