Rainbow Spiral "S-Clasp"- the REVEAL

Hello friends!

Well I have dipped my toes into the pool of glass and metals. Now mind you this is just the beginning. Staci was kind enough to walk me through some of the tools I would need to do some simple soldering and metal work.I have only collected a few pieces, but this is the start.

I was actually inspired by make this new clasp by a design I was creating :D I needed a clasp and I was going to use one of my FAVORITE Spiral "S-Clasps" from Staci, but then I had the idea to make one with GLASS on it! I came up with this idea as I was laying out my design on my bead mat before bed. I scribbled down the idea and then went to sleep. 

So upon waking I had to try out my new idea! I was pretty certain it would work. I actually took step-by-step photos and think maybe I might turn this into a tutorial. For now I will just fill you in with some of the steps so you can really appreciate the process :)(you know how I love my process!) I even did a short VIDEO of the glass part of this process. You really can't see the detail, but I had some friends tell me I needed to do a video of me lampworking ;) Luckily I jerry rigged my broken tripod enough to do a quick video. 

So here we go...

So first you need to "draw a bead" with some copper wire.

Then it has to be wired up to work the glass onto them. 

 

Here is the video of me putting the glass on the wire :D

Here are all of the glass pins waiting to be made into clasps. Aren't they PRETTY?! They are like my little soldiers <3 p="p">

Next the clasps have to be bent into shape.

Hammered....

The run of claps waiting to be patinated.

Cleaned.

Patinated.

Dried.

Buffed(like the boob shot? Lol. I had to rest the camera under my chin and on my chest to get both hands in the photo!)

Lacquered(twice. This takes 2 hours to dry each time).

Drying.

FINISHED!

Just a really cool shot of my table while I was working. It was very picturesque so I had to click a pic.

Here is the link to my quick Cleaning, Patinaing and Coating Copper Wire Tutorial!

I can't wait to show you the BEADS and DESIGNS I am working on for which I made the clasps! :D I will also be getting some of the finished clasps up in my shop soon!

See you soon!

xo Genea