Things have been slow in the Harrison Hollow Designs studio as the demands of summer take precedence. But I did get some work done this past weekend – thanks to a great tutorial from another blog that I follow. Cindy Lietz's blog in and of itself offers a wealth of information but when you subscriber to her website for a very minimal $9.99 for three months, you also get color mixes and weekly video tutorials. It is well worth every penny to be able to actually see how she does some of the techniques and how she uses the beads in projects after they are made. Pretty cool!
But back to my project. A couple of weeks ago the Friday weekly video was on how to make a faux agate. This caught my attention right away because my aunt is a rockhound and has cut, ground and polished many a rock into beautiful jewelry elements. I particularly like agate because it naturally occurs in so many beautiful colors and with layers of other colors running through it. The picture here is my interpretation in a cool aqua blue with subtle purple and white run through. The color takes my mind to the beach, with the crystal blue water lapping in gentle waves while I sip a cold margarita!
The depth of the faux agate comes from the use of translucent clay while the color is determined by a layer of translucent clay with an inclusion of glitter or mica powders. Once it is cured, the sanding begins. I begin my sanding at 320 grit on most projects and work slowly through progressively finer grits up to 1000 grit for the final sanding. Then the faux agate is buffed to really bring out the shine.
1 comment:
You are making me thirsty for Margarita Arlene! Sitting by the beach and feeling the breeze sounds pretty good too!
You did a gorgeous job on your Faux Agates. Love the different Blues you incorporated into the faux stones. Very pretty.
Thanks for the links to my blog! They will count as entries to the contest. Hopefully lots of your readers click them so that you can win the beads! :-)
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