A sewing, knitting, felting and crochet blog by Mirela Popovici
March is coming…read here about a Romanian tradition that celebrates the coming of spring.
Me and my friend Oana made these charms.
Materials: FIMO and Sculpey clay, natural air dry clay, resin, acrylic paints, lots of cookie cutters, embroidery floss, crochet yarn, bails, paper and ink, tons of patience.
I have worked with the paste, paint and syringe before and had no idea how to use the paper sheet form of PMC.
I have tried some origami first in paper, but was not so thrilled about the results. The paper form of PMC is more flexible than real paper; it is different to the touch.
Material inspires me as I work with it. That is when I start to have a clear picture in my mind about what shape it will take.
Quilling and weaving are my favorite ways in handling paper PMC.
Knit Silver Wire, originally uploaded by fmirela.
The materials I work with are just as important as the design.
For me, as a hobby seamstress with love for fabrics, it is all about creating.
Starting from scratch to create materials requires more work but the final results are always worth it.
There are various techniques to creating unique handmade items. Use the traditional knit and crochet techniques to transform a simple line of yarn into your own fabric.
Then take this to the next level and knit with silver wire instead of yarn. You will need more patience and practice makes it perfect. Make time pass slowly from old to new and create your own timeless jewelry.
I knitted this bracelet and pendant by randomly stringing freshwater pearls on silver wire. I try to look outside the box for inspiration. I referred to the sewing world and found this organza ribbon as closure for the bracelet.
Small crochet motifs like the circles and flowers or granny squares make pretty patterns for silver wire earrings and pendants. Snake like wire weaves are a good base for bracelets and collars.
It is all about transforming your prime material into whatever you envision. I love to transform fabric into clothes, silver into jewelry.
From Inspiration to Earrings, originally uploaded by fmirela.
These pendulum shell earrings are one of a kind and have been inspired by Sanibel Island sea shells, Florida.
Looking for shapes and design everywhere makes me want to transform the whole world into silver.
It’s what I did with the shell in this picture. The tip of the shell has been pressed into the FIMO clay, to create the circles in the triangle. Very geometric, yet organic looking design. The clay has been baked in the oven for 25 minutes at 275 degrees F.
The PMC+ lump has been pressed into the mold, torch fired and brass brushed for a soft finish. The process has been repeated for the second earring.
They hang from sterling silver ear wires, and move like pendulums when you move, creating the impression of being larger then they really are.
So, no the world would not be still casted in silver, there’s lots of movement to this dangling earrings.
Painted Maple Leaf Pendant and Earrings, originally uploaded by fmirela.
Next experiment is the slip, the paste form of PMC.
For this I was looking around in the back yard, for the perfect leaf. As I read, the leaf that is suited for painting on is one that has an interesting skeleton design and it is not waxy.
It is pretty hard to find such I leaf in Florida, most of them have wax on, to protect them from the sun.
As I was looking around in the grass, a neighbor called my name, and when I looked up, I saw it! I found my perfect leaf for the pendant I had in mind, and even more! The little maple tree in the backyard was sprouting new branches, so it had little little brand new baby leaves! Perfect for the pendant and for the earrings. So thanks to Alin and the tree I had something to paint on. The little earring leaves had been taken from sister branches, so they are not quite identical but as unique as nature made them.
A trick I had tried and worked is to place the leaves onto scotch tape, to prevent them from rolling. This kept them nice and flat.
Countless repeated layers of thin paste PMC+ have been painted on the leaves. About 10-12 layers is recommended, and the pieces need to be at least 1mm thick for strength. After each layer dries, apply another.
A little hole has been manually drilled into the PMC pieces, and a sterling silver loop of 4mm is now passing though.
The cord is satin, the cord ends are sterling silver as are the frosted beads and ear wires.
These reminds me of autumn but I think they can be worn everyday with a casual outfit. I can even see a guy wearing the pendant.
Everywear by Mirela – My Etsy Shop
