Spiral Lentil Beads made with scrap clay
I love spiral lentil beads, but they frustrate me tremendously because by the time I get the perfect spiral, some of the layers are so thin on the outer edge that I cannot avoid sanding them off! For some reason I always sand from 400 through 1000, going through 1200 to 2000 if I want them very glassy. I have never heard or seen in writing what hit me. I don't have to start at 400!!! I can start at 1200!!! I dusted my fingertips with cornstarch, tapping off the excess (this just fills in your fingerprints on your fingers) and gently smoothed the surfaces, cured, then sanded with only 1200, then buffed. I didn't lose any of the edges - hey, I'm thrilled! So is this something that others of you haven't realized before? Or am I VERY Blonde? Here are some close-ups:
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Your lentils are amazing, Vickie, and your "light-bulb" was a revelation for me, as well! On August 21 I posted a picture of the first lentils I had made. It was part of the Art Jewellery Elements blog hop called "Everyone Starts Somewhere", featuring our sad-looking early works to encourage beginning artisans (and each other, it turned out).
ReplyDeleteYour beautifully finished lentils are a great example of what can happen when the process takes control of us, and not the other way around. We can never know what will pull that "next great idea" of of hiding. Starting at a higher grade had never occurred to me, either; I do skip occasionally when their is little or no resistance to a sanding step (I use the Micro-Mesh pads rather than sandpaper).
Hi Monique, thanks so much for your comment. I was feeling very vulnerable out there in BlondeLand all by myself, lol. I've heard a lot about the micro mesh. I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for that too.
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