Thursday, June 20, 2013

Fidget Pendants

These?
These are gigantic versions of these.
The beads?
The art beads are from Tree Wing Studio and Shipwreck Dandy.
 
I wanted to make something with more movement, something that you could interact within instead of just wear. To achieve this level of movement, I made the frames a smidge wider than the bead.
 
Now I've got more movement than I can handle.
The beads spin on their wires.

 
They slide side to side just a bit and the wire spins inside of the frame..

 
All of the copper frames were hand cut, folded, soldered, and textured.

 
This frame sits above the bead and is shorter, meaning the distance from the bead to the top of the frame is smaller than say oh...

 
the distance between this bead and the top of this frame.

 
 
Oh, and the bails are just wrapped loops that also sit loosely in the hole meaning the entire pendant will spin.
 
These are definitely pendants for a fidgeter.
(Oh, and I strung them on slightly longer chain, meaning you can play with the beads while waiting on your barista to finish your double white chocolate mocha latte)
 
Note: This is in no way an original idea. I've seen these kind of riveted pendants done in silver or brass with precious stones and polished gems.
 
I'm just a fan of my version because it's a bit rustic, I love the colors of the beads, and I like the idea of something that moves in about four different directions.
 
Oh, and if you're a beginning metalsmith, this project is super easy. The hardest part is folding the metal and soldering the fold to keep it durable.
 
I hope you like!
 

3 comments:

  1. What a fun design! My beads look so happy! :-) I love them Marcie!!

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  2. Fantastyczne ! :o) Bardzo mi się podoba biżuterią którą tworzysz. Pozdrawiam z Polski. Ala

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  3. Really cool way to showcase a bead. I love what you did with them. Thanks for the link, too!

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