I made this polymer clay object over four years ago — possibly eight years ago.
We’re beginning packing in preparation to move. I find this too clumsy to want to display, and decided i would throw it out after documenting it. I like the idea, but would like to execute it with a little more skill some time.
I lost my card key at work last Wednesday — I had it when i left for lunch, but it had fallen out of the holder on the lanyard around my neck by the time i returned to work. This was the impetus i needed to make the key holder i envisioned just shortly after the offices moved: a beaded necklace with a holder from silk sample squares. I’m about half way done.
On Friday, i went through the silk squares and my beads, settling on doing something with the blue glass beads and finding a few squares of silk that were close to the right shade of blue. Gold just seemed the right contrast choice, although i rarely wear gold.
On Saturday,we stopped at Global Beads in Mountain View. I knew i needed some more beads just to make the necklace long enough to slip over my head, and i knew some accents wouldn’t hurt. The seed beads were a little smaller in diameter than i had envisioned, but they’ve turned out just fine. I found a few coordinating embellishments (Cat’s heads and a Chinese coin in gold tone glass with metallic highlights — and two blue fish with metalic highlights.) At Eddie’s Quilting Bee I bought some blue and gold thread — and left it on the counter. Duh.
When I got home i finished the pocket with a chain stitch for many of the straight seams, thinking that might be more likely to hold the delicate silk. I just charged ahead, didn’t really measure anything except by holding up the card key. I finished off the beaded neck piece — just holding the wire up to my neck, etc.
The last bit is finishing off the top. Overnight it came to me that i didn’t have to hem the edge by hand — i could use fusible binding. I might switch the key out to another future holder, but having a fairly raw edge on the inside would be ok. So, since scanning the image, I’ve fused the metallic mesh to the solid silk and have sewn the coin bead on over a snap.
I sewed the base of the snap on to the pocket — backwards. It’s break time.