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Polymer Clay Polyzine Copyright 2000-2004 Raleigh, NC ISSN 1534-1038 All Rights Reserved. |
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Ideas
for Using Butterfly Wing Canes |
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|
 Wing canes of the
type described in my previous article (see pcPolyzine
November 2003) may be
used in a great variety of ways. I’ve been asked to give details of the
jewellery and ornaments that I’ve made with them.
JEWELLERY  Brooches: Brooches
are
usually made in the form of a complete butterfly, i.e., a body with
antennae is
placed between two cane slices to create the whole animal.Begin by taking a length of coloured wire and twist it around a small rod former to create a ‘Y’ shape (see photo) Next, take a small piece of a dark clay (gold, brown or black) and wrap it around the lower part of the ‘Y’ of wire, so that the upper arms protrude from the clay, as antennae. Then the wing slices are pressed into either side of the body. The whole assembly is then placed on a flat or slightly curved surface depending on the required angle of the wings. At this stage, features of the body can be pressed into the clay.  The
body could
also be formed about an armature of wire that has been sharpened and
passed
through the loop at the base of the ‘Y’. The sharpened point of the
wire will
become a stickpin in the finished brooch. If 1mm brass wire is used for
the
armature, then standard 1mm stickpin caps can be used to retain the pin
and
protect the wearer of the brooch. The caps are obtainable from jewellery findings suppliers at reasonable
cost.If no armature was used, then after baking, a standard brooch pin can be attached to the back of the butterfly using epoxy glue or TLS.  Pendants
and
Necklaces: The same general
technique as above is used if the butterfly is to be made into a
pendant.
Instead of a wire mount or a brooch back, some other means of attaching
to a
chain is used. One can either, drill small holes near each of the
forewing tips
and attach jump-rings, or,  instead
of the antennae-wire,
the body could be
formed around an eye-pin with the eye protruding from the top. The
pendant can
then be hung using the eye of the pin. Another, possibly better method
of making
a butterfly pendant is to twist two eye-pins together at their straight
ends,
so that when they protrude, they resemble antennae. |
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