Foiled Again!

Here's an opulent necklace made with encased silver foil, a technique I hadn't used in ages.

Each bead has a black core that was wrapped in fine silver foil (not leaf) and then encased with a transparent color.

I wanted them to look ancient so I was not too fussy with them. Each one was hand shaped into a rounded, long rectangular bead using a lentil press. They're chunky without being too heavy. 

This piece was a hard one to let go - I really loved it.  I have seen a snapshot of it on the woman who received it as a holiday gift and it looked great. Maybe I just need to make another, similar one, for myself.

P.s. the secret to this technique is to not let the flame touch the silver before you get it encased. Once you wrap the core bead in the foil don't put it in the flame, just keep it warm above the flame and get all the encasing on there before you start the final melting and shaping of the bead. Also, don't let the bead get super hot as you shape it or you can "lose" the foil.