The difference a color makes

I have tried out several color combinations when making the squishy beads. So far, the first beads I made have been my favorites. So today I decided to recreate them. 

I have never been one to keep consistent  journals/logs of what I do, but perhaps I should start.  I was pretty sure that the original colors I used were white, yellow and violet.

 As you can see from the picture, my memory is faulty.  I now think I used fuchsia originally instead of violet. These beads  may not be exactly what I set out for, but they didn't turn out half bad.

While the beads were curing, I actually did something different so as to not get totally bored with them. It has been several weeks since I did any drawing so just played around a bit and made this little rabbit. Not sure yet whether he will be a pen or pendant.

I'll just wait here till someone gives me a carrot.

There a Squishy

Have been a little quite in the last week.  The stomach flu that hubby had a while ago finally caught up with me.  And, of course, it hit at an inopportune time.  I had taken the night off from work as it was my husband's birthday.  Did not get to do anything we planned. Luckily I am married to a man who really doesn't put much stock in special celebrations - he just wanted me to feel better.  He is so sweet.

Yesterday was my first real chance to get back into the studio.  I am busy writing up the "how to" for my guild round robin presentation next week.  It is really hard to explain how to properly squish clay LOL.....

The latest trials are working more with contrast, once again changing only the first color in the extruder. And I am working on ways to size and shape consistently. 

Green was first color in Extruder

This time it was white as the first color

Here a Squishy

The turquoise, ecru and yellow combo did not turn out exactly as I had envisioned (here I go again with expectations, etc...).

 I am learning though.  I think there needs to be more contrast in the colors to make them pop.  More experiments in my future I see (hee...hee...I HAVE to play with the clay... good excuse huh?  Yeah, that will work when the sink is full of dishes and vacuuming needs done and the bathtub needs scrubbing........ )

More Squishing

I loved my little squishy beads so much that I couldn't wait to see what other color combinations would look like. I did festive, so I thought this time I'll try more subtle color.   As the pictures show, it really makes a difference as to which color goes first in the extruder.  The clay was also more firm this time around, so some of them are done following the original instructions, some rolled and some flat.

My next try will be yellow, ecru and tourquise.  Can't wait to see what they will look like.


Gold was first color in extruder.






Black as the first color in the extruder.

Accidental Surprise

After my unlucky morning with the extruder experiments, while I was resting my wrist, I decided to look for inspiration in my PC library. I found another extruder technique in Carol Blackburn's wonderful book "Making Polymer Clay Beads". What the heck, this bead looks easy enough and would make a good demo.

After extruding and twisting, I started the next step, which was slicing off small sections to expose the clay underneath. I ran into a problem right away.  My clay was too soft and it started mushing up. Thinking that this was another dead end, I started absent-mindedly squishing it up. Since the TV was on at the time (the first Tarzan movie from 1934 - love those classics), I wasn't paying too much attention to what my hands were doing. When I looked down at them, I really liked what I saw.  Paying close attention next time to the squishing, I discovered how to reproduce the look.  After that I was up till 3am making more beads.... 

Some of my favorite pieces have been created when I wasn't really trying. Could it be that when I expect something to look a certain way and it doesn't I get disappointed (ie my giraffes which several of you really like) but when I have no expectations.....that is when the magic happens?



Just love the bright cheerful colors





Extruder woes

I am trying to learn something new all the time.  When asked to be part of the PC guilds round robbin next month, I said sure. And when asked what I will do, I picked something I really don't know that much about figuring it will be a good learning experience

 So today I have been experimenting with my clay extruder in preparation for the guild presentation.  I have not been too successful.  First I tired to figure out how to use the core tool...all I could get was strings of clay coming out of the four corners of the die.  Not a good way to start.

Then I to make a flower cane, using the teardrop shaped die. Not horrible but more time consuming that using my hands alone.  After lunch, I was trying to repeat a trick that Christi Friesen had showed me last week using the die with the small holes in it.  I could not figure out why the strings were coming out in varying lengths, long and short....it hadn't done that when Christi demoed.

So I got fearless and took it apart. Lo and behold the cylinder BEHIND the pushing part was filled with clay!.  The washer had broken.  After cleaning out I put on a new washers (I always wondered why the extruder came with a spare washer...) and tried again,

This time it worked well, but I really torqued the heck out of my wrist. Back to wearing  the carpel brace.  So, I learned that I really think I will do a different presentation for the guild - something less hard on my wrist.

I also learned how to create a personal signature.

 Pretty cool huh? I followed a link from a blog to another blog to yet another blog that lead to My Live Signature.... (oh, no ... relapse of Blogistis!!!)