Future Fossils

I took advantage of the 4th of July sale at Craftcast and signed up for Staci L Smith's Fossil Talisman video.  I was very happy that I did.
    Since then I have been spending more time in the studio, creating what I have dubbed "Future Fossils".  The process is one that lends itself to batches, since each step takes time to dry or cure.

For my first attempt, just some basic shapes .... just to test out the technique.

I liked them, but thought the colors where a bit dull.  They had started out brighter, but when adding the different layers, they color was toned down.  

   So next time, more color was added as a base to see if the final pieces would be brighter.

Success ... much brighter color

The next experiment was using brighter colors still, and an unusual shape just to spice things up.

Started out as pepper red and sunshine yellow.

Darn blogger is acting up.  It will not allow me to insert the images in the order I want.  So I guess I will have to share the rest of my creations in another post.  Just as well that I am signing off, as I have to get ready for work.  I have tomorrow off, and may get time to blog then ... but maybe not, as my friend Jen and I are going to see the Minion Movie. Hope it is as cute as it looks in trailers ....

Hot weather claying

Luckily for me I am a night owl.  My j.o.b. has been for many years in a hospital's clinical laboratory. Hospitals are open 24/7 so workers all needed to cover every hour.  Not being a person who likes to get up in the morning, I have worked mostly evenings for the last 20 years.  That means that by the time I get home at midnight, the house has cooled down and I can work with the clay with out it turning into a gooey mess.  I know that compared to the rest of the country right now, the current temp of 83 degrees seems cool.  But we in the Pacific Northwest are not used to it so it seems sweltering to me.

I have been working a bit with some textures, pan pastel chalks and inks.  Just a bit every night. If I wait too long to go to bed, it gets too hot to sleep after the sun comes up.

Most of us Polymer artists have a needle tool.  I discovered that the textured portion of the handle can be used to make little diamond like texture on clay.  I used this tool to texture white clay tubes, the colored with blue and green PP chalk.  After baking, I used black liquid Kato clay to fill in the recesses of the texture.  When I wiped off the excess liquid clay, I found that it also removed the a lot of the color of the chalk.
    To give a bit more zing to the beads, I mixed some interference violet into clear liquid clay that I had tinted with a few drops of Sunshine Yellow ink.
 

Blue chalk highlighted with LKC tinted with yellow ink

Green chalk highlighted with LKC tinted with yellow ink

 Then I tried my hand at a different texture sheet.  I had never used this one before.  It didn't have any design, just a rough texture. Exactly what I was looking for.  Once again, the black LKC took away the color of the chalk.  These started out as a bright yellow. Again I used a final coating of yellow tinted LKC to put some of the color back.  I really like the way these turned out.  Kinda Jade like.



Since the LKC was remove the chalk color, next I tried inks on the base bead.  I colored these with a green ink and then baked.  The color is kind of flat as I did not add any mica powder to the final coat, just to see what would happen.

I made up more white based and colored them with chalks.  Am itching to get back into the studio, but it is soooo hot it will have to wait.  I don't even get tonight .... One of the graveyard techs is on vacation, so I have to work a split evening/graveyard shift to cover. Don't get off till 4 am.

I am so looking forward to retirement and not having to clay around my work schedule ... of course, then I will be too poor to afford the clay LOL.  I am thinking about trying my hand at selling online.  Unfortunately for me, there is already a Polymer Penguin on Esty.

Clay Camp Earrings

I mentioned in my last post that Clay Camp Sunday was a day spent making more earring components.  I got a chance last night to start putting them together to make more Marie Segal inspired earrings.  I know that I broke the "rules" of photography by back lighting the photos, but I wanted the translucent windows in the colorful cane to show.

Used mica powders for highlights

Smaller earrings using only the translucent window cane.

Marie spent time with me discussing the importance of analyzing facial shape when considering earring design. Not all people look good wearing a specific shape, for example round earrings.  She let me try on various earrings she had made till I found the shape that looked best.  Even though I am very attracted to the round earring shape, in this particular design I look better in a rectangular shape.

They don't always need to be round

Oval Shaped

 A while back, Rebecca (aka Artybecca) showed on her blog experiments using liquid masking fluid as a resist. After picking up some masking fluid at Ben Franklin on the way to Clay Camp, I attempted to try my hand at it.  I did not have the fine tip applicator she was fortunate enough to find, so had to make do with a paint brush,  I like the idea and hope to have time in the near future to work with it more.

What's in a name?

Has anyone read Sage Bray's article in the latest issue of  "The Polymer Arts" Magazine?  The article about naming your work, that is.  Sage is a very prolific writer, so there are many articles she has authored.
    She makes several very valid points about the subject.  I know that as an artist, this is something that I should be doing .... but it is HARD. I tried doing it for some time back, and finally gave up as I ran out of descriptive words.
    Sage supplied some good advice on how to come up with names, so I proceeded to give them a try as I have been struggling to find a suitable word to call my newest obsession.  "Tile" earrings is really not a good name.  Tiles are more flat, these are shaped like little bricks (thank you, word association).
  The light bulb appeared over my head - hence "Bricka" Earrings are born.

It has been a crazy couple of weeks at work and around the domicile, so I have only created a few Bricka's.  Luckily this technique caters itself to working 10 minutes here and there .... there are a lot of steps that need drying time between them

Latest pictures also include a prop - trying to add a bit of interest to my pretty bla photos.  I have noticed that most of the pictures I pin on Pinterest have interesting backgrounds.

4 Hears

Waiting for Spring 

Full Circle

Poppy 

Morning Cuppa

Dots and Hearts

Sealed with xoxox

More ear tiles

Like I said in my last post, I had more mini domino tiles in process.
This time I glued bigger rhinestones to the side holes. These guys had better silver backings than the ones I previously used.  You can see them reflect the light  in this collage.

Can't seem to stop

I really love polymer, but have not touched it in several months.  I just can't seem to stop inking and stamping every surface I come across.  Well ... maybe I exaggerate ... not EVERY surface, but I am continuously looking for more items to decorate.  So far I have stuck to surfaces I can use to make jewelery, but who knows .... I do have some undecorated picture frames somewhere in my studio stash.

I found some more wooden bead shapes at Ben Franklin, so had to try them out.  The little sparkles are from adding a little glitter to the sealer I use to keep the colors vibrant before adding the resin.

Flitter Dreams

Summer Time Dreams

Flitter Dream Earrings on Display

I found these really cute small domino shaped beads at Shipwreck a few weeks ago.  They are the perfect size for earrings.  The only problem I have is that they were designed to make bracelets with (holes on the sides rather than from top to bottom), I have to cover the holes, so I glued little rhinestones on the side. Tedious and I am not 100% sure I like it.  More experimentation to come.

The earrings title "Mary's Day" I made as a wedding gift to my friend Mary,  She lost her husband a few years back, and was fortunate enough to find love a second time.  She just married Nacho, a widower who lost his wife about the same time.  I am so happy that two great people found each other.

Fireworks 

Mary's Day Earrings

Just wanta have ...

Fireworks on display.  

While at Shipwreck Beads, I also found some bone tube beads. I wondered if they would also take inks and sure enough, they did.  Since I can't use resin to finish them like I would a flat surface, I sprayed them with PYM II to seal the inks on.  It's hard to tell, but the yellow beads have streaks of green,

I then wondered if I could put designs on the beads like I did the dominoes. I inked up a texture sheet and rolled the beads on it.  I found I need to have a very steady hand ... was doing alright till I got to the very end, when I started to shake a bit.  Still, they don't look that bad.

I currently have 12 more pairs of tiles curing.  In a few more days they will be ready to have their holes covered and made into earrings. What I am going to do with them, I have no idea.  Maybe I should open an on-line shop. Now that the new computer system is in a work and I am getting used to the changes, work should become less stressful (cross fingers).

Creative detour

The polymer has been taking a back seat lately.  That's what I get for spending time on Pinterest, I guess.  Found a link to a video on making art tiles, and got detoured big time.

The video showed how to create art tiles from scrabble tiles.  I did not have any scrabble tiles, so I used domino's from my stash.  These 3 were made using the technique shown in the vid.  I found them to be a bit too busy for my taste.

I tried again, cutting out one of the steps.  These were the results.  I have since made them into pendants by added bales.This look was cleaner and more appealing, IMHO, so I decided to leave that step out from now on.

Dominoes are great for making pendants, but a bit too heavy for earrings.  I attacked my stash again and found these great smaller dominoes.    Unfortunately, when I went to Michael's to buy more, I discovered they had been discontinued.  Teach me to only buy one package ... 

Only have had time to make one pair of earrings so far.  Having too much fun just making the tiles. These smaller dominoes were designed to make bracelets from, so I had to come up with a way to disguise the holes in the sides.  Glue and crystals to the rescue.

Finally found a scrabble game at the local thrift store, so went crazy creating smaller tiles. Good for earrings or fridge magnets or pins, what have you.

Then, on a recent trip to Shipwreck beads, I found these round wooden beads that I just had to try the technique on.   This time, I also included the backs in my design.  They were stamped in a white ink and  a bit of mica powder added to the final finishing step to add a touch of  sparkle.

Now I am on the hunt for small word stamps.  Seems like they were everywhere a few years ago and nowhere to be found today.  Any my husband wonders why I hoard stockpile items for future use.

A bit of a change

I don't always work with polymer, even if that seems to be all I ever write  about. That and cats, can't forget the cats.
 
I read on another blog (sorry ... I don't remember who's blog.  I would love to give them credit), about using inks to color washers.  Thought it was worth a try so scrounged around in the garage and "borrowed" a few from my hubbie.  He won't miss them (I hope) and will never recognize them in their new colors.

Alcohol inks were applied after a base coat of light colored acyclic paint (used Adirondack Dabber from Ranger).  After they dried, resin was applied to both sides, fully curing between sides.  After that, there was a really ugly zinc color on the inside and outside edges, where the base washer showed through.  This I painted gold with a metal acrylic pen.  And yes, you are seeing pink dots on several of the washers.  Vintaj Patina was applied with a toothpick to get the dots before the resin was added.

These washers were finished before Clay Camp and have been sitting around on top of  the same block of wood since then, Finally got the idea of how to make them up into earrings yesterday. This was the first time I tried making a "sloppy" wire wrap. I really like the look of this type of wrap, esp on earrings done by Kristi Bowman.  I really don't have the technique down well, but hope to improve with practice.  Who knew it was so hard to be messy?

I was reading The Polymer Arts Blog the other day, when Sage Bray was highlighing "mystery"  artists from Pinterest.  She discussed how sometimes the artist's identification gets lost in pinning and repinning.  I have noticed this also ... sometimes I try to follow an intereting piece back to the source only to find the site no longer there.  Because of this, I am going to start "signing" my work. Nothing fancy, since I don't have any special editing software.  I just used Picasa - free and easy.

Beads and more beads

After almost a month away due to illness and major family issues, I finally made it back into the studio.
Before getting sick, I had started a couple of veneers using the Controlled Marbling tutorial by Lynda Mosely.  Sunday, I had the chance to make them into beads, rather than the gorgeous pendants she is known for.
   This time I used a combination of light blue, yellow and ecru, interspersed with white.  I really like the light green color that appeared where the yellow and blue mixed.  I did not add any details to the veneer.

 Had a small strip at the end of this veneer where the colors blended together too much for actual stripes to appear. I added a few inlays from an old swirl cane for a bit of color.

Only had a tiny bit of this color combo.  I really like it.  Two matching beads for an earring set  And one lone bead for who knows what.  I have a box of "who knows what" beads that is set aside for "something" in the future.  Maybe I will use them in Lori Anderson's Bead Hoarders Challenge in July.  We'll see.

 I have found that in this technique, there are sometimes places at the ends of the veneer sheets, where the colors are no longer distinct.  I discovered that sometimes, these over blended areas have the prettiest colors. Add slices of an old bulleyes cane from my tiny cane stash (I really gotta try caning again - maybe I will be more successful now that I understand clay better than I did in 2006).
 

After these beads were made and baking in the oven, I still had urges and fiddly fingers.  An open package of translucent clay was sitting on my table, so I got out the inks and went to town.  Laid down some gold foil on a small sheet of translucent clay, rolled it through successively smaller settings on the PM, turning it 90 degrees each time to crackle the foil.  When it was thin enough, I got out my inks and colored it (used Butterscotch and Plum this time).  After the inks dried (boy, I so had to be patient here - used the drying time to finish my previously made beads with LPC, zap with heat gun and rebaked to a shiny luster), I I used the sheet to veneer white bead cores. The gold foil adds a real sparkle to the beads, and I am very happy with the depth of color.  The pictures just can't show that.

I call these my Fire Lizard eggs (homage to Pern)

This weekend promises to be a nice one here in the Pacific Northwest. Good weekend for visiting the Whole Bead Show in Lynnwood.  I will be able to visit the booths of several artists that I have "meet" on line and see their work in person.  I love how this medium has connected so many people with common interests.  Some live in my area and I may be lucky enough to connect in person with them over the course of time. Some live in other countries, and I will probably never meet face to face, but can get to know a bit through the Internet.  I guess I am feeling my age, as I still marvel at this. The beads I just made would not be possible with the Internet.  Lynda lives in South Carolina ... me, outside Seattle.  We would never have "meet" without the computer.  Maybe younger people, who grew up always having computers, can't relate to how marvelous this really is. ( OMG! ... I have become my parents .... when I was your age  .... walked to school, in the snow, uphill - both ways!!!  he,he)

Studio Time the 2nd

Maybe today the pictures will behave and go where I want them to.

I recently got Christi Friesen's latest book, Flourish.  It was a long wait, but well worth it.  It is chalked full of ideas and inspiration.  One of the techniques she wrote about was dissolving chalk in a glaze to achieve a faux ceramic look.  I tried it on simple beads, not too bad.  Next time I will add more chalk to the mixture as I had to put on 3 coats to get them this dark.  I want to explore this idea more.

I had a bit of left over transluscent clay I had tinted with ink.  I rolled the clay in glitter before baking.  

 One of the ideas I got from Pinterest (Love, love, love Pinterest)  is a Mokume Gane technique called Hidden Magic.  I gave it a try and, of course, had to incorporate the resulting veneer into beads.  I used yellow and green for my base colors, making several passes through the PM to smooth out the veneer.  I did learn that it is best to start out with a stamp that has a very tight design, since each PM pass thins it out more.  I like the result ... now just to figure out what to do with them.

 And of course, I had to spend time with the kitties. Most of them will be leaving for new homes soon and I will be missing them so much.  I have to love them when they are here. I hope Opuson and I have done a good job domesticating them ... there is not a one of them that does not come running and trying to scoot into the house the second the door is open.  Momma cat is even letting us pet her and seems to have lost a lot of her shyness around us.
 

Please let me in ... I am sooo cute and want to love you.

They are quickly outgrowing their basket, but don't
want to sleep anywhere else. We have set up other
places, but they like it here best.

Oh goodie, the human climbing post is back!