Playing with Swellegant

Sometimes I forget that I even have a blog. Facebook seems to be where everyone communicates anymore. I am getting better at using FB, now that Twitter is were a lot of people talk or whatever twitter does.
   Anyway, I finally had a quiet day at the Gallery of Ocean Shores where I was able to spend time playing with polymer clay and Swellegant.  Debbie Crothers has written wonderful tutorials using Swellegant to create interesting veneers and beads. I just had to try it!

    First step: create the veneer. So much fun.

 Next step.  Create pieces from the veneers: apologies for the background... don't have my photo booth set up at the new house yet. These were taken on the windowsill.

 

 This poor little flower was my first attempt at cracking.  I overheated the clay and when I picked it up,  the poor thing cracked and broke in several places.   So it was backed with a bit of black clay and turned in to a pendant.

Another veneer I overheated while attempting to crackle.  I just kept pushing it into the clay core hoping that it would not crumble in my hands.  Miracle!  It held together.

Got into creating Dagger pendants with the next several veneers.  I am getting the hang of crackling. 

 Don't know if you can see the subtle coloring the Swellegant made on the black portion of this Dagger pendant.  In real life,  it is quite striking.

And my last beads ... to start with, this was the ugliest veneer I had made.  I had dug into the clay in an experiment to see what would happen.  I was not at all pleased with the result.  So, what the heck,  can't ruin it anymore.  Wrapped it around a  skewer and what do you know ... butt ulgy turned out nice.

UFO Weekend

To those of us who are makers, the term UFO has another meaning. I am talking about the infamous Unfinished Objects.

I am one of those artists who just loves making the beads, but then am at a loss for knowing exactly what to do with them when done.  I have cubbies full of UFO's, beads I have made, projects I have started ... but I am trying to get more organized and actually finish something.  Lord Opuson was out of town, so I could just sit and play with my beads all day Sunday.  Heaven (so what if the weeds are taking over ... beads are more important, right???).

I first meet Christi Friesen on a Lisa Pavelka Clay Cruise out of New Orleans.  I think it was 2008 or 2009 (as I get older, the years blend together). I had admired her work and when I finally got a chance to take a class, I jumped at it.  She is such a dynamic instructor that   I begged her to come and teach in the Pacific Northwest. After about a year (her schedule is so full it takes a long time to get pencilled in) it became a reality. She presented classes in Everett and Edmonds, and naturally I signed up for both.

Her Everett class was a Firebird, that I FINALLY got strung this weekend.

 On the next Polymer Cruise I took when Christi taught, I was lucky enough to score a few of her heart pendants. She has told her classes, that whenever she gets stuck creatively speaking, she starts making hearts and soon her juices are flowing and ideas abound.  So that is why she usually has a plethora of hearts to pass on.  I finally found stones that matched her lovely heart pendant.

On this I made pendant, also Christi inspired that I made after her Edmonds class, I combined Steampunk and Floral elements. The large bronze colored section in the middle is actually a stone that I incorporated into the piece.

 Call it just one of those things, or perhaps the universe sending a message ... but I found this heart on a grape the other day.  Even if it was just a random bruising pattern, it still made me smile.

A moment of Zen

Shake your Lizard Tail

At our guild meeting last week, we had one of my favorite program features.... a round robin.  Three different instructor have 20 minutes to present a mini program. We move from table to table to get all 3 in  a little more than an hour.  Sometimes they are hands on and sometimes  a demo, but always fun.


Joanne demo'd Lizard Tails a la Julie Picarello. She tried a new, to her, color combo that really turned out nice and I got to take home the demo!

And I Sanded it!!!!

So when I got a chance I tried it myself, using the scraps from my table.  It is not nearly as dramatic as Joanne's.  Not enough contrast... a learning experience. 

I had a lot of the base cane left.  Since I did not like it that much, rather than make several small ones, I formed it into one large pendant shape.

I am bigger than I look. 

Now I have to figure out how to hang it.  An excuse to visit the Blue Iris Bead Store for a bail, maybe?

Earrings - Week #5

Several years ago, Seattle put in light rail between downtown and the Seatac airport.  I have driven past it a lot and wondered how well it would work for those clayers flying in for the Clayditaron cruise to Alaska this summer.  So on my day off this week, Lord Opuson and I caught it at the airport and road it downtown to the Westlake Center.

I was pleasantly surprised.  It was clean and not very crowded - not much more $ than the bus, but much faster.  There is not, however, much room for luggage. There are folded up seats for those with special needs, the area of which could work provided they did not need to be used by  people who might require them. The staging area for the Link is a ways from the airport terminal (to the north) so if you come in from the south end of the terminal, it would be quite a hike.  It would also be a bit of a walk from the Westlake Plaza to the hotel.  I suppose one could catch a cab at Westlake.  Not sure if it is the best idea, but if there is not a hotel shuttle available, it would be much cheaper than a cab and we all want to save a few $ for clay goodies on the cruise, don't we.

While at Westlake, of course I had to visit the great stores.  In one I found a great product that I wish I had thought of.  A metal necklace with interchangeable magnetic inserts!  It is made by a local company called Magnabilities.

They make them square like the one I bought or round, and a lot of inserts so you can always match what you are wearing.  Of course, I am wondering if I can figure out how to make my own inserts.

Just had to have this dragonfly.  I love the color, which is weird as I don't normally wear a lot of pink. When I got home, I thought I would make my week 5 earrings to match, but had no pink polymer beads. OK, I could have made pink beads, but I was heading into a weekend where I had to work at my J.O.B., soooo I decided to check my stash and see if I could  come up with a match.





These are what I put together.  They are actually a bit more orange than I would like, but they are shiney and I got several comments, including a day shift co-worker who wants to know if I sell earrings.  I thought everyone at work knew about my jewelry work ... looks like I have to work more to get the message out.

I did not feel like setting up the light box so took these on my window stile - scratches in the wood curtesy of the  Underfoot Clan

If at first...

All artists experiment. Our lives are filled with "what if I .... " It makes our days exciting.

Sometimes they work ....  sometimes they don't (my "bad" giraffes).

 And some times they don't work for you but someone else likes them (hey, Cathy... you have to show me sometime what you did with the bad giraffes).

Here is my latest attempt to design.   I am trying to work up a scarf ring.... trying being the operative word here.  This design will only work with a very open weave scarf and the pin drops out way too easily.  Back to the drawing board, as the old saying goes.

But this pattern did lead to the next piece I am going to share.  I plan to wear it simply with a slip knot cord.  I really like how the colors turned out.

Kinda reminds me of the time portal from the old Star Trek Series.

Successful Transfers at Last

When I first got into Polymer Clay, one of the techniques that really intrigued me was image transfer.  However,  it was one technique that caused me all sorts of trouble. I tried every method that I could find during my first claying year - all without luck.  I gave up, as I was kinda an instant gratification gal and there were so many other avenues to explore that did work. 

Then,  at one Clay Carnival,  Donna Kato showed me her technique.  It worked.  I was happy - for a brief time. Then, as luck had it, the paper Donna recommenced changed. Transfers using her method no longer worked.  So I put transfers aside again, but the desire was always there.

Lynda at SC Diva has been doing wonderful transfers that I have been drooling over. I finally I gave into my Muse,  broke down and purchased her tut.  Success at last.  I am so happy with my results.   Take a look.

Can you tell I like Cats?

A cat  of a different stripe

And something different

Thanks hugely Lynda!

Floral Punk

Inspired by my favorite PC artist Christi Friesen, I made a few Floral Punk Pendants Sunday afternoon at Clay Camp.

It's supposed to a tendril, not a snake.

Still have to find a good chain to complete the look

From Driveway to Studio

At our guild meeting this week, the demo involved using leafs as a mask, powdering the clay with mica powders then removing the leaf to leave its outline behind.  Charlie used dark clay but I started wondering if I could use light and color with PanPastel Chalks instead.  That lead to some experimenting that I am going to share with you today.

Trying to find a good leaf was the first step.  The first leafs were too big, the second leaf did not have  good veining.  Finally found a little weed in my driveway that looked promising.  It was a very durable leaf too - got 6 imprints out of it before it gave out.

 


No color was added to the leaf, just the background.  After curing, I used liquid clay tinted with black ink to fill in the vines.
On the second piece, I used the same colors of chalks in the background, putting a little color in the leaf using light green.  It is also textured a bit using my favorite texture pad.  I am not sure what material the pad is made of.  Got it at Clay Carnival several years ago and love it!  It might be a piece of furnace filter - that is the closest I can get to identifying it.

I made one with no color on the leaf but a dusting of gold mica powder to give it a little shine.  The background color is more of a sky color and textured to compliment the rainy weather outside my studio window. A little curve of the blade made a bit of different shape than the rectangles I have been making of late. 

On this one, there is even a lighter dusting of the light green.  I can barely make out the color.  I made a bit of a different texture on the edge made with a large screw. 

Important to note, before using the leaf for the first time, clean it off.  If not, the dust and dirt particles will stick to the clay and become a permanent part of the pendant.  

The last piece was my least favorite when it came out of the oven. The dark purple splotch was really distracting, as originally the leaf imprint had not been precolored.  It was very bland.  Green tinted liquid clay was added to the leaf and it made a big difference. I am going to  experiment more with other color for veining and leaf colors. It is still spring and there are a lot of leafs out there.

I haven't decided yet if I want the leafs top up or top down.  Which do you think is the better look?

CF Inspired Pendant

Had a wonderful time figuring out what to do with the leafs I made in the Christi workshop. While some went to make the wrap vessel, there were others that just did not fit in with the overall look of the vessel or the wall piece I was making (you will see these later after I patina them).

  What is so wonderful about PC is that there is never any wastage.  Even if the mixing and fussing around trying to get a design to work results in "mud", it can just be squished up and used for bead guts.

Single Leafy Pendant looking for earrings - object: Complete Leafy Look

Not every one is a keeper

We all have them... the project that we could envision in our minds, but when executed by our hands ... well, lets say they did not turn out the way we pictured it.

The Polymer Penguin is no exception.  I found an adorable stamp of a giraffe that I just knew would make a wonderful pendant.  I stamped on translucent clay, colored it a bit with PanPastel Chalks, layered over a mottled gold and blue foil (to give it kinda jungle looking background).  Well, after baking the result was less than imagined. 

  Hummmm....maybe the background was too dark...try again with silver foil.  Yeah, that will brighten it up.

As you can see, that was even less of a success. Back to the old drawing board, as the saying goes. I just know this stamp will make a great pendant.

Even Edison failed hundreds of times before he got it right!

Christi Does Stamps

My favorite Polymer Clay artist, Christi Friesen, has been selected to be one of the designers of a new line of stamps, the "Artisan Series" by Dynasty Stamps. Although I was not the fortunate lady who won the prototype stamp sheet at the Polymer Clay Extravaganza nite in Tucson, I did get to see the stamp designs. They are lovely.  I can hardly wait till they are available in a month or two. 

But I was able to purchase one of Christi's pieces featuring one of her new stamps - the Phoenix.  I am so jazzed to show a photo here as it is not featured in her latest book. So for those fellow Christi fans, I proudly present "Glow", the Phoenix Heart.

The Learning Curve

Interesting, I discovered with my last post, that I could not include two pictures in the same post. There is a way, since I have seen many other blogs that have more than one photo included in a post. But I have not yet figured it out.  Back to the help and "how do I...?" section.

Anyway, here are the hearts I mentioned in the last post. I like them but they will not work well in a necklace with the my other leaf beads.