Another Twist on the Squish

The latest twist in my Squish beads is the addition of another color band.  I mixed a little cad red into transluscent clay and added a a bit of sparkle using an embossing powder.  Instead of the chicklet bead shape I have been semi-fixated on lately, I used my bead roller to make a more typical shape. 

This is the same coin roll but two different extrusions.  One had more black clay after the white and the other red after the white.   This is also the same combo that I used for the chicklet beads from my previous post.  So much fun learning what different combinations look like.

Color combos that just don't work and one that did

Haven't been doing much this last week. I spent a lot of time last weekend preparing for my guild demo of my Squishy beads. It kinda screwed up my wrist  rolling out that much clay and cutting out all those small circles of clay for the coin stack. But it was worth it. I got some good complements on the demo and people seemed happy to learn the technique.

 As I said, in preparation for the demo, I made up some coin rolls ahead of time.  I just used up bits and pieces of various packages I had laying around, and I admit I was curious as to what the color combos would look like.  Still experimenting, as one never knows till they try what might work.

This time though,  I mostly discovered colors that did not work so well together.  Oh well, they can't all be winners.

                                                                                                                                                                             Red white and blue... very good colors when it comes to patriotic themes but not so well together when blended.  I was hoping that the blue and red would blend to make a pretty purplish color....well, it is purple but the combo not the best.  Will not try it again.

 Another combo used that did not turn out well is cad red, yellow and black. I am almost ashamed at posting these, but the top three where the yellow and red made orange are cool. This is the blended color that I was hoping to achieve when I chose the colors for the coin roll.

 Since I had so much cad red left over, I put it together with white and black, and got these.  I really like the red and white ones at the bottom of the picture.

And finally the beads that I really like.  Silver, black and white.  Will definitely make more of these. 

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........ )