Learning something new - Kumihimo

This year, one of the things I really wanted to do was to learn kumihimo, which is a Japanese braiding technique.  I have taken the plunge and found a basic eight strand braid to be remarkably easy to learn.  A disc is vital, as is a kumihimo weight which helps with the tension of the braid,  

 This pink and purple satin cord braid was my first attempt and I was really delighted with how it took shape.  It is a meditative process - top right to bottom right, bottom left to top left and turn - but this is only the beginning and there is a lot more that can be made.

 I used organza ribbon for the blue braid, but it wasn't as smooth a finish as the satin cord and was a bit scratchy.  However, it was a good experiment.

This one used rainbow satin cord with black and worked really well.  However, as you can see, none of these have been made into jewellery.  This is because I am considering how to finish a braid off.  You can buy kumihimo ends, you can make your own using wire, you can use ribbon cord ends... A bit of experimentation and practise may be in order.
Of course, apart from all the patterns you can create using different colours, different numbers of cords and different disks, there is the excitement of being able to braid beads and gemstones into the braid as you go.  Now that is something I definitely would like to try!

'From My Home to Yours' Blog Swap - Parcel Two!

As you may know, I took part in the blog swap organised by Betty and my swap partner Emma sent me a lovely parcel.  She also told me that there were more things she had got ready for the swap, but had forgotten to post them, so to look out for them in parcel two. They arrived safe and sound this week. 

 The parcel was unwrapped with great excitement and here's what greeted me...

I set it out and there was a lavender shortbread pack, made with Jersey lavender, a map and tourist guide of Jersey, a bags of blue beads, a blue crocheted flower, a peach rose brooch, and a very pretty bead necklace (the flowers and necklace made by Emma),

 Here are the necklace, beads and flowers - so pretty!

 So, I put the two parcels of goodies together and this is what I received.

Wow - what a fantastic lot of loveliness!  I am really looking forward to making (and eating) the shortbread - I'll let you know how I get on. A HUGE thank you to Emma for all the beautiful things.  Blog swaps are so much fun!

Challenging myself

 I decided to give myself a bit of a creative challenge with my polymer clay skills.  I have been wanting to make some flowers for quite a while, so went onto some internet tutorials to see how it was done.  It all looked reasonably simple, so off I went to have a go.  Let me tell you, it is not simple at all!  Here are my first attempts at a sort of grape hyacinth (following the tutorial from make it with me) but my attempt isn't nearly as pretty as hers.  Of course, this is my first attempt and it will no doubt get better if I practise!

 Having mixed some nice purple shades, I thought I would try a simple flower shape.  Even that wasn't as easy as I thought.  Practise, practise, practise!

 Here are some beads which I am really pleased with (good to end on an optimistic note).  I have been struggling with using translucent polymer clay as my attempts hadn't quite worked out as I had hoped.  However, when watching Jewellery Maker one day, there was a polymer clay designer and she showed how to make foil beads using translucent clay.  I had a go, using silver foil over a variety of colours of clay that were in my scrap box and lo and behold...success!  I can't tell you how pleased I was with these.

Now I just need to use them in some jewellery!

Latest polymer clay jewellery experiments

Not content with finishing my rabbits project, I have also been enjoying experimenting with polymer clay, having seen some new techniques and equipment which I wanted to try out.  Above is a Sutton slice (named after the creator) which is made using an unmounted stamp which you push the clay into and then cut it flush with the surface, then use another piece to pull it out of the stamp. (That probably makes no sense, but there are tutorials on the internet if you are interested).  It creates a highly textured, patterned surface.

 I have also been trying new cane techniques, such as spiral and wrapped.  Any offcuts were made into beads.

 This pattern was made by wrapping thin pieces of two colours of clay in a wave pattern.

 This is a kaleidoscope cane, made into a repeating pattern - well named, I think.

 These were some offcuts from the second pendant, but I liked the colours, so made another repeating pattern using blocks of the colours.

 You may remember this scabious which I saw at the Market Rasen Open Gardens.  It made me think of a Ginger Rogers dress and I said at the time that I would like to try to make a pendant, inspired by it.

 Here are two pendants, using a simple technique of blending colours into each other.  I didn't quite get the colours to be a perfect match for the scabious, but the end result was pleasing.

 Another new technique, the Stroppel cane (again named after the creator).  It is a good way to use up ends of canes.  The pendant on the right has a very 1980s feel to me - it makes me think of leg warmers and leggings for some reason!  That one was made by putting the Stroppel canes through my clay roller so that the pattern became wider.

 This was the simplest new technique, but I think it is my favourite.  It is stamped with an unmounted stamp and then a teal/blue/green mica powder was applied to the top surface which highlighted the pattern.  I have now got lots of different colours of mica powder so am going to see what they look like on different background colours.

Finally, some beads made from offcuts. 
I have also found another new technique using alcohol inks which can make lovely backgrounds and can then be stamped over...watch this space.

Latest Jewellery

Here is the latest jewellery I have been making, for my work colleague, Leanne's birthday, last week.  She likes dramatic jewellery, so this gave me a challenge for my polymer clay.  I made a large pendant on wire, and two bracelets.



Above is a close up of the pendant, made using polymer clay in black, white, red glitter and silver.  As you can see, I had fun using the extruder tool again!

 I then made some polymer clay beads using the same colours and made them into a macrame bracelet.

 I told Leanne that this was a complete original because no-one in the world would have one exactly the same.  I wouldn't even be able to make one exactly the same.  I love that about polymer clay.

The final macrame bracelet is made using black rutilated quartz (also called rutile quartz and apparently the black flecks in the quartz are tourmaline).  Leanne immediately put this one on and wore it for the rest of the day.  I think they were successful gifts.

A typical shopping trip?

 Chris and I took the opportunity to go up to the touristy end of town yesterday, to take our time browsing the craft shops, antiques shops and other such lovely places that we don't get to usually.  I came home with a very eclectic mix of things, as you can see.  I bought the book on making beads as it has felt and polymer clay in it, as well as paper, metal and glass, which I will probably not be investigating, but it is always good to have inspiration.  The other book appealed to the nosey side of my nature, being made from women's letters over 800 years.  I shall look forward to curling up with that later.  There are also some purple and white patterned napkins which were languishing in a 'each item for £2.00' basket, so I had to buy them, didn't I?   There are also some circle cutters for making bigger polymer clay pendants, some beads and a candlestick.  (Not exactly a normal day's shopping - even for me).

The stripy beads caught my eye for macrame work and I couldn't resist the cubes of coated haematite which the camera doesn't really do justice to.  In real life they are vibrant golds, blues, greens and pinks, depending which face you look at.

The piece de resistance of my trip just has to be this sweet little candlestick.  I stood looking at it for quite a while in the shop.  The raised flower pattern caught my eye and then I saw the gold pattern on the black background.  Once I had asked to look at it and was holding it, that was it, I had to buy it!

 How could I resist this beautiful gold dotty pattern?

The little raised decoration flowers are so pretty, in blues, purples, pinks and yellows.  Once I got it home and carefully washed and dried it, I looked it up on the internet.  (It is at times like this that I really value the internet). The piece was made by RH and SL Plant Ltd between 1936 and 1947 and is Tuscan China although I haven't yet discovered what the pattern is called.  They made many, many teas sets in lots of patterns, but did seem to favour the floral.  I think my mum owns one with a love-in-the-mist pattern and I will have to check that next time I visit.  The factory was in Longton, Staffordshire and continued until 1972 when Wedgwood took them over.  The factory closed in 2006.
This little candlestick is definitely my favourite find of the day!

Welcome to a new follower, Melissa.  I hope you will enjoy reading my blog.

P.S Don't forget to enter my giveaway - closing date 2nd November.