Polymer Clay Days

I have been enjoying working with polymer clay and introducing more friends to this versatile medium.  Below is Angie's first attempt at pendants and earrings using just black and white clay.  She made spiral canes, flower canes, extruded canes and then did the Sutton Slice (on the teardrop shapes)  I think she may be hooked now!

 My friend Rachael has discovered what she described as 'her thing' - Kawaii creatures - which means 'cute' in Japanese, I think!  She started off making a dragon (and made me one too) and then made a gingerbread man and reindeer.  They are indeed very cute!

The dragon...

 ...the gingerbread man...

...and the (rather nose-heavy) reindeer, who needed a bit of support to stay upright!

She was delighted with these little creations and then tried out a new mould which I had just got the previous day.

 I think it worked beautifully!
So, what have I been making?  Well, I absolutely love using the silk screen kit and have made two pieces into pendants with tassels.

 I call this the 'Frankenstein' pendant because the pattern reminds me of lightning and electricity and I chose gemstones which had the same shine and colours including snowflake obsidian, shell, pearls and quartz.

The other one I made has a range of blue gemstones including pearls, sodalite, blue quartz and labradorite.  I love the blue colour on the labradorite which is at the bottom of the tassel (the correct term is labradorescence!)  Chris suggested using cord to hang them on and I agree, as the plaited beading thread just didn't look quite right.  I wore the blue one at work on Friday and got several compliments, which was really nice.

New Polymer Clay equipment

I was going to call this a new 'toy', but actually, it is equipment (although it is a lot of fun!)It is a polymer clay screen printing kit and with it, fabulous surface patterns can be applied to polymer clay, using acrylic paint.

 The kit has four sheets of patterns, paint and squeegee and instructions and I found it really easy to use, once you gauge how much paint is needed.  I made some round pendants as there are two sheets of round patterns, but there are also two sheets of full sheet patterns as well. The sheet is placed onto the rolled out clay, then a squirt of paint is applied just above the top of the pattern and is squeegeed down across the pattern.  It has to be left to dry before baking and the sheets need to be put into warm water as soon as the pattern has been printed as they can't be rubbed to clean them in case the pattern came off.  The sheet needs to be left to dry before using again, so time is needed.

 Here are some of my pendants, nearly ready to wear.  The patterns came out clearly and look lovely against the skinner blend blue background.

 This flower pattern looks a bit japanese-inspired to me.

 Even the tiny dots in this design can be seen.

This back was a happy accident.  I like to make the backs of the pendants interesting, but I hadn't realised that I had made a landscape, or perhaps seascape, with this one.

To use some of the scrap clay I had, I also created some kaleidoscope canes and made a few more pendants.  It's always fascinating to create new patterns. I think I'll be experimenting much more with the silk screen and the kaleidoscope canes.

Latest polymer clay - Mokume Gane

I thought I would share my latest polymer clay experiments with you.  I have been investigating a technique called Mokume Gane (Mo-koo-may Gar-nay) which is from Japanese metalworking, where layers of metal are sliced through to create patterns. The same technique works really well in polymer clay.  I made a stack of purples and pinks, with a bit of silver polymer too and then impressed patterns into it.  I then sliced through the stack, creating the shavings you can see above.

 I then placed pieces together onto a base and created these pendants.

 I loved the swirly patterns - they reminded me of a machine at the fair where you could drizzle paint into a cylinder and centrifugal force would create a pattern.  Alternatively, they do resemble 1960s psychedelia too!

 For my next experiment, I used translucent clay, some tinted with purple, and glitter and foil and pearl clay.  Here's the stack I created with impressed patterns and some infills of pearl clay too.

These are the slices, ready to be put together.

 The finished result - quite subtle but I really like it. You can see the foil shining through the layers underneath.  I made some tube beads which I think will look like glass once they are sanded and varnished.

 I used the translucent clay with a tint of blue and some black, pearl clay and foil, for these.  I am really pleased with how they turned out too.

I have also decorated the backs, which I like almost as much as the fronts!
I used a fantastic book for techniques and inspiration - 'How to make Polymer Clay beads' by Carol Blackburn, which had lots of photos and very helpful advice.  I am constantly amazed by the versatility of polymer clay and particularly enjoyed using this technique.  I can see I shall be re-visiting this one!
I forgot to add that these are completely one of a kind - I couldn't replicate the patterns, even if I wanted to.  Isn't it great that no-one else in the whole world has pendants exactly the same as these?

Polymer Clay Play Day

 A friend of mine came round yesterday to be introduced to the joys that are creating with polymer clay.  Eventually, she wants to use polymer clay for sculpture, but as an introduction, we made canes and turned them into pendants.  We made bull's eye canes, flower canes, spiral canes, kaleidoscope canes and stained glass canes.  She had a go with the extruder too and investigated foil and stamps with mica powder.  Above are some of her pendants - I really liked all the greeny blues she used.

Here are my creations. I tried to make myself use different colours from the ones I would naturally choose and used the bright lime green colour, 'wasabi'. However, we both discovered that despite the bright colour,  it is actually a versatile shade and will work with a variety of other colours.  The cane I used for the pendants on the right I christened my 'rhubarb' cane as the colours really reminded me of a stick of rhubarb!

Here's a close up (it is a little blurry, but you get the idea) - well, I think the colours look very rhubarby!  All in all, a very productive day was spent and I think my friend may well be at the start of an obsession (sorry about that!)

Memory Wire bracelet and Tassel necklace

I have been busy experimenting with new jewellery techniques and also trying to complete a piece which has been quite complicated.  Above is my first ever memory wire bracelet, made using opal chips, labradorite rondelles, silver pearls and peacock pearls.  I made it as a surprise for my sister's birthday, as her birthstone is opal. I hope she likes it.  I really enjoyed the process of threading the chips onto the wire - time consuming but quite therapeutic.

 My latest polymer clay book was this one by Debbie Bulford (who is the polymer clay expert on jewellerymaker.)  I was very taken with this design on the front and was pretty sure I could make my own version of it.  I had two attempts, one using translucent clay, which was suggested in the book, but I thought the colour mix was too brown.  I tried again and lightened the colours, but I still wasn't happy.  So, not to be defeated, the third attempt used pearl clay instead of translucent and I was happy with the result!

 Here's my version of the tassel pendant, using polymer clay and amazonite, with a wooden doughnut bead at the top.  I altered the main bead design to make it my own and the colours are brighter than Debbie's design.

Here's now it will look as a necklace - I am really pleased with it.

 Here are two pendants I made for myself using the simple flower cane design (again from Debbie's book), but with centres in colours to co-ordinate with my work clothes.

I like the geometric pattern and the shine that the pearl clay gives to the 'petals'.  I think it is simple, but effective.



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.

Christmas making and baking

 Like many other crafting people around the country, I have been busy making and baking for Christmas.  Above are some polymer clay pendants ready to be made into necklaces for my mum for Christmas, in her choice of colours - turquoise and orange.

 Star biscuits made for a vegan friend who called round yesterday for a chat.

And lo and behold!  My Christmas bunting is up on the mirror, looking very lovely and festive.  (The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that yes, there are two of the same material next to each other, which couldn't be helped, because even though the two bunting strips are double sided, this still happens whichever way you turn either of them.  And I thought I had managed to avoid this issue...Ho hum!)  I still love the cheerful effect of the bunting though. I have now got Mum's necklaces to finish and more baking to do before the big day, but there is still time.

My 400th blog post - Polymer Clay: I'm hooked

 My polymer clay journey has been progressing very happily and I can now say that I am hooked on it.  I have used my clay rolling machine which makes blending colours and rolling nice thin backgrounds a doddle.  Above is my other new piece of equipment which is my absolute favourite - an extruder.  You cut out little circles of clay in whatever colours you would like, place them into the extruder tube, choose a shape, in this case, square, which goes onto the front and then turn the handle.  The clay is magically turned into a long cane which, when cut, reveals the most gorgeous patterns which alter all along the cane.

 Here are the lovely purple patterns made by the extruder, placed on a base and ready to be made into jewellery.

 More patterns, including fuchsia pink shades.

Here are a few of the finished pendants which just need attaching together, and putting onto a necklace.  I am so pleased with the lovely patterns and what is even more lovely is that they are all original because I don't think I could mix exactly the same colours, or put them into the extruder in the same pattern again.  I can see this turning into a bit of an obsession...

My first polymer clay pendants

Well, here they are - my first ever attempt at polymer clay pendants.  I am really quite pleased with the way they have turned out.  I used bulls-eye canes, spiral canes and foil.  The cooking went well too and I didn't burn them, which was something I was a little concerned about.  I am sure that as I get more used to working with the clay and adept at making, I shall improve.  I really enjoyed the whole experience.  I am now waiting for my clay roller to arrive, which will make rolling out lovely thin pieces of clay a doddle to do.

I thought I should include the aftermath of my creativity - the remains of various canes, bits cut off, bits with foil, mixes of colours and three half-used blocks of clay (I haven't used the blue yet).  I'll post other photos of other projects as I embark on them.