Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Foils

In my last polymer clay class with Pam she showed me quite a few different techniques for image transfers and towards the end of the lesson we had a quick play with foils. Lots of things can be done with foils from getting a nice crackled antique look to imitation dichroic (sp) glass. Not being a big fan of dichroic glass I decided to play around and see what else I could come up with using these different coloured shiny pieces of plastic.

Pam gave me a small piece of black foil to take home and I’m afraid I’ve fallen in love with it. The pieces below are white clay covered with black and I really like the sort of scratched and slightly mottled look. They make me think of photo negatives…….don’t know why.
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So the one pendant that I loved the most became this necklace.

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I’ve also branched out and made some brooches using my stampotique stamps. Love these gals. They’re so kooky and out there.
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She’s my favourite.
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Not the best picture…sorry. Stamped on to a denim coloured clay because I think they would look good with jeans and shirts.
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Just another necklace with a crescent shape that I stamped with script and added the wings.
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The days just seem to be flying by. I’ve started a bit of Christmas shopping already and over the next few days hope to make start on the Christmas cards. It’s such a busy time and I always like to try and get to the shops before the school holidays start because it’s bedlam by then.

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Friday, November 19, 2010

Op Shop Prop Shopping

Try saying that ten times really, really fast.
Now I have market stall I’m always on the look out for interesting props. And because it’s an outdoor set up I have to be mindful of the wind which seems to blow at the rate of knots every Saturday morning.
Yesterday after dropping a whole lot of stuff off at my favourite Save the Children Fund op shop and buying some used books (they have the best priced used books and it’s all set out like a library) I decided to take the Op Shop Route home.
These cute things, I have no idea what they were originally for but I know from the packaging they are from Ikea seemed like the perfect little stand to hang bracelets from……
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….and earrings.
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Last week we had a new lady Kathy join us on Saturday morning selling a range of bric-a-brac. I pounced on this wrought iron basket as soon I saw it. Great for earring packages.
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Of course it will be filled to the brim on Saturday.
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And how cute is this! A tiny little dress form covered in fabric and just perfect to drape a bracelet around the neck.
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During the week I also made a sign. Good old Cuttlebug letters cut out of wallpaper, glued on and some pretty stamping around the edges.
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Each week I seem to end up taking more and more stuff with me. Soon I’ll have to buy a Kombi van just to get it all there!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

A Challenge

I’ve just entered a challenge over on  Love My Art Jewellery. It’s a particular colour combination of lovely autumn tones.
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I’d love some autumn weather right now. It reached about 37c today and tomorrow is going reach a sizzling 39c. Oh joy! It’s our first burst of hot weather for the year and I’m already over it.
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The aircon in the bedroom will be switched on tonight…..
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…and more than likely tomorrow too.
Head on over to Love My Art Jewellery and check out the colours for the challenge and then head over to the flickr group and see some of the other beautiful entries.
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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Clay and Stamps………

…….a winning combo.
Do you like these? I have to say I’m a little in love with them at the moment.  Pearl clay is just like it’s name, a creamy colour with just a slight sheen to it. Very carefully applied this gorgeous swirly flourish stamp to the clay (sometimes the stamp can slip and I end up with a double image) and then baked. Added a gunmetal chain and toggle and clasp with eyelets to strengthen the holes and hey presto!
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A similar one but round and with an antique brass coloured chain. Fairly long so it can just be slipped over the head.
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This pendant is about 4cm in diameter.

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Ok….this is not for the faint hearted. Huge black enamel chain with gigantic links and a large (almost 5cm diam.) pendant. It’s long too. Are you brave enough to wear it?
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Actually I just tried it on again and it looks pretty good. Even with my daggy around the house T shirt and old tracky daks with the bleach stains and several different coloured paint splashes on them.
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Anyway I’ve put these up on my Artfire store hoping they eventually go to a good home.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Can’t Think of a Title

Bought a new Krafty Lady mold the other day it’s about 2cm in diameter and I really love it. Very antique button look to it. Hope to make some earrings with these over the next few days. I’ve already glazed some. The cream with a brown glaze that has settled into cracks and crevices very nicely and just a clear glaze for the others.

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I got very annoyed with these two pendants. I was trying to do swirl
beads and they just wouldn’t swirl properly so I had a little tanty and just squashed them flat out of sheer frustration and you know what?…..I quite like them. Have no idea what I’ll end up doing with them yet.
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Below is one of two similar pendants. Just plain white clay that I hand stamped and attached to a brushed silver chain and clasp. The other one has matt black chain.
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Think I’ll put one on my market table and the other in my Artfire store.

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Tomorrow is my first job for over a week so the last few days have been all about the clay. I’ve got another bunch of pendants and earrings in the oven at the moment. Once they’ve cooled down I’ll have a look and see if they’ve turned out as well as I hoped.
The kitchen table is all cleared off now in readiness for number one son to cook dinner tonight. What’s the bet it’s some kind of pasta dish?