Deez News

Hotter Than Hades

2012-01-26T14:07:00.002+08:00

Holy hellfire it’s hot here. We’ve had temps in the very high 30’s (about 100 degrees) for the last few days and we’ve evidently got another week or so of the same. Summer is my least favourite time of the year, I’m an autumn/winter lover. It is so hot at the moment that it’s impossible to do anything, forget putting the oven on for baking clay or even working with clay.

So here’s a few photos of some pieces I made over the last few weeks, when the weather was cooler.

Crescent shape with some texture highlighted with a dark glaze.

And as Valentines Day is fast approaching a heart pendant.

The flower is highlighted with viva paints.

A textured star pendant that’s maybe a little too Christmassy I think.

Highlighted again with viva paints and attached to a ball chain with jump rings.

Isn’t this gorgeous.

It’s made with flowers punched from vellum and you can find the instruction on the 3 R’s blog. Wander around her blog and be amazed. Allison has many beautiful and very creative light shades on her blog all or most using recycled papers and have a look at her soda can pop tab light shades…..stunning.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay pendants,vellum,soda pop tabs

Art Saves

2012-01-22T10:18:00.002+08:00

Barbara Lewis…..she of the wonderful creative and colourful blog Painting with Fire sent me an email a few weeks ago asking if I would mind if she linked backed to one of my posts on the website Art Saves……as if I’d say no to Barbara!!!

Some of Barbara’s gorgeous enamelled beads.

Do yourself a favour and head over to Art Saves and be inspired by the interesting stories told by wonderfully talented and creative women who have used art to uplift them and help them through sometimes difficult times.

Barbara will be the curator of the Art Saves website during the week of 23rd January until the 29th January. And here is a list of the bloggers she’ll be highlighting.

Blog post for the week of January 23-29
A post by Rosey Revolver will air for the entire week. She's one cool chic who makes hot jewelry!

January 23
Lori Anderson of Pretty Things
Davinia Algeri of Deez News

January 24
Mary Jane Dodd of Maire Dodd
Staci Louise Smith of Love My Art Jewelry

January 25
Lori Plyler of Studio Waterstone
Andrew Thornton of The Writings of Andrew Thornton

January 26
Greer O’Neill of Vintajia

Christine Damm of Stories They Tell

January 27
Crystal Neubauer of Other Peoples Flowers

Malin deKoning of Beading by Malin deKoning

January 28
Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studios

Diane Cook of Rosa-Josie's

January 29
Stefanie Teufel of Stefanie's Sammelsurium

Erin Siegel of Erin Siegel Jewelry

I’m really looking forward to reading the posts Barbara has chosen to link back to. Hope you are too.

Technorati Tags: Barbara Lewis,Art Saves,Painting with Fire

Getting Ready

2012-01-19T07:49:00.002+08:00

Finally found a craft market here in Perth that I’ll be attending in March. Namely Boutique Markets and it will be held at the Burswood Casino in the Grand Ballroom (yay….indoor market). So it’s head down and bum up to make sure I have enough interesting pieces to showcase.

I have plenty of jewellery, probably enough to stock several shops.

Like this…….

….and this brooch…….

…..and this.

So I thought I would concentrate on polymer clay gift tags.

Fresh out of the oven.

Some still need to be stamped and glazed so I’d better get to it and stop playing Words with Friends. So addictive!!!!!

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay brooches,polymer clay necklace,polymer clay gift tags

Keep Calm, Don’t Be Alarmed…..

2012-01-06T17:38:00.002+08:00

…..this is not turning into a food blog.

Finishing salts, spiced salts, herbed salts or seasoned salts, call them what you will. I made some. Why you may ask? I have no clue, I just did.

Citrus salt, Italian salt and Moroccan salt. I just bought rock salt and added different herbs and spice combinations. The Moroccan one has coriander (cilantro) cumin, chilli flakes, black pepper corns, and the Italian has chilli flakes, oregano, onions flakes and garlic flakes and black pepper corns. The Citrus is just the zest of two lemons dried in the microwave and added to the rock salt then ground in my little electric grinder.

They are quite delicious, just add a sprinkle to fish or steak just before serving, hence the name Finishing Salts I guess.

Anyway, enough of the cooking stuff. Here’s a couple of pieces I’ve made over the last few days.

Dark pewter metallic clay with some random lime green circles from a cane I made. Yes……I made a cane!

Black coated chain with large black links from another chain that I used instead of jump rings.

These photos aren’t very true to colour and I think I’ll re-take them again.

I took them near the dining room window in the morning but they look a little washed out.

Silver clay textured and highlighted with pale gold metallic paint on a brass chain with toggle and clasp.

I’ve put these two in my madeit store.

Now this is a bit exciting…….If you’re so inclined you can have my blog as an app on your smart phone.

On your phone go to Safari, type in this URL http://mippin.com/app/468709. Look for an icon at the bottom of the screen (a little square with an arrow) click on that and click Add to Home Screen. So now while your travelling to work on the bus or train you can while away the time by reading Deez News, or sitting in a coffee shop, or waiting at the Dentist or just any old time.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay pendants,finishing salts,herbs,spices,rock salt,smart phones,apps

Epic Fail (s)

2011-12-31T16:06:00.001+08:00

As the New Year approaches I thought I’d look back at my post for 2010 and see whether my resolutions (intentions) manifested in any way, shape or form and I’m embarrassed and ashamed to admit they didn’t.

Intention # 1. Who was I trying to kid!

1. My intention this year is to try and enjoy cooking more. Despite the fact that my children often post cruel and disparaging comments about my cooking on their face books, I will try to like it more. Once in 2001 I did……… I went all Moroccan and quite enjoyed it but no-one else was terribly enthused, so I quit.

Still hate the whole cooking thing.

Intention # 2. Like this was ever going to happen.

2. I intend to finish what I’ve started before I go onto the next thing. Even if some fabulous idea pops into my head I will not stop working on a project and start a new one. I’ll allow myself to quickly write the idea in a journal and then carry on. But then I might get an idea for a really wicked new journal and start on that before I’ve even put the original idea in the first journal. See what I mean?

Nothing is finished and still no journal

Intention # 3.

3. Try to keep a tidy house. Ha ha ha ha ha hee hee hee….oh dear!

Nothing to say about this really!

Probably the best resolution I could make is this………

……….destroy all horrible photos of myself so awful people (namely my son) can’t upload them to face book with the caption “Hair Dooooooo”.

Crumbs, I look like I’ve got a lamp growing out of my head and that hair is something to behold. That was back in my fabric painting days and when I used to put rollers in my hair and use a blow dryer. No blow dryer or rollers in this house now…..I’m strictly a wash and wear girl.

So I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy and creative New Year with many a good hair day.

Technorati Tags: new years resolutions

Jewellery Stand

2011-12-27T11:27:00.002+08:00

Remember these? Well I had a bit of play this morning. Went to Bunnings bright and early and picked up these.

I wanted to make a portable jewellery stand that would be easy to pack and hopefully stackable and with the option of leaving the necklaces on the stand.

So I attached the self adhesive velcro strips to the brackets and the back of the place mats. As you can see I still haven’t painted the mats yet. I wanted to make sure the idea in my head would transfer to the mats before I went to the trouble (fun) of decorating them.

Now I have made a slight boo boo, I should have bought brackets that are much longer. These are about 5cm (2”) long, just not really long enough to support the placemat when it has necklaces on it. But that’s easy fixed……just another trip to Bunnings Hardware.

Now the reason I used velcro and didn't glue or screw the brackets to the mats is so that the brackets can be pulled off, allowing me to stack the mats flat in a container for easy transport.

And possibly having elastic straps tied around the necklaces to save time taking them on and off.

So now all have to do is find a bloody market here in Perth. If you know of any I’d love to hear about them.

Technorati Tags: diy jewellry stand

Recycled Mirror

2011-12-23T07:42:00.002+08:00

Well not so much recycled as re-vamped some what. I made this during my mosaic period quite a few years ago. It’s been hanging in the hallway opposite the door to the bathroom . Well the hallway had a bit of a paint makeover a few weeks ago and when the mirror was taken off the wall all the grout started to crack. I obviously hadn’t prepared the substrate very well. So I managed to lift all the tiles and the grout off the backing.

And was left with this fabulous texture.

So after cleaning it up a bit and some judicious sanding I painted it with black gesso.

Just kind of slapped it on without worrying too much about perfect coverage.

Then I got out my trusty Viva Gold solid paints.

And just smeared a few of the colours over the raised textured areas (where I’d lifted off the tiles and the glue residue was still there).

And ended up with this.

Not all that excited about it anymore. Nothing like the image I had in my head. The men of the house really liked it, dunno, I think it needs spot of gold (I used silver and platinum paints) here and there just to lift it a bit.

A close up of the texture although the silvery highlights aren’t evident in the photo.

Absolutely nothing to do with mirrors but I like how these photos turned out. Late afternoon sun in our garden.

Well the shopping is done, the presents are wrapped and I’ve cooked what I needed to cook, so now it’s house cleaning and tidying my very messy studio.

Technorati Tags: recycle,mosaics,viva decor paints,mirror,black gesso

This Post Contains Mature Content

2011-12-18T17:38:00.002+08:00

No, not the kind of mature content your thinking of. I found the loveliest blog the other day called Advanced Style by a young photographer named Ari Seth Cohen. Ari wanders the streets of New York photographing men and women of a mature age who have style, grace and a wonderful sense of fashion.

Now some of the ladies are a little “mutton dressed up as lamb-ish” I have to say, but for the most part they look wonderful.

Like this lady. She makes me want to grow my grey hair long and have a French twist and start wearing lipstick again.

Isn’t she elegant and still has a twinkle in her eye.

And this Lady.

She is 100 years old and lifts weights and goes to pilates class once a week. Lord….when I read that I felt like a lazy, overweight slob. Just the thought of walking out to the letter box overwhelms me some days let alone going to pilates class.

Read her tips for staying young.

And this elegant lady.

She also has some tips for keeping young. I particularly love her tip about shoes.

Just gorgeous.

And so chic.

Technorati Tags: mature age fashion,mature age style

Well I Never

2011-12-11T18:20:00.002+08:00

I never, ever thought cooking and recipes would ever darken my blog door. But there’s a first for everything I guess. I’ve been a cooking machine today in readiness for Christmas.

Chicken deboned, stuffed with sundried tomatoes, wholemeal breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, basil, egg, salt and pepper then rolled and covered with strips of bacon and tied up and baked. I’ve made 4 of these in the last few days.

The most divine, decadent and delicious Apricot, Macadamia and White Chocolate Christmas cake. It’s cooling on my kitchen bench as I write this. I’ve made this a couple of times for Christmas instead of the usual traditional (and sometimes boring fruit cake) we usually have.

It’s about the only recipe I make that actually looks like the photo accompanying the instructions. It’s well documented on this blog that I hate cooking with a passion.

Here’s a little anecdote that will showcase my lack of any cooking gene. My future DIL Erin was having dinner with us the other night when she said she had to ring her mother and ask her to make some cupcakes for Erin to take to work the next day. My response was if one of my children rang at 7.00 pm that night asking for cakes to be made for the next day I’d just laugh and hang up. So she was telling her mum the next day what I’d said and then in the next breathe she said but I bet if Michael rang at 7.00 pm wanting a handmade birthday card or a piece of jewellery made she’d get on it right away. Oh Erin……you know me too well!

Technorati Tags: rolled chicken,christmas cake

Some Unexpected But Happy News

2011-12-05T12:13:00.002+08:00

So my son and his girlfriend flew over to Sydney last Thursday for (of all things) an Eminem concert. Late Saturday night the phone rings and I here this voice say “MUM”, now he never says hi mum it’s me, just “MUM” and immediately my heart drops to my stomach. They’ve had an accident, I have to fly over there and bail him out of prison, he’s been mugged…..all of these thoughts went through my head at the speed of light. So when he said “we just got engaged” I didn’t believe him. He tends to play little tricks on me every so often like ringing me and asking me to pick him up and when I ask where he’ll say something like Bunbury, a 170 kilometre 2 hour drive then he tells me he’s only joking he’s at his girlfriends, a 5 minute drive away. So of course I thought he was joking and it wasn’t until I spoke to his very excited girlfriend that I knew it was true.

So once I was over the initial excitement, it suddenly occurred to me…….OMG…….I’m going to be a Mother-in-law! I think I’ll be an ok MIL, not one of those interfering, needs to butt out of their lives, type MIL’s. At least I hope not.

It’s been awhile since I posted to my blog as I’ve been a little busy with work but I have managed a few things in the past few days.

I’m on a brooch kick again.

Even added some cane slices. Canes aren’t my favourite things, I find them so time consuming and fiddly and I take my hat off to all of the extraordinary cane makers out there in polymer clay land.

I love this one. It’s such a whimsical image.

I think the next brooches I make with this image and shape I might try adding some words. Any suggestions?

Technorati Tags: polymer clay brooches,birds,owls,canes

Birds

2011-11-24T12:44:00.002+08:00

Not a lot to show for the past week even though I’ve spent a fair amount of time in my studio (I love saying that!!!). Just experimenting with shapes and colours some of which turned out and some of which are real duds.

This is a brooch I made using translucent clay mixed with red for the bird. I was hoping it would appear more of a deep red but instead it’s a more watermelon shade. But I like it against the dark silver clay.

It’s about 3.5 cm in diam. and I’ve attached some random pieces of chain and a single bead. Harking back to the old days when a lot of brooches had a safety chain attached, only these chains are decorative.

Here’s a necklace I made a few days ago.

Again using translucent clay mixed with alcohol inks. I haven’t used trans clay much so I thought I’d try my hand at mixing inks and different coloured clays through it.

It’s a stinking hot day here in sunny old Perth. Terrible bush fires down south in Margaret River with the loss of about 20 homes and hectares of beautiful forest gone up in smoke. The worst start to summer ever.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay brooch,translucent clay,alcohol inks

Plentiful Pendants

2011-11-15T13:48:00.003+08:00

I have pendants coming out of my ears. So I’ve listed these on my madeit store.

Black clay with silver highlights.

Ivory clay with pale gold highlights.

Denim blue on suede with silver highlights.

and this is my favourite, pewter clay with light silver highlights.

Now see these………

……I see trouble and grief heading my way. They look good but I know when I bake them awful things well may happen and I’ll tell you why. See the white markings along the branches (not the white dots, they’re fine) well the patterned piece is a very thin overlay on top of dark clay and because it’s so thin I couldn’t get it flat against the base clay without squashing the texture, so those white markings are probably going to turn into bubbles. I’ll let you know how they turn out. It’ll probably end in tears!!!

Just as I suspected……..trouble and grief.

I just cooked these. The top photos are the baked, bottom unbaked….shame the bottom ones looked pretty good.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay pendants,texture

…….and Action!

2011-11-10T06:37:00.001+08:00

Here’s a couple of short videos I made on my ipad with the help of my wonderful friend Carmen. I’m demonstrating Viva Decor Inka-Gold cream paints which I just love while Carmen is holding the ipad.

The first very short video is a bit of a dud. My vanity got the better of me.

The second video is marginally better with a bit more of an explanation and some samples of what can be done with these lovely paints.

But I do need a lot more practice at this video caper. Like holding things up properly and for a little longer so you get a better view of the sample piece. And remembering to take my bracelet off so it doesn’t clang and bang on the table, and not to sniff (it’s hay fever season here at the moment……sorry). And possibly getting the camera operator……yes, you Carmen…… to ask some insightful and pertinent questions about the product.

Rolling credits:

Demonstrator: Davinia

Camera operator: Carmen

Director: Carmen

Producer: Davinia

Technorati Tags: viva decor paints,polymer clay

Circles and Dots and Squares

2011-11-03T12:03:00.002+08:00

I’ve been playing around with my rather substantial collection of paints. I had some scraps of clay on my desk that when mixed together became a very pale grey. So I rolled it out and just started dabbing different colours of paint over it. I used Golden green and silver and Josona’s pale yellow.

Once the paint was dry (well almost) I textured the clay with squares and dots.

Then I cut out circles and used the inside cut-outs as well to create the overall shape using Liquid Translucent Clay to stick them together.

Once it was baked and cooled I smeared Folk Art Black metallic paint over the whole lot and before it was dry I wiped most of it off with damp paper towel.

Gunmetal embossed chain and a toggle and clasp finished it off and I have to say I like it. Something a little different and with a slightly contemporary feel to it.

It’s 12 cm (5”) across by 5 cm (2”) high so it’s a reasonable size and just sits nicely below the collar bone.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay necklace,golden paints,texture,gunmetal chain

When the Queen Came to Town and the Duke Put His Foot In It……Again

2011-10-31T09:17:00.002+08:00

The Queen has come and gone and the great Aussie barbeque she and the Duke attended on the Swan River was a huge success by all accounts. I didn’t go because the thought of battling the crowds was too much to contemplate.

Prince Phillip is renowned for making gaffs and here’s a couple of pearlers.

On meeting a young man with cerebral palsy in a wheel chair he asked him “how many people have you killed in that.”…….oh dear!

And when told a group of students were the head boy and girl of their respective schools he said “it’s obvious they didn’t choose the attractive ones then”…….ouch!

Here’s some pretties for you to look at. Love this yarn holder.

What a great idea, it’s from red hot pottery.

Get out your old Tshirts and make this.

You can find instructions on Ninth and Bird blog.

I might make one of these and put it in my new studio, did I tell you I have a studio now?……I did?……just checking.

This is from everydaymomideas and you can find the instructions on her blog.

Hopefully something amazing will emerge from my studio this week. The millions of ideas I had when I was tucked into the small corner of the family room that I was dying to try once I had more room have now deserted me.

Technorati Tags: yarn holder,tshirt scarf,paper leaf tree

The Reason I’ve Been AWOL………

2011-10-25T16:40:00.002+08:00

…….is this…..whoohoo!

Also another reason I’ve been absent is because I’ve started a new on line store with madeit.com an Australian online handmade craft site. So I’ve been busy finding my way around it and uploading photos. I’m still called Back Pocket Designs www.madeit.com.au/backpocketdesigns like my Artfire store but I have taken a couple of items from there and put them into madeit. I’m probably going to downgrade my Artfire store to a basic seller instead of pro. I’m just finding all the changes they have been making (and I know they’re for the best) a little hard to deal with. I’m one of those baby boomers who don’t like change, especially any changes to do with computing. Pathetic I know, and don’t get me started on all the Facebook changes…..sheesh, I couldn’t even work it properly before the changes, now I’m completely bamboozled and flummoxed.

So any way, that’s what’s been happening in my small world of late. I love, love, love, my new studio. It’s great to be able to work on something and just walk away and leave it all there until the next day and not have to pack it all away. That was so annoying and would often stop me from trying new things and exploring my clay and generally being creative.

These are a couple of pieces I’ve listed in madeit. This one made the “New Finds” page on my first day and had over 90 views, so that’s encouraging.

Edited to note: This necklace sold about 10 minutes ago. My first sale on Made It.

Wish me luck on my new venture.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay pendandt,made it.com,online craft store,studio

Humour Me

2011-10-11T07:40:00.001+08:00

I’ve had a little play with my iPad and I’ve taken a video. It’s all very amateurish and Steven Spielberg has nothing to worry about, but it’s really just a test video to see what I could do and to teach myself to upload it. And also where not to put my fingers and to remember to take off the smart cover before I start recording. Couldn’t work out why all I seemed to be recording was an orange square, then I realised I still had the cover on and it was in front of the camera lens. Duh!

A Bit of a Test

So the photos I took of these necklaces weren’t terribly good (because I’m a lazy sod and couldn’t be bothered setting up my light studio). Then the idea of a video came to mind so I thought why not try filming with my iPad. Maybe I could showcase them a little better in a video.

Someone needs to invent a tripod for the iPad (perhaps someone already has, who knows). It’s a bit awkward trying to hold it with one hand whilst doing something with the other. And all the controls just aren’t in the right place, especially the stop start button.

And how come when you hear your voice it’s nothing like the sound you hear in your head?

Technorati Tags: video,ipad,polymer clay pendants

Another New Shape

2011-10-08T06:42:00.002+08:00

Well here’s a different shaped pendant with a completely different look to my ‘boomerang’ pendants.

When I bought the Viva Decor cream paints (I promise there will be a post about them soon) I also bought some Pardo clay. Not quite sure about Pardo just yet, I need to play with it a bit more. I found some of the colours a little soft, so I don’t know what it would be like for making canes. I never make canes, too time consuming and tricky for me. So this pendant is Pardo ‘Ivory', it was almost the opposite of the other colours I bought, it took a long time to condition as it was quite chalky and I ended up adding some Premo translucent to it so it would come together a bit better. But I have to say I really love this colour.

I textured the clay then once it was cooked and cooled and I sanded the back and the edges, I smudged ‘Graphite’ Decor Viva paint over the raised areas.

Same shape only larger and I used green Premo for this one.

Same deal with the paints except I used ‘Old Silver’ which isn’t really silver, but a very pale, milky, gold. That’s about the only way I can describe the colour.

Now I did make up one of the boomerang pendants. Pretty plain and simple and I’m unsure about it.

I think I’ll add more to it at some stage. I did make some tube beads with the same pattern when I made this.

So maybe one or too will make their way into the necklace along with whatever else I can add to give some spark.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay pendants,pardo clay,tube beads

Trying For Organic

2011-10-03T21:29:00.002+08:00

I had two identical cookie cutters so I decided to re-shape one of them into a more organic shape. Well it didn’t quite work the way I hoped. The shape ended up looking like a boomerang, not that there is anything wrong with that, but it just wasn’t the shape I was going for.

I textured these and after they were cooked I smudged them with Viva Decor cream paints. Love this stuff and will do a post on them in the near future.

For these I extruded strips of multi coloured clay and then flattened them in the pasta machine laid the strips over a base clay then cut the shapes out. Not quite sure what I will do with these, I guess something will come to me.

And here’s an experiment in fancy bail making.

So that’s what I did over the weekend. How about you?

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay pendants,extruder,boomerang,bails,texture

Baby I’m Owling For You

2011-09-28T15:16:00.002+08:00

Does this look like an owl?

Admittedly one with a stigmatism in his left eye. I think his ears are a bit too pointy. On reflection I don’t think they’re ears, I think they’re just tuffty feathers, regardless they need re-shaping. I’ll keep playing around with the shape some more I think.

These are some of the tools I used to get the impressions for his eyes and feathers, feet and nose. The photo on the right is a little hard to see but they are lino cutting tools. The tools on the left are embossing tools used on very soft metal. Brilliant for impressing onto clay.

And here’s a couple of rings I made using the cabezels and some scrap clay. I love scrap clay, you get the most interesting patterns and colours.

In case you’re wondering about the title, it’s a play on a song by the Black Keys, Baby I’m Howlin’ For You, it’s a favourite of mine at the moment and I’ve been thrashing it my car for the last month.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay owl,owls,cabezls,rings

This Might Interest You

2011-09-25T12:39:00.002+08:00

Do you have an iPad? If so you might like this app. I love it even though it was a bit expensive at the intro price of $4.99 (I think the price has increased since then).

It’s called Foliozo and it’s a portfolio app.

The beauty of it is that you don’t need to be connected to wifi or 3g to view the portfolio, so instead of lugging around a heavy portfolio with photos of your jewellery you can just take you iPad.

It uses Dropbox so once your linked to Dropbox Foliozo creates it’s own folder. It’s a Cloud thingy, don’t ask me how the Cloud thingy works though.

There’s 4 photos to a page and just keep swiping to see more, but you can tap on an individual photo and it becomes full screen.

Like so, then details of your pieces can be seen.

Sorry about the photos, it was hard not to get any glare on them. But of course you don’t have to use it just for jewellery. Family photos, home renovations, vacation photos, anything really and it’s all there without having to be connected to the internet to view them.

The reason I bought this app is because a new little gift shop has opened up in one of our local shopping centres and if I can get up the nerve to go in and see if they may be interested in having some of my pieces I can just take my iPad with me instead lots of jewellery that needs to be unpacked or a thick photo album.

Here’s an article that explains it quite well if you are interested.

Technorati Tags: ipad,portfolio,jewellery,foliozo

Bead Soup Blog Hop

2011-09-17T19:47:00.002+08:00

Well it’s here, and it’s bigger then Ben Hur, the bead soup blog hop. Lots and lots of participants and plenty of gorgeous jewelery to look at.

Here is what my partner Janet from Texas sent to me.

Beautiful lampwork beads that she made and a hand forged clasp. As I said in an earlier post these are colours I normally wouldn’t choose myself so it was quite a challenge to come up with a design that showcased the lovely beads. Also they arrived 8 days before the big reveal, (not Janet’s doing, but the fault of the post) so I was a bit strapped for time. Perth being a smallish city with not a lot to choose from in the way of bead stores, I didn’t have a lot of gold coloured findings and no chain and not enough time to order on line.

So after looking through my stash I decided I’d go along a more contemporary path and use black enamel chain and black wire with just a few gold coloured jump rings.

I’ve put the clasp on the side because I thought it would sit well there and that meant an asymmetrical design which I love. I used all but two of Janet’s beads and just added one of my polymer clay oval discs to the focal.

If you would like to see more of Janet’s beads she has an Etsy store where you can see her incredible array of beautiful lampwork beads.

Thanks Janet for sending me such beautiful beads and a big thankyou to Lori for organising such a huge event.

To view the list visit Lori’s blog page, it’s a long list but take a few days to hop around and see some incredible jewellery from some very talented artists from all over the world.

I almost forgot to add that should hop on over to Janets blog to see what she made with the bead soup that I sent to her.

The Hostess, Lori Anderson and her partner, Manuela Wutschke

Technorati Tags: bead soup,lampwork

So I Had This Idea

2011-09-15T14:11:00.002+08:00

Well it’s been bubbling and percolating in my mind for a couple of months and it all started with these.

Fancy little bulldog clips. I spotted them in Officeworks a few months ago but thought to myself what the heck would I do with them. But then the idea started to form after I made these and I wondered if it would work.

Carmen and I were in the Australian Fine Bone China shop in Mount Hawthorn last week looking around and I spied these. Much bigger than the last lot of place mats I bought and a pretty reasonable price on sale. They’re 40 cm x 29cm (16” x 11.5”) and the patterns make me think of Grandmas, Nannas and scones. Very shabby chic retro.

But the patterned side is not what will be on show. I’ll probably paint the cork side like I did with the others.

I’m still working on a base for them and have an idea which involves blocks of wood, gouging a groove along the middle so the place mats slot in. That way they stay upright and are weighted on the bottom. So instead of having necklaces draped on a table they will all be vertical and fairly secure one hopes.

The other idea I have is because the flaps on the clips can be laid flat which secures the necklaces somewhat, I may be able to leave the necklaces on the mats tie some elastic around the whole thing and possibly store them in a big plastic container. That way I don’t have to get each individual necklace (or bracelet) out and put them on one by one.

What do ya think? Cool idea or should I go back to the drawing board.

Technorati Tags: DIY jewellry stand,place mats

My Bead Soup Beads Finally Arrived

2011-09-11T11:52:00.004+08:00

I think my beads decided that once they left Texas they may as well do a round world trip, perhaps they stopped off in Hawaii, or Japan and decided to sight see because boy they took a long time to arrive. Janet and I were getting a bit panicky thinking they were lost and would never arrive. But they are worth the wait. Janet very kindly let me lift the photos of her beads from her blog so I certainly can’t take credit for the gorgeous photos.

Beautiful Lampwork beads, the second photo is the focal which I love.

And a hand make clasp.

As these are colours that I normally wouldn’t work with they will be a challenge, but I think I’m up to it and have a couple of ideas and I better get cracking as I only have a week to work out the design and put it all together.

Wish me luck.

Technorati Tags: bead soup,lampwork

A New Way to Bake

2011-09-09T19:45:00.002+08:00

See these….

and these…….

……well I baked them in this……

I had some left over clay from making my cabochons the other day and I’d already turned my bench top oven off, so I thought I’d experiment with my melting pot. I’ve had it for ages and had used it for its intended purpose which is melting utee and opals embossing powders and pouring them into molds or onto stamps and creating all sorts of things.

So I cut up one of my craft sheets to fit inside.

Put my pieces in and turned the temp up to 140 degrees Celsius, put the lid on and left them in for about 40 minutes. Worked like a charm. Perfect for baking small items or adding say a clay bail to an already baked pendant, hard to justify turning on the bench top oven for just one or two small things.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,melting pot,polymer clay pendants

Cabezels

2011-09-07T13:13:00.002+08:00

No I haven’t fallen off the planet, I’ve just been listless and blah since the head cold but I’m slowly getting my spark back and this morning I got my clay out, the first time in a few weeks.

I ordered a set of cabezels a while back and this morning I’ve had a play with them and I think I like them. Definitely the kind of product the more you use the more proficient you become with it I think.

So first I rolled out some black clay on the thickest setting of my pasta machine.

On the cabezel sheet there are two distinct shapes, one for the bezel and one for the cabachon.

Once you’ve made the bezel impression it’s just a matter of cutting around the shape. As you can see I’ve made a square, circle and oval. The square was easy to cut out but the circle and the oval were a little trickier, but I think it just takes practice. These then get baked.

So while they are a cookin’ it’s time to make the cabochon. I used two layers of black on the thicket setting, sandwiched them together and then laid a thin layer of black and silver that I sort of marbled over the black.

Once the bezels are cooked and cooled I just placed the cabachons on the bezel and gently pressed and rolled the edges down towards the edge of the bezel. I wore thin rubber gloves to do this so my finger prints wouldn’t show.

You end up with a lovely rounded smooth cab that fits quite snuggly into the bezel.

I’ll have a little bit of sanding to do especially the edges of the round and oval ones as my knife skills aren’t too good and the edges a slightly jagged in sections. But on the whole I’m quite pleased with my first attempts. I can see endless possibilities with these and when you have a look at Margaret's site you’ll see some gorgeous examples.

Technorati Tags: CaBezel,cabochon,polymer clay

Measure Twice….Cut Once

2011-08-26T21:13:00.002+08:00

I’ve had the worst head cold in the history of the world, my first for the year and I had just been thinking a few days earlier that I’d been lucky because I’d gotten through the winter unscathed. I jinxed myself. Nasal spray is my new best friend.

Anyway not having the energy to do much of anything I was just trawling through the internet looking at different things and came across this and it got me thinking about my wall paper sample books (I have enough samples to cover 20 houses) and the little gift tags I’ve been making of late. The instructions for this particular pretty envelope are here, my instructions are almost the same, but I omitted the closure.

So lying in bed and trying to breathe through my mouth I formulated a plan.

You’ll need:

paper, it can be scrapbooking paper, paper from magazines etc. as long as it’s fairly sturdy.

paper trimmer, or scissors

ruler

double sided tape

a bone folder

In order for my tags to fit, I cut my piece of wall paper 21.5 cm x 13 cm (8.75” x 5.5”)

The blurry photo top left is showing a pencil mark I made 15.5 cm (6.25”) up the side. I then folded the paper up to that mark and rubbed the bone folder over it to get a nice sharp fold. The top of the envelope is showing in the two right hand photos. Leave a small amount of space between the long straight edge and your triangles so it folds over neatly.

Apply double sided tape down the edges of the body of the envelope and along the top of your triangles. Fold everything together and give it another going over with the bone folder.

And there you have it. Home made envelopes.

To keep the envelope closed you could make the closure the same as the top envelope which I think looks very classy. Or you could use stickers, attach little charms, tie pretty ribbon around it, or just plain sticky tape which is what I’ll probably use.

They’re fairly quick to make and these that I made with wall paper are pretty sturdy.

So this is what I’ll be doing the next few days, it’s not too taxing and it’s about all I’ve got the energy for at the moment.

Technorati Tags: handmade envelopes,wallpaper

Bead Soup and Some Interesting Finds

2011-08-24T12:20:00.002+08:00

Now that Janet my Bead Soup partner has received the beads I sent her I can show you the soup ingredients I chose for her.

A crescent shaped polymer clay pendant that I textured and beads in shades of dusky pink, blue jade and white crackle beads and various silver charms and silver toggle and clasp. I’m really looking forward to seeing what she creates.

Here’s some quirkiness for you. This would be a great conversation starter to have in your living room.

There’s more information here.

I covet these.

So simple, colourful and innovative. Read more about them here.

And last but not least.

Fabulous, functional furniture. Isn’t this great? What a brilliant idea, for more information click here.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay pendant,blue jade,crackle beads

Featured Designer

2011-08-17T13:12:00.002+08:00

Well I was thrilled to find out I was the featured designer on Love My Art Jewellery blog this week. They featured my gift tag that I entered in the Art Spark challenge. The challenge was to design something that makes you happy. You can see it here. It’s such an uplifting feeling to have your work acknowledged I must say.

Well yesterday was a very long day. I had to put my car in for a service and Honda have a courtesy driver who will drop you off where ever you’d like (within reason) and then pick you up when your car is ready. So I decided to go to the nearest shopping centre and wander around. Little did I know I’d be wandering for 6 hours. Ever strolled around a shopping centre for that long? I tell you I was exhausted and bored out of my head by the time I was picked up.

But I did buy something that led to a painting frenzy this morning. I usually use cardstock as a background when taking photos of my jewellery, but it’s starting to get a little tatty and I was looking for something a little more robust that I could use.

That’s when I spied these.

El cheapo placemats from the Reject shop, 4 for $9.00. I liked the wood faux grain pattern on them but it was a bit too busy. So while I was sitting down having a coffee and resting my very sore legs all kinds of ideas jumped into my head.

I sanded then painted a soft grey over it and added some subtle stamps.

I don’t know how well it will stand up to wear and tear, it remains to be seen.

The rest of the mats I painted the back (cork side) with various shades of grey and stamped.

This one took the longest. I used gesso and while it was still wet I scrunched up tissue paper then smooshed it down over the paint, painted more gesso over the top and then dried it with the hair dryer.

More coats of paint, sprayed it with Adirondack Colour Wash, didn’t like it, sponged it off but then it looked like it had grease marks all over it so I used Stazon Sone Gray and lightly smeared over the crinkles.

If you are so inclined, you could probably pick up placemats at an op shop or you may even have some lying around at home that never get used anymore. I’ve got a few more ideas floating around in my head, now I just need more mats.

Technorati Tags: diy,jewellery backgrounds,place mats,paint,tissue paper

Three Different Pieces

2011-08-14T14:20:00.002+08:00

I made myself make stuff today. Now the house looks like a hurricane has blown through the doors because I have bits and pieces everywhere. You see I start something, then while I’m in the middle of doing it I get a brain click which leads me to something else, which requires a whole new set of tools, materials and the never ending search for a clear horizontal space to work on. So the dining room table, coffee table, kitchen bench, another table in the family room and I’m embarrassed to admit, parts of the floor are now strewn with the flotsam and jetsam of my creative pursuits. What about my desk? Well you might ask……..it’s a complete disaster.

So what was born of all the chaos?

No polymer clay in this one. Blue jade beads, a locket, charms and a steampunky do-dad.

And then there is this. You may remember one of my recent posts where I used lace to texture some clay, well I made more and turned them into this. I really like this effect.

And last but by no means least, I played around with some leather, clay and a found object and came up with this.

Terrible photos I know, but it was a dreary morning when I was taking these photos and because I had used up all the available surfaces there was no room to set up my light box.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay pendant,leather,blue jade,found objects

Who Would of Thunk It

2011-08-11T12:27:00.002+08:00

Peoples creativity and ingenuity never fail to surprise, delight and intrigue me.

I love this…..and from the simplest everyday item that usually gets thrown in the bin……cardboard toilet rolls.

This is from just a girl blog and the instructions are on her blog.

Now I can see you all running off to Bunnings or your nearest paint store for this idea. You know those paint swatches, the ones you come home with and agonise over which colour to paint the walls. Well just turn them into a gorgeous piece of art.

This comes from how about orange blog with full instructions too.

Here’s a great way to recycle an old print or an ugly painting you picked up from the op shop or road side rubbish collection.

Stencil wall art and it couldn’t be easier. This is from a beautiful mess blog with full instructions.

So these clever ideas should keep you busy over the weekend. I’m going to start saving toilet rolls…….how about you?

Technorati Tags: paint chips,stencil,toilet rolls,recycle

Bead Soup Blog Party

2011-08-10T14:40:00.002+08:00

I’ve joined the the Bead Soup Blog Party. The wonderful Lori over at Pretty Things has done an amazing job of organising this huge event. I think there are over 300 participants from all over the world.

The idea is you are partnered with someone and send off a collection of beads, a focal, a clasp and any other bits and bobs you feel your partner may like and be able to use. It’s a great way to stretch your creativity and step outside your box and to also meet some wonderful peolple. They do the same and then on September 17th it’s the big reveal. You display your piece of creativity on your blog and then go off and visit as many other blogs as you can to see how each person has interpreted their bead soup stash.

I’ve been partnered with a lovely lady named Janet in Texas. Janet makes beautiful lampwork beads so I’m really excited to see what she sends me and a little nervous too……I just hope I can do her beads justice. Janet’s blog is http://janet-singingwoods.blogspot.com/ stop by and from there you can visit her Etsy shop too.

I can’t show you what I’m sending Janet, it has to be a surprise for her so don’t forget to check back on Sep 17th.

Technorati Tags: bead soup,lampwork

Earrings, Gift Tags and Challenges

2011-08-04T13:57:00.002+08:00

So in between the gift tags I’ve made a couple of pairs of earrings. Gotta keep my hand in with the jewellery making or I’ll get rusty.

This fist pair I’ve textured with lace. Condition the clay, lay some lace on top of the clay and roll it back through the pasta machine and interesting things start to happen.

Same with this pair, only half are textured.

Then I glazed them with grey and even made some wire wrapped (aren’t you proud of me Tish) earring wires and I have to say I’m loving them.

Sorry to bore you with these again but I’m entering the Art Spark Challenge over on Love My Art Jewelry Blog. The challenge is to create something that makes you happy. Well I’m always happy giving presents (happy gettin’ 'em too) and when you can add a touch of artistic whimsy to them like these gift tags, well it’s even better.

I even added a beaded and wire wrapped loopy hanger thing-a-ma-jig. So if you get a chance, have a look on their flikr site to see some of the other entrants.

And here’s another DIY project that recycles cardboard and turns into an amazing piece of art for your wall.

The possibilities are endless. You could paint the pieces different colours, stamp them, texture them, emboss them and end up with a great piece of art for next to nothing. Head over to the blog for instructions and start your cardboard masterpiece right away.

I might make one of these for the wall in my studio……oh….that’s right, I don’t have a studio, but I’m getting close.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polyme clay gift tags,cardboard,earrings,wire wrapping

Climbing Onto My Soapbox For a Minute

2011-07-28T20:29:00.002+08:00

Can someone explain this to me. It concerns cherries. Cherries for us mean Christmas and we pay an exorbitant price for them, generally about $29.99 a kilo. Now these cherries are grown locally and only need to travel at the most 30-40 kilometres to get to the market. So how is it that cherries from America, which have to travel thousands of kilometres to get to us here in Australia, are selling for $9.99 a kilo. It’s a puzzle! Ok…..I’m climbing down from my soapbox now.

Here’s two gorgeous tutorials for you. The first one is for a light fitting made with doilies and I think it’s so pretty. Gather up all your Nanna’s doilies or raid the op shops, get yourself a large balloon and some glue, the tute says wallpaper glue but I’m sure mod podge would work just as well. For the full instructions go here.

Now the next one is a little more involved but equally gorgeous. It turns glass baubles into and amazing chandelier and it sparkles beautifully. For instructions go here.

I have a few more tutorials that I’ll post over the next few days. I’ve found so many amazing DIY blogs on my iPad so every so often I’ll post some of them here.

Happy doily shopping.

Technorati Tags: chandeliers,doilies,glass baubles,tutorials

More Gift Tags

2011-07-26T15:28:00.003+08:00

This time for babies (no….. I’m not getting clucky). I was lunching with some girl friends yesterday and sold some of my other tags to a couple of ladies and the overwhelming feeling from them was that I should do some baby ones. Three of them are grandmas so I was open to their suggestions and got cooking today.

All pastelly and baby like I think. I guess it’s a change from my usual black and white or green.

But I did do some others in bright jewel colours and I apologise for the photo quality, I was too lazy to set up the light box and the sun coming through the skylight wasn’t very strong. The colours in the these photos are not really true to life at all.

Also I didn’t place them very well to be photographed, so they look a bit wonky.

Hopefully you get the idea.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay gift tags,polymer clay baby gift tags

Not Just Jewellery

2011-07-21T20:33:00.003+08:00

I’ve had a busy time this week with work and only had today free, so I made the most of it and made things…..and not jewellery.

Little gift tags.

Sold

I think I like these…..yes…..yes I do.

I’m so smitten I think I’ll make some more.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay tags,presents

A Present For Me

2011-07-16T14:42:00.002+08:00

The Postie arrived the other day with a package for me from my bloggy bestie Tish and inside were two beautiful necklaces she had made for my birthday.

I just love them and I’m always in awe of her incredible wire work.

I love the beautiful cord she used.

You can’t see the gorgeous little crystals she used that match the lavender cord so well but trust me they make this pendant sing and the best thing is this one happens to match an outfit I bought perfectly. Thanks Tish for thinking of me and sending me these beautiful necklaces……your the best!

Now I know I’ve been a bit lax when it comes to posting and despite my iPad taking up a substantial amount of my time (some would call it wasting time) I have made a few things.

I mentioned in my last post that I was making buttons, well here’s a few all packaged up and ready to go.

Most of them are about 1.5” in diameter so they can be a feature button perhaps on a cardigan or jacket. They were fun to make although not as quick and easy as I had first thought. Mainly making sure the holes lined up was the tricky bit.

Now I’m off to ~~play~~ research stuff on my iPad.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay pendant,polymer clay,polymer clay buttons

Is There An App For That?

2011-07-11T20:24:00.002+08:00

Oh dear, I’ve neglected my blog, so much so, that my sister in Victoria rang me tonight to make sure I wasn’t sick because I hadn’t posted in awhile.

I blame my new iPad. I’ve been pulled into the app vortex well and truly. iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, photo apps, recipe apps, organize your life apps, you name it, there’s an app for it.

Just a few pendants I’ve made recently and testing some new stamps.

And playing around with some bling although they aren’t that blingy in the photo.

Also I’ve been making some buttons. Another sister belongs to a sewing guild so I’ve made a few different shapes, sizes and colours of buttons for her to take to the next meeting.

So once the app novelty wears off a bit I’ll be back!

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,polymer clay pendant,stamps,apps

Nature Inspired Challenge

2011-07-01T12:22:00.002+08:00

Heather over at Humblebeads is having a challenge so I’ve decided to enter. I often see challenges and think to myself that I should participate and for some reason never get around to it. So this time I’ve given myself a swift kick in the backside (just to get myself moving) and made something and photographed it and uploaded it and now I’m feeling a bit like the cat that got the cream.

So the challenge is to make something inspired by nature and this is my piece.

It’s polymer clay of course. White pendant with a hand stamped floral design on the left and a hand stencilled kind of Asian design on the right. I used pan pastels for the right hand side.

The bail is also made with polymer clay and the chain is black enamel. I used a mat black lobster clasp which is ok but I think I might make a clay toggle clasp later on and exchange it for the lobster clasp.

Treat yourself and head over to the yahoo group and gaze upon some of the other beautiful pieces that have been added by very talented artists.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay pendant,challenge,nature inspired,black enamel chain,yahoo

Finally Finished

2011-06-22T13:38:00.002+08:00

I’ve finished these pendants at long last. I was waiting for some chain and bails to arrive in the mail which held me up. But now they’re done and listed on Artfire.

Now here is a great photography tip that I came across I while ago. You know how you visit a blog, then click on another blog on that one, then click on a link, then another blog and so on and so until you’re so deeply entrenched in blog world that you can’t find your way out or remember where you started from. Well this is how I came across this tip and I’m sorry I can’t credit the person who thought of it. It’s certainly not my idea, but it’s a good one.

When taking photos of jewelry sometimes you’d like an interesting background using scrapbook paper or something patterned but quite often the interesting background overshadows the object your photographing. Try this, place a sheet of white vellum over the paper and then shoot. It just mutes the paper enough to not overpower but you can still see the pattern.

Makes a difference doesn’t it?

This necklace uses scrap clay. I added all sorts of things to it just to see what would happen. There’s foils, stamping, weird colour combos and quite possibly the odd bit of fluff and dust.

I really love it but the small discs keep flipping over when I wear it which is a bit of problem because they’re only patterned on one side. Why do they do that I wonder?

Technorati Tags: polymer clay pendant,polymer clay,photography,artfire

Something Came Over Me

2011-06-19T10:30:00.002+08:00

iSucummed

it’s ordered and paid for and now……..

iBroke

Technorati Tags: ipad

Another Year Gone By

2011-06-15T09:23:00.002+08:00

So last week I turned 58. Good grief, how did that happen? The slightly depressing part about the whole thing is last year I thought and told people I was 56 until my daughter pointed out to me one night when we were out to dinner that I was actually 57, thanks Brighita! So I somehow lost a year.

Now I’m even more confused because according to the candles the kiddlets put on my cake I’m 72,579 years old…egad! Some days I feel that I old.

Moving on to other things……my wonderful friend Tish and I are doing a little bit of a collaboration. Tish does the most wonderful things with wire. My wire working skills are mediocre at best and I wanted some fancy bails so I emailed her with a very rough (and I mean rough, my drawing skills are less than mediocre) sketch of what I had in mind. Well they arrived in the mail a couple of days ago and I couldn’t be more thrilled because they are exactly what I wanted.

So I this is the sort of thing I wanted to do with them.

One of my Landscape pendants with a bit of steampunkary added to it. The postman will be delivering some of my pendants to Tish very soon.

I actually made some jewellery the other day (apart from the necklace above). The polymer clay stuff is starting to build up so I thought I’d better put my jewellery panties on and get cracking.

Hand stamped triptych? necklace….

….and a free form pendant with some pc beads and spacers.

I have a few more things I photographed this morning but I’ll save them for another post.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay pendant,wire,hand stamped

Polymer clay Image Transfer

2011-06-06T11:46:00.002+08:00

Image transfers, the bane of most artists life and we are always on the lookout for the best method. Since playing with clay I have only had a brief lesson with Pam on transfer onto clay and that was quite a few months ago and of course I’ve forgotten most of what she showed me. I know you can use gin, yes gin, as in the gin and tonic gin. And you can us liquid translucent sculpey. Well I have every conceivable alcoholic beverage in the house you can think of except gin (and I don’t even drink) and I just find the LTS hard to work with. It’s very viscous and sticky.

So I thought I’d go back to my Artist Trading Cards and art journaling routes and see if I could adapt one of those techniques to clay and I’ve had some success.
Now the only down side to this techniques is the clay has to be baked, raw clay just isn’t going to work. So if you want some texture or pattern around the edge of your clay you must do this first then bake.

Here I’ve just used the back of a pendant that I wasn’t really happy with for the purpose of this tutorial and the image is printed on plain old computer paper with an Epsom inkjet printer using Durabright inks.

Golden’s Soft gel medium.

I smeared the gel on the front of the image making sure it was completely covered then placed in onto the pendant. Be sure to place it in the right spot because once it’s down it’s pretty much impossible to lift and re-position. I then burnished it really well and then left it over night.

Then this morning I soaked it in water for about ten minutes so the paper is really wet.
Now the fun begins. Very gently start rubbing so the top layer of the paper starts to peel off being careful not to rub too hard or you may start to loose the image.

When all the top layer is removed (you should be able to feel if there’s any left) and you think it’s all gone, well it isn’t. Once it’s dry you will see tiny little “fuzzies” all over the image. To eliminate most of these, while the image is still wet dampen a small piece of Magic Eraser and very gently in a circular motion rub the eraser all over the image, at this point it’s very easy to rub off the image with the eraser so gently, gently as you go.

The fuzzies.

Once it’s all dry and mostly fuzz free I glaze with dimensional glaze. I’m still experimenting with brands. This one I used ranger Glossy Accents but when it dried there was a large crack down the centre.

The one below I’ve used Dimensional Magic.

So that’s my tutorial on image transfers. Hope this has been of some help to you. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to email me, I’m more than happy to share my thoughts and ideas.

Technorati Tags: image transfer,polymer clay pendant,gel medium,inkjet printer

Beautifully Bound

2011-05-29T14:28:00.002+08:00

My good friend and fellow artist Svetlana is not only a creative and talented altered art and mixed media artist but is also the most wonderful book binder.
We caught up the other day for coffee and a trip to the art store and the dump. We love the dump……..(more on our dump finds in another post). Anyway I just had to buy one of Svetlana's beautiful leather bound journals.

The leather is so soft and supple (smells good too) and I love the binding.

and the metal closure.

The paper is such beautiful quality.

I’ve wanted a journal for ages so I’m able to jot down ideas and sketches for jewellery and beads and colour combinations. But now I’m hesitant to use it because it’s just so beautiful and special I’m afraid I’ll ruin it with my awful drawings and terrible hand writing.
I’m going to try and convince Svetlana to open an on line store. But in the mean time I’m sure if you head over to her blog and beg her to make you one, she will.

Technorati Tags: journals,leather,book binding,metal closure

Bulgari Inspiration

2011-05-18T08:54:00.002+08:00

I was watching Private Practice a couple of weeks ago and Adison’s mother was marrying her gay lover. (you may have seen this episode) and she wore the most gorgeous necklace.

It looked much better on her than in this picture. Anyway……I used it as the inspirations for this.

Ok, so the Bulgari is probably made with white gold and precious diamonds and mine is made with polymer clay and and pan pastels, no comparison I know.

But mine is a heck of a lot less expensive.

Plus I had a lot of fun making it. Although I think next time I’ll make the pendants a bit smaller and shorten the chain so it sits higher up.

Joanie and I are off to the craft and quilt show today. Every year I say I’m not going again and every year I change my mind in the hope that there will be new and exciting things to see and buy. I may even attempt photographing some things.

Experimenting with hand drawn pendants. Back to the drawing board I think.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay pendant,bulgari,pan pastels

Landscape Lunacy

2011-05-15T15:43:00.002+08:00

I’ve gone a bit overboard with the landscape thing.

It’s such a lot of fun.

You never know what colour combos you’ll get.

And interesting patterns.

I’ve made a few pairs of cufflinks.

and made a ring for myself.

It’s a great way to use up scrap clay.

Most of these still need sanding and varnishing and then deciding what to do with them all.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay pendant,scrap clay,cufflinks,rings

Just To Let You Know……

2011-05-14T20:06:00.001+08:00

Tish is having a giveaway. A gorgeous copper pendant. Hop on over and leave a comment and it could be yours.

Landscapes

2011-05-06T12:35:00.001+08:00

Finally had a chance to get my clay out yesterday. These are just a couple of things I played around with. Scrap clay overlayed on a black base and I have to say some of them make me think of abstract landscapes.

I’ve made some of them into rings.

Which brings me to my next item on the agenda. Saturday we’re having a Mothers Day stall at our usual location. Tamara will be selling her beautiful fresh flowers and I’ll be selling my jewelry. I’m having a sale too, nothing over $20.00 so if your in the area and need a last minute Mothers Day gift and flowers we’ll be on the corner of:

Angove Street and Woodville Streets

North Perth.

8.00 am – 12.00

The weather will be gorgeous and there’s lots of cafes to feed your caffeine addiction and lovely stores to browse through.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,stall,flowers,jewelry

Testing My Lighting Studio

2011-05-02T08:27:00.001+08:00

Remember this?

Well I had a bit of play with it yesterday, fairly quick and easy to assemble.

And here’s a couple of photos I took with comparison of shots I’d taken of the same pieces under the skylight in the kids bathroom.

and this one,

Still a bit of tweaking to do I think. I’m not sure about the backdrop material that comes with the kit. I noticed in some of the photos I took there’s a slight ‘flare’ across the shot because the fabric has a slight sheen to it so I ended up using a piece of cardstock over the top of it.

This is a little ring box I picked up at a Swap Meet when I was in Geelong…….$3.00……bargain!!!!

I was interested to see how these shots came out as the exterior of the ring box is quite glossy and you know how hard it is to shoot shiny stuff.

And Jana I did end up buying a bra and guess what, I’ve gone from a D cup to a C…..don’t ask me how that happened.

And Julee I’m not sure of the exact size but it’s probably about the size of a small suitcase. It fits on my kitchen table with room to spare when it’s all set up and when folded into its carry case it’s about the size of an attaché case. Very light and portable so all in all I’m quite happy with it and once I get my studio (some day) I’ll set it up permanently.

Technorati Tags: light box

I Went To Buy A Bra………….

2011-04-27T13:38:00.001+08:00

…….and came home with this!

Well it was on special and I had a gift certificate and I couldn’t help myself……ok?

Technorati Tags: studio lightin kit

Easter Overload

2011-04-25T10:12:00.001+08:00

This much chocolate between 6 adults, really? It’s just obscene isn’t it?

So I’ve decided next year I’m not buying any chocolate or Easter eggs, instead I’m buying everyone a goat. When I announced to everyone my intentions DS said, great, a goat, I’ll cook it on the Webber, then I had to explain that he won’t actually get the goat, it will be given to a small village somewhere in Africa on his behalf.

Whilst in Victoria we drove down to a pretty little town called Queenscliffe and came across this, the dentist next door to a chocolate shop and after going in and having a very rich and very sweet Belgium hot chocolate we decided the dentist gets plenty of trade from them.

Happy Easter everyone.

Technorati Tags: Easter,chocolates

The Plane Never Arrived

2011-04-11T11:35:00.002+08:00

Well I should have been swanning around Victoria by now, but two hours before we were due to leave for the airport I get a phone call from “Renee” saying the flight has been cancelled…….what!!!….why….Renee’s only explanation was ‘the plane didn’t arrive’…uh, is it lost?…..did it, heaven forbid, crash?….has it got a flat tyre? She didn’t know and then proceeded to give me a dud phone number to call to make alternative arrangements. So, many calls later to the airline in another state (my suspicions, in another country) we are scheduled to leave this afternoon God willing.

So I have the opportunity to do one last post before I go. I was the February winner in the Rings & Things monthly Blog Partners drawing. They took so long to arrive I was worried they were lost forever. But arrive they did and I’m really glad because they are gorgeous.

Some tiny raw brass flower charms. #44-410-03-0
Lime magnesite slab beads #75-000-94-09-07
Mulitcoloured Uganda paper beads #75-000-95
And two Tootsie Rolls (I ate one already).

I’ve already used two of the paper beads.

Not the best photo. I’m trying out different parts of the house to get better light now that the sun is lower in the sky. I took these in the kids bathroom and used the zoom. Not a good idea me thinks.

Light green (not that you can tell) textured polymer clay with paper beads and a tiny seed bead on the end.

So wish me luck the plane arrives this afternoon and we leave as scheduled.

Technorati Tags: rings & things,flower charms,paper beads,magnesite,polymer clay

Re-cycled Gift Bags

2011-04-09T11:58:00.002+08:00

Came across these little gift bags that I think are just the best idea. Such a great way to re-cycle.

I used a magazine that I’d been hoarding for collage work. Seeing as how I haven't collaged anything for ages I decided to use it for gift bags. The paper is reasonably heavy so the bags are quite sturdy. Although I think I’ll finish off the bottoms of the bags a different way next time.

The possibilities are endless. Old children's books picked up from second hand stores, magazines, junk mail, patterned scrapbooking paper that your not so keen on any more. All of these could be used. The size of the pages from the magazine I used were A4.

So if you would like instructions hop on over to here Urban Natural History’s blog for an in depth picture tutorial.

Just thought I’d post this before I take off for the East.

Technorati Tags: gift bags,tutorial,re-cycled

Knit One, Purl One, then Add A Brooch

2011-04-07T09:37:00.003+08:00

I despair of ever seeing any cold weather arriving here. For months it’s just been unrelenting heat and most days high humidity and I’m dreaming of cool days and cold nights. So in anticipation of some cool refreshing weather arriving here in the not too distant future, I’ve started knitting. It all began with arranging a trip to Victoria to visit my sisters. Now Victoria doesn’t really have much of a summer and autumn and winter are very cold to I thought I’d knit myself a cowl.

I’ve made quite few brooches in clay over the last week or so.

Still playing around with shapes and colours.

And in some I’ve managed to incorporate some of my never ending supply of wallpaper.

I’ll be away for 10 days but will have access to a computer and I’ll try and post and I’ll check my Artfire store daily but I’ll be unable to post any orders until the 20th April.

Watch out Melbourne retail……..I’m on my way!!!!!!!

Technorati Tags: knitted cowl,brooches,polymer clay pendant,wallpaper

A Little “How To”

2011-03-30T09:07:00.001+08:00

Like the look of these? Want me to show you how I did it?……OK

Condition some black clay. Keep your Pasta Machine on the widest setting.

Smear the sheet with chalk. I’ve used a light grey Pan Pastel. Do front and back of the sheet.

Texture the sheet, I textured the front and the back as well.

Put the sheet back through the PM on a number 2 setting (second widest setting on my Atlas). This flattens out the texture and depending on how heavily you apply the chalk little cracks appear giving it a nice textured appearance.

Turn the sheet around and put through the PM on a number 3 setting.

And this is the look you get. You could try all sorts of combinations of colours. Light clay with dark chalk would work well too.

I’ll keep exploring this with different colours and textures and see where it leads me.

Happy claying!

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,pan pastels,tutorial

Fixing Things

2011-03-27T13:15:00.001+08:00

Remember this…….

………..it was a little blah and ordinary. So I’ve been playing around with it this morning and I think I’ve spruced it up a bit.

Added a filigree flower that I painted black.

And added black to the edges of the pendant.

Made another brooch. You’ll probably get heartily sick of them, but until my obsession wanes you’ll just have to bare with me.

I was a bit disappointed with the colouring on this. I was hoping for a brighter telephone box red but it’s more a maroon colour.

Added a few dangles but I thing I might lengthen the middle dangle just to add a bit more interest.

I’ve also finished off a couple of other necklaces that have been sitting on my desk waiting patiently for me to get to them. I’ll post pictures of them another day.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay pendant,brooches,filigree flower,paint

Brooching The Subject

2011-03-23T11:49:00.002+08:00

This started as a ring. But things got slightly out of hand (or finger) when it became obvious it was really too big for a ring, even by today's standards of big is better for rings. So then I thought pendant, but I hadn’t put a whole in the largest circle before baking. I could add a bail but I only had silver ones which just wasn’t the right colour. I could make a bail out of clay but then I’d have to wait until I’d made a whole lot of other stuff before it was worthwhile putting the oven on.

So I’ve decided it will now be a brooch and I’ve also decided brooches will be big this autumn/winter in the southern hemisphere. I’m starting a trend and if you want to be trendy you’d better follow me……ok?

But what combination of circles looks the best.

Plain.

Big circle with little circle.

Medium circle with little circle.

Big with medium……..

….or all three together.

I think I like all three together.

Playing with Pan Pastels

2011-03-15T12:39:00.003+08:00

It’s amazing the amount of scrapbooking and ATC stuff I’ve found in my stash that can be used with polymer clay. That’s if I haven’t given it away or sold it before I realise it’s usefulness. Take Pan Pastels for instance, I bought a whole heap ages ago BC (before clay) and not realising their potential for clay I sold most of them to a dear friend. Anyway long story short I ended up buying some more and I’m glad I did because they are fabulous with clay.

Sold

Here I’ve laid sequin waste over the clay and stencilled three different colours over it.

I textured the clay then smudged over a light blue pastel to just colour the raised parts.

Sold

These are my favourites. White clay with pale grey and denim blue flowers.

Sold

Foam stamps were another find amongst my stash. I just colour the stamp with pastel and stamp onto the clay. No mess, no fuss, easy clean up and striking results.

So now I’m off to look through all of my old stuff that’s packed away to see what I else I can find that can be adapted to clay. It’s like a treasure hunt!

Technorati Tags: pan pastels,polymer clay pendant,pendants,foam stamps

You Know You Love a Giveaway

2011-03-07T14:06:00.001+08:00

But it’s not me having one. It’s Tish. She’s having a doozy of a giveaway just because it’s spring. You can win one of three gorgeous necklaces or a grab bag of beady goodness. Hop on over and leave a comment for a chance to win.

Also just wanted to leave you this you tube video. It’s a hoot especially if you’ve ever tried finding “cheap” airfares. My good friend Joanie sent it to me and I had to share.

Enjoy!

A Peak

2011-03-05T14:40:00.002+08:00

Some things I’ve been working on now the weather has cooled slightly…very slightly I might add.

Got a fabulous tutorial from Missficklemedia on applying rub-ons to clay, top right and bottom left photos. I’ve also got a thing for white pendants at the moment.
Have some more to photograph and hopefully list in my Artfire store over the next few days if the weather co-operates. I’m such a wimp in the heat.

Technorati Tags: rub-ons,polymer clay pendant

Wrapped

2011-02-25T13:05:00.002+08:00

Started playing around with my new p’leather cord this morning and this is what I came up with.

No…not a necklace.

A ~~warp~~ wrap bracelet.

Just knotted and threaded some pretty multi coloured dyed Fire Agate 8mm beads and added a clasp. Just wrap around your wrist three times, do up the clasp and your good to go.

I’m starting a couple of new sections in my Artfire store over the next few weeks. One will be supplies and I’ll start adding polymer clay pendants, connectors and various other things that I think people might be interested in adding to their jewellery making supplies. The other section will be called “Not Quite Perfect” which will consist of pieces that might have a small flaw e.g. a small scratch, or dent, etc. or experimental pieces that I’m not quite happy with, all at a greatly reduced price.

Pieces like this…….

…..and this…..

The first one a brooch, personally I love it, the quirkiness of the stamp is my cup of tea, but my daughter and my son’s girlfriend said it was too big 6.5 cm (2.5”) diam. I always think big is better!

The second one is also a brooch, but I’m not happy with the shape of it and I have a better idea for the next one. 5 x 6.5 cm (2"x 2.5”).

So keep an eye out because when this relentless heat finally leaves us after 2 weeks of above 35 degree day and 25 degree nights, it will be all guns blazing (my extruder gun anyway).

My Day So Far

2011-02-23T10:15:00.002+08:00

Got up and switched on the TV, not something I normally do first thing in the morning but I wanted to hear the latest on the terrible earthquake that has rocked Christchurch in New Zealand. The second one in 5 months. This one much stronger and more destructive than the previous one. 2011 has been the worst start to a year. We’ve had floods and cyclones of biblical proportions along the eastern states, and here in the west we’ve had terrible bush fires in the south of the state and cyclones and flooding in the north. Mother Nature is really testing us.

Turned the TV off because it was very sad to see so much devastation. Sat outside to have my coffee but didn’t stay long because I could here my next door neighbour who lost his wife suddenly on Christmas eve sobbing. His grief and sadness were just too much to bare.

So……I’ve had breakfast, cleaned all the junk off the kitchen table, decided to put in a load of washing, but before I did that I decided to quickly paint a small canvas, that way it could dry while I did something else. But before I painted the canvas I remembered I had some meat that needed to go in the crockpot. Just as I was about to do the meat my phone buzzed, SIL sending me her next move on Words Free Scrabble game. She’s been playing with the me, DD, and DS and killing us all and not just by a few points. Her scores are so outrageous that we’re contemplating a Scrabble intervention. We storm her house, confiscate her phone, have it analysed by IT professionals (I know people) and find out what app she’s using to ~~cheat~~ have an unfair advantage over us.

So the washing is in, the crockpot is on, I played a word for a whole 13 points and this is all I’ve got to show you in the way of creativity.

This is a pendant I made a while ago. I applied black foil to the raised areas. I love the slightly distressed look of it.

I’ve used a new product for the stringing, it’s called p’leather and is made of “specially blended polymers to look and feel just like fine Grecian leather”. But I’m hiding the top of the necklace because I’m not happy with the closure I made. It’s a work in progress.

Still Working on Them

2011-02-16T10:16:00.002+08:00

Just a few things that still need some work done to them, sanding and glazing etc.

Tried my hand at some carving.

And some pretty in pink stuff.

Still too hot to do much. I’m just a big blob of feeling sorry for myself sweat. Roll on autumn. Autumn, how I love thee, let me count the ways, temperate days and cool nights, blankies on the lounge, cardies and jumpers, closed in shoes, soups and stews, I could go on.

Technorati Tags: pendants,polymer clay,carving

Sometimes You Think of an Idea………..

2011-02-07T16:13:00.002+08:00

……only to realise it’s a stinker, just like rotten eggs. I wanted to cut some discs from a log of polymer clay and was trying to think of a way to cut them so they were all even. And then it came to me, a light bulb moment, why not use the egg slicer. I’ve used it to slice mushrooms and strawberries so why not clay.

Hunted around until I found it in the ~~junk~~ admin drawer and couldn’t wait to get started. I’m on a winner here, maybe I could patent the idea.

Laid my log of clay across the bottom. Already I can see the first problem. A slight curve, oh well I can straighten it up after.

Now comes the part where I shout out with excitement at my new found “invention”.

Not so fast dearie.

It’s not quite turning out how you imagined.

So then I had another idea. I could just use the slicing strings to measure the slices by gently impressing them into the clay and then continue cutting with my blade.

It’s ok, just so so.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

But other things were a little more satisfying. I’ve got all these little beauties ready and waiting to get baked.

I console myself with the fact that even though my invention didn’t work out, at least at my time of life my brain occasionally works…..to a degree!

Cyclone Yasi

2011-02-03T09:10:00.002+08:00

Well the already beleaguered people of Queensland have just gone through another one of natures furies. Still reeling from the worst floods in living memory in the southern half of the state, now they have just experienced the biggest cyclone ever recorded. A category 5 cyclone (the biggest), with winds up to 270k an hour and flooding rain.

Northern Queensland bore the brunt of this event and from all accounts as of this morning there have been no reports of deaths or serious injuries which is fantastic news considering the enormity of the cyclone. The good news is that 3 babies were born during the storm, 2 of them in evacuation centres. Guess what there second names will be?

So to give you and idea of the size and scale of Yasi check this out.

A radar image of the cyclone superimposed over a map of America. How awesome is that!

This photo was taken in Cairns during the preparations and cyclone proofing of businesses in the city prior to the storm arriving and just shows the indomitable spirit of Queenslanders.

Wishy, Washy, Waaah!

2011-01-30T09:40:00.002+08:00

Had a bit of clean up of my desk the other day and thought I would set my self a challenge just to make it a bit more interesting. Didn’t really help…..it was still an odious task. Anyway I gathered up a handful of beads, some bits of chain and poly pendant that were scattered across the four corners of my desk and told myself I had to make something with them.

This is the little pile, already I’m not happy.

But I continued in the hope that once I’d tweaked and fiddled around with them it would turn into something if not fantastic at the very least passable.

Not happening!

I only had small piece of chain but I knew I had another packet of the same chain, so linked it all up and then when I laid out the necklace I could see that the small piece was a much brighter silver than the other. Very annoying.

It needs something to make it pop. Any suggestions?

Technorati Tags: polymer clay pendant,beads,chain,challenge

Story Board

2011-01-25T14:14:00.002+08:00

I just can’t seem to get myself into gear. I blame it on the heat. Summer time is never a very productive time for me, the heat, humidity and general lethargy aren’t conducive to creating stuff.

Take today for example. The house is all mine for at least 8 hours. No need to stress about what to cook for dinner, no urgent and pressing housework needs to be done, a guilt free day all to myself, the weather is relatively cool, but you know what….I can’t seem to get going. The fact that it’s a coolish day should have me motivated to get out the clay and crank up the oven and play with clay all day. But here I sit at the computer, wasting time, well not really, you my dear readers are not a waste of time, stalling would probably be a better way of describing it.

So what I’ve done instead is create a story board.

I’ve used images from the amazingly talented artisans on Artfire. I looked for clothes and accessories that I thought would compliment my necklace and I found some beauties.

Left to right.

Shoes from Tialey Vintage (aren’t they gorgeous). Brighita they are your size!!!!!
Rosette from Creations by Ingrid (would look gorgeous pinned to a crisp white shirt).
Necklace from Back Pocket Designs (little ol’ me).
Skirt from byKeona (wish I still had a waist).
Bag from Originals by Cindy (how sassy is that bag).

There is a wealth of talent on Artfire. So go and check it out but don’t blame me if your credit card gets a workout.

Blog Headers

2011-01-19T19:47:00.001+08:00

They were always the bane of my blogging existence. For quite a long time I didn’t have one. It just disappeared into the blogosphere never to be seen again. Not only did the header disappear but the html code took a hike too.

Well I finally got a header and the code back again once I had my blog redesigned by a professional. But I wanted to be able to change the header frequently, you know, a bit like changing outfits or hairstyles when you need a lift.

I did this one too.

So after googling headers I came across this site. Clover Lane and she has a very easy tutorial on how to create a header using Picasa photo editing software. I love Picasa……did I ever tell you that I’m a Photoshop failure and dropout? Well I am, went to a couple of classes and it was all double dutch and geek speak and it just went straight over my head.

But this tutorial is so easy to follow. The instructions and photos are clear and concise, so if you’re looking to change things up a bit on your blog this is the place to go.

Technorati Tags: headers,blogs,picasa,photo editing

My First Artfire Collection……..

2011-01-16T09:40:00.003+08:00

…….and it made the front page!

Just a few days ago I joined a Guild on Artfire called Jewellery Creators Unite in Numbers. One of the requirements is to put a collection together using images from the studios of members from the guild. Well I’d never attempted to create a collection before so it was all a bit new and daunting, but I persevered (it was much easier than I thought) and posted it and then kind of forgot about it. Well lo and behold when I logged into Artfire this morning there was my collection on the front page. Such excitement.

I called the collection Perfect Pendants and tried to showcase a variety of necklaces with beautiful pendants and drops (popped one of mine in as well).

So if you’re quick you can head over there and see it in all it’s glory and have a look through the studios of the very creative artisans whose work is featured.

Resolute in my Intentions

2011-01-09T11:34:00.002+08:00

Lying in bed the other night listening to the radio as I was tossing and turning trying to get to sleep. A lady guest on the programme was talking all sorts of psychobabble about New Years resolutions so I wasn’t really paying too much attention until the pyschobabbilist explained that she doesn’t call them resolutions, instead she calls them intentions. The word resolutions puts too much pressure on oneself and creates guilt when one doesn’t follow through. Whereas the word intentions is not quite so hard and fast. You might intend to give up chocolate but if you slip up….well, not so bad. Anyway if you only intend to have intentions you can always just keep them to yourself, no-one needs to know about the chocolate thing.

So I thought I’d try the whole intention thing and this is what I came up with.

1. My intention this year is to try and enjoy cooking more. Despite the fact that my children often post cruel and disparaging comments about my cooking on their face books, I will try to like it more. Once in 2001 I did, I went all Moroccan and quite enjoyed it but no-one else was terribly enthused, so I quit.

3. Try to keep a tidy house. Ha ha ha ha ha hee hee hee….oh dear!

4. Stop listening to psychobabble!

All the above pieces were made with clay from a fabulous pdf tutorial I bought from Stonehouse Studios. I really like this technique and the possibilities are endless. The tutorial was very reasonably priced and the photos and instructions were very clear and concise.

So who has made resolutions or intentions this year. Will you be committed and strong in your resolve or will you be weak and pathetic like me, with not an ounce of willpower, a slave to sloth and debauchery….debauchery?….none of that going on here, unless you call eating copious amounts of chocolate debauchery. Guilty as charged.

I’m a Toolie

2011-01-06T07:50:00.002+08:00

For the longest time I’ve wanted a disc cutter. But I knew buying from an international seller would be out of the question as the postage would be a killer. I did see one at a store here but as I was looking at it and debating whether to buy it the very nice sales lady quietly advised against it saying in the politest way possible, it was a piece of c$&p and I’d be wasting my money.

So I kind of gave up on the idea until a week ago as I was Googling various things, I came across Sunsetcrystals and I did a little happy dance. Because not only did she have exactly what I wanted but was here in my own backyard so to speak. Just a few suburbs away from me is this amazing on-line store with all sorts of goodies.

So I ordered this.

Then I saw this set of dapping tools. You little ripper!

And this hole punch.

Not only are Paula’s prices and postage very reasonable but her after sales service is excellent. She sent me an email apologising for not being able to post my parcel for a couple of days because the post office was closed due to public holidays, then sent me another one to advise me it had been sent and the very next day it was delivered to my front door.

So when DH and the kippers all finally go back to work after their Christmas break, there will be some serious banging and clanging going on in my house. And hopefully some seriously good looking jewellery. I’ll keep you posted.

Some Pretties……..

2011-01-01T15:45:00.002+08:00

…….to start off your new year.

Aren’t these gorgeous? I bought a calendar of floral images by a guy named Steven N Meyers. He’s a radiographer and these are xray pictures that have been digitally coloured.

As I walked past the stall in the shopping centre where the calendars were being sold, these images just jumped out and grabbed me and I had to buy it.

So it’s now hanging in my kitchen and I can gaze at these beautiful images whilst attending to the odious task of cooking.

If you’d like to read more about Steven go here. He has prints for sale on his web site and this is an interesting article too.

Technorati Tags: photography,Steven N Meyers,calendar

Christmas Day

2010-12-26T10:05:00.002+08:00

Family.

Fun.

Fabulous…..

...food

Festive.

Flippin’ hot (39.7 degrees).

Full-on fans and air con.

Felt the need for a mid afternoon nanny nap.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Christmas

2010-12-24T07:40:00.002+08:00

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope yours is full of fun, family and food. It will be 38 degrees (about 100) here in Perth so we will be dining inside with aircon full blast eating a cold lunch. Far too hot to cook turkey and ham with all the trimmings.
Enjoy your day and have a safe and happy Christmas…..until next Year………Davinia

Burnt Offerings

2010-12-14T15:43:00.002+08:00

Well it had to happen some time I suppose. My first (and hopefully my last) tray of scorched and burnt beyond rescue polymer clay. I was given a little convection oven a couple of weeks ago that had hardly been used, and as it is the same make as my bigger bench top oven, Delonghi, I trusted it would keep the temperature at a constant level the same as my bigger one. Well I was wrong. I could have cried, so much time and effort went into these pieces and look at them. Ruined!!!!! Wah.

The pieces that look like a caramel colour were actually white before I cooked them. And the one in the middle of the picture above was an ecru colour with a black stamp. Well that bubbled up like volcano lava.

Maybe I can paint some of them. But most are beyond rescuing me thinks.

These earring were so pretty once upon a time.

Well here’s something that doesn’t look like it was rescued from a house fire.

The pendant was made in a faux jade class with Pam a couple of weeks ago. I had a different pendant on this necklace but was never very happy with the way it looked so I removed and replaced it with this new one and I like it. In fact I love it and the faux jade technique, of which there a few, is such fun because there are so many shades of jade from emerald green right through to light almost translucent. You can use embossing powders and alcohol inks and several other inclusions to get the colour you like. Definitely a technique I’m going to explore more. You know me and green!

The other beads are olive jade (the light green) and the darker green are Nephrite. Lovely gunmetal silver chain and lime green glass chips.

Well is rubbish pickup day tomorrow so I may as well go and turf out my putrid polymer and go back to the drawing board and my old reliable oven.
Note to self: next time you smell a peculiar odour emanating from the kitchen, investigate!

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,faux jade

Pesky Parrots

2010-12-08T19:51:00.002+08:00

See these little guys? Cute aren’t they……wrong. These little blighters have been coming into our garden for the last few years and eating our figs. I hear them in the morning and I fly out the back door and wave my arms and yell things like…yeh, you better fly away you little buggers. I used to get the hose and squirt them but with the drought and all, wasting even a single drop of water is a crime against humanity, so now I just jump around like a demented diva and yell stupid things at them.

A few years ago after having decimated the figs and eaten all the other neighbours fruit they were still hungry so they perched on my basil plants which were going to seed and proceeded to strip them of all the dried seeds.

And as I stood there watching them it occurred to me if I caught one, killed it and cooked it I could name the dish Pesto Parrot.

But then if I was quick enough to catch one (highly unlikely) how would I kill it and then I’d have to pluck it (guess I could use the feathers for jewelry ha!) and the worst part would be taking out it’s gizzards…eweeee.

So needless to say the thought of catching, killing and cooking a parrot was just a brief moment of madness.

Foils

2010-11-24T15:34:00.002+08:00

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.

So the one pendant that I loved the most became this necklace.

I’ve also branched out and made some brooches using my stampotique stamps. Love these gals. They’re so kooky and out there.

She’s my favourite.

Not the best picture…sorry. Stamped on to a denim coloured clay because I think they would look good with jeans and shirts.

Just another necklace with a crescent shape that I stamped with script and added the wings.

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.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,foils,stamps

Op Shop Prop Shopping

2010-11-19T11:22:00.002+08:00

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……

….and earrings.

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.

Of course it will be filled to the brim on Saturday.

And how cute is this! A tiny little dress form covered in fabric and just perfect to drape a bracelet around the neck.

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.

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!

A Challenge

2010-11-18T20:35:00.002+08:00

I’ve just entered a challenge over on Love My Art Jewellery. It’s a particular colour combination of lovely autumn tones.

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.

The aircon in the bedroom will be switched on tonight…..

…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.

Technorati Tags: challenge,brass,jasper,agate,coral

Clay and Stamps………

2010-11-09T15:04:00.003+08:00

…….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!

A similar one but round and with an antique brass coloured chain. Fairly long so it can just be slipped over the head.

This pendant is about 4cm in diameter.

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?

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.

Anyway I’ve put these up on my Artfire store hoping they eventually go to a good home.

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,stamps,artfire,black enamel chain

Can’t Think of a Title

2010-11-04T12:16:00.002+08:00

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.

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.

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.

Think I’ll put one on my market table and the other in my Artfire store.

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?

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,pendants,swirl beads,molds