Polymer Clay Seahorse Earrings

I used another of my scrap sheets to make a pair of seahorse earrings. I used a seahorse texture sheet and then painted with PearlEx metallic powders. That's all the playing with clay I did today. Click on the photos for a closer look.
Back of the seahorse earrings. I added lazer lace anchors for a little glitter.

Transfer Print Pins

More pins from my scrap clay sheets. I also have a few transfer prints that I made some time ago. so after cutting out the shapes I wanted I cut windows in the top sheets and used vintage watch crystals to incase the prints. I carefully sanded the edges and backs... not an easy task as I was concerned water might get under the watch crystals. I was tempted to submerge one, maybe the rooster...to see if they are waterproof but chicken out.

Scrap Clay Jewelry & Scrap Clay Sheets

I finished a couple more pieces of scrap clay jewelry, a leaf pendant and a leaf brooch.

I made a sheet using clay scraps in shades of brown, ran it through the pasta machine with a leaf texture sheet, highlighted with with PearlEx powders and then sealed with Kato liquid clay. Two of my very favorite things are PearlEx powders and Kato sauce..... and I have gobs of texture sheets.
Here is what my scraps look like... pretty yucky right? I have a whole tub full. I usually just grab a hand full, run it through the pasta machine to condition and end up with a dull brown or gray. This time I sorted a bit and came up with some interesting colors. Here is one of the sheets from the scrap clay. After I ran the scraps through the pasta machine a few times I rolled it into a log, twisted 5 or 6 times and sliced with my wavy blade.... hence the knot hole looking sheet. You get the best knot holes from the outer slices, the middle slices I used for the other sheet that I then ran through the PM with another texture sheet. Click on the photos for a closer look.
Sheets made with shades of brown.
And Shades of green with a little gold thrown in for good measure.
Dark brown and blues... I like these colors together.
Now I'm off to see what I can make with my new sheets of clay.

Flower Cabs & Fall Pendants

I sanded these flower cabochons this morning. They should be pretty beaded and made into a necklace.Like everyone I've accumulated bunches of scrap clay. Today I decided to condition it and make sheets to use later for bead guts and pendant backs. I sorted out some brown and gold ran it though the pasta machine.... not bad... it looked pretty cool so I made these instead.

I filled the lines and circles in with gold micro glass balls, painted some of the sections with bronze PearlEx, put a Swarovski crystal rhinestone in the center and sealed with liquid clay. I added the wires embellished with seed beads after I sanded the sides and back.
I'm working on more scrap jewelry that I will show you tomorrow.

Polymer Clay Mirror Images & the Counter saga

Yesterday morning I'd planned to work on canes but my work area was a mess, scrap clay all over the place, so I decided I'd better do a little cleanings. Some of the clay went in the scrap bin to be used later for bead guts, some was past saving... covered in dust and cat hair... so it went in the trash. My black cat. Fritz, is pretty cool, he carefully steps over my projects as he makes his way to his spot in the window. but not Corny, my orange cat, she bumbles around like a bull in a china shop swishing that bushy tail and plops her fanny down right in the middle of everything When I yell at her she gives me "that look" and just sits there. As a result most everything I make has cat hair in it.

I layered some brown and yellow clay and made these. I divided the rest into colorful piles and made mirror images. I am fascinated with mirror images, I get a real kick out of cutting open the clay to see what's inside. Click on the photo for a closer look.
While the pieces were in the oven I attended the Claypen chat on PCC and somehow got the brilliant idea I needed a counter on my blog. One of the ladies pointed me in the direction of a link where I could get a free counter. Looked easy, just copy and paste.... the copy part was easy... the paste part, not so easy. I needed a place to paste.... so there I sat starring at all those "Add a Gadget" thingies once again.

I'd been through this before when I tried to add my Esty shop link , which ended in total failure. I asked my friend Moe for help.... she has a link to her Etsy shop on her blog, she could help me, right? Unfortunately friend Moe is as computer ignorant as I am but she does know how to scream "HELP!!" really loud .... to which friend Kathi comes running. Kathi just shakes her head and in a matter of minutes the Etsy link magically appears on my blog.

Okay so there I sit with the counter ready to paste and no place to paste it. I tried putting it in the header, nope, no place for it there. My profile, no, not there either. I then accidently clicked on my My Etsy Shop link.... and erased it. I was in a total panic, pulling my hair, chewing my nails, until I remembered Kathi saying something about Etsy Mini.... so I rushed over there copied the gobbly gook in the Mini place rushed back to my blog and pasted... and lo and behold it worked!! Course I didn't have the columns right, took me three tries going back and forth copying and pasting.... but it finally looked good again. Now I have a headache and am totally defeated, time to scream "HELP" . The all powerful Guru Geek promptly answered and in less than 2 minutes the kitty cat counter was sitting there on the bottom of my blog for all the world to see.... go on ... scroll down there and take a look.

Autumn Flower Necklace ..& Quiche report.

Autumn is my favorite time of year I like everything about it. The colors are glorious, the weather is cool and crisp and the holidays are the best. I have such happy memories of Halloween. When I was a kid you didn't get store bought candy our bags were filled with candy apples (both carmel and red hot), popcorn balls, home made cookies (occasionally plain apples...boooo!) and all kinds of homemade candies. Moms and grandmas put a lot of effort into making special treats. Makes my mouth water just thinking of it. My grandma made the best oatmeal cookies, she used a secret ingredient that made them delicious, everyone said so.

So I made this necklace in October colors. The flower beads & pendant have a matte finish. The necklace is strung on a black rubber cord. I used coiled wire beads and black 'O" rings between the flower beads. The pendant has a coiled wire bail.
As you can see I did get my Quiche yesterday... couldn't wait, I took a bite before I snapped the photo... tried to hide it with the grapes. I also had the tomato, bacon and spinach salad. I didn't care for the oregano dressing, fortunately they serve the dressing on the side so I used my homemade ranch dressing. They put red onions on the salad... which I removed, don't like onions on salad, and it had grape tomatoes which I'm not crazy about but I ate them anyway. Oh, almost forgot, they serve little individual loafs of homemade bread, wheat or white, with the soups and salads, the bread is excellent. Tomorrow or friday I am going to try the roast beef sandwich and potato soup, I've had the soup before, it's good.

Polymer Clay Weird Face Pin

I made cabochons yesterday but I have to sand them before I can take photos. While they were in the oven I made this Weird Face Pin. I ran some scrap clay through the pasta machine with a texture sheet, gathered the clay and formed the face. The eyes are glass pearls with seed bead centers.

I like his bugged out eyes and lolling tongue, I think he has character, he calms my inner weirdness for a while.... and he has a pinback so he won't be banned to the "to do" box.

No Quiche

Well poop, I am so mad at myself!! All weekend I looked forward to a bacon, tomato and spinach salad and a Denver Quiche from Alpine Suppe . Even early this morning as I was sipping a cup of hazelnut coffee and browsing Flickr my taste buds were primed as visions of quiche danced in my head. Yum, I could hardly wait.

So I went back to the studio to make some flower cabs, lost track of time..... you guessed it, it suddenly hit me "QUICHE!!! " screamed in my head... it was 2:05. Oh no! to late!! Damn, damn, damn.

When hubby came bumbling down the stairs I tried to blame it on him... he knew I was looking forward to that quiche, I told him yesterday, if only he had come down sooner, he could have reminded me. Okay now I feel a little better, it wasn't my fault.

So here I sit munching on a baloney and peanut butter sandwich (it's good, you should try it). Everyone is forewarned tomorrow I better get that quiche or they will be hell to pay.

Polymer Clay Brooches .... again

I only put pinbacks on six brooches today... truth is I'm tired of attaching pinbacks, think I'll work on something new tomorrow.

More Polymer Clay Brooches & Necklaces

Yes, more brooches. I am determined to put pinbacks on ALL the brooches in the "to do" boxes before I make anything new. The jelly belly kitty pin is one of the first things I made over 3 years ago and the poor thing has been sitting in the "to do" box patiently waiting for a pinback, now she has one... she is a happy kitty, I can hear her purring.That poor turtle has been sitting around for a while too... not as long as kitty... but over a year.
I like the 3-D flower pins in this photo. I like the others too, they are made with alcohol inks on gold and silver leaf then sealed with liquid Kato.
And I finished a couple necklaces too!! I used copper wire, faceted crystal beads and copper bead caps to make the links.
And last but not least a Mica Shift pendant. I'm a big fan of copper so once again I made the links with glass pearls & lacy bead caps, glass cathedral beads, copper wire and chain. The back of the pendant is pretty too... I forgot to take a photo... I'm old, I forget things, okay?

Alpine Suppe

It doesn't take much to make me happy, we have a new little restaurant in town, and I am tickled pink. You big city people may find this a little strange but I bet all the small town folks know what I'm talking about..... a new business in town is always exciting.

Our eating out choices have been sorely limited. We have a McD's, a Hardees, a KFC (which is combined with Taco Bell), a Farmer's Resturant, Buzzies (which is suppose to be as 50's style cafe), a poor excuse for a Mexican restaurant and several Pizza places. Now this little cafe "Alpine Suppe".

It does have a few draw backs, to begin with it's only open for lunch, 11 to 2, monday through friday. It's probably handy for working people but I usually don't eat lunch. I have a late breakfast, around 9:30 or 10 and then dinner around 7:00 or 8:00. As a result I've had to adjust my schedule to an 11 o'clock brunch. No big deal, I just have to listen to my stomach growl for an hour. Wouldn't it be cool if some entrepreneur opened a cafe from 11 to 2 at night for all us midnight snackers.

Okay so they only have 7 items on the menu, 2 soups, 2 salads, 2 sandwiches and a Quiche du jour with fresh fruit. Now I think that's a clever idea. They change the menu every week and post the menus on the internet. (Check it out Alpine Suppe ) Everything is homemade and so far everything I've had has been very tasty except for the goulash soup. Plus I am a big big fan of Quiche... having a different one each week gives me something to look forward too. I know what you're thinking.... poor old lady doesn't have anything to look forward to but Quiche. Sad but true. Today I'm have Creamy asparagus and crab Quiche (2nd time this week) it is sooooo good.

I'm looking forward to the Denver Quiche that's on the menu for next week.

Brooches

I got quite a bit done yesterday..... pinbacks on 16 brooches. I don't know why but putting on pinbacks is one of those chores I really dislike. Lot of variety in this first group, right?
Some of my wirework critters. They are pretty big but they look great on. To give you an idea the peacock is 5".
My favorites in this group are the pumpkin and my curly tail cat, I think he is super, don't you?

Well back to work, I still have goo gobs of brooches needing pinbacks.

Autumn Flower Pendant

Finished another necklace.... well kinda, I see a mistake so I'll have to take it apart and try again. I didn't notice the error until I was taking the photo... can you see it? I'm pleased with the way the cultured freshwater pearls match the colors in the pendant.

Polymer Clay & Rubber Cord Necklaces

I am making progress. Slowly but surely I'm gettin er done. I finished a couple more necklaces. I strung these on rubber cord. The beaded cabochon is on blue cord and the mirror image is on black cord.

Polymer Clay & Satin Cord Necklaces

I finished 2 more necklaces. Both strung on satin cord with Chinese button knots.

Plaid Necklace

I had no idea when I made the plaid pendant and beads this would be the end result. I'm not a plan ahead kind of gal.

I was going through my stash of knotted cords.... yes, I have a stash of those too.. when this spiral cord caught my eye... the rust color goes well with the plaid. After playing around with the beads this is what I came up with. I like it, it looks cool on.

Mixed Media Necklaces

I did pretty good last night... I finished 5 necklaces. It didn't make much of a dent in my stash but it's a start. Now this afternoon I can start something new.... after I do the dishes and wash a load of clothes.

For a closer look just click on the photos.

I strung one of the drum beads on lilac satin cord tied in Chinese button knots. The cord picks up the lavender in the beaded band. Gold plated lobster claw clasp.
I used Swarovski crystals to add a little sparkle to the blue flower polymer clay pendant. It is strung on gold satin cord tied in Chinese button knots with black "O" ring spacers and ice blue coiled wire beads. Gold plated lobster claw clasp.
I used a variety of mediums to string the green polymer clay pendants. The mirror image pendant is strung on black rubber cord. I started to string the middle one on beads but then ran across the green wire and changed my mind. The wire links have copper bead centers and are joined with copper o rings. The pendant on the right is finished with fancy jasper beads and amber glass seed bead spacers on beading wire. The jasper beads match the colors in the pendant perfectly.

Beaded Cabochon Necklace

I had a good time going through the boxes of unfinished items... it was like Christmas. Some things I had forgotten and was pleasantly surprised to see again.... others I swear I have never seen before. Must have been that darn ghost in our attic. (Yes, we do have a ghost, I'll tell you about her sometime)

Truth is when you get old you forget things... no big deal. Some people find this disturbing, not me, I kinda like it. It saves me money on books and movie rentals. It can be annoying at times... like when I put something away in a "safe place" never to be seen again. I did find a 50 dollar bill in a book the other day, that was fun.

Back to the unfinished pieces. I've made a deal with myself... I must complete one item a day, more if I'm so inclined but I must complete at least one, before I can work on something new. So here is my item for yesterday. I used matching goldstone beads with seed bead spacer to complete the necklace. I'm proud of myself. I would pat myself on the back but I can't reach it anymore... arthritis .... so I'll pat myself on the knee.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Procrastination

I have a limited attention span. I'm always in a hurry to finish what I'm working on so I can move on to the next project. So much to learn and so little time. As a result I have boxes of unfinished pieces. Most of these are almost finished, all I have to do is glue on a pinback or a bail and add a chain or cord. And this is just a drop in the bucket, I have lots more. You should see the boxes of stuff that needs to be sanded, pretty pathetic huh?

Now tell the truth, I'm not the only procrastinator am I? It's a mental disease, like hoarding... come to think of it I'm a bit of a hoarder too.... although I prefer to think of myself as frugal and environmentally aware. You can imagine my delight when I took up polymer clay and actually found a use for all those mesh vegetable bags and quilted trays from candy boxes.

But I digress, my latest interest is beading cabochons. I bought gobs of beads, thread, backing, a book and various misc. supplies so then I needed more cabs to bead. I hauled out all my boxes of unfinished things.... as you can see... and I found quite a few goodies that need beading. Once they are beaded I can toss them into a box and move on to something new.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

Peyote Ring Bands & Drum Beads

I finished a couple more polymer clay drum beads with peyote bead bands. Here's is how I made them.

1. First I made a band of beads in a peyote pattern. I used round Rocailles seed beads to make the band on the left the other two are Delicas beads. I'm saving the first band for another project.

2. I found a couple pieces of scrap clay in complimentary colors and rolled out a log smaller in circumference than the band.

3. I then slipped the band onto the center of the log.

4. I pushed the ends of the log toward the center until the band is filled out and the sides are about an eight of an inch higher than the circumference of the band in the center.

5. I then began gently rolling and pushing to get the two sides even. I used the dull side of cutting blade to gently keep the inside edge in a straight line.

6. Instead of leaving the beads round I used my brayer to flattened them to form oval beads.

7. I used a wooden skewer to make the holes and then widen them with a knitting needle to accommodate rubber cord or satin cord.

First Day of Blogging

I decided to start this blog so I could keep tract of my polymer clay progress.

I am sooo bad about making something, thinking I will remember how I made it and then a few months later (or a day or two later) I take a look... and not a clue, I tell you not a clue. For example I have a mystery cane that I would like to duplicate and I can't for the life of me figure out how I made it...

So now I'm learning to add beading to my poly clay pieces. So far I've beaded several polymer clay cabochons and looking back at my photos on Flickr I can see I'm improving.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/auntgriz/

A week or so ago I made a drum bead (see photo) with a seed bead peyote band in the center.

I like the look so last night a made 3 more peyote bands and today I'm expermenting. I'll add photos later