Friday, January 22, 2010

Skinner Blend Work in Progress

I'm still working on this necklace. I like this arrangement, just have to decided how to put it together.

For a closer look click on the photos.

I started out making 1" square tiles for an "Inchie Swap" I signed up for but once I saw the skinner blend my muse said "necklace" so necklace it is. That happens to me a lot.

I had leftover hunks of tinted translucent clay with inclusions of Martha Stewart glitter in brown, green, peach, and mustard. First I rolled the pieces into cones.
Arranged the cones with the point alternating like so...
I wanted more of the yellow and peach in the center so the cones were a little bigger. After arranging them the way I wanted I flattened them with my brayer.
I then ran it though the pasta machine on the #1 setting and then the #2 setting.

Folding the sheet with the colors lined up I ran it through the pasta machine always putting the folded side in first. After putting it through the pasta machine 20 to 25 time I ended up with the skinner blend sheet below. I ran the sheet through the pasta machine on the #3 setting. I divided it in half and cut half into 1" squares.
I had a sheet of Kato copper clay to which I added a little red and brown. I cut circles for the base of the round tiles. I then ran the remaining half of the translucent skinner sheet through the pasta machine on the #4, #5 and the #6 setting. I let it rest for a bit and cut circles the same size as the copper circles. I used my largest round Kemper cutter to cut out the smaller circles. I then gently used my blade to lift the circles with the cutout and placed them on the copper circles. I used my brayer to adhere the circles together. I then used my little sandpiper stamp for the images inside the cutout circles. I put all the tiles in the oven and cured at 275 for 40 minutes. After removing from the oven I immediately dropped the tiles in ice water for 15 minutes.

I used a paint brush to apply a thin layer of Kato liquid clay in the center circles and put them back in the oven for 20 minutes. After removing from the oven I used my heat gun to clear the liquid clay to a glass like finish.

I then sanded and buffed all the tiles. So far so good, I think it will be an attractive necklace.


Now I need to go make more inchies.

13 comments:

  1. That really came out nice! Love the arrangement for the necklace... should be really interesting considering your wonderful wire-working style :)

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  2. drool. double drool. love the colors

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  3. Thanks Mary... I've hopin my muse comes up with a creative way to wire it together.

    Thanks Kathi....dang, you drooled all over my tiles, lol!!

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  4. LOVE Them.....I can't wait to see the finished necklace...

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  5. Those are Gorgeous! Love the colors, and the arrangement.

    I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one that starts out in a direction, and suddenly have something in my hands that I just MUST do something ELSE with.

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  6. Thank you Debbie.... oh no, my dear, you are not alone, I do it all the time.

    Hi Sarah. How's your jewelry making coming along?

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  7. I've found things I want to do but once I get started I can't figure something out. I am no good at manipulating wire! It's all fun though!

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  8. Just be patient and practice, practice, practice. You'll get the hang of it,

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  9. I am new to the world of polymer clay artistry. Have been working three weeks on covering eggs. After viewing and reading Donna Kato books, decided i should switch from Sculpey to Kato clay. The Kato clay consistantly gases up when baking. My problem with Sculpey was bleeding. I am very careful not to have any airpockets, but it is gasing up. What can I do to stop the gas releases. Is there a different clay I should be using. Getting really frustrated. Thanks for your wonderful site.

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  10. Thanks for posting this teardrop version of the Skinner. Most interesting. Lovely necklace!

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  11. Nice idea! Beautiful colors! I will try this method sometime soon. Thank you for sharing.

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