Journal Covers, Mica Shift, Canes and More

I made another Journal Cover.... I was going to enter it in the Polymer Clay Artist Guild on Etsy monthly challenge, the theme this month is "Asian Inspired" but I enter another one instead.  Voting starts on the 1st....at which time I will post a link so you can see... and vote... on the entries.

Geisha Girl Journal Cover

Great Granddaughter Lily's favorite was this one ....  "Year of the Dragon" so it is the one I entered.

More Canes.  I am always amazed when something this ugly

ends up so cool....

Beads and a tile I made with the first cane... I'm making more beads with the rest.

 Beads from Scraps

Continuing with an "autumn" color theme, I  made a couple Mica Shift tiles with leaf designs.

and I always play with wire... here is another bird

and a little owl... both I plan to use on journal covers or maybe wall art. 

I was playing with left over metallic clay and made a pendant. 

I made these wire doodads to use with this earlier posted pendant.....

but it I like the way they look with the one I made today.  For some reason the burgundy wire has a pink tint in the photos... it's much darker in real life. 

Which do you like best?  Or maybe I will let Lily decide... 

I am anxiously watching the storm on the east coast... our grandson lives in New Your City and my nephew and family live in Buffalo.  Hope they... and any of you that are in the eye of the storm remain safe, dry and warm.  

Thats it for today. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Ribbons & Polymer Clay

If you ever need ribbon I highly recommend  TrimKo on Etsy.  Kristina is a wonderful person to work with.  She was very helpful, her prices are reasonable, the postage is fair and the service is fast, what more could you ask for?  I may have to take up pillow making again just so I can buy more of her ribbon.

Here is a sample of some of the ribbon I now have.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

Ribbon is great for texturing but I thought it might be fun to actually combine it with polymer clay....

I had a couple hits and misses... I tried attaching ribbon to clay with liquid clay... so far that hasn't worked for me.  The ribbon absorbed the liquid clay and while in the oven popped loose from the base.

This worked though... I secured the ribbon with strip of clay and then sewed it on with beads and 30 gauge wire.

Here is how the back looked before I covered it.

To hide the wire I covered it with clay from the striped sheet I made for a journal cover. I haven't decided yet if it will be a pendant or brooch.... or maybe both.

This is a cane I made from left over pieces of the striped sheet.

and a couple pendants made from scraps. 

and some beads to go with the pendants. 

More texturing with ribbon.... don't you love this peacock feather ribbon? Before curing I "painted" the design with alcohol ink and PearlEx.  It's a little sloppy, I will improve with practice.  I also want to experiment with "painting" after curing. 

I will close with a close up sample of ribbon from TrimKo   I plan to use them as soon as I condition more clay. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Polymer Clay Journal Covers

Yipee!! I can finally show you the Journal Covers!!

As I mention before I took part in a swap for Polymer Clay Journal Covers. My trading partner is the talented polymer clay artist Tina Holden.  I received the one she made over a week ago. Even though I mailed the one I made on Oct 4th it didn't reach her until yesterday.  Tina lives in Canada, for some reason it takes forever for mail going to Canada to reach it's destination.... maybe the Pony Express rider lost his way or his horse died.... who knows.

Here is the elegant cover Tina made for me... she even added little tabs of Velco on the back so I was able to attach it to my journal immediately.  I LOVE it!! (Check out her logo cane on the word "for"... how neat is that!  I've added a logo cane to my "to do" list... made a note in my journal!)

Click on the photos for a closer look.

Here is the one I sent her. I used strips textured with ribbon, added wire and bead doodads and the words "I should write that down". I say that a lot....  We obviously have similar taste in color!

This was my first attempt at a Journal Cover.  I just happen to have wire leaves laying around,  I used some of my canes and my Penni Jo tools came in handy when making the polymer clay leaves.... I was going to swap it but discovered it looks really good on this journal I had in my stash, even matched the leaves in the design.... I will probably sell it on Etsy.  It isn't attached yet, I need to sand the edges and center it better but you get the idea.

and then I made this one.  "Just a Thought"   I used a mixed media bird of wire and beads and more texture strips on a striped background. Not sure there isa market for Journals but I plan to put this one in my Etsy shop too. 

I have lots more neat stuff to show you but it will have to wait.... much, much , much glorious fantastic ribbons .... you will love them!!   but first  I want to make a Journal Cover to enter in the PCAGOE challenge this month... It has to be done and submitted by the 25th ... yikes!!  I'm off to work on it now.

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. If you would like to see more of the Journal Covers in the swap... hie on over to the Facebook Journal Cover Swap and look around. Be sure to scroll all the way down... lots of posts... join in and be included in the next swap!

Textures with Buttons and More Favorite Tools 11 & 12

I  know it's been awhile... I got side tracked .. again.  Sorry.  Before I do anything else Anita posted the 2nd half of her "Favorite tools + gadgets + glues" list on her blog.... Melody O'Beau Designs.  Go check it out,  it is a very useful list!

This should really be two posts but I am combining... I might get side tracked again.  This would be Favorite Tools # 11 and #12. I think,

I like creating my own textures. I purchased a set of Penni Jo's tools and used a couple of them to make this fun textured Mokume Gane. You can find the tools on her site Best Flexible Molds .... she really does make the "best" molds,  and I love this tool set.  I'm sure I use it differently than she intended but  that's okay.  They come in a cool case to keep them organized.

Each tool has it's own space... see

I used one of the little haft circle thingies and one of the picks to make the design and texture in this Mokume Gane sheet.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

The resulting beads.

Another of my favorite "texture tools" is buttons.  The designs are endless and the search for buttons with interesting  designs is fun.

Here are a few of the beads I made using vintage glass buttons with art deco designs.  I highlighted with PearlEx metallic powders.

This large black plastic button has a bold design.  I used a round Kemper cutter to make the hole in the center.

I used another large plastic button for the design on this one.

These complimentary beads were made using a vintage glass button.... this is a work in progress.... First I used the button to make a mold and then I used the mold to make the beads.  I'd show you the button and the mold but I sat them down somewhere.... yip, you guessed... can't find'em...  I "m sure I put them in a "safe place" .... oh dear!

and I also played with wire while watching all my favorite Sunday night shows.... most of my favorite shows... Amazing Race, The Good Wife,  Dexter, Homeland, Boardwalk Empire and Hell on Wheels are all on Sunday night.... my butt gets numb from all that sitting!!  However it's a good time to sand, buff and play with wire.

I think I will use that bird on a Journal Cover.  I finished and mailed the Journal Cover I made for the swap.  It's on it way to Canada, I'll show you a photo  as soon as Tina lets me know she got it.

Okay, I'm done.  If you have any questions or comments I would love hearing from you.

Thanks for stopping by.