Mostly Purple Polymer Clay

Our farmer's market is on the square this year, very convenient for us as we live less than half a block from the square. It's every thursday from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM...the day and time is a little strange but it works for me. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have fresh homegrown vine ripened delicious tomatoes... so yummy!!  I didn't want to appear greedy, they only had two beer flats full so I controlled myself and  bought 4 big ones.... we came home, I sliced one, we gobbled it down and then consumed a second...  to heck with the greed,  I send hubby back for more.  I  also purchased 3 zucchini, a container of blackberries, a loaf of homemade cinnamon raisin bread, a dozen homemade donuts, a couple caramel brownies and a couple cherry crumble thingies.   The lady who makes pepper jelly wasn't there  and I didn't find any apple butter... maybe next week..  That is the day I have eye surgery but it's in the morning so maybe by afternoon I can still make the farmer's market.

My muse was in a purple mood this week,  Here's what I made

Click on the photos for a closer look.

Mixed media pendant, the frame is woven colored wire and beads.  The bird silhouette is on purple clay, sealed with Kato liquid.  The Swaroski rhinestone catches the light for a bit of sparkle.

I had purple clay left over from my mixed media purple cats so I made these.  The swan silhouette is sealed with a thin layer of liquid Kato.

I am still mixing Pardo Art Clay with Kato pearl, I love the shine it has when sanded and buffed. The pendant on the left is made from left over scraps from the one on the right.

These were made from a small kali cane of purple and yellow. I used the end piece from the cane on the middle tile.  I added Swarovski rhinestones for a little glitz.  Did you know you can sand rhinestones? It smooths off the points and gives them an opal-like look like the ones in the centers of the square tiles.... just make sure they are firmly embedded in the clay.  

Mostly blue with purple accents, made from solid colors and striped canes. I like to cut shapes and assemble them in layers.

and just for fun, mirror image cabochons from Jackie cane ends.  Don't you think these would be pretty beaded or wrapped with wire? 

I'm thinking green for tomorrow, Thanks for looking. 

My Mixed Media Cardinal and His Friends

The backs are on and I am pleased with the way they turned out. The backs still need to be sanded.... and pinbacks added... I will do that later. I used Pardo Art Clay mixed with Kato Pearl for all the critters.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

My Cardinal is "looking good" don't ya think?  I gave him a patterned background in shades of red and silver.

I made a marbled stripe pattern covered with crackled metal leaf for this happy bird.

This is my "skylark", I forgot to take her photo before I added the backing. I wanted the background to look like the sky, I think it does don't you?

This little bunny has been hanging around for months patiently waiting for me to come up with a background..... she hated the others I tried but is happy with her new "pretty in pink" look.

It took me awhile to match the color of the beads along kitty's back and in her bangs... kinda a muted purple blue. I used a new texture sheet for the pattern and highlight with PearlEx. I love her pink eyes.

I used another of my new texture sheets for "Freckles" and a touch of gold PearlEx.

And there you have it.

Wire Birds of a Feather and other critters

I am having cataract surgery on my left eye on June 30 and the right eye on July 14. According to the surgeon I am "legally blind"..... I must be very suggestible because every since he said that I haven't been able to see worth a damn. Needless to say I am looking forward to the surgery.

My polymer clay muse is also "legally blind" or gone on vacation, so I have been playing with wire.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

I like the shape of this one.

This one is a little chubby

I like this Cardinal, this shape works for a Blue Jay too. I'm working on the Jay now.

I made another cat, she's a little fancier than the others I've made, see the beads in her bangs? and she like sitting on the fence.

Last but not least is my begging dog, isn't he cute?

I hope to back them with clay tomorrow.

Heather is at the annual YaYa retreat in " hotter n hell" Texas. She'll be back on the 28th. She took some of our jewelry with her so I put our Etsy shop on "vacation mode". That's why there is a big white space where the link our Esty shop should be....

Polymer Clay & Colored Wire... Mostly Wire

I haven't blogged for awhile... time flies when you're having fun and even when you're not.  I've had a bit of a cold so I've been sleeping or sitting in the recliner with a cat on my lap. Our weather has turned a little chilly and cats are good heating pads.

First let me explain the photos. I have this Jello Cook Book that I was going to list in my Etsy Shop, Swan Song Antiques. I was thumbing though looking at the illustrations and thought the magician  would be fun to use with my most recent creations. 

I have mostly been playing with wire, I can do that sitting in my recliner...without a cat on my lap... but I did make a few things with clay as well.  I am still using Pardo Art Clay. 

Click on the photos for a closer look.

I made the wire frame first for this one and then added the clay by pressing the wire down into the clay and trimming around the outside with an Exacto knife.  Before curing I place a piece of parchment paper over the clay and smoothed with the back of a spoon and my finger to give a smooth even surface. I can't sand clay when I combine it with wire without sanding the color off the wire. This is another thing I like about the Pardo Art Clay, you can get a very smooth surface without sanding. 

The next piece is 18 gauge bronze wire wrapped with pink 26 gauge wire and I used yellow seed beads along the edge of the curled section. 

This one is 18 gauge amber colored wire wrapped with 26 gauge amber wire and adorned with goldstone beads. 

This one is really cool, the photo doesn't do it justice. It is 18 gauge brown wire wrapped with 26 gauge burgundy and tangerine wire. I used glass seed beads on the bottom loops and a Swarovski  crystal bead on the drop. The center is a textured vintage button. I think I will put this one on a copper chain. 

I like this one too, these are my colors. The center strip is a mirror image with strips of gold Pardo Jewellery clay on each side. I used my ripple blade along each side and added the pieces of orange and black cane in each of the ripples. This was a experiment to see how well the Art Clay sections bond.... and it works very well, the piece is strong and secure.  I added the black wire bail and Swaroski rhinestones for interest. 

I used 18 gauge amber wire and 26 gauge wire with iridescent green seed beads to make this one.  I used a hammer to flatten the curly cues.  I need practice hammering but it doesn't look to bad and as you can see the color on the wire doesn't hammer off. 

This next one is more wire weaving using 18 gauge wire and 26 gauge yellow lemon wire and faceted peridot crystal beads.  I may add something clay to this one.... haven't decided how or what... so you may see this one again 

This last one is one I showed before but without the bird. Please forgive the lousy photo, I tried and tried to get a good one and this was the best I could do.  Everything about this piece was a struggle.  Things were going along really well, I used a mold Heather made for the bird, placed him on the pendant, highlight with PearlEx powders to give his feathers a shine and popped it in the oven. After it cooled I brushed on a thin layer of Kato sauce and cured it again.  When it came out of the oven I was using the heat gun to clear the Kato sauce... this is where bad stuff stared to happen...  because I was jabbering away to Heather I wasn't looking at the pendant... glanced down and saw a curl of smoke..uh oh... I burned the clay above the bird... the white/gray striped canopy. I'd put a lot of work into this piece so I better come up with  way to fix it...right?   After it cooled I decided sanding the burned part might work.  Not so. Sanding didn't remove the burn but it did remove color from the wire.  Now I have two problems, a burned canopy and copper wire showing through the green.  Fortunately I had a small piece of the striped clay left so I used it to cover the  burn. I covered the paint loss with fringe beads and 26 gauge wire, I like it.   Problems solved.. here it is.  (just don't look to close, not that you can with that lousy picture!).  

Okay, now tell the truth, wasn't the magician fun? 

Mixed Media PC & Wire Necklaces & A Prize

My muse has been on vacation the last couple weeks, I'm blaming it on the heat.  It's  to hot to go outside. I force myself out for short periods of time to water and pull a few weeds... but  most of the time has been used on my basement clearing project. Daughter Heather is helping me and we are making real progress... I can actually see the floor in a couple areas.  I should have taken "before" photos but I was afraid someone would turn me in to the "Hoarders" tv show.  It's time consuming because I have to go through all the boxes and drawers. Most things will go to auction or in the trash but we've also found lots of cool stuff to use in "altered art" and some interesting items for steampunk,  I was pleasantly surprised to find a treasure trove of antique jewelry... I took photos and will show them to you tomorrow.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

In the mean time I did manage to finish a couple pieces that I started a while back. The first is a polymer clay pendant to which I added laced wire and tinted fresh water pearls. The back of the pendant has cutout stars  The chain is links of black and bronze wire in two sizes.

The second pendant is a vintage glass button embedded in layered copper clay.  The top layer has a stamped design with gold highlights and then embellished with amber wire swirls. All the rhinestone had fallen out of the black glass button so  I filled the holes with Kato liquid clay to which I added copper PearlEx and a little glitter. I used fine amber wireto crochet a tube that I secured to the side with liquid clay. The bail is made from copper wire and black glass beads. I finished the necklace with black rubber cord.  For some reason this pendant didn't photograph well, I tried several backgrounds, this was the best... oh well,.... it's more attractive in person. 

This delightful pendant is the prize I won for voting in this months PCAGOE's challenge. It was made by Lynda of Diva Designs on Etsy . You can visit her shop at   www.scdiva.etsy.com 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I had these for awhile, a couple pumpkin pins and a pendant in Halloween colors with a cupid charm.... I know what your thinking.... "cupid?" looks can be deceiving ... it's really a witch, a shape changer witch.... an evil cupid.... you do not want to be shot with his arrow... strange things will happen. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Better Photo

Heather stopped by and took a better picture.

Click on the photo for a closer look.