Polymer Clay Earrings "Thing A Day" Day 28

Today is the final day of the Anual Polymer Clay Central "Thing A Day" Challenge. Wow, the whole month of February went by pretty fast. I had a good time and I hope everyone else did to.

Today I made Earring for my granddaughter Amanda. Last time she was here she picked out beads and tiles she wanted made into earrings. I had to wait until I had the right kind of earring posts but I finally got the job done. (Sarah if you see this tell your sister her earrings are ready)

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The colors in the brain cane earrings doesn't show up very well. I took several photos but this is the best I could do. The actual colors are shades of green and brown.

Polymer Clay PINK Necklace "Thing a Day" Day 27

If you don't like pink cover your eyes.... this is PINK!! The lovely pink and silver beads are more loot from the Trash to Treasure Swap... they were donated by Miss Jackie of the The Pleasant Pheasant blog. (Check my blog list and pay her a visit, she has been making over the top beautiful canes)

I was going to use silver and pink wire but I was enthralled with the pink... and I'm not even a fan of pink. I am pleased with the way this turned out... fingers crossed that Jackie likes it too.

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Polymer Clay Heart Pendant "Thing A Day" Day 26

I love this heart pendant!! I made it with treasures I selected from the Round Robin Trash to Treasure Swap Box. The beautiful marbled heart was made by Pam and the wonderful animal print beads were donated by Cat. I had hoped to have the necklace completed but I'm feeling a little yucky so will have to finish it later. I think I will make a triple strand of seed beads to hang it on.

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The Round Robin Trash to Treasure Swap is moving along at a pretty good clip now despite the daunting winter weather. It's fun to read the comments of the swappers and see the photos of what they kept and what they added. I hope others will show us photos of what they make with their selections.

Polymer Clay Pendants & Cat "Thing A Day" Day 25

I originally planned to finish my Kite necklace but got side tracked with household chores. I did sand these pendants.and I started a wire cat. Most of the wire work is done and then I will back it with clay. The tail is moveable. The Olympics are a definite distraction.

Polymer Clay Asymmetrical Necklace "Thing A Day" Day 24

I made the polymer clay beads from one of the canes I made on Day 1. I made a sheet with the canes, cut out 1" squares folded the corners to the center so the beads are hollow. On one side of the necklace I strung the beads with dyed cultured pearls on colored wire. On the other side I made round links filled with matching beads and the pendant is a swirly lentil filled with pearls on twisted wire. I used long beads of coiled copper to complete the necklace.

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Polymer Clay on Colored Wire "Thing A Day" Day 23

Well I didn't use either of the pendants from yesterday... I ended up making a layered leaf/pod shaped pendant that I feel goes better with the chain and the teardrop MOP beads. I put matching yellow seed beads in the center space.

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Here are more of the tiles and beads that I made from the same group of canes. These have not been sanded yet so they look a little rough.

The top tile is a mirror image from the cane ends and the the other tiles are from the left over canes. They will be a bracelet one of these days.

Polymer Clay on Colored Wire "Thing A Day" Day 22

Most of the time I make my polymer clay pendant and/or beads and then select what kind of cord, chain or wire I want to hang it on. This time I made the necklace first using yellow and black wire adorned with transparent yellow #8 seed beads and dyed yellow MOP teardrop beads. The pendant will hang from the center ring.

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First I made an assortment of yellow and black canes.
I made other pendant tiles but narrowed it down to these two.

The chain is elaborate so I'm trying to decide if the simple flower pendant would be best...or something more elaborate to which I can add an adornment of wire and beads.

I haven't attached either yet. I think I will jazz this one up a bit and then decide.

Which do you like?

I'm also not sure the yellows match well enough although they look better in person than in the photos. I might try making something in a more golden yellow. Decisions, decisions.

Polymer Clay Cabochons "Thing A Day" Day 21

I used the bottom of a coke can and the protective covering from stick deodorant as molds for the cabochons.

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I like the swirled blue pattern on these cabochons. The big one is for a pendant and the 2 small ones are for matching earrings.

Short and sweet today.... back to the Olympics!!

Polymer Clay Votive Candle "Thing A Day" Day 20

I had a partial sheet of textured clay... left over from making the cabochons in the photo.... so decided to use it on a glass votive candle holder. I have all these little glass containers sitting around but have never tried to cover one, this is my first attempt. Half is covered with the textured sheet and the other half is covered by a block of Mokume Gane that has been sitting in a container for a couple years... about time I used it!! Turned out fairly well.

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This is with a lighted tealight inside....I used a coffee stirrer to make holes in the center of each squiggle so the light would show.

This is the other side and a better photo of the cabochons. I've been making quite a few cabochons..... I think my Muse is muttering something in my ear about beading.

Polymer Clay Necklace "Thing A Day" Day 19

Todays offering is a two part polymer clay pendant joined by dyed mother of pearl disk beads. I completed the necklace with matching beads on brass wire.

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Polymer Clay Necklace "Thing A Day" Day 18

Today is my final day for recycled canes... I don't know about you but I'm plenty tired of the recycling... although I am pleased with the results.

I recycled two canes to make this necklace. I made matching chain links from beads and wire and then finished it with copper chain.

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This one is a work in progress. I made a kinda striped marbled background with one of the canes and then stamped it with my handmade kite stamp. I highlighted the raised areas with silver which, as you can see, needs a touch up. I ran out of amethyst wire for the chain so had to put that on hold until my wire order arrives. I designed the wire links to pick up the circle pattern on the pendant.

Polymer Clay Recycled Blues "Thing A Day" Day 17

Here are the pieces I made from the recycled blue canes.

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This is made from a small, way over reduced cane. I did the twist and cut lengthwise and then ran it though the pasta machine several times to get this pretty pattern. Not sure I like the beads at the top, I may take those off.I achieved the background design for this one by rolling the cane into a log, twisting, and then slicing with my ripple blade. I used my acrylic cutters to make the textured design in the center then painted the raised areas with blue and silver PearlEx and sealed with liquid clay.
I used both the inside and outside of the lengthwise cut strips for these tiles. The largest one has been sanded and buffed but I still have to sand the small ones.
After twisting and cutting lengthwise I used both the inside and outside strips to make these. The focal bead has an oval "floating" in a ring of purple tinted liquid clay to which I added glitter.Tomorrow the last day.... much to my relief .... for recycled canes.

Polymer Clay Recycled Reds "Thing A Day" Day 16

I used a couple of the old canes for these. The background is a marbled effect using one cane and the design is from a flower cane. First is a pin and the 2nd will be a pendant once I decide where to put the bail..... and I may add some wire.

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I think I will do blue tomorrow.

Polymer Clay Recycled Tiles "Thing A Day" Day 15

Chugging right along with my Thing A Day and Recycled canes projects. I have about 6 canes to go and then I can start something different.

I used one of the over reduced canes to make round tiles for a necklace. Three tiles are a single layer and the other three have a 1/2 moon 2nd layer and cutouts. it was difficult to get the layers to show in the photos.

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This piece is made from the scraps. The center is filled with liquid clay tinted with silver PearlEx in which I "floated" the cutout pieces from the tiles. I thought it created an interesting effect.

Polymer Clay Hearts "Thing A Day" Day 14

Happy Valentines Day!!

Today I made hearts from my recycled canes.
The cane I used for this one was very over reduced so I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I like how the gold looks like bows. Now all I have to do is add a bail.

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Polymer Clay Recycling "Thing A Day" Day 13

Yes, more recycling.... and these I really like.

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Another pod pin and a matching cabochon that I plan to bead around. This is from a cane I thought was past saving but turns out to be one of my favorites so far. First I made an oval cabochon is a light gold. After sanding and buffing the cab I added the cane strips for the frame. I then sanded and buffed the frame before adding the wire tendrils.

Polymer Clay Recycling "Thing A Day" Day 12

I recycled a couple more canes... not crazy about these but maybe someone will like them. I used one of the black, white and red canes for the first group, I may be able to use them for earrings or they may end up in the scrap bin.

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I made a tan and white striped background for these. Heather says the first one looks deformed and the 2nd is to busy.... I have to agree, it is a little busy... but I like the funky growth on the first one :)

I'll do better tomorrow.

Polymer Clay Recycling "Thing A Day" Day 11

A couple days ago I was rummaging through my many containers of canes when it dawned on me I have quite a few canes that I am never going to use.... they are either over reduced, poorly designed or just plain ugly... see photo below... keep in mind the photo makes them look a lot bigger than they actually are. I pulled out several to experiment with. I like my twisting and cutting lengthwise technique....

which I used to make these. I have more in the oven and one sitting here in front of me waiting to be twisted and sliced.

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The first two have been sanded and buffed, I haven't sanded the small tiles yet. I had a couple failures, no matter what I did they were ugly so I made them into bead guts, I should have taken photos.. next time I will.. so you can see that some of the canes are past saving. Stay tuned, more recycling tomorrow.

Polymer Clay Pod & Leaf Pin "Thing a Day" Day 10

I have been looking for creative ways to use my over reduced canes. With this one I reduced it even further then held the ends and twisted the cane and sliced lengthwise. I then dug though my scrap sheets, found a background I liked and made the pod. After I sanded and buffed I added the coiled wire in the center of the pod and used the end of the wire to form the leaf and swirl. I filled the leaf with woven wire and Swarovski bicone crystal beads.

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Not all of the over reduced canes end up this well but I'm pleased with this one. I'm working on a couple more that I will show you tomorrow.

Polymer Clay Rings & Beads "Thing a Day" Day 9

I have been working on my "bead quilling" but it is going slow, so far I've managed to "quill" around two beads. Moe has sucked me into another time consuming project that requires trying to keep miles of thread from tangling while holding little beads around big beads.

In the mean time I had a much better day playing with clay... the planets are back in line and my muse is back at work. I'm pleased with the way this necklace turned out.... it actually looks like what I had pictured in my head. I was going to string it on navy blue cotton cord but decided on the satin cord... it looks better with the pearls. The color name of the pearls is blueberry...they look like sprays of blueberries scattered over the rings. It's a pretty necklace to wear with jeans.

And the photos came out good too... see.

Click on the photo for a closer look.