Border Canes & Beads

Spring is here.... last week felt more like summer but it's a little cooler and spring like today.  I need to get  started on my flower beds which I usually don't do until late April or early May but the weeds are growing like... well... like weeds.

And with Spring it also means it's time for baby critters, cute little bunnies, birdies and squirrels.  I love looking out my clay room window and seeing baby bunnies and squirrels playing in the grass.... and so do my cats.  Yip, it's that time again, hunting season for Corny.  A couple days ago I woke up to bunny parts all over my back porch, little unlucky bunny feet and ears and other gross stuff, yuck!yuck! yuck!   No wonder she didn't eat her cat food!   I've tried keeping her in but boy I have to tell you, she is persistent when she wants out..... spends the whole night scratching the side of my bed and meowing in my ear, if I close the door she scratches terrible marks on the door... I've given thought to choking her but end up tossing her out the back door instead.  Then she gives me that "told you so" look, swishes her bushy tail  and dashes off into the night.  You'd think the stupid rabbits would find some place else to have their babies.

I have lots of photos to show you. I've played with clay this week more that I realized.  It clears my head and I can think about other things while I clay.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

This first cane I made a couple weeks ago.  I thought I had solved my over reduction problem when I started making "border" canes but this just goes to show I can even over reduce a "border"cane.  It wasn't a total loss though as I do like the pendant I made with it and it will work well for background for a couple projects I'm working on.

These are a couple weeks old too..... I like the colors together. I used a piece of the bottom border cane to make a couple smaller canes.

I used the scraps from the top cane to make the beads on this pendant and then used colored wire and copper beads to complete the pendant.

My latest "border" cane. I used the scraps to make bicone beads and a heart bead.

The bicones strung on wire. I will make a bracelet when I find my memory wire.

Bowl of beads I made with scraps from several of my border canes.

More beads from border cane scraps and a pendant made from one of the beads plus colored wire and starburst beads.

Close up of the pendant.... or maybe a brooch if I can find a small pinback that will fit on the back of the bead.

This is one of my favorite color combinations.  The shades of orange with the lavender blues is so yummy.

Close ups

Layered together.....

I used some of my earlier tile beads to make a bracelet.  It looks really good on.  I am going to concentrate more on bracelets and earrings, at least one bracelet and one pair of earrings a week.... I did make a pair of earring last week but forgot to take a photo..... oops!

Okay that's it for today.

I have to do our taxes, get ready for Amanda's wedding, do some weeding and planting.... and find time to clay.  See you next week

Thanks for stopping by.

More Border Canes & Wire Pendants

Last week I was back in my clay room happily conditioning clay when the pasta machine motor suddenly made a whining noise, the rollers slowed down and when I felt of the motor is was hot, hot hot.  I turned if off, let it cool down and when I turned it back on it heated up very quickly and slowed down again.  I shut it off  and using a paper towel I wiped the air vents on both sides of the motor...... got lots of black sooty gunk on the paper towels. Once I cleaned off all the gunk I had high hopes that it would work but no such luck.. the motor heated up again.   So I immediately ordered a motor from Mona.  I'm lost without a motor, I can hand crank a little but it hurts my wrist and takes all the fun out of claying.

So I didn't clay for several days, played with wire instead.

Click on the photos for a closer look

I used various swirl beads as the focal beads in these pendants.

More wire pendants... no polymer clay on these.  I will hang a small bead in the center of the yellow amber pendant.... just haven't found one I like yet.

I was tired of wire .... my new motor hadn't arrived and I was itching to play with clay so I decided to try the old motor one more time.... and guess what, it works fine now.  I made a whole bunch of new border canes and it didn't heat up at all..... fixed itself I guess.  Got my new motor a couple days later, now I have a back up if the old one conks out again.  My advise is to wipe down your motor vents every so often, I know I will from now on.

Here are my border canes.

I used the top cane to make necklace tiles.

and a couple focal beads with the scraps. You may have guessed by now, I really like mirror images.

More border canes.... I haven't made anything with these as yet.

I have more canes in the works and the tute is still in the planning stage,  I will get to it one of these days.

Thanks for stopping by.

Polymer Clay Pod Necklace

I used the "pod" that I made from my last border cane to make an asymmetrical necklace.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

I added woven wire and faceted glass beads in complimentary colors to the pod and finished the necklace with a lavender aluminum chain.

I hammered flat the squared wire at the top of the pod before I added the woven wire and bead.

Here is how the back of the necklace looks.

I have a couple more border canes in the works, they are lying deserted on my work table. My polymer clay muse took a break.  That happens to me from time to time.  I've kept my hands busy with wire and knitting but I feel like claying today so I think I will go finish the canes.

Thanks for stopping by.

BJ's Polymer Clay Border Canes

I took a few days off from blogging but I continued to play with clay.  I made another border cane, this time in pastels and black.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

I combined white with green, blue, magenta and purple to make the pastes.  I buy large amounts of black and white clay but it never seems to be enough.... I'm out of Premo black and getting very low on white.  I went to Michaels on thursday hoping clay would be on sale but no luck.... I did get a new Ott light though, 40% off,  and some Easter toys for Lily.

Here is the border cane with a mirror image tile that I made with the end scraps.

Heart tiles for pendants made from scraps.

The black backed heart has a border in lavender and pink along the side. It was hard to get a photo showing the edge... here is the best I could do.

I put a blue and green border edge on the green backed heart.

I made a Pod Pendant with the rest of the scraps.  I will add wire to this and make a necklace.

Another angle of the pod. I like the organic look and feel of pods. 

Here is the back of the pod. 

I was rearranging my border canes in a storage container.... they looked so cool together  I thought you would like to see them too.  Pretty snazzy, right?

Cool colored canes

Warm colored canes

Thats it for today.  I will try to post a couple times a week from now on, time does get away from me though.  I am planning a tutorial but can't promise when it will be done. 

Thanks for stopping by.