Week 6 Project for the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge & Catch up on TAD

I know, I have a LOT of catching up to do.  I did make items for Days 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 for Thing A Day and I did post the photos  on Flickr and Polymer Clay Central.... I just didn't have time to blog about it.

I had company the 9th through the 12th, not sure what I did on the 13th and today, but I know I was busy..... either that or I napped a lot.

So anyway I am about to get caught up.... Get a snack and a drink and settle back, this may take a while.

Day 9 TAD

I made a couple of hearts with a little bling down the center and used jump rings for the bails.  I need to hit them with the heat gun so the micro balls in the center will show up better.

Day 10 TAD

 A small grouping of large Focal Beads with an organic or rustic look.  I'm not through with the first one.

I will add some texture with circles and rings like I did on the round bead here:

Day 11 TAD

I made beads to go with the Open Heart pendant I showed you earlier.

Here's a closer looks at the beads. I have to finish making the wire links so I can string the necklace. I am really bad about having several projects going at once.... now I have to make myself finish them.

I also made swirl beads from scraps to go with the hearts I made for  Day 9

Day 12 TAD

The heart is in celebration of finding my set of stylus.  I have been looking for them for months, really it's been months. When I was packing up my studio for the move I can remember  clear as day putting them in their plastic holder and putting them I'm a drawer.... I have searched every drawer more times than I care to admit.

On tuesday Heather and I made yet another search.... still nothing. Then for some reason I picked up this little box of odds and ends sitting on my work table. I've looked in this box before for other things.... and way down in the bottom I saw the blue one peeking out.... they were not in their plastic holder and they were not in a drawer....  I tell ya, I can talk myself into anything,  I hope I never have to testify in a court of law!!

Here is a closer look at the heart, I had fun adding texture with my new found stylus set and blinging them up with PearlEx metallic powder.

Day 13 TAD

The colors are a little weird on this  bead and pendant set.... but I like weird,  always have.

Close up of the beads, they remind me of spring....  not that we've had much of a winter but I'm looking forward to spring with longer days and the return of my hummingbirds.

And a better look at the pendant.  I used a rubber stamp for the design on the back that folds over to form the bail and a mirror image over another mirror image for the body of the pendant.

And that brings us to Day 14 of TAD and also the same piece I used for Week 6 of the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge

This is another Heart..... well it is Valentine"s Day.... I had to make a heart.  I'm not into the traditional red and white and pink hearts,  mine is more of a Crazy Heart.   The center is a mirror image. I do love mirror images, it's fun to wad up a handful of scraps, roll them around, give them a twist and then... in anticipation... cut down the middle to reveal the fun image inside.  I am rarely disappointed.  Next I have to sand it and come up with a creative way to string it.

Now that wasn't so bad, didn't take as long as I thought it would and I am all caught up once again!! Three cheers for me!!

That it is for now.  Thanks for stopping by.

Day 8 Thing A Day Rustic Focal Beads

Late again,  but I have a good excuse.

My grandson had to work Thanksgiving so missed the family dinner. He and his mother are coming for a short visit tomorrow so I thought it would be nice to fix a turkey and all the trimmings..... which includes cranberries.  Fresh cranberries are out of season but I thought frozen ones would be available.  Looked in all the local stores and then finally went on line and discovered they had them in 2 Walmarts close by, one in Cassville, MO and the other in Pea Ridge, AR.

So we set out on our search for cranberries . Both towns are about the same distance but the road to Pea Ridge is scary, lots of hills and curves.  Most the roads here are two lane with curves and hills but that particular road is scarier than most.... so we went to Cassville. The ride over was pleasant and the Walmart was a new super store and very nice.... but it did not have frozen cranberries, just a Fruit Medley that included a few cranberries.  As a back up I did buy dried cranberries.... and as we were already at the store I bought sweet potatoes, tomatoes, avocados,  bread and a few other items.  Not a total loss.

We were closer to Pea Ridge so I decided  for the sake of cranberries I could put up with a scary ride just this once.... who eats turkey without cranberries, not me!   We leave Cassville and as we are passing the tiny town of Seligman, Mo we are pulled over by a highway patrolman. Neither of us could imagine why, we were going the speed limit, last sign I saw a short distance back read 55 and we were going 50, maybe our tail light was out. Turns out we had passed though an area where the speed limit was 35 for a very short distance, I swear neither of us saw any signs, in fact we didn't see any town, the patrolman said there are two 35 mph signs.... the result was a ticket for going 52 in a 35 zone.  $144.00.  Holy cow, speeding tickets have gotten very expensive.... sure killed my craving for cranberry sauce. Forget Pea Ridge, we went home.

The dried berries will have to do, I'll let you know how they turn out. Oh, and to add insult to injury when I was unpacking the groceries the avocados were not in the bag. Agggh!!

So... for my Day 8  I made a hand full of rustic focal beads inspired by the rocks and crystals I find in our yard.

I  like the purple veins in these

This remind me of a polished river rocks.  I like it.

Okay, that's it for today, it's late and I'm tired.   I am off to bed.

Thanks for stopping by.

Day 7 Thing A Day Clunky Focal Beads

I know, I'm late.

It was beautiful here today and I had a hard time deciding if I should go outside in the sunshine or stay inside and play with clay.... ended up doing a little of both.  I am happy to report I did not spend the day in my pj's, I took a shower and got dressed first thing, even combed my hair. The cats and I had a good time in the back yard and just sitting on the porch.

I then made the beads, took the photos, went upstairs to make dinner and  forgot to come back down and post the photos. Instead I fell asleep on the couch.... not good, now I will be up all night.

I am tired of making hearts  and was in one of my weird moods so I made a few weird beads.

These remind me of shards of antique Carnival Glass,  Marigold Carnival Glass to be exact.  I made a sheet of textured clay that I highlight with PearlEx. I made another sheet of clay that I formed into shapes then tore pieces from the textured sheet and partially covered the beads.  They are weird but I like weird.

Here they are lying down.....

Standing up

and from the back.

These may look good strung on Sari Silk....

That's it for today, thanks for stopping by.

Day 6 Thing A Day & Week 5 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge More Hearts

Okay I know it's confusing, if your confused imagine how I must feel!!

I will try to sort it out. It is Week 5 of the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge which is posted on Facebook and Pinterest (if you followed the directions correctly, which I did, at least I think I did. However there are not many photos on Pinterest so I'm guessing some of you did not follow the directions and will most likely pay the consequences... dire consequences!)

Now today is also Day 6 of the "Thing a Day" challenge on Polymer Clay Central.

I am about to use the same photos for Week 5 and Day 6.....

More Hearts of course.

These I "painted" and highlighted with eye shadow.

First I textured a sheet of white clay with one of my rubber texture sheets. I used the green eye shadows and a touch of the gold to color the Green Victorian Hearts.

I mixed orange, a touch of alizarin crimson and while pearl to get the peach color for the other hearts and then highlighted the textured area with the gold "bounce" eyeshadow. The eye shadow has an iridescence that gives a bit of a shine. Unfortunately it doesn't show in the photos.

Here isa closer look at the pendants. Click on the photos for a larger view.  I still need to add a border and add bails.  By the way you can buff the eye shadow, it gives a nice shine and doesn't rub off.

Here is how I treated the backs.

I used a different texture on the back of the green and tinted it with the pink and lavender eye shadow,  mainly because I wanted to see how the colors would look on white. I still need to put finishing touches on the back of all three.

Do you know tomorrow is already the weekend.... no kidding where did my week go?  I thought today was thursday but nooooo it is friday and it's almost over.  I got up at 7:00 AM, I apparently did not make good use of my time, it is almost  7:00 PM  and  as near as I can tell I did not accomplish much and I'm still wearing my pj's.  I'm not even sure if I combed my hair. Oops, don't tell anyone I said that okay?  Here's my problem, do I get dressed... kinda a waste of clean clothes don't ya think?

With a little luck I will see you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Day 5 Thing A Day Zentangle Heart

Every now and then I get carried away... this is a case of "Not knowing when to stop".

I used black clay to apply a Zentangle design on the chalk colored cut out heart I made yesterday.

Then I made a bail of glass beads, seed beads and wire.  So far so good. It looked okay.

I had  a couple pieces of heavy black chain laying on my work table so I thought "add a glass bead and attach them to the back of the bail".

Then for some reason I thought it would look cool on Sari Silk cord.

Talk about overkill.... I'm surprised I didn't cover it in whipped cream and add cherries.  Tooo much, way to much.

So I took off the chains and the Sari Cord...  Looks better but I'm still not happy with it. I may have over Zentangled or maybe I need to sit it aside for a while.

I like the back better than the front.  And I do like the bail. Any suggestions on what I should use to hang it?

Here is the chalk I've been using.  I apply it with a paint brush and smooth it with my fingers. I like the colors but ....

I would like more colors. My friend Jackie mention she uses eye shadow... ah ha! some where in my studio I have a set of eye shadow..... be right back....

and here it is.  I've had this for a couple years. Look at those yummy colors. Have you ever used eye shadow? I hope it works as well as chalk.

Tomorrow I am going to play with eye shadow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Day 4 Thing A Day More Hearts

For Day 4.  I found a heart on Pinterest that I really like, I think it's made of wood and bigger, here it is in polymer clay painted and shaded with colored chalk.  I am very pleased with the way it turned out.

I used 28 gauge wire to make the little heart for the inside.  Have to secure it better but I'm pleased with it too.  I may make more to use on the chain.

Another view. Laying flat in this one.

I also added woven wire to the heart I made with the Skinner Blend canes.... I'm liking it too.

Here how it looks on the back.

This is a WIP..... Still playing with chalk.  I'm doing a zentangle effect on this one.... show you tomorrow.

I textured the back with sandpaper.

It's getting a little chilly down here,  think I'll take my wire and beads and head upstairs.  We are suppose to get snow tonight, it probably won't amount to much.... I hope!

That's it for today, thanks for stopping by.

See you tomorrow.

Day 3 Thing A Day Heart Necklaces.

I have to hurry, have 20 minutes until Justified starts.... my favorite show!

I promised to get some heart jewelry made for the gallery and I'm running out of time. Went through my heart stash and found several I can make into jewelry.

Finished 3 necklaces today:

This one was easy, it already had the wire work. All I had to do was add a matching chain.

Front view:

The back: I usually don't leave the wrapping wire exposed like this but it doesn't look to bad. 

This is a simple heart, all I had to do was add the chain.  

I sanded the front and back so it is smooth to the touch 

This is one of my favorite hearts. I embellished it with woven wire and seed beads. I love how it turned out. 

I textured the back with sandpaper to give it a nice finish.

Gotta run, "Justified" start in 1 minute!! Yikes!! I will edit later. 

Thanks for stopping by

Day 2 Thing a Day Polymer Clay Heart Pendant

I had to pay bills today which took me away from claying but I did manage to made a Heart Pendant.

Getting the photo is another story. I don't have very good light in my studio and I left my photo tent thingy for my daughter to use. So I have to take photos outside and it was not only cold but windy,  I nearly froze my butt off..... wouldn't it be cool if you really could freeze your butt off? Even the cats stayed inside, they sat in the window giving me that "are you crazy" look.

I formed the heart from scrap clay and then covered it with Skinner blend canes. I textured along one side with my stylus and painted the texture with gold PearlEx.

Here's a photo with the canes I used:

and here is a closer look at just the heart.  For someone who doesn't care for pink I seem to be using it quite a bit lately.

Now I need to make some beads to go with the pendant.

Okat, that's it, thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow.

Day 1 of the 2015 Thing A Day on PCC

Weekly Challenge and Daily Challenge.... this could get confusing!  Stay with me here, I will be posting daily for the 2015 TAD Challenge on Polymer Clay Central and I will be posting once a week , usually on friday for the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge.... hummm wonder if I can use the same piece on fridays for both challenges, would that be cheating?

If any of you would care to come over to PCC and join in we would love to have you.... the numbers have dwindled and we need all the help we can get..... so "come on down" as the guy from Price is Right use to say

It's cold and gloomy here today, just the kind of day TAD was invented for, here is my Day 1 entry.

I cut out a little heart of Ecru clay, stamped it with a leaf design, "painted" it with chalk, cut out a little bird with my exacto knife, "painted it with chalk and stuck it on the heart. I had some scrap metallic clay that I marbled, cut out an oval, shaped it into a leaf and used it as a background for the heart.

I wish there was more of a contrast between the bird and the leaves on the heart, the bird doesn't show up very well. I'll do better next time, but I still like it. I added a bit of glitter to give it a little bling.

Isn't that a cool rock it's sitting on? I found it in my back yard.  Lots of neat rocks and crystals around here.

Here's a slightly different angle on a paper background, I was hoping the bird would show up better but it doesn't.  I am fighting an urge to outline the bird in black ink, I do wish that bird stood out more.... would that ruin it?

Okay, that's all for today, have to get busy so I'll have something to show you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.