Day 3 Thing a Day Textured Beads & Hearts

The poor birds in our area are so confused. We started out the week with temperatures in the 70's, by friday it was down to 10.... this morning we woke up to snow. The robins thought it was spring, I saw several on monday.... I bet they are freezing their tushies   off today.  It's overcast, cold and dreary, a  perfect day for claying.

I used my texture sheets to make reversible beads.  I rolled out hunks of clay in my hand to form an oblong bead and then squeezed them between the house texture sheet and the squares texture sheet to make these. I made big holes with a wooden skewer and then strung them on a ball chain.

This is the "house" side.  I used PearlEx to highlight the windows.

This is the "squares" side. Again I used PearlEx to highlight the "dots"

I love this carmel color MG heart.  The design is a lower corner of the big flower texture sheet.   Hm, the design on the paper tells me this heart needs wire curlicues....

I used one of the experimental texture sheets for this heart.  Didn't care for the way the texture sheet performed ....but I like the heart.  I may add details with a micro pen or  wrap with wire, or both,  to jazz it up.

 I made a sheet of clay from scraps.... it was suppose to be bead guts but after a couple passes through the pasta machine this oxidized copper look appeared... to pretty for guts so I cut out a couple hearts and then formed the critter from the leftovers.  Heather thinks he looks like a pooch,  I kinda see a giraffe....  I am a big fan of scraps, some of my favorite pieces were made with scraps.  

I used various tools to impress the designs and high lighted with PearlEx.

Okay, I am going back to the clay room to work on something for tomorrow... more texture sheets? a border cane? I can't decide, I will let my muse decide.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thing a Day Day 2 Heart Beads & Tiles

I had planned to show you the big beads I'm making with the house and squares texture sheets.... a couple are still in the oven so I will wait until tomorrow.

Today I will share the layered & textured hearts I made for a necklace.  Click on the photos for a closer look.

Close up of the textured gold hearts adorned with mirror image hearts.

Close up of the layered rectangles.... also with mirror image hearts.

I used the scraps to make complimentary beads, round and swirlies, to use with the hearts.

That's it for Day 2... I will  now take the other beads out of the oven .... I heard the timer go off...  it's also time to make my hubby lunch, he keeps wandering by with that "feed me I'm staving" look on his face. .... and then I am going to take a nap.  See you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thing A Day Day 1 Polymer Clay Texture Sheets

I'm excited!! Today is the first day of the annual "Thing a Day" Challenge on Polymer Clay Central.  This is our sixth year.  Seana started the challenge 6 years ago, at first it was a challenge to herself and she invited other to join in...  we did, it was fun and we agreed to meet each year and do it again.

To see the challenge... or join in... you are all invited... go to Polymer Clay Central, click on the "Message Board" tab on the left  or click on it here and then click on the TAD thread for each day.

I am also taking part in a Swap on Facebook.... the theme is "Hearts & Texture Sheets".  I've been working on textures all week.... some worked some didn't.  Here are the results.

This is the first one I made using scrap clay.  I grabbed a hand full of scrap clay, mostly Kato and Premo scraps, might be a bit of Pardo and Fimo.... ran it through the pasta machine to get an even color. This took me forever because I kept coming up with colors that I really liked and wanted to save... finally a yucky gray... so I got out assorted tools and do dads and made this.  I tested it with gold Kato clay.  I used corn starch as a release and it worked okay... but it did stick a little so I went back to the drawing board.

I have this cheapy "Craftsmart" clay that I bought at Michaels some time back.  It's not good for much but I thought it might work for a texture sheet.

Again I used assorted tools to make a design. I tried both corn starch and water for  a release but each time it stuck a bit and the the Craftsmart clay is kinda rubbery.... not what I wanted.

Third time is a charm... A few years ago some place on line was selling a whole bunch of Red Golden
and Lilac Pearl Sculpey for 50 cents a pack.... I don't normally use Sculpey but I was buying other stuff and they offered free shipping with X amount of purchase... and I have a hard time passing up a sale... so ended up with many packs of strange colored Sculpey.   I'm pretty sure I paid more for the clay than the postage would have cost but my theory is "you just never know when something might come in handy" just ask my kid... she's always saying things like "No, you do not need to save yet another oatmeal box!" or  "Mom, why do you need ALL these burnt out light bulbs"  I'm pretty sure she throws things away when I'm not looking.

To make a long, boring story shorter.... I am very pleased with the textures sheets I made with the Sculpey.  I can't show you the ones I made for the swap right now.... I will when my partner in Japan recieves them....  but here are others I made. I used a different  technique with these, I like it better than the impression I made with the ones above.  I haven't shaved the impressed sheet yet.. I experimented with a corner sample, see,  above the other two. I used corn starch for the release and it worked great.

Here are a couple more sheets I made with the Sculpey.  The first is geometric squares and the second is a row of houses...  I can see all kinds of possibilities  for this technique..... can;t you?

I tested the houses on Kato clay.... and I used it to make the big beads.

I am working on more beads that I will show you tomorrow.   It is going to be a busy month!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Dora's Polymer Clay Cane "Behold"

My muse is on vacation.  I want to clay but I can't come up with an original idea.  Every time I go back to clay I end up cleaning drawers and rearranging.... which most likely means I won't be able to find anything... I am my very own Easter bunny.... I  put things away, can't remember where I put them... so I just pretend I'm hunting Easter eggs... may as well enjoy this "second childhood" ....right?

Okay, in order to clay I decided to try another tutorial that I have stored on my Pinterest  "tutes" board.  This time it is one by Dora Arsenault.  She has lots of good cane tutorials on her blog, this one she named   "Behold" cane

After spending 10 minutes trying to decide on colors... I told you my muse was MIA..  I finally said "to hell with it" and  used the same colors as Dora.

Here is the canes I made.... click on the link above for the tute.

I like the "9 square"... here's a close-up.  If you want a closer look just click on the photos.

I used it to make beads.

Close up of a bead.  I like using square canes to make round beads.

That's it for the clay but I did get out my wire and complete a couple more necklaces.

I like this pendant, it went together really well and looks good on.  I used amber wire to fit the pieces together and then strung it on a green waxed cotton cord.

I like how this one turned out too.  I added wire and beads to the center of the pendant then made matching links  to finish the necklace.

Close up of the embellishment on the pendant.

That's it... tine for nap.... or maybe a snack.... probably both.

Thanks for stopping by.

Adding Wire & Beads to Polymer Clay

I haven't done much claying since Christmas but I did add wire work and beads to some of the polymer clay pieces that I had lying around.

I  added silver tone wire and glass beads to this purple piece to make a mixed media brooch.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

This poor ostrich has been hanging out with the peacocks..... notice his stylish peacock hairdo.....
I used 18 gauge silver tone wire wrapped with 28 gauge wire and seed beads for his head, tail and legs.

I used a simple striped circle of polymer clay as the focal for this pendant framed with amethyst 18 gauge wire wrapped with 28 gauge wire and seed beads.  I made a matching chain with hand made jump rings.

I used wire and beads to add a little bling to this simple leaf textured polymer clay pendant.  I am working on a matching chain.

And last but not least.... this is my favorite.... I strung this mirror image pendant on black waxed cord tied with spaced Chinese button knots instead of wire or chain.  I added a drop of rose quartz beads.  I am pleased with the way it turned out.  Heather listed it, and the necklace above,  in my shop on Etsy, Knightwork Studio

That's it for today.  I joined in another Facebook swap, this time the theme is hearts and a handmade texture sheet.... that is my next project.... along with canes.  I am in a cane making mood.

Thanks for stopping by.

2nd Half 2012 Gift Wrapping Contest

Okay lets see if I can get this done today.  Heather, Amanda, Sarah and Lily are all here for a "craft day" , they are down in the basement making "things".  They were going to do it at Amanda's house but Amanda said "let's go to Grandma's, she has more stuff."

Back to the gift wrapping. Where did I leave off?.... oh yeah,  Eugene is up next.  He drew Nick"s name.  Nicholas has started collecting  old record albums,  Eugene got him several and wrapped them in a  antique Victrola style package. Pretty clever don't you think?

For a closer look click on the photos.

Nick has problems wrapping his gift for Roger.  He knew what he wanted to do but couldn't get it to work..... finally it came together.  Roger is a Batman fan so Nick wrapped his gift as a Bat signal reflector thingy.... there is a light inside and it  makes a Batman shadow image on the ceiling or wall.  When were kids. back in the olden days,  we use to use a flash light and our hands to make shadow puppets on the wall.... same principle.

Roger and Heather  made a joint gift for Benjamin and Andrea, a wine bottle chandelier .... I will show you how it was wrapped later... Which brings us to Andrea.... her gift was for Cory.   Cory is a soccer fan and also plays soccer.... so his gift has a soccer theme

Cory made a game of his wrapping for Eric.  Eric likes beer and movies and games..... in order to drink a beer he had to guess the actor and the movie..... he was good at the game, by the time he went back to Portland he managed to consume all the beer.

Heather loves all the Cartoon Christmas Specials... her favorites are anything Charlie Brown... Benjamin wrapped her gift in a Snoopy dog house with Snoopy napping on the roof.

Lily immediately confiscated Snoopy, Heather was left with the dog house.  Look at that dirty little face, she was eating cake I think.  I'm guessing poor Snoopy now has a dirty face too.

Eric put a lot of work into wrapping Brandon's gift as a Tardis from Dr Who.....  I've never understood the appeal of Dr Who,  I apparently don't grasp the plot, just seems stupid to me. ( Don't tell Dr Who fans I said that)  Brad and Brandon are both fans. Years ago I knit Brad a Dr Who scarf which he took to college with him and then lost by the side of the road when he was changing a flat tire.  I am now knitting another one and looks like I will have to knit one for Brandon too.    Eric did a good job on the tardis.

Brandon was another last minute guy... Heather and I were beside ourselves worrying he wouldn't get his done but the boy came through. He knew all along what he wanted to do, took him about an hour and I must admit I was impressed.  He went with a Harry Potter books theme for Sarah's gift.

Side view.... each book is filled with art supplies. Sarah was thrilled with the gift and the wrapping.

Drum roll please.....  This years winner in a land slide was our talented daughter Heather.   I mentioned earlier  she and Roger made a joint gift for Benjamin and Andrea.  Roger made a gorgeous wine bottle chandelier... pictured here.  That sucker is really heavy!

and Heather used a Grinch theme to wrap it up...... hey, it just occurred to me by having a joint gift that sneaky Roger managed to wriggled out of wrapping a gift..... and somehow managed to get a vote anyway.  I'm keeping an eye on him next year.

Heather used air dry clay to fashion the face, felt for the hat and shirt and tissue paper for his hands.

We forgot to take a photo of the presentation of the Santa trophy being passed from last years winner, Patty, to the new reigning "best wrapper" Heather.

So that brings to an end another fun Christmas for our family.  We are blessed with great children,  delightful grand children and wonderful in laws... all are warm hearted caring people who enjoy being together.  We are already looking forward to.... and making plans for, 2013.

Thanks for stopping by.

1st Half 2012 Christmas Gift Wrapping Contest

Sorry for the delay, I'm a little late this year. I have a head cold,  my nose is drippy, my eyes are itchy,   and all I want to do is sleep.  Plus our cable service was spotty for the last couple weeks and finally went out completely for 3 days.... let me tell ya, being without the internet and television for 3 days was traumatic... what was the problem? you ask... Squirrels.  Yip thats right, squirrels.  Every couple years they chew though the cable outside.  This is like the 3rd or 4th time the squirrels have snacked on our cable line. You'd think by now the folks at Charter would take my word for it when I say it's squirrels but no, they do not.  We have televisions on all three floors of the house, practically one in every room ... not really but it feels like it when the "technician" on the phone has us running up and down the stairs, my hubby with the phone in one hand and a flashlight in the other, me trailing behind swearing under my breath and grumbling about  "damn squirrels"... checking numbers on the cable boxes, plugging an unplugging, sorting out miles of cable and wires... we were both getting a wee bit cranky, not to mention worn to a frazzle before they finally admit the cable is definitely out and agree to send a "technician" to the house. The first available appointment....not for 2 days, Now that I think of it, it's probably a good thing I had this cold.... the sleeping and cd's of two seasons of "Justified"  kept me sane.  I also had NPR on the radio and games on my iPad....  I tried claying a couple times but I'm not very creative when I'm sneezing and snorting.

Okay enough complaining.... Here goes, I'm ready to show you the gift wrapping. We had our family gathering on the 28th. As some of you know several years ago our family decided to draw names for Christmas and to make it more fun we came up with the "gift wrapping" contest.  Much to my surprise the family, including most of the guys really got into it....the gift wrapping has become much more important than the actual gifts.. we have a couple whiners.... well really just one this year...the two usual grumps did a terrific job.... the lone complainer had plans to do something so disgustingly gross we would ban him from the contest for life.... fortunately the womenfolk got wind of his plan and cut him off at the pass.

First up was the gift Brad wrapped for his dad.  Lynn is a big fan of science fiction or anything to do with space. Part of the gift is the head phones the robot is wearing, there is toy ray gun on his side, the rest of the gifts, all space related are inside his tummy.  There is a light on top of his head and another inside to make his eyes glow.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

Lynn's gift was for Patty.  Last year Heather and I pretty much wrapped the gift Lynn gave Eugene...this year I told him he HAD to wrap the present by himself.  He put if off to the very last minute.... and I do mean the last minute. We were suppose to be at Patty's by 6:00PM... at 4 he ran over to Walmart  and this is his "New Years" themed present.  Not bad considering he was threatening to wrap it in a torn Dr Pepper box.

Okay I must admit I was a litte skeptical of  Lynn's gift wrapping abilities so I wrapped a back up gift..... just in case.   Good to know I won't have to worry about it next year....

I did  a "Little Drummer Boy" theme  for the "just in case" gift.  I'm happy I saved all those old hat boxes.... they came in handy this year.

Now this next gift needs some explaining.  Patty's gift is for Brad.  When Brad was 9 Lynn took him and the girls to see the movie "Alien".  Scared the beejesus out of all of them but it terrified Brad and the girls used it to torment him for years to come.   All they had to do to send him screaming from the room was utter the words "In space... no one can hear you scream"  and do the "face hugger" thing with fingers spread over their faces.  There were times when having two older sisters was a bit of a trial for Brad.

 Patty wrapped his gift as the "egg"  in Alien.  She used pipe cleaners to fashioned a "face hugger"  then put it on a spring so it would jump out when he opened the top of the egg or pod.

Next up is this fantastic paper mache tree made for me by my beautiful granddaughter Sarah.  The lovely wall art owl at the bottom is part of my gift and the rest are inside the tree trunk. Click on the photo to take a closer look.... I love it.

My gift for granddaughter Amanda was wrapped as a Fireplace decorated for Christmas.  The little stockings have the names of their two dogs as well as ones for Amanda and Cory.  As you can see it has a blazing fire, nothing like a toasty fire in the fireplace.  I ordered LED lights from Think Geek to make the embers glow but the lights didn't arrive in time.  Amanda and Cory were married in April.... Amanda refused to change her last name.... said "Smith" is to boring. Being from the old school of traditions  I  put a little "Smith" wreath above the mantle.

Zachery loves lizards and skateboarding.  His gift from Amanda is a lamp made from a skateboard all wrapped up  in a lizard designed box.  The lizard has a really neat tail but none of us managed to get a good photo of his rear so you'll just have to take my word for it.  I love the scales, don't you?

Zachary wrapped his gift for his music loving father  as a musical note.  I like it.  Take a look.

That is it for today.... more to come.... I will show the rest as well as the big winner tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.