Learning New Things

I feel badly for not writing anything before now. Hmmm, I probably say that a lot. Anyway, I've been busy learning how to work with polymer clay (like Sculpey). Since I've been intensely involved with that, I haven't had time for making much jewelry or at least taking pictures of anything. I can't remember what it was that gave me the "bug" for working with polymer clay, but I have it now. Hopefully, it's something my daughter and I can play with together this summer. I've learned how to mix colors and how to get this fantastic thing called a "Skinner blend." I played with molds and adding crystals; I've made some basic canes and a complicated kaleidoscope cane. I've sanded and polished and stamped and baked (and burned) a small collection of beginner beads. I really need to practice. It's a little more difficult than it looks in the books--for me, at least. It's time consuming too. But, it's a lot of fun!


The first clay technique I tried didn't turn out the way it was supposed to, but a lovely, swirly blend of glittery red and gold resulted. From that came a pendant of my own creation (plus the help of a mold) used for a necklace I call "Sunset."


Then, I was really eager to try some of the faux techniques. I don't have many colors in my collection yet, so I was a little limited on what kind of fakes I could make. I chose jade. I love jade. I don't know if it's the color of it or some romantic notion I have in my head about jade, but I do love it. A lot of mixing is involved and I don't have all the right tools yet, but I don't think it turned out too bad for a first shot. For the necklace I call "Garden Maiden", I used a rubber stamp for the image of the lovely lady and then etched it deeper into the raw clay to make sure it looked a little more carved than stamped. I cut out the pendant shape and roughed up the edges. I polished it with a rotary tool and now it has a fantastic glossy shine! The earrings underwent the same procedure.



I burned all the kaleidoscope beads I made. I haven't been that frustrated in a while. It took me forever to make the kaleidoscope cane! ARGH! My daughters loved the burned beads though. They didn't care if they were over-toasted. The older one made her own necklace this afternoon with the bead she picked out and I made a little key chain type of thing with my other daughter's bead of choice. They were happy, so I guess it worked out.

Looking through one of my new books of all things clay, I found a necklace that someone made with clay rings. It gave me the inspiration I needed for some shell disks I had in my stash. I used one of the disks previously in "All Things Bright and Beautiful" but I wanted to use a lot of them together. All my earlier designs seemed a poor fit. I think this works nicely. It's another necklace that needs a name. Any suggestions??