Lady bug love

I have not been able to clay much these days with the packing going on for the impending move. All I did in the past 10 days is this compact mirror for the Polyclay play challenge. Voting ended last night and so now this picture can go public :)

Rainbowy pendants

I am back with some pendants and stuff from the clay sheet and the rainbow zebra cane. I am happy with the outcome though these are not typically the kind of things that I make. But that was the whole idea of picking up a new theme for each fortnight. The rainbow theme is still on cos I have a lot many ideas and want to give them all a try...For now here are the pictures!

This is just a slice from the rainbow zebra cane, cut out using a heart cookie cutter, baked, and coated with a layer of glaze. i love the glass like sheen on the pendant.

This pendant has a portion of the colorful clay sheet pressed into the oval frame, baked, removed from the frame and glued on. Applied a coat of glue on this too!

Another cut out from the clay sheet using the heart cookie cutter, with flowers in all colors of the rainbow.

Finally, the turtle..my favorite in all glory with a colorful flowerful shell.

Sheet of clay

Now thats just a sheet of white clay with slices of flower canes arranged on, waiting to be rolled, cut and transformed to some thing else. What am I going to do with this sheet..Well, there is so much that I can!

My entry for PCC Mica shift challenge

Last month's theme for the Polymer Clay Central monthly challenge was MICA SHIFT and  this one was my entry. Didn't win a prize, but I think this beautiful pendant is a gift by itself. I am happy with the way this pendant turned out though it was not as appealing to the eyes of the voters! Better luck to me next time! You can see the other entries and the challenge results here

Rainbow Zebra

Here is the first image from Project RAINBOW..a  colorful zebra cane in all colors of the rainbow. This cane is the  result of a picture that I happened to see on the internet some time ago. I have not included the picture here as there may be copyright issues about using the picture, but you can definitely have a look at the picture of the rainbow zebra .

Getting ready to play

I have done a lot of lazing, and now it is time to get busy. A person like me needs targets and goals to be set to be more productive. So..here I come with a plan, from now on I am going to work on a theme every 2 weeks. Fortnight one starting tomorrow and the theme is RAINBOW............

Black, bold and beautiful!

Shifting toward MICA

Mica shift ..has been on my mind for a really long time. Tried some last week and it was a great experience. starting from Premo gold, went onto premo green, diluted it to a turquoise , mixed both the colors to an olive green .

This pendant is the first piece that I made..from premo gold using my favorite Barbara McGuire stamp. Shaved the surface after stamping, rolled gently using a brayer and then cut out the pendant. No sanding or buffing..just a coat of future and voila...I am happy with the result.

These puffy hearts were made using sculpeyIII metallic blue, stamped with sculpy swirly texture sheet. The shift turned out well but the clay was way too soft for the technique. Had a difficult time putting the pieses together without damaging the pattern.

This one is my favorite. combination of  Fimo pearl clayand a very intricate stamp pattern. The stamp is not very deep and so there was not much to shave away. The intricacy of the pattren demanded careful removal of the raised portions in tiny bits and the final product seems to be worth the effort. Sanded, buffed and glazed to acheive the best result possible.

This multicolor mica shift turned out much better than I expected. made this using small bits of left over clay. Found some matching glass beads lying around and strung into a full fledged necklace. Working on more mica shift..different colors and patterns..more pictures in the pipeline..watch out!

Petals and Pods

Each time a flower cane is made, there is atleast a small stub of the petal that remains. This is one very delightful way to use those leftover petal canes. All these were made using either petal cane ends or remaining bits after making the flower cane. Isn't it wonderful to put each and every bit of clay to good use!

Matching necklace and earrings for the bracelets

I would never wear a bracelet with earrings or a necklace that is not matching. So, it was time to make the pink flowers and peach and bue earrings an necklace. Here is what I came up with.
The peach roses and butterflies are a lot colorful than the pink ones, and decided to keep this set simple, and here it is.

Pink roses and flowers were rolled, cut into heart shaped focal beads for the pendant and earring . Used a flower design toggle clasp and a swan bail with white stones studded on it. This set turned out a lot more dramatic than expected.

Sunshine blog award

I was so overwhelmed to know that someone thought my blog worthy of the Sunshine award.  Thanks to Betty Jo hendershott of Knightwork : Playing with Clay for passing  it on to me.

The Sunshine awad is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blog world

The rules for accepting this award:

Put the logo on your blog or within your post

Pass the award onto 12 bloggers

Link the nominees within your post

Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog

Share the love and link to the person from whom you recieved this award.

It is not easy to pass this award to just 12 blogs ..took me a really long time to decide and I pass this onto blogs that have inspired me right from my initial clay days. I have learnt a lot from these blogs and I love the generosity with which these blogs share information.

1.  Polymer clay by SILASTONES

2.  Dora's explorations
3.  Adventures in Creativity
4.  Zuleykha's polymer clay
5.  Art from my Heart
6.  Julie Eakes
7.  The Ornamentalist
8.  Linda Riopel
9.  Raven's Caw
10. Polymeri Online
11. Polymer clayart by naama zamir
12. Polymer Clay Etc.

Cuff bracelets

These cuff bracelets were made using metal bases that I picked from a flea market. The surface is rounded and is very handy for covering with clay as there is no need to use an adhesive to fix the clay to the base. Once the clay is baked on the base, it wouldn't come out unless forced. This is my first attempt at cuff bracelets and I can't wait to go and grab some more of these bases . Watch out for more of these soon!

Potpourri

These canes were all made during the last week..some simple, some complex..but all fun to make. Each cane has a diiferent kind of petal, made using a different technique..Yes, I am back into the cane mood. Want to create some nice pieces of jewelry using these canes in the next few days.

Sea sculpture

This pendant was made at the Jana Roberts Benzon work shop organized by Tapuz, the polymer clay artsists forum of Israel. The technique is called oil slick gradient . The sea sculptures with the organic shapes and pearls, using this technique, i can visualize endless possiblities. Can't wait to try more of it.

cane and combinations

This cane was the last of the Kaleidoscope canes that I made. The cane turned out very vibrant in shades of pink, combined with white and  bright violet. Made different types of jewelry with the same cane and what you see below is the range of shapes and styles that I came up with for this cane.

This set was made using leaf shaped fondant cutters. Just added simple bails and hooks to it.






The pillow beads were made from the same cane ,  at  different stages of reduction, made a matching clay coil bail and strung on a silver chain.

This set a bit more elaborate with some metal and glass beads in matching colors. The focal beads are just slices of the cane, hanging from the corner.

These are the folded hearts made out of the square slices. These are extremely light as they are hollow. Strung on black suede cord.

This set has a very ethnic touch to it with the shape of the beads, again folded versions of the cane slices, and the metal findings and the glass pearls and beads.

Back to basics

What do I call this?....Pink Palette!

Made a range of these simple canes all in shades of pink. Sliced the canes and made some beads, yet to be cured and strung. What a fulfilling day!