Polymer Passion

Lady bug love

2010-06-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-04T22:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-23T04:36:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-22T06:42:00.000-07:00

In a frenzy to create some bright and bold summery jewelry I picked some of my favorite canes and a block of fimo black clay and played one afternoon..and the result is what you see here. I have always wanted to list some low priced quality pieces of art in my etsy shop and I think now I have what I wanted. Hand sanded, machine buffed and coated with a layer of glaze and they all have a glass like sheen. All these pretty pieces of wearable art will be soon on my etsy shop for just 6$ a piece. So please go ahead and check out my etsy shop if you like them. Here is a link to my shop
My etsy

This one is my favorite, I love the flowers and the flutterbys.

Love the color combination in this one..

My favorite rose with the pink and yellow tiny flower triplets

The bright turquoise lil flowers in this one compliments the subtle lilac focal flower..

A very whispery combination of flowers here..

Bright sparkly red rose surrounded by li'l yellow flowers..

A beautiful purple rose and floating yellow and purple flowers!

Now comes the brightest of all.. Love the colors on this one ..and all these are backgroundless canes!

Shifting toward MICA

2010-05-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

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

2010-02-09T05:22:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-24T01:11:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-06T09:22:00.000-08:00

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!

More kaleidoscope canes

2009-12-29T06:52:00.000-08:00

Such an addictive technique and I made 4 more Kaleidoscope canes. Tried using different color combinations and here is what I have.

Naama zamir kaleidoscope cane workshop

2009-12-29T06:31:00.000-08:00

After a long break I am here blogging. Thanks to Naama Zamir. The workshop was basically about how to give an interesting twist to the kaleidoscope canes. This is the cane that I made at the workshop. It is really intersting to see what huge difference a small variation in the technique can bring about. Working on more such kaleidoscope canes. Will be back soon with the pictures.

Yonat Dascalu Clay Fabric workshop

2009-10-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday this workshop was conducted by Yonat Dascalu. She demonstrated the clay fabric technique with simple canes. A good technique to use and create beautiful patterns even out of scrap clay. It was a 3 hour workshop and at the end she handed out a CD with the complete technique on video. Till date I have been an internet learner and I do also try and experiment a lot omy own. This one is my first workshop and I really enjoyed it. The Hamsa was made there, baked and brought home.

Layering effects

2009-09-29T01:57:00.000-07:00

I have been trying various layering effects with different types of canes. These are pieces of jewelry that I made using a striped background on which flower, leaf and butterfly canes were layered.

The black and white striped base cane offered the right kind of contrast for the burgundy roses and transparent leaves, maintaining a very delicate balance with the tiny lilac flowers.

The base cane in this piece was created out of a skinner blend using Fimo turquoise and emerald green. Liked the combination so much that I decided to use only transparent flowers so that there are no other

colors that interfere with the base combination.

Next came the green base, a skinner blend striped cane using white, avocado green and sap green for the stripes. The base looked more or less like a lawn and decided to make it bright and colorful. Added some slices of brightly colored flower canes and this turned out to be a really nice.

Created another set with the same base cane but with a different set of flower canes, this time with bright yellow and transparent , with a leaf here and a leaf there. The leaf shaped pendant and earrings added dimension to the green skinner blend base and guess what!....It is already sold.

Well, this one is my favorite, with the blue green and white striped base, a few teal flowers, white flowers and the gorgeous blue butterfly emerging from the garden.

I did make a square pendant and earring set with just a butterfly on blue green stripes too and that one is all sold, but here is the picture.

Most of these pieces are listed on my etsy shop, please go ahead and take a look.

http://www.claybazaar.etsy.com/

Etsy shop CLAYBAZAAR

2009-09-28T05:03:00.000-07:00

I have been busy in the past two weeks with an art show and setting up of my Etsy shop CLAYBAZAAR. The shop is up and running and two sets got sold the day they were listed and I am just glad about the great beginning. The shop is a joint venture with a dear friend who lives in the US. We have about 23 items listed for sale as of now and I am looking at this shop as an outlet for excess canes and jewelry. There are many plans to diversify later. Right now we have some jewelry including a turtle set in animal print listed there.
Look at the shop if you have a minute.
http://www.claybazaar.etsy.com/

Pearl-ex and texture effects

2009-09-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

There are about a dozen texture sheets in my desk that I always wanted to use. Tried some mokume gane using one of the sheets some time ago and that was all I did with those wonderful tools. Couple of days back I pulled out the sheets and some pearl-ex powders from my stock and this is what I ended up with.This turquoise pearl-ex is tried and tested and I love this color particularly in contrast with the black base. I did a similar piece long time ago and posted the picture on flickr. The stamp is from the Barbara mcguire collection. I just love this stamp. It has about five different patterns flowing and works so well with polymer clay.

Next came the copper powder and the Spring Morning texture sheet by Sculpey. This is another texture sheet that I love. It creates nice sharp impressions on clay. The effect of copper on black and the impression of leaves translated into the shadow of a tree branch and I am glad I tried this combination.

How would it be to have two different colors of pearl-ex on the same piece? Well, this is what it looks like. This stamp is also from the Sculpey collection. The combination of gold, copper and black made the piece look kind of antique but the pattern very ethnic with the arabesque motifs.This one is my favorite. This piece looks a lot metallic than the rest in my opinion.

The next piece was made with a burnt pinkish shade of pearl-ex and by the time I reached this piece I got so bored of the cutters and the monotony of the common shapes. Cut out the pieces in a way that the shape flows with the pattern,with no symmetry and I think it looks good this way. Added a pearl at to each piece while stringing. I may get tired of the shapes but not the stamp. This is my favorite stamp and Thanks to Barbara McGuire.

I made a few more of these in other color and patterns. For pictures, visit my flickr album

Journey of the butterfly

2009-08-29T03:19:00.000-07:00

The butterfly cane that started out a couple days ago as two sheets of skinner blend has come a long way (the actual process of metamorphosis). It grew spots all along the edges of the wings, got a little body and is all ready to fly away now. What fun it was, making this fantasy butterfly cane. I am happy that in the process I could make a tutorial too.

Butterfly wing cane tutorial

2009-08-27T04:19:00.000-07:00

Many were curious about how I made these butterfly wings www.flickr.com/photos/malsarts/3662799486/in/set-72157615943466756/
Here is the tutorial ( in a different color scheme for obvious reasons). I have outlined just the basic cane. Add bull's eyes to the periphery if you like your butterfly that way. Let your imagination and creativity run wild.

Leave a comment if you like this tutorial. Visit again if you would like to see the completed butterfly cane. Happy butterflying!

Grazing turtles

2009-08-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

The kaleidoscope cane ends metamorphosed into these cute little turtles. They looked rather dull and drab when I tried photographing them on a piece of fabric, so sent them out to the lawn to graze. These are meant to be used as paper weights and so filled their tummies with some metal balls to add to the weight element.

Calculated canes

2009-08-22T03:21:00.000-07:00

These canes are the outcome of yesterday's play. Kaleidoscope canes in different color combinations. With kaleidoscopes some canes turn out the way you expect and some leave you wondering if you should have taken more time to decide how to put the triangles together . The blue one matched my expectation while the lavender and grey is a disappointment. The flaming square is my favorite. Love the glow of yellow inside the red streaks. Now I need to look at what can be done with these canes..

Sculpted roses and cane leaves

2009-08-17T04:25:00.000-07:00

Did some useful work after a really long break. Sculpted the roses out of a petal cane and added some leaf cane slices. The tear drop beads and pearls add a touch of richness to the dusky pink roses. Made another set of roses in complementary colors, a lighter blend of pearl and sedona but yet to add the hooks. Happy with the way this turned out. Click on the image to view the pearlescent shimmer on the roses.

Today's experiment (Gerald the giraffe)

2009-08-06T03:57:00.000-07:00

Trying more combinations with sculpting and canes. This cute little giraffe is the latest. The entire piece with the background is about 3 inches in length. Can I call this a 'mini' wall piece? The giraffe again has a touch of CF. Time to think of a name for him. Any suggestions?
29 Aug '09
Thanks to Dorothy who came up with the name Gerald for this baby giraffe. Suits him so well..

Medley of sculpting and cane work

2009-08-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

Now that the sculpting fever is on and the cane bug has become no less virulent, there is no choice but to incorporate both in whatever I do. The result is what you see here. The body of the peacock is partially adopted from CF"s peacock piazzas, and I went ahead, embellished the peacock with tiny slices of the peacock feather cane that I made some time ago. Perched him on a branch embellished with leaf cane slices. The pendant is rather huge.....about 3 inches long and I wonder if some one would want to wear it. I can see this as the beginning of a long term addiction to sculpting.

Faux animal skin

2009-08-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

This has been there on my mind for so long and finally I got around to making these animal skin canes. If you are able to make out what is what, I have succeded in my attempt. There is so much that i want to do with these canes. May be I will work on one cane a day. I am sure you know what I did with the cane ends. Yes, I have 4 hybrid turtles with animal skin on their shell. If you would like to see what I do with the turtles , please come back .

Cane end turtles

2009-08-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

My cane ends usually get transformed into these tiny turtles. They are fun to make and this is how I make them. They can easily be converted to fridge magnets, pendants or earrings. I have made more than a hundred such turtles.

Today's creation

2009-07-30T12:15:00.001-07:00

Made a pendant and earrings with the turquoise and lilac roses and triplets of turquoise and yellow flowers. The turquoise flowers with the yellow center kind of float on the back ground creating a 3D effect.

All from the same set of canes

2009-07-29T11:31:00.001-07:00

Just played around with a set of lavender and pink flower canes and ended up making a few sets of jewelry with the same combination of canes as I liked the combination a lot. The framed pendant set is my favorite. Click on the image to view details.

Calla lillies - Inspired by CF

2009-07-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

This is my first serious attempt at sculpted jewelry. I was looking at Christie Friesen's website while I was trying to decide on supplies that I could ask someone to send me from the US in return for the canes that she bought from me (my first sale of canes) . From the moment I looked at her jewelry collection I developed a very strong urge to try out some sculpting. This calla lillies is a piece that I saw there.
I have used canes for the leaves and petals, but I would still consider it sculpted. I have done some miniature animals etc for my son's friends but this is the first with jewelry. The pendant is about 2 inches long. It was great fun making these.

Rose cane How-To

2009-07-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

Here is the Rusty Rose cane How-To slide show. This is how I make my rose canes. I am sure there are many other ways to do it. The slide show is made as self explanatory as possible as it is meant for beginners. Leave a comment if you like it.

Tube beads

2009-07-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

I just discovered that making tube beads can be fun and very simple. Covered toothpicks with scrap clay and covered it with rectangular slices of canes. Used slices from kaleidoscope canes that I made some time back. Pulled out the toothpicks using gentle turning movements and curved the pieces by holding them at the ends and baked to make the slightly curved pendants. Added the hooks and strings along with a bead here and a bead there. Here are the pictures of some such beads that I made yesterday.