Textured Ferns

Here are some more pieces along the leaves-and-autumn theme.  I used vinyl wallpaper textures on the back and front of the gently curved bases.  The 3-D ferns in the pendants are quite textured, and I used Ikat canes to reflect the changing and widely varied colors of fall.

The earrings are double layers of leaves with pearl embellishments.

It Must Be Fall....

As I walk through the woods here in Connecticut, I'm surrounded with leaves: leaves starting to turn colors on the trees; leaves drifting through the air; crisp leaves beneath my feet.  Of course, this means I return home with the need to put some of these colors and shapes in clay.  Here are some pieces using real leaves to develop the focal point. Pearl ex powders add color and a metallic shine. The first group are all pendants.

The second photo has two pieces which are larger than the others so I used findings to turn them into pins.  I especially like using a convertible pin/pendant finding so make these pieces more versatile.  These pieces are based on a technique first introduced by Mike Buesseler.

Bamboo Leaves

A little cane I made looked like a collection of bamboo leaves to me, so I decided to try a couple of pieces with a bit of an oriental flare.  The first piece is a pendant and is sort of a collage.  It includes  the bamboo leaf cane, textured solid colors, a floral transfer with resin, and even some gold metallic thread.

Then I made another image transfer with a resin dome, and embedded it within the bamboo leaf cane.  The resulting piece begged to be a necklace complete with buna cording.  The small rectangular piece is a slide that allows the cord to lengthened or shortened.

As usual, I needed to make some earrings.  These two pair have a totally different "feel", even though they both use the same cane.

Gingkos Galore

  As I've said before on this blog, I love leaves.  I love their shapes, their textures, their colors and their infinite variety.  Gingkos are one of my favorite leaves. Their shape is unusual, their history is unique, and their medicinal properties are wide and varied.  So what could be better than gingkos of polymer?

I was delighted when Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg published her gingko cane directions in the April, 2012 issue of Polymer Clay Cafe.  The cane is fun to create, and the resulting leaves are as varied as you make them.  As you can tell from the photos here, I've finally made  some canes and created my own finished shapes.

The two pieces below are pins.  One a cascade of gingkos, the other a swirl of leaves.

The group above has pieces made from a different cane - one in more muted colors and slightly smaller shapes.  The leaves in the three-piece pendant on the left swing and move individually.

Woven Chevrons

 Something else new for me!  I seem to be in a "try-new-techniques" phase.  Sometimes I really like just getting immersed in a particular style or approach, and other times, like now, I have the impulse to give new and different ideas and techniques a "try out."

A few months ago, I saw some of the lovely pieces Judy Belcher put together using what she calls "micro knitting."  Craft-edu was my source for Judy's online class - a clear, well-organized presentation, with lots of options.  Once you understand the process, how you apply it is all your own.

So here are my first pieces.  There are several weaving variations which I'll need to try.  It's a very precise technique, and it was fun to watch the "fabric" grow.