Ripple Blade Mokume Gane

The Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild (SCPCG) held their bi-annual conference in late July.  This wonderful event spanned 4 days in which participants played with clay, explored new ideas, participated in various contests and activities, and enjoyed the camaraderie of like-minded friends, both old and new.
There were excellent demonstrations scattered throughout the conference, which were open to all though not mandatory, so one could pick and choose or go to everything. It could be a hard decision - continue what you were doing, or go learn about something new. What a great choice to "have" to make.

 This year, many of the demos were focused on Mokume Gane techniques, of which there are many.  Though I'd tried several approaches on my own in the past, I had not experimented with the ripple blade technique.



Libby Mills presented a clean and clear demonstration of her own refined version of this technique.  Those of us who saw the demonstration couldn't wait to get back to try it out!

Basically, there are two major patterns which emerge - zigzag stripes or a more dotted, mottled look. I played primarily with the stripes and have finally finished up a couple of pieces to share here.  When I get some "spots", I'll share those, too.

These two pendants have the zig-zag mokume gane base with the tiny dried flowers on top, all encased in resin.  I love the way the resin makes the background seem to almost move.

Photos and cabinets and clay folk - Oh, my!

Hello! Just some "bits" I wanted to share:

First, the clay folk ~ On Saturday, I attended the monthly meeting of the Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild. They're a great group - fun, creative, interested in each other, and interesting in and of themselves. They are planning a special polymer clay conference called the Clay Connection in early August. If you're at all interested in Polymer Clay, be sure to check out the Conference information at: http://www.scpcg.org/clayconnection.htm. It promises to be a great event - and it's being held at Conn College, so it's really close for those of us in Eastern CT.

Second, cabinets ~ You know you're in trouble when assembling a storage unit makes you excited. Undoubtedly like many of you, the dining room table has been serving as my "workspace." (You can substitute another room in the house, but you know what I mean.) As he walked by the other day, my husband asked if I could recall what the table was made of - wood, perhaps, or glass?.... Well, soon I'll be shifting location and the dining room will be for people and eating once again.

The move is possible because I finally decided to purchase a mini stackable unit from BEST Craft Organizer. Don't let the "mini" fool you. This unit is 39" x 41" and has twelve 3.5"drawers, twenty-one 2" drawers, and twelve 1" drawers. I can't wait to start shifting all my supplies, projects, and materials into the unit. Organization heaven. Why did I wait this long??

Finally, photos ~ I have a little unit for photo taking, but haven't really set it up. Today, in the flurry of excitement about everything else, I decided to give it a try. My favorite shot is of the bracelet attendees will be making at the first beadweavingworkshop at Nature's Art, September 11th. Here's a sneak peek:

Take care, all

~Kristie