"Wheel" into March

Pinwheel, that is. I was looking at some canes I'd made, wondering what I could make with them. I made a smooth half-log out of one, and just started slicing pieces. As I lay them down, I realized I had the perfect shape for a flower pinwheel. That started a pinwheel frenzy which will most likely continue on and off for a while. I love the look, and there are so many combinations and options on something like this. Of course, they also remind me of flowers, which I love.
Besides, I'm ready for spring - only 20 more days by the calendar, and maybe sooner if the weather cooperates.
Here are my pinwheel pendants - and one pair of earrings.

Leap Day

Leap Day. Isn't it fun to have an "extra" day in the calendar year? It's especially nice when it turns into a day to play with clay. Inclement weather cancelled much of what was originally planned for my day, so I decided to spend some time with polymer. I must admit, it wasn't a hard decision.
One of the things I worked on was a Stroppel cane. Many of you have probably read about the Stroppel cane. This wonderful cane - or stack, as some call it - was recently brought to the polymer public's attention by the originator, Alice Stroppel, in a video she posted on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y07zXuLZe20. It's a simple yet wonderful way to clean up your scraps after working on a project or two, and you end up with another cane for more creating. How can you beat that!?!
Here are some of the pieces I've worked up. I found some new cording at Artbeads. It just arrived, and it seems like a perfect fit for the yellow pieces. The cording has a strand black suede with a strand of jet swarovski crystals woven in. I just love the look!












I made another set with a reversible lentil bead for the focal. This is a great way to get 2 coordinated looks at one time.














Had to make a set in teal, too, since that's one of my favorite colors.

Polymer & Beads ~ Lentil Pendants

As promised, here are some photos of my first pendants combining beading and polymer. I went back to one of my favorite polymer shapes, the hollow lentil. I used flat backs on these to provide me with an area for securing the beading thread.
One of the first things I did was to bake various beading threads. While I realized I could try to be sure the polymer portion of the bead was completely done before I did the beading, I wanted to be able to bake again if I decided something else was needed. I was pleased to find that most of the threads I usually use for beadweaving seemed to handle the heat just fine. However, Fireline, which is my favorite when beading with crystals and sharp-edged beads, just melted. Not what I would want. I particularly wanted to use Fireline for the bead above which has Swarovski gold aurum crystals, so I needed a way to be sure I wouldn't need to re-bake the polymer bead once the beadweaving was added. I worked on building a small "platform" which I embedded with eye pin tops and baked onto the back portion of the polymer bead.

Once the polymer lentil was completed and baked, I went to work adding the seed beads. The hardest part was getting the needle through the eye pin loops and back out. I had put them in to be slightly recessed so they wouldn't show through the beading. While the placement turned out to be great from that perspective, it did make getting a long beading needled into the opening, through the loops, and back out a bit tricky. As you can see from the photos, everything did work out, and I'm pleased with the results.

Polymer and Beads - A Sneak Peek

Okay, I know I'm supposed to be working on getting ready for CFCF, but I'm taking just a couple of minutes to share something else I've been working on. As you can tell, I enjoy 3-D work. My first ventures into jewelry making were bead-weaving oriented, and I've been wanting to do more with polymer-seed bead combinations. As is often the case, an idea starts in one place, then runs off in different directions....

This particular adventure started about 2 weeks ago. I began making some little floral 3-D earrings. The first set were on posts, and are a little more free-form than the sets of "garden" earrings I made in December.

Then I decided to make some hanging earrings, and embellish them with a bead - or maybe 2.








That changed rather quickly to trying little clusters of seeds with crystals or drops. These seed beaded pairs have just a little extra movement and sparkle. As you can see, I'm having fun!

Now I've moved on to trying some seed beading on a couple of pendants. Those will probably have to wait until I'm back from Baltimore to be completed. I'll post them here as soon as I get a chance. Just wanted to give you a "sneak peek" at these little pairs.

CFCF 2012

Yes, it's the time of year to head to Baltimore for the Cabin Fever Clay Festival. This is my fourth year, and I plan to learn much while enjoying the company of like-minded individuals. It's always thrilling to be in the company of such talented artists. The instructors are world class, and many of the attendees are incredibly talented. I love the opportunity to learn and share. What lovely "torture" - to *have* to clay all day!

As usual, we have a theme for the swap. This year, it's "hearts" in honor of Marie Segal who is this year's recipient of the 2012 Creative Pioneer and Innovator award. I've started working on my little swap hearts. I decided to try something a little 3-Dish. These pieces remind me a bit of quilling, which is usually done with paper. Here's a snapshot of the first ones. Most are in the traditional red and white theme, though I'm tossing in a few other colors as I go along.

Of course, it turns out these require 2 bakings and then gluing of the silver eye hook to allow hanging. I've a few made, but have to really get busy if I'm going to have the 80 or 90 we're supposed to make in order to swap with everyone. Oh, the pressure! ;) We also are supposed to make one special heart bead which will be strung on a special strand and presented to Marie at the Innovator ceremony. Below is the heart I've made for Marie.


In addition, each presenter has sent a list of supplies and pre-workshop preparation we're supposed to have done before the conference even starts. Gotta get crackin'!

Shifting Shapes

As I'm sure you've noticed, I tend to make things that are "even" and match. I decided to push my personal envelope a little, and work with some geometric shapes. These pieces are asymmetrical, or use geometric shapes in ways that are a bit of a stretch for me. The copper pieces above use a mokume gane surface with copper sheet imbedded in the layers. The copper surfaces are smooth, while the black surfaces are matte and textured.

I used the torn paper watercolor technique for the surfaces of the three related shapes below. Each piece is reversible, as shown in the photos. The shapes are separated by hammered copper discs.






I've got another idea or two percolating, and hope to get to them soon. It's fun to try something a little different, and open new pathways for my thoughts.

Getting Ready for Valentine's Day

Yes, it's January - and that means February and Valentine's Day are right around the corner. I wanted to put together a couple of pieces for the Westerly gallery show, and decided to use the dimensional approach on a couple of heart pendants. One is in a true red with white while the other is in a more salmon/rose shade. They each sport a rose in honor of the occasion.

After I made the earrings pictured at the left, I realized the design would be perfect for the "swap" at Cabin Fever Clay Festival. Once again, I'll be heading to Baltimore in February for a week of learning and sharing a playing with clay. It's a simply wonderful week, and I always come away with new ideas and a renewed appreciation for the talent and artistry of the festival instructors who teach and share their ideals and their techniques with the rest of us. It's a very special event. On the last evening, everyone who wants to brings in small polymer beads or charms (about 1/2" - 1" in diameter), and trades or swaps them for others' pieces. This year, Marie Segal is being honored for her contributions to polymer art. Since Marie will be teaching a heart design, the theme for the swap is "hearts." So I'll be making 50+ little hearts for the swap. Perhaps I'll remember to pop in a photo later once I have some made.

All That Glitters May Really Be Gold

Some of you may have used various leafing products, particularly the composite gold and silver leaf that mix well in translucent polymer. They are easy to use, and add sparkle and glitter to the piece. I've used the gold, silver, and copper leaf quite a bit, and enjoy both the process and the final "look". Recently, I was at a workshop where I met the owners from Woman Creative in Atlanta. They carry gold leaf sheets which are 23.75 K gold. The sheets are very fine and shimmery. I decided to try using a couple of sheets in some polymer mokume gane stacks and do a comparison of the two types of leaf. Since I was on a roll, I decided to also pick up some Magic Gloss carried by Lisa Pavelka, to see what that might do.

On the right are the results of my first steps. The first set used black and white and translucent polymer, and was made using the gold leaf composite. The composite breaks apart when it's used in mokemu gane, and makes lots of little sparkles that look like flakes of gold. I really like the subtle glimmer. In this particular pattern, the gold just seems to outline the leaves, making a very lovely statement.

Then I set to work with the 23.75 K gold leaf. The sheets are just so lovely and delicate. I discovered that these sheets tend to stay intact, so the gold stays in layers, even in the mokemu gane process, and creates a simply lovely shimmer. I'm not sure the photo really captures the glow this gold sheet creates. You can, though, see the difference between the broken bits of gold in the composite leaf, and the full, continuous sheets in the true gold leaf.













The last experiment used the gold leaf composite with the Magic-Gloss product. I impressed black polymer with a design, then used my finger and rubber tip tools to press the leaf into the design, minimizing tearing as much as possible. Below are the results:





Looks like I'll need to try Magic-Gloss over the 23.75K sheets, too. I'm continually amazed at all the possibilities with this wonderful medium, polymer. Wishing you all a very wonderful 2012 with lots of opportunity to explore and create.

December Gardens

Gardens? Yes, I realize it's December, and winter has just officially begun. Happily, we've been having temperatures in the 50s and yesterday it reached 60. So it's feeling much like spring! Perhaps I've been affected by the weather, or just want spring to hurry up and get here. Whatever the reason, I've been making leaf and petal canes, and started to play with the slices. I'd been thinking of the porcelain and polymer beads I've made, and thought I'd do something like that in all polymer. Well, one thing led to another, and instead of outlining a bead with leaf and petal canes, I started creating complete, lush gardens. When foliage is this dense and thick, I always wonder what might be hiding underneath.... The two pieces above are pendants, with loops in the back for a chain or perhaps multiple strands of pretty ribbons.

The pieces on the left are backed with convertible pin/pendant findings. They're just a tad larger, and these findings provide more wearing options.

From these samples, you can see what my color-moods have been. Now I'm feeling the need to go back to the worktable and make some new canes in other colorways...

....Well, I did go back, right after I made this entry. Here are a couple of examples of the next things I did. First, I had to make some earrings.





And then I made a set in yellows and purple shades. These take a lot of time, both in creating the canes, and then slicing and assembling. I do love the three-dimensional look and feel. Since, they're out of polymer, they're light, too. So nice to know these flowers won't fade.

Happy Birthday, Robin!

A good friend of mine is turning 60 today. As part of the birthday celebration, her husband decided to commission a set of jewelry. He took a look at some of my designs, and asked me to make something using my leaf cluster design. He also selected "jade" as his color choice - then I set to work. I've really enjoyed creating with a specific person in mind. Her husband came by the other day to pick the set up, and was very impressed.


I'm really hoping she loves the pieces, too. I made earrings in 2 sizes, a delicate necklace, and came up with a new design for a bangle bracelet. I really like this style, and am already working on one in purple.

Pendants in Motion

Sometimes, an artist draws inspiration from nature, color, an event, an idea. My inspiration for these pendants came while I was asleep. I keep pad and pen next to my bed, and jot down ideas or sketches when they "come". Such was case for the idea for these pendants with a bit of motion.


I've made two, and have sketches for a couple more.

The hanging section on these necklaces moves forward and back. I had to figure out how to get the piece hanging while ensuring the holder section had clean and matching edges.

I plan to experiment more and to see what happens with the other ideas I've drawn. Reactions and ideas are welcome.

Early Holiday Porcelain

It's December, and I figured I needed to put together a few pieces for the holidays. I started with some new hollow porcelain pieces which I then embellished with polymer. The porcelain has a lovely sheen to it, which is complimented by the crystals, gold filled, and sterling silver pieces I've added to the simple cable chain.

Must be time for a party!