Fall Leaf Jewelry

It's getting close to that time of year. The leaves are all still green, but it's a deeper green than in early summer. The mornings are cooler, the air is dryer, and there's a feeling that autumn is just around the corner. This, of course, means it's time to make some jewelry using leaves before they fall, curl, and turn brittle.

I picked some of the smallest leaves off the trees in our yard to act as "stamps", and used mica powders to create the pendants shown here. Fun, doesn't take a lot of clay or equipment, and lets you enjoy the leaves long after they've left the trees.

Teapots & Polymer

A little while ago, the New England Polymer Artists' Guild (NEPAG) held a polymer "challenge". The idea was to decorate a teapot with polymer. The teapot could be made of any material, and we were given a month to produce our teapot. Some people used metal teapots, while others used ceramic. The condition of the surface affected how the design needed to be applied and secured. It was a fun project, and the results were amazing! I chose to use a small white glass teapot, and decorate it with flowers. The teapot to the left is the one I made for the challenge. I especially love the butterfly.

Once I made one, I couldn't seem to stop. The teapots below are the ones I have made since the challenge. Most have sold, though I am keeping the first one. It was such fun, and taught me a lot. Recently, I had to make the chocolate brown one - it seems perfect for fall.

A Walk in the Woods

I'm in the midst of a 3-day, intensive, online Zoom class with Jana Roberts Benzon. As you know from previous posts, Jana is one of my favorite teachers. Her imagination is incredible, and the techniques she has developed make polymer look like real-life objects. We have one more day, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what else she has in store for us. Here are some things I've made in the first 2 days. I need to work on these more, especially the pine cone, and my raspberry is a bit pale.

Some Summer Necklaces

Summer jewelry can go in many different directions. It can range from wild or colorful, to soothing and cool. These three necklaces show a little of each of these. The spin-wheels to the left in hot pinks and yellows make a perfect eye-catching necklace or a fun bracelet. The yellow necklace is enlivened with reds, whites and a touch of black. It sits perfectly around the neck just above a scoop neckline.

The aquamarine and pale yellow piece below brings a refreshing cool on a warm evening. This is one of my favorite colors.

Seashore Polymer Pictures

It's summer and people are heading to the seashore here in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Thinking of some of the lovely seashells along the coast, I decided to make some small framed pictures out of polymer. Here are my first pieces. The Nautilus shell to the left is lying on a polymer background I made to look like it was lying on the sand at the edge of the waves receding. The sand is textured and the speckled effect was done with embossing powders. The water is translucent clay light tinted with embossing powder and a touch of blue/gray clay. Though I like this piece a lot, I still need to work on the white edge of the water.... The piece below is also mounted on a polymer background, this one made from transluscent and colored clay with some gold leaf mixed in. All the shells are polymer, and the seastar was highlighted with gold acrylic paint. I will have to play around with other approaches to a seastar. This one is fun, but it's not as realistic as the other shells.

Larger Polymer Lidded Containers

While I've been caught up decorting all these lovely little ceramic vases, I haven't forgotten how much fun it is to create lidded vessels completely from polymer. Here are some containers I made that are much larger than any I've tried before. They are strong and will hold more items than my first pieces. I used Skinner blends, and decorated them with acrylic paints and silk screens. I played around with different "knobs" on the tops of the lids. I particularly like the dandelion vessel. Perfect container for storing wishes.

Bargello & Vase

Just one more...If you look back a few posts, you'll see some bargello among other techniques from the Cutwork workshop with Jana Roberts Benzon. As I was working on these small vases, thinking of more ideas about how to decorate them, my gaze landed on some bargello from that class, and it got me thinking....Here is the result! Who knew?

More Small Vases

As you can tell, I'm having lots of fun decorating small ceramic vases. I've a few more to share with you. I have been making flowers to go on these vessels, making sure the designs went all the way around the vases to help ensure the polymer remains as a whole piece and in place. Then I decided to try something that did not go all the way around. The all cream floral design on the vase to the left goes about 3/4th of the way around. I baked the polymer in place, then carefully pried the design off, and reattached it with 2-part epoxy. After drying, I tried to take the design off again, and there was no way it was budging. Below are the other vases I've been working on:

Little Vases

While I enjoy making jewelry, it's nice to veer off in a different direction once in a while. The gallery in Centerbrook, Spectrum, asked if I'd make some things for their home decor section. I found some sweet little ceramic vases, and have been decorating them with polymer. Here are some photos of a few. I'll post more photos after the others are baked. I'm having fun with these. They make perfect little vases for dried or silk flowers or weeds, and will hold water and serve as bud vases. I tested them over night, and they do hold water. However, since they are not glazed, I'd want to put them on a coaster or other holder just in case the bottom should get damp.

Variations Using Dimensional Bargello

I've been playing around with some of the dimensional bargello that Jana Roberts-Benzon calls "puffy flamestitch." It's really pretty, fun to do, and presents all sorts of interesting possibilities. Jana presented it as a solid, connected sheet. I found it even more fun to make strips and then shape them in different ways. The photos below show some of the various ways I manipulated the strips I made. I particularly like the pieces that are really open and have a light, airy appearance.

Squiggles Pattern

One of the things I love about polymer is how readily this medium lends itself to exploration and experimentation. While making some folded sheets, I got intrigued with the edges and decided to play around with them to see what might happen. I'll take some photos of the sheets and folded items later, but wanted to show you some pendants I just finished that used the experimental sheets. I'm calling this the "Squiggles Pattern" - and it's so much fun! Details coming but I had to post a photo!

Cutwork Extravaganza with Jana Roberts Benzon

I've just spent 2.5 days with Jana Robert Benzon via zoom. What a fantastic workshop! In this class, Cutwork Extravganza, Jana showed us how to make a variety of components using various cutwork techniques. while each of the lessons allowed us to produce items based on that technique, the culminating half-day was focused on combining pieces from the various lessons into one final piece she calls "Picasso." Below are some photos showing a few of the items made from various techniques. The last image shows my first 2 "Picasso" pieces. I am looking forward to finding other ways to incorporate what I've learned. If you ever get a chance to take a workshop with Jana, please do. Just her tips and tricks for working with polymer alone are worth the registration.

This first photo shows samples of both the bargello technique and a technique Jana calls "harlequin." These are all such fun to make!

This is another example of bargello done using a completely different method of creating the stack from which to create the bargello sheet.

Finally, here is a snap of the 2 collage-type pieces I made from the various sheets and objects we made. Jana calls these "Picasso" - and you can probably see why!