SWD - Oh No! I Burned my Clay. Can this piece be saved?

In the last video series I created a tassel pendant.  The ones you see are not my first attempts.  I originally planned a bright, summery pendant with bright yellow, orange and purple.  Almost a retro look.  Unfortunately, because the clay covering is relatively thin, I burned and scorched the clay.  The result was a sad, dark mess.  The piece was destined for the trash but really, with the time I put into creating it, and the fact that I liked the shape, I decided to see what I could do to save it.  So, I used bronze, heavy body paint, I antiqued it and added a bunch of Swarovski crystals for some bling. Added a gold tassel, and I'm happy with the result.  So, see what you can do to save those not so perfect pieces.  Here's the video on the process. Have you ever burned a piece?  What did you do?  Let me know in the comments.  Hope you enjoy the video.

#lovesummerart SWD Polymer Clay Tassel Pendant Tutorial

There’s something exciting happening in the YouTube art community.  Over 250 YouTube art/craft/how to channels have formed a community!  Thanks to Cinammon Cooney (theartsherpa), Clive Powell (clive5art), Sigrid Soto (secretsoto) and Ginger Cook (gingercooklive) for getting the group started.  This should be a fun collaboration and a supportive group.  I hope you visit the Facebook page to connect with the content creators participating.

My entry is a series of three videos on how to make a polymer clay tassel pendant.  I’ll show you how to create the pendant, make the tassel and do finishing work so you have a wearable work of art.  I hope you enjoy my entry and use the #lovesummerart (same hash tag on Facebook) to see of all of the unique and interesting videos showcased by these talented artists.   See below the videos for the tools and materials list.

Here are the tools and materials for my project.

Tools

Drill or needle tool

Craft knife

Clay blade

Oven

Pasta machine or roller

Texture plate

Scissors

Old credit card, hotel card key or several pieces of card stock

Double sided tape

Jewelry pliers - Round and flat nose

Materials

Polymer clay – navy (cobalt + black)

Thread for tassel – Artiste nylon thread #2, crochet thread or other

Pen barrel (optional), you could make your own from polymer clay

Viva Décor Inka Gold or pearlescent powder

Wire – 20 ga

Jump ring 6mm

Necklace finding – can be rope or chain

Bead cap (optional)

White glue or Fray Check (optional) - the thread will fray or unravel with wear, use one of these to stop the fray unless you like the look, apply a little bit to the end of each cord, separate and let dry

Polymer Clay Silk Screen Necklace

Here's the necklace I created using the silk screened polymer clay from my demo in the last post.  I used scrapbooking elements including brads to lock the pieces together and eyelets to finish the holes where the chain joins the necklace.  The brads allows for the pieces to move so the main circles can be re-positioned. This would look nice with a white button down, peeking out of the collar.

Product Demo - Sculpey Clay Silk Screen Kit

I've been wanting to try silk screening for quite a while.  At one of my recent guild meetings, the new Sculpey products were demonstrted.  I couldn't wait to try the Clay Silk Screen Kit so ran out to my local craft store and picked one up.  I hadn't ever tried silk screening and was thrilled with the results.  I did a video demo below that I hope you enjoy.  Leave me a comment and tell me how you like the demo and whether you've tried silk screening.

New Studio Works

I've had time in the studio over the last couple of weeks and was able to try my hand at Bettina Welker's pixelated retro cane.  I've done a lot of work with extrusions, specifically the retro cane.  What's different about this variation is the smaller circle die to extrude.  The technique was fun and I was able to create a number of pendant pieces with just a few slices of cane.  A little clay goes a long way.

Each pendant (or group) has the actual cane below.  Take thin slices and apply to a thin background sheet.  Smooth the slices to adhere them.  My slices were relatively consistent so I was able to run the background sheet with cane slices through the thickest setting on the pasta machine for consistency.  The red group was made using cutters and my flexible blade to create applique elements that were then pieced together.  The pendant with the metallic insert was made with a metallacized button that shows through a cutout.  I'll try more with the added metal accents for interest

This pendant was made with two sizes of oval cutters; I splurged and bought the nylon cutters so I get a much cleaner cut.  I'm showing the bail.  Very simple fold-over bail that gives lot of options for the type of stringing material to use.  This was a fun project and very easy to create.