I have an unreasonable amount of scrap clay that's just been sitting around waiting to be used. Here's a quick and simple project to take that scrap clay and turn it into a heart. Use the heart as a pendant or in a mixed media project. If you enjoyed this video tutorial, give me a thumbs up, comment or subscribe to my channel. Thanks for joining me in my studio.
Blogger, wearable art maker, polymer clay artist
Monday, February 23, 2015
SWD Polymer Clay Tutorial - Scrap Heart
I have an unreasonable amount of scrap clay that's just been sitting around waiting to be used. Here's a quick and simple project to take that scrap clay and turn it into a heart. Use the heart as a pendant or in a mixed media project. If you enjoyed this video tutorial, give me a thumbs up, comment or subscribe to my channel. Thanks for joining me in my studio.
Friday, February 20, 2015
Build A Line Challenge from B'Sue Boutiques, Maria Clark of Sweet Willow Designs, Part Two
Welcome to
Part 2 of the B’Sue Build a Line Challenge.
My emerging line combines brass stampings and filigree from B’Sue Boutiques and my own polymer
clay faux soutache. Faux soutache is a
traditional fiber arts technique that uses colorful braided cords to make
intricate and fluid jewelry designs. I’ve
interpreted the soutache in polymer clay which offers endless options for color
and design.
I started by selecting a range of brass options that caught my eye and that I thought would
pair nicely with the polymer clay. I had leaves, flowers large and small,
filigree and ornate brass plates.
Initially I was overwhelmed as I envisioned using three of the large flowers in a statement necklace.
Luckily
there are three other artists participating in the challenge that live in the
Denver area, Lynda O'Mara, Alexandra Sefton and Lori Prull Meyer. Lynda got us all together to talk about what we were creating. We each shared our
progress and sought advice from the others.
This proved to be really helpful to me as the main advice from the
others was to simplify my vision. The
relief was immediate. I don’t have to
create wild, large pieces – simple may be better for my style. Finding myself renewed and inspired by
meeting these artists, I was ready to go.
I’m starting at basic bracelets. I used the brass ornate framed piece as my base, curving it into a bracelet shape. Using silver Gilder’s paste I changed the color of one of the brass pieces to match a button I planned to use as a focal.
I sculpted directly on the bracelet blanks, cured them and used E6000 to glue the polymer clay to the brass. The polymer clay does not adhere to the metal so lifting it off is a breeze. The colors are a turquoise, gold and purple.
In the second piece I created I experimented with a two tone look by leaving the brass its original color and a silver button. So far I’m liking the initial designs and am starting to generate more ideas for the next pieces.
For 2015 I planned to join several challenges and push myself to try new techniques and explore my creativity. I’m not sure production work is for me though I’m glad to learn from the talented artists pushing themselves to create a jewelry line. It’s fun to see where this takes me.
Please take
a look at the other fantastic artists participating in the challenge by
visiting their blogs below.
Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques
Marcia Tuzzolino
Jann Tague
Judy King
Linzi Alford
Cynthia Wainscott
Carole Carlson
Lynn Stinten
Marica Zammit
Catherine Shattuck
Michaele Collie
Mary Craig
Lee Koopman
Erin Whitacre
Monica Casady
Leila West
Cindy Peterson
Leila Belcher
Gloria Allen
Pamela Anger
Tammy Adams
Lynda O'Mara
Elizabeth Hildreth
Dana Hickey
Janet Calardo
Maria Clark
Lori Beekman
Jennifer Kroeger
Amy Jorgensen
Robin Reed
Ingrid Anderson
Louise O'Shields
Susan Killam
Mary Katherine Deis
Nike Bottalico
Susan Bowerman
Kristy Le
Jan Peters
Mitzie Crider
Gina Hockett
Linda Anderson
Alexandra Sefton
Melida Boman
Teresa Shurter
Melissa Latimer
Renee Hong
Nadine Edris
Lori Meyer
Jennifer Merrill Williams
Denise Lussier Poirier
Renee Allen
Autumn Adams
Elizabeth Owens
Kat BarronMiller
Sandra Ballard
Coral Law
Friday, January 30, 2015
Experimenting with Color on Polymer Clay
I just recently purchased a couple of sets of Pan Pastels to color polymer clay. I love it. In this experiment, I created a leaf shaped pin with purple colored wire buds and applied several green and yellow Pan Pastel colors to raw clay with a soft paint brush and then cured it. The Pan Pastel is very durable as it did not easily scratch off. Once cured, I used purple Prismacolor colored pencils to add layers and depth of color. Finally, I added some gold embossing powder to the edges and a bit sprinkled on the main piece to add a metallic tone and add texture. I like the way it turned out.
This was my first time using the Pan Pastel and so far I'm very impressed with how it works on the polymer clay. I'll be doing more experiments to test its durability and coloring abilities.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Build A Line Challenge from B'sue Boutiques, Maria Clark of Sweet Willow Designs, Part One
Hi All, I'm Maria Clark of Sweet Willow Designs. Welcome to Part One of the B'Sue Build a Line Challenge hosted by B'Sue Boutiques. I was encouraged by new Facebook friends to join the Challenge when I posted some of my polymer clay jewelry. In part one of a three part series in this master class, I'll tell you a bit about myself and my jewelry making journey as well as share my process and progress as I, and my classmates, create a five piece line of jewelry.
Each of the 57 participants in the master class has identified a theme for their jewelry line which won't be revealed until the last blog hop in March. So, the suspense will build as we share our thoughts, design decisions and our final pieces. For my line I'll be combining polymer clay and the great filigree and stampings from B'Sue Boutiques. I'm not entirely sure how this will turn out!
My studio in Colorado is in the basement I share with my musician husband. We're at opposite ends but can see each other which makes pursuing our individual creative outlets a kind of together time. I can hear the lilting sounds of his music and he can sometimes detect the wafting scents of burning clay - just kidding, that rarely happens :)
Here are a few pics of my studio. You'll note how tidy and organized it appears as thankfully you can't see the mess on the floor and the hazard cones that mark off my space. I made my own photo box from a plastic box and some rip stock cloth which works well. Learning to use the camera is really where I need to spend more time to get great quality photos.
I can't wait to see what all the participants create for their jewelry lines. Below are the links for each participant. Be sure to stop by, leave a comment, ask questions and encourage the artists.Thanks for stopping by my blog. On to the next!
Brenda
Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques
Marcia
Tuzzolino
Jann
Tague
Judy
King
Linzi
Alford
Cynthia
Wainscott
Carole
Carlson
Lynn
Stinten
Marica
Zammit
Catherine
Shattuck
Michaele
Collie
Mary
Craig
Lee
Koopman
Erin
Whitacre
Monica
Casady
Leila
West
Cindy
Peterson
Leila
Belcher
Gloria
Allen
Pamela
Anger
Tammy
Adams
Lynda
O'Mara
Elizabeth
Hildreth
Dana
Hickey
Janet
Calardo
Maria
Clark
Lori
Beekman
Jennifer
Kroeger
Amy
Jorgensen
Robin
Reed
Ingrid
Anderson
Louise
O'Shields
Susan
Killam
Mary
Katherine Deis
Nike
Bottalico
Susan
Bowerman
Kristy
Le
Jan
Peters
Mitzie
Crider
Gina
Hockett
Linda
Anderson
Alexandra
Sefton
Melida
Boman
Teresa
Shurter
Melissa
Latimer
Renee
Hong
Nadine
Edris
Lori
Meyer
Jennifer
Merrill Williams
Denise
Lussier Poirier
Renee
Allen
Autumn
Adams
Elizabeth
Owens
Kat
BarronMiller
Sandra
Ballard
Coral
Law
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Dear Fergus
I don't post a lot of personal stories on my blog but our dear pet, Fergus, passed away after 19 years with our family. He was a great friend and companion to our three children and Steve and I. We'll miss him and are quite sad here in Denver.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Get Your Swirl On! Polymer Clay Valentine Swirl Pendant
Here's a Valentine's Day swirl pendant with a "Be Mine" sentiment and red hearts. I'm going to be doing a series of these holiday swirl pendants so stay tuned for more! Hope you enjoy this video tutorial. Leave me a comment, subscribe and let me know how you enjoyed this video. Tools and materials lists follow the video.
Tools
Pasta machine
Oven
Extruder (Optional)
Extruder die - 19 hole
Alpha stamping set
Cutter - 3/16" heart
Paintbrush - stiff
Needle tool or hand drill
Clay blade
Craft knife
Materials
Polymer clay - Premo! - small amounts of white, red and pink blend
Acrylic paint - red
Sandpaper - wet/dry 400 grit
Varnish - recommend Varathane or comparable
Jewelry findings - pinch bail or jump ring, necklace finding
Tools
Pasta machine
Oven
Extruder (Optional)
Extruder die - 19 hole
Alpha stamping set
Cutter - 3/16" heart
Paintbrush - stiff
Needle tool or hand drill
Clay blade
Craft knife
Materials
Polymer clay - Premo! - small amounts of white, red and pink blend
Acrylic paint - red
Sandpaper - wet/dry 400 grit
Varnish - recommend Varathane or comparable
Jewelry findings - pinch bail or jump ring, necklace finding
Friday, January 9, 2015
Polymer Clay Sculpted Channel Set Hoop Earrings
In one of my recent trips to the local craft store, I came across these neat earring findings with a channel that are used to add beads or rhinestones. Of course, they make the perfect setting for polymer clay! This video tutorial will walk you through using these findings to make a pair of sculpted earrings. Hope you enjoy.
Tools
Pasta Machine
Clay blade
Craft knife
Needle tool
Embossing tool or end of paint brush
Texture sheet or coarse sandpaper
Cutters - 3/16" teardrop and circle - there's a tip for sculpting without cutters in the video.
Paintbrush - stiff
Materials
Polymer Clay - Premo! small amounts of Ecru, Pomegranate and Turquoise
Channel earring findings
Burnt Umber acrylic paint
Paper towel
Sandpaper (optional)
Sealer (optional) - Varathane or other
Pasta Machine
Clay blade
Craft knife
Needle tool
Embossing tool or end of paint brush
Texture sheet or coarse sandpaper
Cutters - 3/16" teardrop and circle - there's a tip for sculpting without cutters in the video.
Paintbrush - stiff
Materials
Polymer Clay - Premo! small amounts of Ecru, Pomegranate and Turquoise
Channel earring findings
Burnt Umber acrylic paint
Paper towel
Sandpaper (optional)
Sealer (optional) - Varathane or other
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