Paintings in Miniature for Jewelry

My humble beginnings selling Jewelry, I would mount some of my beadwork earrings onto miniature watercolour paintings. This didn’t last, especially when these sold as soon as I put them on the shelf.

A couple of days ago I took some of my small originals to the market and someone wanted to purchase them (shown below with jewelry), a moon and mussel shell watercolour as well as a stream in forest. I declined. I guess some things are hard to part with, especially since I’ve only done 3 watercolour stills (not counting those teeny ones), the largest “Driftwood and Rocks” is  20” x 26”. The ‘stream in forest’ is a small  9” x 12”. I’ve done 2 acrylics one of which is “Hot Springs Cove Park”. This is in my eldest daughters possession (without the watermark which is for Internet purposes only). I’ve done a few pen and ink drawings as well, one of which is in my Fathers possession (along with my first ivory carving of a 3 D octopus holding a rum bottle, complete with cork! lol. I’d love to see this one again and should ask if he can send me a photo)

I don’t consider myself a painter as I’m not trained enough. Maybe someday when beads are becoming too hard to see…but then perhaps I’ll use polymer clay as my medium on canvas.

Anyway…here are some of my paintings turned into resin jewelry…am thinking these might also look nice as Aquarium Pendants which I promised a few of you I’d  turn into a tutorial at some point. Fall is here and soon I’ll have more time for that as well. Pretty neat how a computer and printer can be so handy, eh? (Note the triplicate whale tail…Google Picasa magic)

A model for my jewelry

I’ve been wanting a more realistic display on which to model and photograph my jewelry, specifically for earrings and necklaces that I intend to sell online. I was looking at photos on Etsy or ArtFire . While the photos with models visually show better how items might look on oneself I’m a little turned off by the fact that I would essentially be getting a second-hand pair of earrings that someone had placed in their piercings. I know they can be cleaned with alcohol, but for the same reason I wouldn’t buy second hand undergarments, or bathing suits, hats or shoes, I just don’t know where they have been or what they were exposed to, sweat, head lice, bacteria, viruses, STD’s, ugh. The same can be said about telephone booths, restroom toilet flush handles and money. Small example and I digress, but… at least I have some control over what I will offer my customer which will be brand new jewelry previously modeled by a plastic model.
I searched online, but none of the ‘reasonably priced’ mannequin heads held great appeal to me. One may have a nice face, but the shoulder looks like a Thalidomide victim and others while a part bust and shoulder would be nicer for a necklace, the face and make up are just not very appealing, nor could a longer necklace like a lariat be modelled on such. And then there are the many headless half torsos. I suppose I could have gotten a head for earrings and a torso for necklaces and I do have a hanger type, but it just doesn’t look right to put a necklace on a headless body. The only head on a torso I could find was one with sculpted hair and that was a ‘no go’ for me as I wanted to give my model real hair.

I had my eye on my mothers full size mannequin which she used for her sewing career but that had been retired to storage, but she wasn’t ready to let her go and she would have taken up too much space in my little studio anyway.
So I was pleased when something came available to me right here in town. I can’t say that I’m pleased that one of our local shops is closing (actually there are 3!!) but when I saw ‘her’ and asked if she would be for sale and the answer was yes $10… I kind of hesitated. No, not at the low low price, but her earlobes had no holes and I wasn’t sure if I could drill them. She’s pretty heavy duty, not lightweight plastic. Being completely white, not a smidge of make up, bald and nekid! Um, would I be able to turn her into a model? I dunno, lol, but something in me kept saying ‘you’ve been wanting one…so I said ‘YES, deal!’. I’m glad I did because the shop owner could have sold her many times over when I came to pick her up two weeks later.

I kind of wish I had taken ‘before’ photos as I can’t find anything remotely like her in Google search for Images, but basically put the last too photos above together. She has nice shoulder caps like that and just a bit more of the torso. I kind of like the fact that her nose isn’t perfectly straight, lol. I used make up with a paint roller applicator no less. No, I’m not using it on me, I’m not a wall, lol. After that dried a bit I did a second coat. I should have chosen a darker shade, but oh well, she has alabaster skin. I then used PMYII as a fixative. I painted her eyes brown, gave her eyeliner, eyelashes from the Dollar store, bronzer, and lip paint (pan pastel along with acrylics) and another once over with PMYII (preserve your memories II).  I notice I have to paint the nostrils still. I had a wig in my collection of Halloween stuff, a hairband to tie it back so her ears can show, a scarf to wrap her modesty and voila…my model. My autistic daughter named her Thea! I was tempted to give her freckles or a mole…the doll, not my daughter…

Toy of the Week: Viva Decor Inka Gold

I’m adding a new feature to my blog, showing you some of the products I purchase that are useful and a great addition for your polymer clay addiction. I might even show you some products that might be better suited for other crafts.  The ‘Toy of the Week’ will be a glimpse into what you might see when you have the product in front of you.
I’ve been wanting to try more products from Viva Decor and I still plan on writing about them, but the first one on the list is Viva Decor Inka Gold. It’s a combination of metallic paint and waxy rub-on, however, it is water-based, so if it dries out it can be rehydrated with a bit of water. One can’t do that with petroleum paints and waxes. Like Viva Decor Pardo Clay, the Inka Gold main ingredient is beeswax. It is non-toxic, safe and easy to use. Besides polymer clay it can be used on wood, paper, plaster, ceramics and much more. It comes in 18 brilliant and inter-mixable colors.
The sampler kit includes 18 of the colors. The little pots hold 12.5g, but you can buy bigger jars of 50 and even 100grams. The sampler is a great economical start if you want to try all the colors.


These little pots, some of them have black lids and some have silver lids. The ones with black lids have inner lids with a sticky tab, that when removed might be better suited for mineral make-up. A couple of my pots had a messed up sticky tab with dried paint caked on them. The pot on the right has a different inner lid. Anyway, I removed all the inner lids and put them inside plastic baggies. This was a messy job and had to wash and wipe my fingers after removing every one of them. Why not just toss the lids? because frugal me will probably use the paint that is still on them.

Apparently my dry paint pots (and they are really flaky dry!) I’m supposed to simply rehydrate it with some water. I poked holes into the paint and added a few drops. By tomorrow it is supposed to be creamy again. The caution is not to add too much water on the surface or the paint could become mouldy as there are no preservatives. I’ll let you know how it turns out… and I’ll show you a little bit about how it will look on your clay…This was just the teaser, lol.
…stay tuned…
 In the US you can find Viva Decor products at this wonderful Site, Polyclayplay

Viva Decor
The site says they have 20 colors, but that is a misprint.

Tina’s Crackle–New Technique

Is finally in a tutorial. I had to find a material to achieve this crackle and found several that work and they are easy to find, promise!

24 photos, 8 pages.

You can find it on my ArtFire and Etsy. I only list one at a time on Etsy because of their listing fees, but there are plenty on ArtFire.

Imitative or Faux techniques

Came across a wonderful list of various faux polymer clay techniques.  Ever wondered how to make Lapis Lazuli, Leather or Raku, then have a lookie in Craft Stew!
The site has a lot of other techniques also, such as sewing, crocheting, paper crafts and even woodworking. Don't know why I didn't know about this site until now, but am glad to have found it.

http://craftstew.com/polymer-clay/faux-polymer-clay-techniques

(above image is one of my faux bone cabs)

Landscape Polymer Clay Cabochons

Had fun making these today. Painted onto pearlescent polymer clay with pinata inks and then glazed with Kato Liquid Polyclay. These will get a beaded bezel and either made into pins or necklaces.