Falling Polymer Clay Leaves 2008

Back in September 2007 I had created a Fallen Leaves Necklace and thought of keeping up the tradition by doing one every year. Last year's was also posted on Polymer Clay Daily which was a happy surprise. This years colours are slightly darker and the leaves are crackle veneered on one side and leaf veined golden on the other. The base palette was a black, gold and green blend. The strand is wire woven copper.

Rubber stamp for Polymer Clay

I got to play very little with polymer clay today because of other distractions, but managed to make a rubber stamp and test it. It felt a little intimidating at first because those bright yellow gel packets are a bit messy after doing the exposure....sorry no pics of that because even with gloves on things got a bit sticky and was touching as little around me as possible. Work was done at the sink. But after all was cleaned up and made the final exposure I ended up with an almost clear stamp or stamps because I made two 'hands' on one packet and then cut them out individually.

The nice thing about the kit is that you're provided with an acrylic mount that can be used for all the stamps you created because they stick to the acrylic without glue or tape. You can arrange the two stamps I made any which way, I could have mounted them with fingers pointing at each other, lol. If you make several small stamps you could mount them simultaneously to make a pattern in itself.When done stamping, the stamp can be cleaned, peeled off the acrylic and stored in a ziplock. They should be stored out of sunlight and not be used with solvent type inks. The stamps can be made with high or low relief, depending on exposure time...mine turned out nice and deep which one would want for polymer clay.


Here is the stamped image on ecru mix premo polymer clay with embossing powder inclusion. I find it troublesome that all of my pastamachines have the same 'ripple effect' when running clay through at the larger settings, so I use an acrylic handroller to smooth them. I don't know if anyone else has this dilemna with their machines? The ink is a pigment ink and has to be heated to set.

Finished polymer clay discs....maybe for some earrings....

Excited to add something to my claying....

Just received the JustRite Homestamping Kit. Can tell you how excited I am to try and make my own stamps and textures for use with Polymer Clay. It's a bit pricey at $149.95, but Stampingcottage has it on sale for $89.99, $10 less than the JustRite Home website.


I purchased extra packets as I plan on making a few designs and apparently you can make your own embossing dies with this also.
The kit contains all the necessary tools and all you need to provide is the creativity, hot water, detergent and a 60W light bulb.
Contents: imagepac artwork modifying DVD, Instruction and demonstration files, 2 x A6 imagepac sachets, 4 x A7 imagepac sachets, 4 x A8 imagepac sachets, 4 x A4 sheets imageblack inkjet film, Acrylic magnetic clamp, Electronic timer, Tray for hardening stamp, Brush, Knife, Bottle of stamp hardening salts, Pair of gloves, Ink pad, Acrylic mount, A6 piece of test artwork.
Here is a basic video how they are made. Part One and Part Two. The kit actually provides more tools *such as the tray, detack salt and brush) than the cardboard kit she is using here. But the idea is the same. JustRite has an excellent video also and you can view it here.

Polymer Clay Tranquility

These are tranquil times for me. I've been inspired to work in softer colours with Polymer Clay, instead of the dark, bold colours of black, silver and gold that I've been prone to stick to. I guess it helps to finally have gorgeous sunny weather! Most of July and August have been dreary and wet or foggy, so the blue sky reflecting on the ocean has helped me create some shades of blue and green reminiscent of the stone Amazonite.

Tutorial - Low Relief Stone Rubbings on Polymer Clay

The tutorial for making 'Low Relief Stone Rubbings on Polymer Clay' is now available on Etsy. A few people have emailed me asking how I achieve this look, so I worked on this over the last couple of days to be able to share it with you as soon as possible. I hope you will enjoy this as much as I have.

My tutorial is based on grave stone rubbings, but not morbid as such and a lot of fun. You'll discover various ways and it will open up a lot of possibilities with using this technique. For making my innovative clip art PhotoEz stencils visit my earlier posting.

*With list of materials and tools, detailed instructions and 18 photos, you will be creating your own "Low relief stone rubbings" after following the 14 step outline I have written for this pdf file. Here is a little teaser clip.

PhotoEZ Pendants and Pins

Polymer Clay Pendants, Pins and Earrings:


After developing your PhotoEz into patterns you like, you can use them the traditional way by using fine acrylic paint and using a squeegee to silkscreen the paint onto your clay sheet. I've discovered I can use PhotoEZ in a completely different manner. I'm sorry I was way too busy to write up the tutorial because I had way too much fun making these!

Front of pendantBack of pendant

Some Imitative Leather Coasters and more Storage

Gee, were you lucky to see my 'tidier' version of my studio yesterday. I put away my beading to get my clay back out for Fall. Fall has come early! lol Decided to make some imitative Leather and turn them into Coasters. Not sure yet, how these will stand up to use, but hubby is gladly going to 'test' them since he is the coaster expert in our house, lol. He's picky about Coasters because he dislikes any that stick to the glass and drinks tend to form a lot of moisture on the outside which either makes coasters stick to the glass when picked up or the glass slides around on top of the coaster. Well, the surface of them is 'etched' with texture, so hopefully this will prevent the clinging or the sliding. I'll let you know ;)
About storage. Here are a few more of my tins, including one I show open here. Its a nice big one (16 1/2" x 12" x 7") that holds my chalks, acrylic tubes and pinata inks. I've collected these Nurnberger Lebkuchen tins for the last 15 years. My dad used to send them, but shipping from Germany for one of these, I might as well buy 2 of them here. They are filled with the famous Nuremberger Gingerbread Cookies that were first created back in the 15th century. We now order one for Christmas from Coombs Country Market. Arthur Urie (general manager) will order a few this year. One of them has our name on it ;) They used to retail for about $150 plus tax and don't know what they will be this year, but you can email arthur@oldcountrymarket.com and ask. For me they have an artful but useful collection.

Studio Space

Well, our national and island polymer clay group is talking about 'studio space' and how we organize our tools and such. Here is a glimpse of my space and how I store some stuff.

This is my desk and extra worktable (plus I use another big one when I need it). The desk tray (whitish are in picture) used to be for a typewriter and pulls out into a neat worksurface....very handy! I've got a nice front drawer and 6 other drawers. The top drawer holds my very important long ruler, pens, inkpads, stamps. I pull out the drawer and my measuring tool is right there. Drawer #1 I use for all my wire work, anvil, hammer, wire, polishing cloth etc. Drawer #2 I use for all my bead embellishments like rivoli stones, crystal etc,. Drawer #3 and 4 for extra paints, armorall, babywipes, gloves, things to be covered. Drawer #5 for leather and fabric swaps Drawer #6 for paper goods, transfers, silkscreens.
This is how I store my most frequently used tools. Put a couple of tins inside a longer one which I use to hang all my pliers and hole punches. Timer is magnetic and ready to use.

This is how I store my cords, on the inside door of a closet beside my desk. Other cord I store in bins:

This is how I store my beads and supplies, most on hand and visible as outa sight is outa my mind. The extra drawers hold refills of beads, seedbeads, plastic baggies, lots of findings, more trays holding pendants etc. Above the beadtrays is a shelf with seedbead vials. Part of the wall holds all the gemstone beads.

This is where I store swap items, note books, clay textures, stamps, ephemera. I have tins like this all over the room and two others that store etsy stuff, packing materials, clay blocks. Also got a small rack to hold delica seed beads for easy access:
This is how I keep my most often used powders, paints and embossing powders, a little cupboard on my desk. Was a great find some years back at Costco, was filled with Essential oils and bath stuff:

Something Egyptian

Something finished! Yay! I should pat myself on the back that I finally finished something from so long ago. I'm such a procrastinator. In my last post I showed these pendants as unfinished. What gave me a kick in the ol' behind is that I have a Gallery request for something Egyptian, something 'rich'. Well, the Maat Necklace on the left is very rich....because....I used real vintage 18 KT, either vermeil* or goldfill *beads on there. They aren't just vintage but originally also from Egypt. I feel I was fortunate to get my hands on these. I met 70 something Nassrin about 10 years ago at a Water colour workshop. She told me she used to bead when she was younger, but that she had no use for them now. She invited me for tea and showed me tins and oodles of beads that I could not resist, including megasize turquoise blue and cobalt 'Donkey' beads (yep, used on Donkeys to ward off evil), but she also a large stash of beads from around 1920, small metal faceted seedbeads and even some "Colgate" beads that had perfume labels and scented with lilac. This was before they started making toothpaste.
Anyway, Nassrin had collected the beads for some time. Then she pulled out a silk bag filled with these gold beads. My jaw dropped. She remembered they were 18KT 'something', but not sure if they are either a heavy plate or filled. I didn't expect her to remember every detail, but knew she was as honest as honest can be. Today I took a bead and filed along the cap and filed and filed....well, I still see gold. Either it is a very thick layer or filled. Goldfill means a percentage of gold right through the metal, but usually it would be 12 or 14KT, not 18. Anyway, no matter to me, they cost me an arm and leg and that's why I hadn't used but a few until now. Now I'm thinking I either have to keep this necklace in my own collection or it will be up for sale, otherwise it'll have to fetch at least $350. The Nefertiti one will go to the Gallery. Both necklaces also have Lapis Lazuli, Carnelian, and Turquoise beads.

What to do with unfinished work....

Here are a few of my unfinished and half-finished pieces. The faux bone Maat Goddess pendant I made for a workshop I gave, the lower Nefertiti pendant I made back in 2002 and the Mokume Gane Japanese Text I don't even remember when, lol. I experimented with some finishes and have more "Egyptian" stuff than I know what to do with. Then there are the 'positive print' leaves I made...Pins? What to do with all this stuff. Any ideas?
The Nefertiti tile (with organza) and longer tile are still unbaked...bracelet tiles maybe?