Polymer clay and pearls

It is so very nice to have one of my more substantial pieces 'Chrysocolla and Pearl Necklace'  included in a Collection on ArtFire. This one is all about

Contemporary Pearl and Silver Jewelry

Contemporary Pearl and Silver Jewelry

Curated By: PrairieWillow

ArtFire.com

Polymer clay, stones and pearls can be fired together. Today while visiting the local Gallery, someone had just commented that my Jewelry reminded them of something out of 'Lord of the Rings'. I'm flattered and yes, some of my work does get influenced by certain movies, legends, mythical as well as the historic and mysterious...

Geared for Polymer clay Cuff Bracelets

The last couple of days were spent making tiles for cuff bracelets from my Batik and Shimmer technique for polymer clay as well a sort of crackle that I thought would suit some polymer clay cogs and gears for a bit of an industrial look. I can't really call this steampunk as it doesn't have enough of that element to it. Having made these I'm inspired to try something else and am making sketches.
I should have done my nails....but here you can get the point of the size...
I was asked if the gears are polymer clay. Yes they are. I have a tutorials on how to make bracelet tiles as well as the gears...

Button Button who's got the Button?

Julie Witt does! I was pleasantly surprised when Julie of Sewknitful sent me a photo of her wonderful Flower pin that she knit up. Julie then used one of my buttons for the flowers' center and I think it turned out just perfect. The contrast between the blue of the jacket and red of the flower just pops. Julie has posted a link for the pattern on her blog. I think I'll want one of these! Thanks Julie!

I've done various types of mokume gane and have a tutorial on a variation that I call Dichroic Pendants, but learned this style with the 'River channel' from Julie Picarello when she came to Vancouver in November of 2009. I didn't make very many and am honoured this button found a prominent place.

Polymer Clay Colour Play Tutorial

With so many fashion colours this season I decided to play a bit with colour and made some recipes for the popular Pantone Spring 2011 Fashion Colours. Here is a chart of these 10 popular colours and my interpretation.

While these colours vary from monitor to monitor they are probably not quite accurate because when you tilt your computer screen the colour changes as well. Also my photography lighting makes a difference also as my silver in the photo looks slightly more blue than it really is.
Here is a link for a cool Pantone Color Table Matching System
and the link for the Pantone Spring Fashion Report for Spring 2011. It's a pdf file.
Paint chips would have been much better and easier to translate, but they don't come cheap. Perhaps a visit to the nearest Home Depot is in order. If you like my colours tho, I posted the recipes (using Premo) below.

Honeysuckle:
Violet 1 part
Fuschia 3
White 5
Translucent 3
Pearl 4

Coral Rose:
Orange 3
Raw Sienna 1/4
Ecru 1/4
Alazarin 1/8

Peapod:
Seagreen 3
Turquoise 3
Cobalt 1
Pearl 3
Translucent 1
White 1

Beeswax:
Ecru 2
Orange 1
Pearl 1
White 1
Translucent 1

Silver Peony:
Honeysuckle Pink mix from above, 1
Pearl 7
White 3
Translucent 1
Violet 1/4
Cobalt 1/8

Russet:
Raw Umber 1
Raw Sienna 1
Ecru 2
Alazarin 1
White 1
Ultramarine 2

Regatta:
Cobalt Hue 4
Turquoise 4
Pearl 6
Translucent 2
Ultramarine 1
White 1

Blue Curacao:
Cobalt 2
Turquoise 4
Pearl 6
Translucent 1
White 1

Lavender:
Violet 2
Cobalt 2
Pearl 7
White 2
Translucent 3

Silver Cloud:
Silver 3
Pearl 17
Lavender (from above) 1/4
Translucent 2
cobalt 2
Fuschia 1-1/4
White 4

If you find an improvement on the colours, leave a comment as many of us are curious! :) Enjoy!