Happy Spring!

It’s officially Spring, but can’t tell by our weather…we had snow today. Wondering why we couldn’t have had this on Christmas, lol. Actual Winter seems to be starting later and later, although I heard Saskatchewan had summer temps of 26 Degrees. Weird or what! We’ve been having Hurricanes and pelting hail, then sunshine, all in one day but the only heat is from the fireplace…

Anyway, about winds…the last couple of days were an absolute whirlwind, since my newest Crackle Technique was Featured on Polymer Clay Daily! The result was just like the title says! Absolutely amazing! Thanks Cynthia! lol

I wanted to post these earrings sooner. They are my #11 in the 52 Earrings a Year Challenge on Flickr. The theme is ‘Spring’ and fitting for this 1. day thereof.  Wondering which ones to submit??

Playing catch up

I’ve had to do some catching up with a whole bunch of things at home here, but also meant to post more earrings and I’m behind. So I’m posting my #9 and #10 Earrings at the same time. This is for the Earring Challenge which you can visit by clicking on the widget to the right of this post.

These earrings weren’t really challenging in the sense of execution, but a challenge with the time limitations I’m having at the moment. Hope to come up with something better for #11 which has a Theme “Spring”. wish me luck! (it’s been stormy, hailing and snow.I could use a little Spring, lol)

#9 are some Faux hammered Copper Earrings. To make the hammered look, I used a stylus to emboss the clay and then applied metallic copper mica.

#10 Hawaiian Hibiscus Crackle with resin. I used my New Crackle Technique along with one of my stencils. I silkscreened the Hibiscus with copper paint.

52 Earrings a Year #8 Lucky Dragon

Number 8 is considered a Lucky number in Chinese and Japanese Culture although for slightly different reasons. It’s only fitting then that my 8th earring would be a dragon since this is also the Year of the Dragon. In the Chinese Zodiac, the Dragon is the mightiest of the signs. Dragons symbolize such character traits as dominance and ambition. Dragons prefer to live by their own rules and if left on their own, are usually successful. They’re driven, unafraid of challenges, and willing to take risks. There is much more to be said about this sign, but Dragons aren’t just found in Asian Culture but pervade much of Nordic and Germanic Mythology also and probably many other cultures as well.
2012 is the year of the Water Dragon. Water calms the Dragon’s fire. Water Dragons are able to see things from other points of view. They don’t have the need to always be right. Their decisions, if well-researched, are usually better since they allow others to become involved. This is my interpretation for an earring…You can be involved in commenting about it…


“Pyra”, a Fire Dragon, is not too amused having this little guy crawl all over her, but she’s fairly patient. She’s turning a little red, so I better give her a breather and put this nameless little guy in the ear of the Venus bust…Just a little fun! Can be worn a few different ways…

While I was at it I made another pair of simple spirals which can also be worn a few different ways…

or like this…

SSSSlithering precioussss ssssomethings, these ones were made with a crackled texture…I think I’m going to make more along those lines.

Crackled Cane and Funky Tentacles

My crackle technique is not ordinary. It doesn’t cover up or hide the original surface of polymer clay like other crackle mediums or Gold Leaf for instance. Applying it to polymer clay and rolling the clay through smaller settings on the pasta machine will crackle the leafing, and the only original part of the clay showing through will be the cracks.

Here is an example of what I mean. I made a simple bullseye cane and applied little slices to the clay sheet. I rolled it smooth and then applied the crackle medium. When finished you can still see the canes. You can do this with Mokume gane, or my Orinendo, the Faux Ceramic or even Dichroic as well. I think this would make some interesting beads. You can find my crackle technique tutorial here and the other ones are there as well.

I made these earrings and necklace today. This is Earring set #7 in the 52 Earrings a Year Challenge. i crackled red clay and added some wire. Looks like I want to keep them. If you look closely you can just barely see the Hearing aid behind my ear and a wire running inside of it .

I’ll be making more of these Funky Tentacles. I have a lot of ideas burning…

This is a matching necklace and more earrings…more on the way…

Close up

 

Kind of a strange style for me, but I like it, sort of like a coral…