Chaos: things don't always go as planned

Sometimes things just don't go as planned. I'm actually not surprised that my latest project didn't work out as intended. This is the busiest month of the year for me, as I'm knee-deep in lots of house-hold seasonal events: preparing and planting the garden (we have 2 large vegetable gardens); protecting, picking, cleaning, preparing and enjoying my strawberry harvest bounty; protecting the various fruit trees that are pinking or in immature fruit stage; and spring cleaning my house... all this piled on top of other "normal" life activities, obligations and chores. So my life is always a bit chaotic in the month of May, and this polymer project, though not intended to be, is a great reflection of that chaos.

Problem is, I had too many ideas for this project, and I tried to incorporate too many of them into this one piece. **sigh** I had feared that trying to cram too many ideas into one piece might indeed become disastrous, but I just had to try, didn't I? Why? Well, because I was dying to get all the ideas out there and just didn't want to wait. Lessons learned, often the hard way.

So my first idea was to create a portion of a sun image, with lots of flowing lines, but not the entire sun... here's a rough sketch of my first idea (the one I should have probably stuck with):

The PCAGOE theme for this month is "quilled" polymer, and this image would have worked well. Since I've done a couple other quilled pieces in the past, and wrote the tutorial article for The Polymer Arts magazine, I really wanted this to be something special. So I keep thinking about it and over thinking it. And then, I got the idea to upcycle some cds and to incorporate layers of quilling. Here's where I went terribly wrong. You see, this secondary idea did not follow the sketched image at all, it was something entirely different, and probably would have worked well had I stuck to that idea and the image I saw with it. But I didn't want to abandon that flowing sun image (chalk that up to having tons of rain in the past couple weeks), so I made the decision to combine the two (well, basically three) ideas into creating a layered and now full sun image (in order to incorporate the upcycled cd idea).  Oh, and then I had a fourth idea of using curled strips, as I've seen these used in quilled paper art lately.  (imagine a rolled eye animated emoticon here)

So, beyond being a bear to create this piece, with all the layers and trying to keep everything in place when cured (thanks to heat + gravity concerns that polymer artists know so well), the design just doesn't really work for me in the finished format. Well, I'm not sure it's finished either, I just basically ran out of time since I needed to photograph this with whatever remaining daylight I had at 8PM...  I may keep adding to it and trying to salvage something that I like from it.

Or, I might just cut it in half. When I cut the photos in half, I kind of like what happens... 

And... when I photoshop those halves into how I would hang them on the wall, I'm liking this effect even more.

...or...

So, I might be able to redeem the chaos after all... If I do, I'll be sure to post an update about it here on the blog.  What about you? Have you had life's chaos, calm or emotions subconsciously effect a project? What do you think of my chaotic work of art? What changes, do you think, would make this piece work better? I'd love to hear your thoughts, so leave me a comment below!

I'll post a reminder here on the blog for the challenge vote... as always, voting will open on the first of the month, and will be open from June 1st through June 7th. 

Ring Bling

I had so much fun with this month's theme for the PCAGOE challenge! The theme is Rings. For me, these were like eating a bag of chips... you can't stop at one! As a matter of fact I made 10 of them, but only 5 are ready for prime-time.

I first made one out of a solid piece of cured polymer, with inclusions, that I had cut into slices and slabs. I took one of the slabs and drilled a hole in it. Because of the inclusions that I had used in the polymer, it needed much reinforcement, and that is one of the ones on which I'm still working... 

But, I decided to use one of the slices from that piece of cured polymer for one of my rings. There are iridescent inclusions in this polymer, and the way it was mixed left some funky holes and swirls in the natural form. I made a ring shank out of a blend of translucent & 14k gold Premo in a triune type shape (which is actually quite comfortable to wear), and attached the inclusion slice to the shank with bonding agent. Unfortunately, because it was a rainy day here and my sunlight was limited, the photos are not the best. But if you click on the individual photo, you'll see a larger size of the image, where you can view the wonderful swirls and holes that happened with this inclusion technique. My gears are spinning with the cool result of this inclusion technique. Here's the result:

When I knew that the first idea (of the cured slab ring) was going to take more time and patience, I decided that I wanted to make some gems out of polymer, which I would "set" in a polymer ring setting. I then got the idea to use wire to secure the gem. The first iteration of this was this faux opal bead (made with Premo's opal clay) that I set in a polymer ring setting (again on a triune shaped shank) and secured with wire which makes a decorative pattern:

The second iteration skipped the polymer gem and used a faceted acrylic button, again nesting on a polymer setting and secured and bedecked with wire in the shape of a star that runs across the "gem".  The wire got a bit messy on this, I need to figure out a way to make the wire less wonky, perhaps this will entail using a thicker gauge wire... This one is on a super comfy hexagon shaped ring shank, which I embedded with a strand of the wire:

The third iteration of this idea saw me hand cutting/sanding a faceted a polymer gem, which was then set in between a simple textured band of polymer using wire that also adds a decorative element. I think this may be my favorite of this grouping of rings:

The final ring came together quite quickly, as I had a one-off button that I had made in a lovely shade of robin's egg blue. I embedded some wire in the hexagonal ring shank and had the two ends coming out at the point to secure the button. I twisted the wire down next to the button and added a decorative focal to cover it up. I also antiqued the nooks and crannies with some gold acrylic paint and some burnt sienna in the center. I love this one just for it's colors and design simplicity:

I'm thinking that the last 2 will become part of my collection... I like the others a lot, but they're a little chunky for my personal style. What do you think of my funky rings? Leave me a comment and tell me which one(s) is your favorite! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I plan to head back to the studio soon to finish up those other 5 rings that are still waiting to be finished. These are so addictive, I will likely do a whole lot more! I have another blog post coming soon too, on some fabulous items that I was lucky enough to win this past month... Look for that post after the voting reminder post for this month's challenge. Voting for this challenge opens on March 1st and will run through to March 7th at midnight EST. As usual, I'll post a reminder here when voting is open!

Boho Beach Glass Necklace - a back-up plan

Sometimes things just don't work out the way you think they will. This month's challenge project for the Polymer Clay Guild of Etsy (PCAGOE) was one of those occasions. I had whittled away the month focusing on household issues and only began to work on my challenge project on Friday.

After spending the better part of the day, conjuring up my fabulous (if I do say so myself) idea... after the first baking of the surface design layer, my intended project was in ruins. The piece I had been working on is a mixed media piece, (I'm keeping "what it is" a secret for now, because I feel certain my blog readers shall see it eventually). I will say that it is a large item, about 14" by 12". Although my oven is large enough to hold said piece, I didn't have a large enough substrate on which to bake the flat piece. I opted to put it on parchment paper, then on top of the largest flat board I could find in my studio that would fit in my oven, but still the ends were about a 1" overhang. This, plus (probably) a failing oven thermometer led to the demise of my glorious idea. When removed from the oven, areas of cracking appeared because of my 2 previously mentioned issues. Reminder to self, it's time to purchase 2 digital thermometers. The cracking was all over the key surface design, which I had painstakingly mapped out in polymer over the course of a couple hours that day. The ruin of which, rendered the entire surface utterly destroyed. I had to then peel off the "design" layer, which is now contained in 2 ziplock baggies for potential future upcycling, to at least preserve the base of the piece which I had put together over the course of that morning. To start over with the design layer again would take too much time and the other problem is, it was A LOT of polymer, almost a whole 1 lb. of clay! To say I'm very unhappy about that is an understatement. But, lessons learned... I went to the thrift store and now have a piece of glass to bake on that is large enough for this project, and I will be getting a new thermometer to resolve the other issue. I didn't have enough time (or frankly, clay in the right colors) to finish my original project, so I had to come up with something else quick. Luckily this month's challenge theme is wide open for interpretation, the theme is "Personal accessories", and using up previously made jewelry components to create a new piece would fit the bill.

Back when I created my faerie light house, I made extra pieces of faux sea glass, that I had in reserve to use for jewelry. I also had just recently dabbled with a tutorial and created these organic shaped pieces that are meant to mimic bits of coral and a shell. Both the sea glass and the organic shapes were created using the tutorials (Faux Glass effects and Organic beads) from Ginger Davis Allman of The Blue Bottle Tree. Ginger's tutorials are some of the best ones out there, all beautifully detailed in written instruction and photo examples. And perfect for all levels of experience. You can find the tutorials in Ginger's online shop, she even has 2 great bundles where you can get 3 tutes for less than you would have to pay for all of them when purchased separately! Here's a close-up of those handmade beads...

When I realized that I would need to resort to a back-up plan, my mind went to these previously  made pieces. I decided to create a boho beach necklace... sea glass, coral, shell, and matching silk fabric... these colors and components reminded me of something a mermaid might wear, or at least a bohemian beach babe. ;)   I have a stash of these lovely robin's egg blue pearl antique buttons that went perfectly with the colors, so I decided to incorporate some of those in this piece.

So, after all the frustrations from the original idea not working out, this challenge entry turned out quiet lovely (if I do say so myself) :)  To make a necklace was NOT as I had originally intended... but that's okay, I will revisit that other idea another day. For this day, I'm thankful to have created such a lovely neckpiece. I'm tempted to keep this one for myself, but do think that I will be posting it in my etsy shop.

What do you think about my boho beach necklace? Have you had projects that you just had to abandon to move onto another more efficient idea? Did you revisit the original idea eventually? I'd love to hear what you have to share... leave me a comment below! Remember, the voting for this challenge will begin on November 1st and will run through till midnight November 7th. I'll post a reminder here at the blog. And I'll leave you with the back side view of this piece:

She sells seashells...

...down by the seashore.

Perhaps I've been daydreaming about a trip to the beach far too often this summer. When the time came to construct a fairy house for my (PCAGOE) guild's August challenge, I automatically began thinking about a fairy who lived at the beach. As a child, I was fortunate to have parents who would take us to the beach nearly every summer. As an adult, it hasn't been as easy to get to the beach every summer; in fact, it's been many years since I've felt the sand between my toes and the sea salt in my hair. I guess that's why every project I've done in the last couple months has had a beach/summer color palette. The ocean is calling me, and this is presently my only outlet.

It all began with a shell... at the start of this project, I had decided that my fairy would set up house in a whelk shell she had found on the beach. Well, after I created my little whelk shell, I loved it so much that I didn't have the heart to bury half of it in polymer sand, nor did I want to add a door or cut a hole in it for adding a window. I wasn't completely sold on this idea in the first place, so I gave the theme some more thought.

Above: Shell (before adding orange color and gloss to interior)

Below: finished shell

I considered abandoning the beach theme and doing a woodland fairy house. But I persevered and inspiration struck when I was brainstorming things one might find at a beach. I had wanted to incorporate polymer sea glass, because I adore sea glass. I came up with the idea of a sea worn bottle fully intact, yet partially covered with coral calcification and tiny seashells. This would be a fairy's lighthouse! Can you just imagine her magical light illuminating the inside of the bottle? The cap of the bottle can be removed, so one can insert a glow stick or small battery powered light to illuminate the bottle.

I decided that I would use the faux glass effect tutorial, by Ginger Davis Allman of The Blue Bottle Tree, to create the sea glass pebbles that would be the stepping stones to the door of the light house, and also to cover portions of the bottle that would become the lighthouse. I was so pleased with the effect of the faux sea glass. Ginger's tutorial is so well written and illustrated that it's perfect for all levels of experience, beginner through advanced; so if you love the look of sea glass, I highly recommend buying the tutorial. I wanted to incorporate tiny seashells encrusted in the coral on the bottle, and I wanted all pieces to be made from polymer, so I set to work and created some tiny horn, whelk, olive, scallop, oyster and snail shells. I used a white and translucent Premo mix and hand sculpted each shell, sometimes adding inks before sculpting, sometimes after sculpting. I was fairly pleased with my little handmade shells. You can catch sight of those tiny shells here:

The door was to be made of faux driftwood with the smallest of snail shells as a door knob. To create the door I used Premo Rhino colored clay which I sculpted in layers to give the look of water worn wood. After curing the door was antiqued with burnt umber water based oil paint, to bring out the details:

The faux coral was created with various items to give texture and indentations. I used a blend of Premo white and translucent, with some inclusions (scrap clay left over from a previous project). After curing, I gave a gentle antiquing to the coral parts by sparingly brushing the burnt umber water based oil and immediately rubbing with a wet cloth to give only the faintest color.


For a final touch I decided to create one more beach item (a starfish) and a sandy pedestal for my little fairy lighthouse ensemble. The starfish was created with a blend of Premo white and translucent,  it was hand sculpted, given color with inks of yellow and orange and given a treatment of texture using a firm brush.

The sandy pedestal was created with a blend of Premo white, translucent and rhino, which wasn't completely blended together to create a solid color, some streaks were left behind to give the feel of beach sand's varying colors. I gave a light dusting of the entire sand pedestal with macro pearl Pearl-ex powder (not easy to see in the photos), to mimic the shine of mica in the sand. I textured the faux sand with a crumpled up ball of tin foil, and indented areas for where the lighthouse should be placed, as well as indentations for where the sea glass stepping stones and whelk shell would be placed. All items of this little set are moveable for flexibility in decoration.

I am really pleased with my little fairy light house, and still in love with the idea of a beach fairy! But, this little piece is not something I need to keep for myself. The large whelk shell does beg me to keep it because it sculpted so easily and (I think) turned out so well), but I don't really want to break up the set. So, I believe this entire little set will find itself available for adoption in my createmyworld etsy shop within the next week or so... 

What do you think of my little fairy house? Please leave me a comment and tell me your thoughts! Voting for this challenge opens on August 1st (how can it be almost August already?!?). I will try to post a reminder here when the challenge is open for voting! Thanks for stopping by to check out my little fairy light house, and please consider leaving me a comment! :)

A Promise Kept - a free tutorial

Can it really be 3 years ago that I made the promise to create a free tutorial on how I made my faux stained glass Tiffany inspired lampshade? I just checked, and indeed, it has been almost that long (just shy of 2 months), since I made that promise on this blog. How time flies when there are so many ideas to create! Part of why it took me so long to make the tutorial is that I rarely revisit old ideas, and when I do, it's generally (as you can tell) a long time later.

I have finally made another faux stained glass lampshade for the April 2015 PCAGOE challenge and this time, I documented my steps so that I can keep my former promise! Our challenge theme this month is "Cover something". So, when I was debating all the fun ideas floating around in my head and all the cool items I have stashed for the purpose of covering with polymer, I remembered that little promise I made. Luckily I also had a little lamp for which I had been meaning to make a new lampshade, so the timing seemed perfect.

In my studio, I have an old treadle singer sewing machine, and above it hangs the first quilt I ever made. On my treadle machine, I have a small little lamp that was a gift to me from my friend Amy. Amy is a potter, and she made this beautiful little lamp! When she gave it to me, she had crowned it with a little white store-bought lampshade. The lampshade was perfectly fine, but it just didn't seem to fit the arts/crafts style of the lamp and of the little nook where this piece sits in my room. So, I decided to make a faux stained glass shade to enhance this perfect little piece of pottery that is so dear to my heart.

Here's a before shot of my cute little lamp with it's original lampshade (plus a few of the other lovely pottery gifts from my friend Amy):

The tutorial is posted here free. This is a fairly simple project, but some knowledge of working with polymer is helpful. For this project you will need:

Supplies:

• A glass lampshade (I find them at thrift stores, but you can get new ones at most hardware stores that sell lighting)
• about 3-4 (2oz.) packages of translucent polymer clay (I use Premo)
• about 1 (2 oz) package of black polymer clay (again, I use Premo)
• cornstarch (helpful for blending seams and smoothing out areas)
• a bonding agent (I use Sculpey bake n bond)
• your choice of colors of alcohol inks
• rubbing alcohol
• a waterbased polymer sealer (I used an imported product that is similar to Finalcoat - I don't have the original jar and can't remember the name of mine... it was originally purchased to refinish a table, the remaining amount went to my studio)
• A way to mount the lampshade (I will explain this further after the next photo)

Tools:

• A pasta machine or roller for sheeting polymer
• An extruder gun with a small round hole disc and a half moon disc
• paintbrushes
• tissue blade
• Round cutters (optional)

Notice the hole in the top of the glass lampshade above. We need to design a lamp holder, so that the lampshade will sit over the bulb. The very first one I made had a little harp and finial, so I needed  something that would allow the heat of the lamp to escape and would have a hole in the center for screwing onto the harp of the lamp, securing in place with the harp's finial. My solution to that first problem was to use a decorative brass stamping, similar to the ones above on the left. For this second lamp, there is no harp system. So, I detached the lightbulb clamp from the lampshade that had previously been on this lamp. I needed to devise a way to secure this lightbulb clamp to the lampshade, which wasn't difficult to do.

The lightbulb clamp would be secured between two layers of clay at the top of the shade, positioned as above. If you need to use a stamping for the harp system, you will want to cut or drill a hole into the center of the stamping that is large enough to allow the finial screw to come through. I happened to have a hole punch and dye set and that's how I made the hole in the stamping of my Tiffany lampshade. I believe you could also take a block of wood and a nail, hammer the nail into the center, then once you have a starter hole, gradually increase the size using different drill bits.

Here's a shot of that original Tiffany inspired lampshade so you understand what I mean by the difference in the hanging systems:

So, now we're ready to secure the hanging system. First I measure the top of the shade with my available round cutters. (I used Fat Daddio round cutters).

The smaller of these 2 cutters was perfect for the inner rim of the shade top, the larger one was just a bit larger than I had wanted, but worked fine. I made a sheet of translucent polymer and cut a large circle with the smaller cut out inside, like this:

I mounted this ring to the top lip of the shade. If you don't have round cutters, you can just lay a sheet of polymer over the top of your shade and using an Xacto knife, cut out the inner circle and then cut around the outer lip of the shade to achieve the same effect.

If using a metal stamping with the harp method, you may have to build up this area a bit more on the inside, as generally the metal stampings are smaller than the upper mouths of these shades. Just be sure that the metal stamping has support both underneath and above on the outer edges (about 1/8" to 1/4" overlap on the stamping). If you are using a bulb clamp as I am here, simply trim the edges so you don't have anything sticking out (I use a memory wire cutter for this as some metals will mar the cutting edge of cutters or pliers). Press the hanging system into the clay and use a bit of bake n bond to add strength to the seal.

I decided that I wanted a more decorative top than this, so I also added one of my metal stampings on top of this (to cover up the bulb clamp from the outside view). You'll see this in the second photo after this one. 

Add another ring layer just like the last, over top of this to secure the hanging system. It is now ready for it's first curing. Bake according to your polymer brand's instructions. 

Once the shade has cooled from it's first cure, you are ready to cover the rest of the shade. It helps to have something to rest the shade on for the rest of the process. I use a ball of crochet thread, as seen here (you can also see how the top looks before the first cure).

To cover the rest of the shade, you will need some sheets of polymer that are as wide as the shade is long. I used about 1.5 to 2 2oz. blocks to make my first sheet, on the 2nd thickest setting of my pasta machine. Because of the curve of the shade, it will take a couple different sheets blended together to cover the entire piece. Work with one at a time. First, cover the entire shade with a thin layer of bake n bond or liquid PC. You may need to use your fingers or a paintbrush to help you smooth it into a thin layer, and you may need to add some polymer clay thinning liquid if it is too thick. When this is ready, align the straight edge of the polymer sheet with the rim of clay at the top, wrap the sheet down and around the shade. You will have to trim off sides with your tissue blade. I try to trim at the point of the upper rim where the sheet edge stops touching, and straight down to the bottom of the shade.

Above, you can see on the right side where I've cut off the excess, the left side still needs to be trimmed (you can also see the metal stamping I added to hide the bulb clamp here). Be sure to smooth out as many bubbles as you can! If you find any bubbles you missed, you can prick them with a pin or your tissue blade and starting from the outside of the bubble work your way in toward the pin hole to let the air escape, then blend the clay with your fingertip to cover the hole. Add more sheets in the same way, and use your fingertips to blend the edges of where 2 sheets meet to create a seamless piece. On the bottom of the shade you will want enough clay to be able to wrap a small lip towards the inside (about 1/4"). Your seamless covered shade should look something like this:

At this point, I did a second curing - again, see your polymer manufacturer's baking specs. But if you are confident of your design and confident that you won't make the mistake of nicking the translucent layer with a fingernail or a tool, then you can keep it in the raw state.. Now we are ready to add the faux leading. Using your extruder, put the small round dye and the half moon dye together and extrude black clay (the result will be a small half round extruded length) {Thanks to Jan Montarsi for that tip, which he shared with me after seeing my Tiffany inspired shade). It helps to have an idea of your design. I began adding a design that I thought would work, but after I had 2 of the 4 quadrants completed, I decided I did not like it:

Luckily it was cured before I added the leading, so I just scraped off the areas I didn't like and started over:

Remember, if your translucent base was cured, you will need to use bake n bond or some other bonding agent to secure the faux leading. Be sure to put the flat side of the half round extruded lengths on the side that touches the lampshade. I decided that I wanted my design to mimic the design of my quilt that hangs behind this lamp, but I didn't want the entire shade to be covered in the pattern. This design suited my taste much more!

If you're worried about messing up parts that are finished, while working other parts, you can spot cure finished areas with a heat gun (just be sure you are happy with the design in the areas you spot cure!). If you use the heat gun, also be sure to keep it moving, too much heat at the same spot for too long can scorch the piece! I added a rim of black around both the top and the bottom of the shade, as you can see below:

Here's my fully cured shade with faux leaded design. Ready for color now! I use Adirondack alcohol inks, some rubbing alcohol and paintbrushes. I basically use these inks as though I were painting with watercolor. 

Because real stained glass often has variation in hue and intensity, the alcohol inks painted on the surface mimic the effect quite well. I just point the tip of the ink bottle on my brush till I have the amount I want on the brush, then paint the surface. When I want a change in value, I touch a lighter version or darker version of ink to the brush and let the colors blend together. When I want to use a different hue, I either clean my brush with rubbing alcohol or I use another brush. Any mistakes are easily cleaned with rubbing alcohol or just painted over with the color you want.

With this one, for a last spur-of-the-moment touch, I added some squirts of these sprayable inks that I just picked up at my local thrift store. I really liked the added touch it gave. After the inks were applied to my liking, I put the shade in for a final full cure for 30 minutes. (again follow your manufacturer's specs). Once the piece was cooled, I gave the entire piece a coating of water soluble poly-coat varnish in a low gloss/satin finish. 

Here are some more photos of the finished piece:

And here you can see the lamp with my quilt (inspiration for the design):

I am so pleased with how this turned out, I just love the way it looks with my quilt in the background! I hope you like it too, and I hope you find the project tutorial helpful!  Oh, and if you love the little lamp, check out my friend Amy's Facebook page: Amy Burk Pottery

Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think of my little lampshade, and of the tutorial too!  If you have any questions about any of the steps, please do leave a comment below, I always try to reply within one day!

If you make a faux stained glass lampshade of your own, be sure to come here and tell me how it went! A flickr, Facebook or pinterest link to where I can see your lampshade would be great too!

The voting for this challenge will open on April 1st (no fooling). ;)  I'll try to post a reminder here on the blog!