Juliespace

Polymer in Black and White

2011-11-16T07:20:00.000-08:00

Here is a great treasury at Etsy to check out....

Using an Epoxy Clay In My Mosaic Pendants

2011-11-12T08:23:00.000-08:00

I have been making mosaic pendants for awhile using polymer clay as the bezels or using metal bezels with polymer clay pieces. When I did this I always used glue to secure all the pieces together and this worked pretty well, but could be messy. Now I have finally given Apoxie Sculpt a try as a base for securing the pieces. It is a two part epoxy clay. I am left wondering why I was not using this all along! It works great for this.
The clay has a million uses that you can look into by going to the Ave Studios website. You will also find directions on how to use it there. The
directions on the containers are very rudimentary.

You take equal parts of container A and container B and mix together thoroughly for at least 2 minutes. If you have a large batch, mix a bit longer until you are sure it is thoroughly combined. You will want to remove your rings certainly before working with the clay and could wear some latex gloves if you choose. You can clean up your hands with vegetable oil and soap and water. The clay has a working time of 2 hours and takes 24 hours to cure. I have read that you can put the clay in the freezer to prolong the set up time. This would be useful if you have mixed too much clay for one project or are not able to finish all at once.

After it is mixed I smoosh it in the bezel. Spell check seems to think smoosh is not a word, hmm, stupid spell check. The clay at this point is soft, slightly firmer maybe than play doh. It is a bit sticky, but not unmanageable. Then I just apply my pieces into clay, making sure that they are firmly embedded. Just keep going until satisfied with the positions.

Before the clay is cured be sure and clean away any residue of clay on the bezel or beads with a towel.
That is about it! The clay can be painted and I went ahead and painted it black after it had cured to darken the background a bit. The clay does come in colors, but not in larger sizes.
I can't wait to work some more with it. It was a lot of fun.

String Ball Ornaments and Pinterest Obsessing

2011-11-09T04:05:00.000-08:00

I am loving these string ornaments that you make with string, glue and a balloon (glitter optional). These come via www.marthastewart.com Click the pic to get the full tutorial. I am seeing them with slight variations all over my new latest obsession... Pinterest!

I can waste soooo much time on Pinterest it is ridiculous. I love it! I highly recommend going there and checking it out. If you have not checked it out yet, it is a big bulletin board site where everyone can post pictures of things they like and create their own bulletin boards to save the things they like and repin from other people. There are different categories and you can follow certain people if you like their pins, crazy!!! I am a sucker for quick craft tutes and humor pics so that is what a lot of my repins are, but I am also trying to use it to market my Etsy shop a bit. But mostly I just click and look and click and look and click and look and tell myself I am getting ideas :)

Next post I will most likely be writing about my new adventures with Apoxie Sculpt clay. Stay tuned.

Easy Faux Stone Technique

2011-11-04T17:03:00.000-07:00

This is a faux stone technique for polymer clay I have been playing with lately. It is a lot of fun and very easy. It is a technique that with just a few variations you can get all sorts of different results. A lot that aren't necessarily like real life stones, but fun none the less. I learned about this from the book,Making Polymer Clay Beads by Carol Blackburn. I am still trying different things with it and learning along the way.
You start out with conditioned translucent clay and you chop it up into pieces. You will get different effects depending on the size of your pieces and whether or not they are all the same size. A variation would be to not just use translucent clay, or not use translucent at all.
Next you paint the pieces with acrylic paint and allow to dry. I have the pieces laying on a sheet of plastic wrap first to catch the mess and help with the next step. At this stage you can also add in some textural matereials like sand, embossing powder, glitter. Lots of room for variation with this expecially with the embossing powder. You might want to do a trial run with a little bit of the mixture before you do a big batch. You are never quite sure what the embossing powder will look like until it bakes. In the mix above I added just a pinch of black embossing powder.
After the paint has dried, you can use the plastic wrap to bring the pieces together to form the shape you wish to create. Cutting into the clay before it is baked will reveal the effect and sanding it after it is baked will also show off the faux treatment. You bake the clay as you normally would according to the package instructions. Here are the lavender pieces baked up sanded, buffed and one unsanded.
Below are a couple other examples of the technique I have tried. The brown is using mostly opaque and a bit of translucent.

2011-11-02T14:09:00.001-07:00

2011-11-01T06:08:00.000-07:00

This is part of what we saw this weekend. This a lego creation of a lifesize artist by Nathan Sawaya. We saw it in downtown Charlotte as part of the Wells Fargo Community Celebration. Lots of fun free music, art and stuff!

Radical Notions

2011-10-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

Here are a few examples of some folks using polymer clay in just a little bit of a different way than may be often seen and it opens up all sorts of ideas. Calling it "Radical" may be a bit of an exaggeration but check these out.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/doreensbeads/5688554210/in/photostream

Here are some beautiful beads that have a great rough textured finish. This is a radical notion when you have been slaving away to get them buffed shiny smooth. They are wonderful and by Doreen Willey. Check out her flickr site to get a better view of the effect.

Here is a mosaic done by a great mosaic artist, Susan Crocenzi. She is known to incorporate polymer clay into her pieces. This is a radical idea for the stained glass purists out there. Check out her flickr site to see more great work!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sucra88/5881317215/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stories_they_tell/6164006261/in/photostream/

This talented artist, Christine Damm, has used polymer clay to create a connector which is typically done in metal. This opens a world of creative opportunities. Not just saving some money on precious metals!

Vintage Button and Cork Stamps

2011-10-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

I have been away from the blogging postings for awhile but thought I would give it a try again. I hope someone might find this interesting. This is something I read about in a Martha Stewart Living magazine ages ago and wanted to try it and now I have all the components. You mount buttons with interesting textures on wine corks and use them as stamps. I plan on using them as stamps for making impressions in polymer clay. The corks make great handles. I have used a glue gun to attach the buttons to them. I got the wine corks at a yard sale (no I did not drink all that wine by myself) The buttons came from many yard sales and thrift stores also. I love buttons!

Really Great Giveaway!!!

2009-11-24T07:40:00.000-08:00

This Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy Giveaway is so crazy good! I really wish I could win it. There are 3 stockings, One for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place and they are all packed with beautiful gift worthy stuff. Necklaces, bracelets, pens, barrettes, bookmarks. Wonderful gift certificates to use in the participating shops. Go to http://www.pcagoe.com/ for a list of the participating shops and to get a sneak peak of the loot!!!

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals!

2009-11-24T06:52:00.000-08:00

Exciting happenings for some PCAGOE members! Big sales are planned for Black Friday and Cyber Monday Weekend! So check out their shops and find some great deals. I will be offering 20% Off on these 4 days not including shipping. Happy Shopping!!!

I Like Big Beads and I Can Not Lie!

2009-08-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Well it has been over 2 months since I last wrote in this blog. With the last post ironically about flight and then I guess I did just that at least with my blog postings... flew away. We shall see if I can land now. I have placed my kiddies in their respective schools and the computer is mine all mine....ha, ha, ha!

Enough of that! As the title says I like big beads lately. (Cue the SirMixALot music) I like it when there is just so much surface to cover and play around with. They make a "statement." I like a good chunk of a bead in my hand. I have been forming them over wooden beads as well as have them be fully polymer clay.

Blue Barrel Bead Necklace, Faux Leather Beads Necklace, Black Daisy Necklace

Contemplating Flight!

2009-05-09T05:36:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last post due to various crazy busy circumstances. These have me as the title says contemplating flight. Flight in various ways. And yes I do mean escape too! I keep thinking of wings and birds for designs. Here is my latest that was inspired by the gospel "I'll Fly Away". I think I just really need a vacation, but none are on the horizon yet. My husband and I need to talk :)

Fly Away Necklace

Faux Challenge!

2009-04-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

The PCAGOE is having its April challenge. The theme is faux.

Check out these beautiful entries this month I think this is one of our best. Vote until April 7th at http://www.pcagoe.com/

I love making faux stone, wood, metal and trying different techniques with this. This time I ran into some difficulties and so three tries later with grander techniques failed, my entry is rather humble compared with the lush beauties to the left. But I do like my little faux river stone necklace and I decided to enter it anyway. There was still a bit of technique involved beyond just simple "smooshing" of clay to do it, but "smooshing" was definitely up there.

Not Your Usual Craft Lists

2009-03-24T04:50:00.000-07:00

Now the title on this Blog post just really made me laugh...
"Crafts I Want to Punch in the Face"
by Jennifer Worick
And you know some crafts are just asking for it :) So if you have any craft pet peeves go add them to her list at CraftStylish.
I thought I would try to come up with some kind of lists similar to hers and yes I am a little bit kooky.

3 Craft Tools I Would Want on a Deserted Craft Island (whatever that is, maybe an island for crafting that ironically has no craft stores, yikes):
-My lovely long needle-nose pliers, oh yeah
-My pointy needle tool
-My cutting blade

Crafts that I Forgot I had anything to do with Until I Cleaned House:
-what the heck is that...ribbon embroidery?
-latch hook?
-sand art? I have had this since elementary school!

3 People You Would Most Like to Craft With & What Craft:

-Jesus of Course, Everyone says that for who you want to have dinner with, so why not crafting (hmm what craft) wine making maybe? Decopage? Can you imagine seeing that on a signup sheet somewhere....Decopage with Jesus, space limited, sign up now!

-George Clooney. I do feel a little guilty typing this after listing Jesus, but I did list Jesus first. Portraiture, clothed, I am a married woman after all. But just a little bit of gazing at him live in person for a little bit might be nice :)

-A Great Artist of Some Kind. I am having trouble choosing. I think contemporary like maybe one of the polymer clay artists I have always wanted to take a course from but have never been able to or maybe way out there like Da Vinci or something and see what he would think of polymer clay in a pasta maker.

New Bracelet Blanks!

2009-03-11T06:04:00.001-07:00

I am at last getting into bracelets & well these bracelet blanks of mine aren't exactly super new. I have had them for a couple months now just waiting for inspiration and courage to hit so I could create a bracelet. They really are pretty cool they are aluminum and I ordered them from Melanie West from her Etsy shop. More came to the pack than what I have shown. Her Etsy shop is CorvusFlies.

She is a wonderful polymer clay artist and also for some reason sells these great variety packs of bracelet blanks. I can't believe she makes a lot of money on them, but as long as she is willing to sell them then I say Thank You! It is great to be able to buy such a variety of sizes all in one sale, because when you don't know what you want, that is what you want :) She also has a tutorial on her website about how to use them. She says to coat them with white glue before applying the clay, good tip.

A Couple of Canework "Bouquets"

2009-02-24T06:46:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of beautiful polymer clay pieces that show off some wonderful floral cane work by two of my fellow PCAGOE members. I don't do much with cane work and I am always in awe of what these two artists can do. On the right the pretty heart is by Linda of NKDesigns. The tin on the left is by Angela of PolymerClayCreations. Be sure and check out more of their works on Etsy. The PCAGOE Challenge coming up is themed "canework" so that should be a great one to check out on March 1st. You can go to the website then to vote.

A Paisley Passion

2009-02-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

I am on a paisley kick lately. I guess a more professional way to put it would be to say, I have begun a line of paisley inspired accessories. I have always loved that paisley shape. I love a swirly curve and combine it with a filling of lots of goodies and it is just perfect for my tastes. I got curious about its origins and here is what I found out on that wonderful resource wikipedia,
if you care to find out more too....
The paisley pattern is the droplet shaped motif of Persian and Indian origin. According to Wikipedia: , some design scholars call the distinct shape boteh and believe it is the convergence of a stylized floral spray and a cypress tree (a symbol of life). The pattern is still popular in Iran, South, and Central Asian Countries. Wikipedia even mentioned something about the possibility of it representing a pregnant leech, but we will just try not to think about that one (super yuck!). Its western name derives from the town of Paisley, in central Scotland. In the 19th century European production of paisley increased, particularly in the Scottish town Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Weavers there copied designs from shawls brought back from India by soldiers.

My paisley production is showing up in brooches, pendants and even earrings made of polymer clay. I am having a lot of fun exploring all the different color possibilities.

Illustration/Inspiration Journal

2009-02-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

People always ask artists "where do you get ideas and inspiration?" My answer is nature, that is the biggy. That is probably a biggy for most everyone. I get a lot of inspiration from fashion and the fabric designs I see. I love to look through magazines and collect images of things that catch my eye. It all started with Oprah. Ahhhh... that Oprah. Way back during her search for spirit days, she had an episode where they talked about Illustration Journals. She had always gone on about how great journaling was, but I could never get into it myself. But an Illustration journal was different, collect images that speak to who you are, who you want to be, quotes you like, etc. you get the idea and cut and paste them in a journal. I could handle that! Finally a purpose for all my magazines that I couldn't quite throw away. Now I could snip out what I needed and recycle those old mags! So now I love my Illustration Journal! It is very multi-purpose. I use it for expression of goals, and quotes that I love still, but I also put in it bits of this and that, that I think could inspire me in my artwork. I don't do sketches in it. I have a separate notebook for that. When I put sketches in it, it just did not work as well for me. It has Ads that I think are cute, a pretty necklace, a snippet of color, a photo of a bug, all sorts of things. Now when I feel like I need an injection of creativity I browse through my journal. I like to do it before bed and very often my subconscious will work out a new idea for me by the morning. I highly recommend it. It is also a great activity to work on when you feel like you need something creative to do, but you just don't have the energy for something major. I do it when my husband is watching some show on tv I don't like, (like poker or baseball, snooze) if I haven't already fallen asleep :)

A Scavenger Hunt for Love with the PCAGOE

2009-02-06T04:47:00.000-08:00

Find Love with PCAGOE Artists!
The members of PCAGOE, the Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy, are sponsoring a Valentine Scavenger Hunt. To participate simply visit my shop beginning February 6th 2009 and continuing until midnight e.s.t. of February 12, 2009, and find the Valentine wish hidden among my items photos. When you find the Valentine, convo me through Etsy and give me either the URL of the listing where the image is hidden, or the Transaction Number for the Item. That's it! You must be a registered Etsy user to qualify, so if you have not already registered, please take a moment to do so, and you can join in our fun! Registering is fast and easy. On February 14, 2009, I will draw a winner at random using a random generator. I will notify the winner by return convo and issue you a $10 gift certificate. I will also post the winner's name here on my blog.
Here is a list of the other member shops participating in the hunt. Every member is offering a different prize! And be sure to check our team website http://www.pcagoe.com/ for a complete list of participating shops!
Divadea, Lynnslittlecreations, SCDiva, PCDiva, SilverGate, Puppykissportraits, juliespace, jkollmann, irismishly, ashpaints, zoeowyn, Peggers, Tejaesart, beetreebyme, Polyclarific, Angeli, LaurelSteven, Revonav

Another Challenge - PCAGOE that is

2009-02-02T09:41:00.000-08:00

The Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy is having its February Challenge. The theme is ACEOs. The voting is from now, Feb. 1-7th. Go to www.pcagoe.com to vote for some great polymer clay ACEOs. There are some beauties and such a wonderful variety of styles. What makes our challenges extra special to vote on is that you get a chance to win some wonderful prizes. I mean really great! Here is my entry. I was hoping it would inspire my creativity to grow. Hope you get a chance to checkout the others and maybe win a prize! :)

Auspicious Beginnings

2009-01-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

Sound the trumpets! Release the balloons! Set off the fireworks! I am starting my blog!

Now what....I have been debating and debating about starting a blog. Everyone says it is a must do. So now I must work to make it a must read. What a challenge! I am not a natural writer, it is a bit of a struggle for me. So if you cringe when you see bad grammar in print, this may be the wrong blog for you. I will, however, try very hard to get my spelling right. I have a thing about that. I will be writing about various topics, mainly having to do with artistic topics. I might stray off the topic now and then if I think something is of interest. I will try to have a casual, yet professional site (if there is such a thing) with a touch of humor. If I have to be too serious I will never write, but then again if I have to have you rolling in your computer chairs all the time, that is just a bit too much pressure also. I do not intend to tell you what I had for breakfast, or what new shoes I bought. Now to figure out what TO write. I am sure I will think of something I always have too many ideas swirling in my head. Getting them out properly is the problem. Please stay tuned... in the mean time. May I suggest I really like my new book! (As pictured)

"Blogging for Dummies" by Susannah Gardner and Shane Birley and I know I should have a link here I will have to look up how to do that again. It was in there and I forgot how. Still learning what fun!

2008-12-13T14:22:00.000-08:00

Hello!