Milagros Necklace

 I've collected Milagros for a while and finally made a necklace of them.  I may need to divide it because it is a tad heavy.  We'll see.

Design Block Pendant

Above pendant was made using the design block on the upper right (below).  I like the deep, crisp impressions it makes.  Three more blocks to play with.

BONE China Pendant #2

A piece of polymer clay BONE china made into a pendant for one of the most creative holidays of the year-Halloween.  Yeah, having fun with these.

BONE China Pendant #1

It's not Delft pottery, but BONE china.  Okay, okay, I'm kicking the Halloween season off early with some polymer clay pendants made with my Skeleton Crew canes using Julie Eakes' Delft technique.

Gift Box

 I spent some time searching the internet for a unique gift box I could somehow "connect" with using polymer clay.  These cute gift boxes by designer Claudine Hellmuth were perfect.  I purchased some gift cards from JoAnn's and popped them in the oven.  I typed "Bake the Polymer" on the little kitchen towel and glued it on the front handle and glued extra pot holders on both sides of each oven.

Claudine's Etsy shop (click HERE) is full of clever cut-outs and cupcake boxes for the holidays.  The cupcake boxes are a creative way of giving a gift, whether it be money, a gift card or a nice piece of jewelry.  

The oven door opens to reveal a "holder" which you can use to set a cupcake in, or in my case, use to hold the gift card I'm donating to our polymer clay guild's raffle.

I really had fun with this one.

Carved Pendant #2

Carving this pendant while still warm was like cutting through butter.  After carving, I poured white Kato Liquid Polyclay over the entire piece.  I took a paper towel and wiped the excess liquid clay off the bottom area while leaving the upper area alone.  After baking, I took a couple of photos and am pleased with it.  I really like working with the Kato Liquid Polyclay.  While at Clay Carnival, I purchased two bottles of white, clear, purple, blue, orange and yellow, so I better get busy.

Polymer Clay Inclusion Beads

 I used Leslie Blackford's inclusion beads (click HERE) as inspiration for my beads above and in the foreground below.  I had fun going through my spice rack and embossing powders looking for colors and textures.  Really love how they turned out.   Now, to get them strung.

Black & White Earrings

I took a a very thick slice of one of my canes and ran it through the pasta machine on #1, turned the piece and ran it through on #2, turned it and ran it through on #3....and so on until I had the right design and thinness to stretch over my earrings.

 The earrings were in bad shape when I got them from Goodwill.  A little scrubbing, a little alcohol and they were ready for a coat of liquid clay.  Then I applied the design and wrapped it around the back.  Trimmed it, smoothed it and baked it.  Sanded and buffed to a shine.

Re-Design of Upcycle

I took the mandala bracelet apart and made it into a pendant.  I decided I would wear the pendant more than I would the bracelet.  I used carving tools to gently carve around the back of the metal bracelet until the bracelet popped out.  I then had to sand the back of the Mandala smooth.  I used liquid clay to apply raw clay to the back of the cured piece.  I inserted the bail and reinforced it.  I then textured the back and then backed.  After it was cool, I drilled three holes.  I sanded and buffed it to a shine and then added the three feathers.

Teachers' Inchies

Above are the Clay Carnival teachers' inchies.  Everyone attending the Pizza Party traded an inchie with each other.  Love them a lot.  What is an "inchie"?  It is a 1"x1" piece of artwork.  As long as it is an inch squared, you are good to go.  Inchies can be made of polymer clay, as ours were for Clay Carnival.  Or they can be made of card stock, paper, fabric, wood, metal, just about anything depending on what group is doing the swap.  These will probably end up as pendants.

Clay Carnival Workspace

Above is my workspace.  I had a collapsable-folding shelf (on the right) that held my jewelry findings, buna cord, tape, small stuff area under it and on top were my tools, glues, polypaste, etc.  On the left I kept all of my cutters, templates, glass & tiles  It worked out well and I wouldn't change anything.  I really did not need to bring all of that (other than the usual workspace basics) as pretty much everything was supplied and if I needed something extra, there was the Carnival Store where I could buy extra clay, findings, etc.

 There are 3 work rooms at Clay Carnival.  The Rowdy Room, The Chatty Room and The Zen Room. I chose the Zen Room because I tend to get in my own world and am oblivious.  There were 16 average in the 3 rooms with plenty of space to work and move around.

Some people brought small tarps to put under their chairs, some flattened leaf bags and some used the large paper supplied by the hotel.  But, everyone cleaned their area & table.  It was so well arranged, it just flowed like butter.

Clay Carnival Class #7 - Sculpting

My "Creative Spirit" floating around my studio.  Above is the "head" I sculpted in Diane Keeler's sculpting workshop.  I received lots of helpful tips and instruction from Diane that I am so grateful for.

 Diane had several heads that we could use as references.  Look at that perfect ear.  I could not get enough fast enough.  More, more, more, teach me more.  And what an excellent teacher she was.

 Diane's dolls (below) are phenomenal (click HERE).  Wish I could take more of her classes.

Clay Carnival - Party

 Clay Carnival Group Photo

 Raffles, gifts and a drawings for scholarships.

Really had a lot of laughs and enjoyed myself immensely.

Clay Carnival Class #6 - Kato Pendant

 Above is the polymer clay pendant I finished in Donna Kato's Clay Carnival workshop.

 Donna Kato above and her exquisite necklace below.  I took a workshop from her in 2000 and here it is so many years later and she hasn't changed.  Her attention to detail is unbelievable.  Can't wait until the next Carnival.

Clay Carnival Class #5 - Mica Shift

Above is the pendant I finished in Meisha Barbee's workshop.  I finished 3, but could not for the life of me get a decent photo.

We received many goodies in our goody bags when we arrived.  Kato Concentrates were among them. Love the Kato Concentrates.  I have since purchased more.  Meisha doesn't have a website showing her work, but Cynthia Tinapple of Polymer Clay Daily (click HERE) put together a beautiful page (click HERE) of Meisha's work.  Below is our workshop sample.

Clay Carnival Class #4 - Tattoo Caning

 Above is the necklace I finished in Judy Belcher's Tattoo Caning Workshop.

 Judy is so full of life.  I had the best time talking with her.  Loved her easy style of teaching and was in awe of her talent.  Below is Judy's necklace and earrings set; so perfect.  I really wanted them.  A lot.  You can find more of Judy's work on Judy Belcher Designs (click HERE).

Clay Carnival Class #3 - Carving & Inclusions

 I finished the above pendant and earrings in Donna Kato and Leslie Blackford's Inclusions and Carving workshop at Clay Carnival 2013.

 I loved learning new ways of using inclusions and embossing powders.  Loved the carving.  Donna Kato's pendants below are so beautiful in person.  Which is another thing I loved about Clay Carnival was seeing, touching, holding the wonderful pieces of jewelry these master teachers have become known for.  It was awesome.

Clay Carnival Class #2 Julie Eakes

 

Above is the piece I finished in Julie Eakes' (click HERE) workshop at Clay Carnival in Vegas.  Oh my gosh, it was so much fun being taught by Julie.  She has a great sense of humor and has such energy.  There are many wonderful classes on CraftArtEdu (click HERE).  I have taken Julie's Micro Caning polymer clay class and highly recommend it.

I also was lucky enough to receive the piece Julie made in the workshop.  She asked who wanted it and I about pulled my arm out of the socket raising my hand from the back of the room.  I think I was jumping up and down too.

Clay Carnival 2013 Blackford Jewelry

Below are the chili pepper earrings I received in my Clay Carnival Pizza Party gift bag.  They are made by Leslie Blackford of The Moody Woods (click HERE).  I purchased the bracelet (below) from Leslie.  Even though it is a bracelet, I wore it as a necklace.  I fell in love with the colors and the various textures produced by the inclusions in the polymer clay.

Clay Carnival Class #1 Leslie Blackford

Leslie Blackford of The Moody Woods (click HERE) teaching her technique for creating articulated fish.

See that red striped fish?  I wanted that cute little fishy so badly.  But, one of ladies beat me to it.  I did score a pair of Leslie's Chili earrings and a gorgeous bracelet I made into a pendant.  Tomorrow.