Sculpting n Stringing Gemstones

I will be taking a 5 day little art retreat; getting inspired and feeding my artful soul. Taking tons of pictures, painting a little and crocheting some, but mostly stopping to smell the roses. I worked on a couple of completely different projects today. Finished this little polymer clay baby and was happy with it until I over-painted her lips.

Polymer clay drapes beautifully; just like fabric. After it is oven cured, it will retain its shape. She was a fun experiment. After finishing the baby, I went back to stringing because I wanted to clean up my tray area before leaving. I strung four gemstone necklaces which I promptly packed . I took "before" pictures with every intention of taking "after" pictures, but time ran short and this is as far as I got with the pictures. They did turn out quite nicely if I do say so myself. Basically strung as you see them above and below. Hope you have a good week of creating.

Polymer Clay Buttons n' Beads

I had some scrap clay that ended up a pretty grey color. It had a hint of plum in it and was perfect for this linen plum jacket. I made a triangle cane out of the scrap clay thinking I was going to make a kaleidoscope pin or pendant at some point, but ended up with buttons and beads. For whatever reason, I don't like the above abalone buttons. In the Arizona heat, they peel and crack or become sharp on the edges and tear the buttonhole stitching. I like my new polymer clay buttons on the new hooded jacket from Bryn Walker clothing.

Obviously haven't strung the below beads yet, but wanted to get this posted as I am still packing. Can't imagine if I won a three week trip to Europe.

Just emptied one "someday I'll finish this" box and now I am starting another. Oh well.

I really like these a lot. They turned out better than I thought they would.

Polymer Clay Raku Buttons

Hated these buttons on the below linen jacket and wanted something different. What better than to make your own from polymer clay. I used scrap clay and rolled it through the pasta machine until I got a blend of colors I liked and added bits of Micaceous Iron Oxide acrylic paint, which gives it a bit of a metallic shimmer.

When I was satisfied with the texture and color, I cured it in a 260 degree oven.  They turned out great.

Polymer Bead Necklaces

These were my very first canes applied to beads made in the late '90's. They were crudely strung and desperately needed re-stringing. I wore them a lot and actually still wear and enjoy them. Going on a five day little retreat on Saturday and will wear these. As I re-strung, I remembered way back when getting up an extra hour earlier to hand roll them (no bead rollers) and cure them before going to work.

When I was done re-stringing these, I moved on to the amber and coral beads from yesterday.

Amber and Coral:

One more box of beads emptied and strung! Well, ok, except for the one triangular amber bead with the little polymer clay turquoise stone in it (see yesterday's post). I'm saving that for another necklace. I'm very happy with the results and am amazed at the translucent depth of the amber in particular.

The amber is a choker and the coral hangs about 22". Finished both with sterling "S" clasps attached with french wire and crimps. Will pick up the crimp covers today.

I have to admit though, my arthritis did not like the sanding. I should have split it up over several days, but at the time, it didn't hurt. It was the next day that I couldn't close my hand.

The photos of the amber are OK, but for whatever reason, I could not get the coral to come out. I finally gave up and posted what I have. I think you get the general idea.

In the photo below, it looks like the one front long bead is a little hairy. The light just kept bouncing (it was the camera, not me-honest). I used sterling silver spacers purchased through Fire Mountain catalog.

The neck beads are vintage metal.

So now I will go clean up the results of this project and see what else I can get into today.

Polymer Coral and Amber

I'm on a roll. Things I've been putting off are finally getting done. Feels great.

The above photo shows the polished shine accomplished from progressive grit sanding and then buffing. I may still add a buffing compound to see if I can bring the shine up one more notch.

Above is my bowl of water (reflecting the circular task light), the wet 250 grit sandpaper next to the bowl and the 350, 400, 600, 800 and 2000 grits lined up in order. The water is yellow orange because I just finished the 250 sanding. I emptied it and started the next grit.

These beads were sanded all the way through to 2000 and then I polished them on the electric buffer. The first batch was finished last night and I started the second batch this morning.

It is too hard on my hands to do them all at one time. Below is the start of the second batch.

They are very dull and chalky looking after the first sanding. The before and afters are amazing. It's really satisfying work. I followed Victoria Hughes' color recipes for the amber and coral. They are both in her book, "Polymer-The Chameleon Clay", along with recipes for ivory, jade, turquoise and other natural materials.

A couple of spots of water still sitting on the beads. I used some fine gravel from my backyard to add texture to the coral to simulate worm damage that can sometimes appear in coral.

So, I will finish up today (hopefully) and string them tomorrow and get them posted.

Not everyone has an electric buffer sitting in the middle of their home. I cover the tables with old lightweight sheets and put a box behind the buffer (to catch beads that go flying). My rule is if two beads get caught and go flying, I put it away until tomorrow. The two spots in the above photo are on my camera lens and not on the wall. Honest.

My convection oven is in the garage and is used solely for curing polymer clay. It is one of the larger ones and when I remove the trays, it can accommodate larger pieces.

Antique Beads

Every time I attempted to post something new, I'd sit here and look at "Published in Polymer Cafe" and I just couldn't. I am still like a kid on Christmas morning, but I have been getting some things done and learning along the way and it is time to post new things. Isn't the detail in the above necklace gorgeous? My friend bought this at an estate sale and was told it was over 100 years old. It was barely hanging together and she hoped it could be saved. I used some good, strong, flexible SoftFlex and french wire to attach the clasp. The french wire will help relieive some of the tension from the weight of the glass beads and should hold up quite well (famous last words).

The photo really does not do it justice. It is really amazing.

Look at the wire work in the above and below photos. So unique.

I have been collecting jet glass beads for years and have never done anything with them. Just enjoyed having them and planning how I might use them "some day".

So after completing my friend's necklace, I was inspired to get out my collection and get to work.

My goodness, I did not realize my little collection had grown considerably. At first I thought I could sit down and just wing it. Happily stringing along until I realize I had enough for two nice long necklaces. So I started over and didn't get very far. I learned that I needed to go back to the simple basics of life. Slow down, enjoy the process, take stock and lay out a simple plan or two. Getting out my large bead board, I set to work and below if the first one.

One was going to be elegantly simple with small to medium beads, but with a lot of roundels to reflect evening light.

Sterling silver and dark garnet clasp attached with french wire. I am going to add sterling silver crimp covers. I ran out and it was not possible to get to the bead shop today.

Above is the focal point that drapes beautifully. It looks stunning with a long black tailored jacket.

Finished that one and decided the second one was going to be on the restrained side, letting the unique shapes and composition of the beads be the focal point.

But had to add a little something at the end. A sterling silver, french wire closure that I purchased at the Tucson Bead Show in 2007.

Finally using instead of gathering, collecting, sorting, storing. I've actually emptied a couple of containers and gained the satisfaction of finishing a few projects.

I took the above photo for design reference; in case I would need it in the future. I giggled at that one. Like I am going to just run into this kind of a collection again. My friend also gave me a second broken necklace to fix, but I could not. I hated admitting it to myself and hated disappointing her. It was another lesson for me; letting go and accepting what I cannot fix.

Published in Polymer Cafe'

I am so happy. Got an email from a friend congratulating me on being published in the October, 2009 Polymer Cafe' "Readers' Gallery" and about broke a leg running out to the mailbox. What a great feeling.

That's me on the right. My alter ego. Full page. OMG! Does it get any better than this?

Above and below weren't published, just the full figure, but thought I would add a couple of detail photos.

OK, so they gave me a more exotic name. "Marlena" instead of Marlene. I've always liked the name Marlena.

Above and below photos show the basic armature wiring and pre-wiring for the hanger on the back.

My heartfelt thanks to Polymer Cafe' magazine. You've made my year.