Last of the Challenge Pieces

These are the last of the Inspired by Fabric pieces.  I'm anxious to move on to something else - a little burned out on these colors and patterns.  I still have loads of beads and large sections of cane but 7 sets of jewelry on one theme is more than enough. 

First three pieces completed of my Inspired by Fabric series

I've completed the first three pieces of a series inspired by a shirt of my father circa 1970s.  I'm very pleased with them.  And all those beads that I made - I ended up making even more last night because the ratio of beads was terribly off compared to what I needed.  I also created a few more pendants so there are more to come.  :)

My Building Blocks for the Monthly PCAGOE "Inspired by Fabric" Challenge

Those of you that read my blog regularly know that I chose to base my project on my dad's vintage 1970s shirt.  I am now in construction mode.  All my baking and buffing is complete.  I took some snapshots of my components.  The lighting in my computer room is poor but I was far too lazy to go down to the Lair to use my lightbox.  The textures may be a bit obscured and the colors aren't as true as they will be in a light box, but you will get the idea.

Some pendants.  All the parts that are different patterns are separate and movable.

More pendants above and accent beads below.

Now comes the fun and frustrating part of putting these pieces together.  :)

I'm not dead.

I haven't made a post in a while but I wanted to assure you all that I'm not dead.  Been working my butt off on the project the last few blogs have been about.  I'm almost finished with the preliminary work.  I have enough accent beads and focal beads to make 5-10 complete pieces, maybe more.

I've started working much more assembly line style - creating batch upon batch of coordinating pieces - so that when I sit down to start putting things together, I have loads and loads of options. I'm pleased with the results I'm seeing and hopefully either tomorrow or the next day, I will be able to post some photos of my components.  Right now I'm putting together a few more fun accent beads just to be certain that I have enough visual interest going on in my final pieces.  Fun, fun.  Happy claying, all!

The Reduction of My Canes for the Monthy PCAGOE Challenge

Okay, the suspense has peaked.

(Unreduced)

(Reduced to a workable width that will get reduced further most likely)

(POT OF DOOM - I did the risky playdoh-packing reduction method to get a cane without a background color.  What a pain, but I thought it was worth the suffering.)

(Reduced but not cleaned of the wretched playdoh or scrap clay)

(HOURS later, cleaned and ready for use)

(Finished daisy - a poorly cut scrap - approximately .5 inches diameter - not the smallest or the largest of the cane sections.)

Inspired By An Ugly Shirt

Okay.  First off, let's just get this straight.

<-----This is an ugly shirt.




That doesn't preclude that what comes of it shall be in any way ugly.  I finished the two major canes that will be the basis of my piece for the Inspired by Fabric monthly challenge of PCAGOE (Polymer Clay Guild of Etsy).

BUILDING THE DAISY CANE

(Each petal was its own skinner blend to give each petal different shading.)

BUILDING THE BACKGROUND CANE

THE FINISHED CANES (PREREDUCTION)

Tune in tomorrow for what they looked like reduced.  They are finished but I want to build the suspense.  lol

Inspired By Fabric

I've begun work on my entry in this month's PCAGOE (Polymer Clay Guild of Etsy) Challenge.

The subject of my design is this.

This is my father's shirt circa 1970ish.  From what I've been told there were some ultra stylish gray corduroy bell-bottoms involved (yikes!).  I wore this shirt all through out high school (as well as his army shirts and jacket from Nam and several pair of bell-bottoms that I made by patch-working together multiple pairs of his pants to accomadate my huge butt). The shirt is one crazy mess with brown abstract designs and these dreadfully silly huge gray-blue flowers. It's made of that weird stretchy silky crap fabric that would probably burst into flames if I stood next to a heat source.

The side story to the shirt is that I lost it for years. I got really, really heavy toward the end of high school so it stopped fitting me (like it ever did - very unattractive cut now that I'm wearing it again).  The shirt disappeared. I didn't know if I donated it, threw it out, or packed it up. I moved in with my mother when I was 19 and thought I'd gotten everything that was mine out of my dad's house. About a month ago, my dad decided to empty his basement of the loads and loads of crap that had accumulated between me, my 3 sisters, and my step-mom. I helped him clear it out and thought to go up to the attic to see what was up there. In the attic I found 6 huge rubbermaid totes of my clothes from high school. I took them downstairs and set them in the garage to be emptied into the dumpster. And then I thought, you know, I should probably just check to see what's in there. I found the shirt and stood in my dad's garage bawling my eyes out. This shirt is so special to me.  It is a reminder of my high school days, and it's extremely sentimental to me because it was my father's (also makes me giggle to think of my big, burly, biker dad wearing a shirt with flowers).

My Very First Etsy Treasury

The Etsy Treasury is an ever-changing, member-curated shopping gallery of handpicked items. Members can feature their favorite items, items selected on a theme or just whatever they like.  They are temporary showcases, and this one will only be around till Wednesday so check it out soon!

Fe Fi Faux Fun was created by Miss Michele of MichelesArtJewelry to showcase some of the fine "faux" creations offered at Etsy.  All these pieces were created using polymer clay to mock precious stone, bone, wood, metal, and/or dichroic glass.  Some tremendous artist are pictured here and I feel humbled to have one of my pieces shown beside theirs.

Rainbow of Swirl Beads

This was the last of the unfinished projects that hadn't been baked.  28 of each color = pain in my butt.  I'm hoping to get the last of the jewelry made up this weekend so I can start the monthly challenge.  These are sanded but not polished.  I'm not so concerned with getting them polished right away.  Having them baked satisfies my need for order.  I'll annoy my husband some night this week while we are watching a movie.  Lord, does he love the sound of a dremel while he's trying to watch a movie.  >:)

Making Some Beads

I've been making a LOAD of beads lately.  Trying to use up my canes and clean up the Lair so that I can work on next month's PCAGOE challenge.  I can't stand having half-finished things laying around.  Here are some of the things that I've made. 

You'll see that they are listed in my shop currently.  If I'm brave enough to approach my local bead shop, they may disappear from Etsy.  Pray for my bravery.  The Vixen needs some cash.  lol

Rengal of Renaissance Gal of San Antonio

Now, I hate to pigeonhole someone but I have got to say that Rengal (Deb) of Renaissance Gal of San Antonio is one fine, fine caner.  She dabbles in other forms of polymer clay but I've got to say she truly shines when it comes to canes.  As someone who canes herself, I am awed by some of the things she manages to do.  The sharpness and crispness of her images is unbelievable.  Deb does a lot of school emblems and works with some pretty tricky colors and shapes because of that focus.

Aside from her wonderful polymer work, I've got to say that Deb is one fine champion of The Polymer Clay Guild of Etsy.  She is a consistent blogger, and she highlights many of the members of that guild's work on her blog Rengalsa Blog.  She always has lovely things to say about others and it was far overdue for her to be praised as she has done for so many.  

Michele of Michele'sArtJewelry

I have long admired Michele of Michele's Art Jewelry for her bold designs.  I'd like to showcase some of her finest and talk a little bit about why I appreciate her art.  Michele spins much of her work off tribal designs and patterns.  In the pendant below, she enhances some of Mother Earth's natural beauty. 

Her use of semi-precious stones is never overdone and she compliments them with her own polymer clay accent beads which make the piece so much more her own and not a puzzle of other people's work and designs.

 

A lot of her work has an organic feel.  Though the colors are far more vibrant than you'd see in nature, she blends it with such earthy components that you feel as though you might come across something like it on a hike through the woods.

Her unique designs often defy the typical jewelry building of other designers, something I'm concentrating very hard on these days.  Her jewelry is not a sample of random beads and findings that happen to work well together, they are a symphony of carefully executed components that come together under her skilled hands.

Keep your eye on Michele.  As I scroll through her Flickr collection I am just so impressed with her ability to create.  It is a joy to view and it would certainly be a treasure to own.  Be sure to stop by her Etsy shop and see what she is up to.