Newnique News

I have not been posting for at least a month.  Just a lot of stuff going on.

Now it is time to start again.  Not the least of the motivation is spring is almost here.  My daffodils (thousands of them) are up a few inches.  One lonely bulb that is close to the southern side of the house is about 6 inches already.  No sign of a bud but that is coming.  Have you heard the birds in the morning?  The birds don’t lie.  Spring is coming and I am feeling creative again.

In February there was a web site called ‘Thing a Day’.  The challenge was to make and post something every day.  I challenged myself but didn’t post because I knew there were some days I was going to miss.  For March I am challenging myself again and I will post here.

I did create on the first 3 days of March.  Nothing extremely exciting but the idea is just to make something, genius will follow!

March 1st my creation was of the edible sort – Kale and Apple Salad – the candied pecans in this recipe are absolutely delicious and don’t have to be in a salad to be enjoyed.  The dressing is also good – I keep good dressing recipes I find and use them for everyday salads too.  Have almost gotten away from bottled dressing!

On March 2nd I made a bookmark from some polymer beads and ribbon as well as a couple of polymer clay pieces.   I am not sure what I am going to do with the pieces yet.  Here is a pic.

I have already added a red tinted black background to the piece on the right and ‘antiqued’ it with red paint.  Some ‘jade’, ‘cinnibar’ and black beads to make a necklace?

The piece on the left was made with a texture plate that I made last week from a Salvation Army find.  I think it may become a focal bead in another necklace, or maybe a bracelet.

March 3rd I created the first (of many to come) drafts of a database schema for a collaborative project I am working on.  And … I added another layer to one of the polymer pieces I created on 3/2.

Waiting for today’s inspiration.

A friend has told me several times that I should make goddesses from polymer clay.  I am not much of a sculptor but decided to make one and give it to her for Christmas.

I originally started with 4 shades of clay to give her depth.  By the time I had to redo my work about 8 times all of the colors had become one.

Her face and her belly spiral are molds, otherwise I made the shape.  I am going to look for an easy sculpting tutorial, this just does not come naturally.  It seems I want to push the clay when it needs to be pulled and the reverse.

I distressed the clay a little, baked it, sanded and sanded and sanded … then buffed her.  Next step was to ‘antique’ her with acrylics, bake and buff again.  I added a loop on the back and one goddess on a cord is ready for wearing.

While she is not the best goddess I have ever seen, I like her.

She is about 3 inches tall.

Here is the finished necklace from the beads I posted a few days ago.  I sanded and sanded and buffed them to bring out the shine and depth.  Sanding is my least  favorite (and most time intensive) part of creating with polymer clay.  There are alternatives such as brush on gloss but I don’t think they give the same quality of finish.

When I posted the pictures of my jewelry after the craft show in June, a friend called an inquired about a  flower pin and though she didn’t specify which one, I  know her and there was only one flower that called to her – the PINK one.  But the flowers are made as pendants not pins so I decided to remake the favored flower with a pin back.  The result was not an aesthetic success but the pin back worked and the piece would stay in place and not droop.

Next I baked it, in an oven I have used hundreds of times at a tested temperature and time.  This is where something went wrong.  The polymer burnt, the glass pearl in the center is now bronze – even the metal pin now has a powdery white coating on it.  I guess the finish on it burnt also.  My oven must have had a burn out of its own.  I must confess this little toaster oven owes me nothing.  My parents bought it for me when I moved to my first apartment in the early 70s.  It served as my toaster until the mid 90s when I switched it to polymer duty.  Despite the fact that most polymer artists warn against using toaster ovens because they are unpredictable, I have not had a major problem until now.  I am on the hunt for the recommended oven – a table top convection oven.

Here is the flower pin in its current state – I actually like it and may wear it when I want something a little edgy.  The newly bronzed pearl goes well with the newly burnt polymer.  Even the bubbles and nicks add character.

Saturday was really, really hot and I had a wonderful time at the Gunpowder River Artfest.  My vendor neighbors were talented, there was good food and bands played throughout the day.  Friends visited and I got to talk about Polymer Clay all day.  A perfect day.

I took pictures of my booth before the day began.  Click here to see my entire display.  I sold about 10% of my creations.  If you see anything in the pictures you would like to make your own, let me know (in the comments) which picture it is in, describe it and I’ll send you a better picture and the details.