My Kalediscope Cane Needs Something More

I guess the title sums up my post pretty well, I decided to use up some old canes  and practice Kaleidoscope Canes at the same time and this is the result



Kaleidoscope Cane - The original old cane is the centre lilac circle which has unfortunately lost most of its pattern in the cane reduction



I do like the cane but when i use it to create a sheet it just looks too dark it needs something more, something brighter at least it is a lesson to be learnt.

Also should Kaleidoscope canes be reasonably large to maintain the detail of the cane, I think maybe so and I will have to get over my miserly use of clay next time round.

New Xmas Beads Now Available

Here's my completed Xmas Beads now available for sale at The Beady Shop, they have been handcrafted using polymer clay and I have included microfine powders too.

Polymer Clay Sparkly Xmas Pudding Beads 12mm

Polymer Clay Xmas Pudding Beads 14mm

Polymer Clay Robin Beads 12x16mm

A Sneak Peak

A quick sneak peak at my current work in progress Poppy Fields and Robins (though not together)

Poppy fields - A Pendant which needs finishing, possible framing not quite made up my mind yet and a set of 3 pillow beads (not yet cooked)

My little Christmas Robin beads, this picture of them lined up reminds me of the song Two Little Dicky Birds

Alcohol Inks and Foils : Part II

Alcohol Inks and Foils Part 2

Just slightly late :)

I have finally got round to taking my final photos of my work on alcohol inks and foils so here we go

My Pebble Pendant Necklace

My Autumn Toned Heart Pin

Molten On Black Lentil Bead Set now available for sale from TheBeadyShop.co.uk

Molten On Black Round Bead Set now available for sale from TheBeadyShop.co.uk

I really pleased with how this technique has worked and can't wait to try more colours !

If you missed part 1 here it is Alcohol Inks and Foils Part 1

Alcohol Inks and Foils Part 1 : Autumn Charm Bracelet

Alcohol Inks and Foils Part 1

Using the Polymer Clay sheet, mentioned yesterday, here is a collection of the beads selected for my Autumn Charm Bracelet, which features the polymer clay punched leaves and some extra added polymer clay oval beads (not seen here as I created them after this photos was taken).

My finished Autumn Charm Bracelet, featuring my handcrafted polymer clay leaves ovals, also included are an assortment of glass pearls, Czech facets, flowers and pillow beads.

I also made a set of earrings from the little Polymer Clay Oval Beads that have been included in the bracelet,

 teamed with some Fire Opal Swarovski Crystals 

More still to come ...

Catch up with Alcohol Inks and Foil Part2 Here

Alcohol inks and foils

 As mentioned earlier I have finally had some success withy alcohol inks. I decided to to do a project from Donna Katos Creative Surface Effects and here are my results.

As you can see I took some little leaves using the little ones paper punch and I am currently preparing them for an autumn charm bracelet. I will post more details on this and the other finished pieces o have created using this sheet soon.

Find out what I created with my sheet here

1. Alcohol inks and foils part 1
2. Alcohol inks and foils part 2

New Facebook Page

Been busy busy, unfortunately not all claying, though I have done a little and finally had success with my alchol inks and foil, which I will post the results of very soon.

In the meantime I have recently set up a facebook page for my work please come along and join me

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lottie-Of-London-Handcrafted-Jewellery/139450679421966

Pebble Candy Thong Necklace | Lottie Of London MISI Handmade Shop

Pebble Candy Thong Necklace Lottie Of London MISI Handmade Shop

Folksy Friday Blog Feature by Wrapped Up With String

My Midnight Garden Pendant

has been featured in Wrapped Up with String's Blog :) Check it out

Wrapped Up With String: Folksy Friday: Gardens!: "Happy Friday! If you follow me on Twitter, you might have been plagued by my recent Tweets to vote for my local conservation project, Herbs ..."

Also check out Wrapped Up with String's Fantastic Etsy Shop Here.

Back to the books

I've felt a bit stuck in a rut creatively of late as I've had so many other important things going on I just haven't been inspired to clay. However i decided yesterday that I should go back to the books and work on some projects.

I chose Donna Katos - The Art of Polymer Clay - Millefiori Techniques as I love caning but wanted to try some simpler techniques, so I chose the Pop Art Pin and here is my version

I did have some trouble with spotted cane for this technique, it took me a few tries as I just couldn't get the red spots to stay round when reducing the cane, this could have been because I was using soft clay for both the red and black. I finally settled on getting the spots as rounded as I think they could be.  I will definitely have to try this cane again with a firmer type.

Playing with inks and foils

Testing out some alcohol inks on foils and silver leaf.
The sheet pattern looks good, still not dry but I'm wondering how I can get this onto to a round shaped bead?.
The blue bead was a test to see if I could achieve the same effect as the sheet, but the blue kind of flowed sliver the bead, still looks good and will try to add some other effects once it's dry maybe some stamps. Both these were done using a foil.
The purple bead is not going so well, I've used silver leaf on this and of course it cracks very easy and not really liking how the colour flows on this one.
I like the bubble effect on the sheet so gonna keep trying to get it onto a lentil bead.

My attempts at a Bettina Welker Technique

I fell in love with Bettina Welker's Nightgarden Pendant when I first saw it on Flickr and when I saw she had a book coming out with the Nightgarden Pendant and lots more I had to have it.

Once it arrived my first thing I did was chck to see I had what was needed to create my own pendant.  I set about searching the internet for coloured liquid clay here in the UK and I couldn't find a supplier anywhere, so I decided to improvise! here are my attempts at using translucent liquid mixed with the smallest amount of oil and acrylic Paint.

Actually some of them don't look too bad, but just not quite right.  So for a few months I put it aside and then recently decided to trawl the internet again for liquid clay determined to get some even if I had to purchase it from overseas.  This time my luck was in I have found a UK supplier, I was so happy I ordered a few colours and once they arrived I started practising the technique again, it's not as easy as it would seem.  I just fell like I am missing something maybe from the amount of colour I am using or the technique in spreading.  One piece I was happy with and created this pendant from it.

This technique reminds me of looking at the clouds and finding shapes from them and every time I look I see something different.  I also tried it out on a round bead just to see what it would turn out like here

I am pleased with the bead too, needless to say further attempts at the technique have just not turned out quite right so lots more practise will be needed.

The Shape Shifting Peacock Eye

Polymer Clay Canes

I attempted to make a peacock feather cane, which didn't quite work out

I seem to had made the center far too large, and it was going so well too.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet I'll let it sift around my brain and I'm sure I'll come up with some new ideas.

In the meantime I took a cut and decided to reduce some of the cane and used it to create a Shifting Cane, which I am really pleased with here's some pieces i created using my new Shifting Peacock Eye Cane.

Want to read more about my Polymer Clay Canes

• Creating a Handcrafted Item of Jewellery 
• A Colour Dilemma
• My Kalediscope Cane needs Something More

Latest Polymer Creations

It would appear that romantic pastels are just one of this spring/summer 2010 colours to wear, so with this in mind I created my latest pieces based on this theme.

Zuleykha's Giveaway

Zuleykha's Polymer Clay is having a giveaway to celebrate her 31st Birthday

To find out more follow this link Zuleykha Giveaway

Happy New Year

I've been busy busy busy and still am, I have lots of work to do so a quick post of some jewellery i was working on in the lead up to Xmas

This fruit charm bracelet was a gift for my mother in law.  The fruit strawberries, peaches, pears, oranges and lemons have all been made from polymer clay and combined onto this charm bracelet with glass beads.

This cherry brooch was also a gift for my mother in law, made from AB faceted glass beads and rocailles.

I made this large purple beaded thong necklace for myself to go with a simple black wrap dress i had.  I wanted something that was going to stand out.  All the beads have been made using polymer clay using millefiori techniques and caning.  I took the opportunity to try out some caning techniques that where new to me, Shape shifting cane and Kaleidoscope canes and am very please with the finished result.

I made this mokume gane pendant also for myself to go with a silver top I was planning to wear for a Xmas get together with friends.  It has been made from polymer clay using the mokume gane technique, this was my first attempt at this technique.

So my plans for the new year, well I have got lots of new polymer clay goodies over Xmas so I will be trying

• 
  
  Kilmet Cane I got a new extruder and can't wait to start on this cane
• Perfect Pearls, never tried these powders
• 
  
  More foiling with alcohol inks
• 
  
  Mica with Kato clay, I've tried it with Fimo and just don't feel it's visible enough
• 
  
  To keep practicing on Image Transfer on clay, I really am not all that good at this technique

So given I have the time with work and all the new techniques I am wanting to learn, I should have lots of stuff to post.