Sunday 29 July 2012

Mica Shift with Polymer Clay

I initially first tried mica shift in my early claying years with little success and on the few occasions I have revisited using mica clay, I have still had little success with what would appear to be a relatively simple technique.

So my first blog post on Mica Clay will be about testing out three differnent brands to see if there is a difference in its mica effect, the chatoyancy.

Polymer Clay Mica from left : Premo Sculpey, Fimo Effects & Kato Polycaly
Polymer Clay Mica from left : Premo Sculpey, Fimo Effects & Kato Polycaly



I will be using the following brands

  • Premo Sculpey in Copper
  • Fimo Effects in Gold
  • Kato Polyclay in Copper



I will testing the clays, using the rubber stamping technique, which many clayers will be familar with and can be found in many ploymer clay books and onine tutorials.


Mica Clay impress with a deep stamp
Mica Clay impress with a deep stamp

Once my clay is conditioned and rolled through the pasta machine I use a deep stamp to impress my stamp onto the clay 


Each peice of impressed clay is then taken and I carefully slice away the raised part of the impression on the clay, which will leave an imprinted image onto the clay that appears raised, but is in fact smooth.  Below you can see how each brand faired

Mica Shift Fimo Effects Gold
Mica Shift Fimo Effects Gold


Fimo Effect Gold

The image is quite clearly visible.
















Mica Shift Premo Sculpey Copper


Premo Sculpey Copper

Not a big fan of Premo as a brand but as you can see the image again is clearly visible.















  

Kato Polyclay Copper

As you can see the image is not as clearly visible here.














Now the impressed images don't look all that impressive in my opinion, so I cut some pendants out and cooked the pieces, i then sanded with 600, 1200 & 2000 and buffed with my hobby tool.  The difference once properly prepared and finished is clear and far more impressive.


Mica Shift Round Pendants - Fimo Effects & Kato Polyclay
Mica Shift Round Pendants - Premo & Kato Polyclay

Here you can see that although not as clear as the Fimo and Premo, the Kato Polyclay once finished looks a little better once complete.


Mica Shift Pendants Fimo Effects
Mica Shift Pendants Fimo Effects

Mica Shift Pendant with Premo, Fimo and Kato Polyclay
Mica Shift Pendant with Premo, Fimo and Kato Polyclay

So overall for future projects I would definitely be using the Fimo Effects or Premo Sculpey, although not a fan of Sculpey for its smell and being to soft for caning, in this case i found its softness aided in removing the slices of impressed clay.


This post is part of Handmade Monday with Handmade Harbour

Thursday 26 July 2012

Are you a fan of Orange

Working Orange into your Wardrobe


This years colour as predicted by Pantone is Tangerine Tango

A gorgeous bright colour, but not necessarily an easy one to wear, however there are ways to wear this colour without going all out but adding splashes or hints of this striking colour to your wardrobe

Tangerine tango works beautifully with a bright turquoise which is perfect for summer.

Here are some more great examples of Orange & Turquoise together

Klimet Spotted Oblate Thong Necklace handmade from polymer clay
Klimet Spotted Oblate Thong Necklace
quoise & Tangerine Ribbon Necklace handmade from polymer clay
Turquoise & Tangerine Ribbon Necklace
Turquoise & Peach Millefiori Necklace handmade from polymer clay
Turquoise & Peach Millefiori Necklace
Turquoise Millefiori Oblate Necklace handmade from polymer clay
Turquoise Millefiori Oblate Necklace




Monday 23 July 2012

Treasury Tuesday Coral Reef

'Coral Reef' by Lottieoflondon

Coral reefs beneath the ocean forming colors with devotion, attracting fish from far away... It's an ecological distress when the reefs become a mess so we must pay attention today.   Poem by Charlie Vergara


Gardenia Vegan Soap...
$6.00

Turquoise Peach Mil...
$20.00

Handspun Art Yarn, ...
$30.00

Deep Aqua Turquoise...
$58.00

Porcelain Coral Ree...
$8.00

Seahorses in love 2...
$38.00

Porcelain Dish - 12...
$65.00

Wall decal CORAL RE...
$10.00

Ocean Cold Process ...
$6.00

Coral Reef Vegan Mi...
$5.00

Hand painted silk s...
$31.00

Dishy fishy fridge ...
$7.00

Silk carrier rods -...
$2.50

Red coral Sea Fine ...
$37.99

Sholto the Octopus ...
$75.00

Beach Wedding Confe...
$11.00

CraftFest September 1st - 8th 2012


Here are some more examples of the fine stalls taking part in Spetmebers Craftfest on the 1st to the 8th 2012, and don't forget although craftfest offically kicks off on this date you don't have to wait till this time to snap up some gorgeous items.

Personal Space Interiors Craftfest Stall


Find more photos like this on Creative Connections
 


The Long Collections Craftfest Card Stall

A wonderful selection of glamorously vintage cards for any occasion. All are made and embellished by hand and can be personalised to your own requirements.


Find more photos like this on Creative Connections




The Old Button's Craftfest Stall

An eclectic mix of hand crafted items for children and the home, using both new and recycled fabrics embellished with hand embroidery, applique and buttons.


Find more photos like this on Creative Connections
 

Kwur-kees's Craftfest Stall


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Mad About Bags Craftfest Stall 



All my items are made using quality fabrics, some new and some recycled here in my workshop in the Essex countryside. I work in a pet and smoke free environment.

Find more photos like this on Creative Connections

 

 


You can find out all about Craftfest here

Don't forget to check back for more previews of what's to come...

Check Out

Colouring Mixing Polymer Clay Pantone Fall 2012


So I finally got round to a day of colour mixing for Pantone's colour predictions for Fall 2012.

As clayer's already know polymer clay does come in a vast range of colours, but I've learnt a lot about mixing my own colours using a fantstic book called Polymer Clay Colour Inspirations by Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio.

If you are a clayer but haven't come across this book I can highly recommended it as it takes you on a journey of discovering colour with polymer clay, with some great worksheets and beautiful tutorials to boot.

Personally I work with the primary colours of polymer clay being Blue/Ultramarine, Magenta/Red and Yellow, colour mixing to create my own palettes and also working on Pantone's colour predictions for the latest trends in colour.


Colour Mixing with Polymer Clay
Colour Mixing with Polymer Clay
To help with my colour mixing I use my sample colour strings created from my chosen primary colours to help me determine the right mix of colour to achieve my new Pantone colours, again you can learn how to do your own colour strings with the book Polymer Clay Colour Inspirations.


My Pantone Fall 2012 Colours in Polymer Clay
My Pantone Fall 2012 Colours in Polymer Clay
Here are my mixed colours for Fall 2012, I'm delighted with the results.  The bottom three colours Tangerine Tango, Pink Flame and Ultramarine Green do need adjusting with a little more white, as with clay the colours can come out darker once cooked.



Source: pantone.co.uk via Clare on Pinterest


Now its time to start incorporating my new colour palette into my designs.

Part of Handmade Monday with Handmade Harbour


Friday 20 July 2012

CraftFest September 1st - 8th 2012

What is CraftFest?


CraftFest is run by the Creative Connections community social network, unfortunately I missed out on the fourth CraftFest run early in the year, but have eagerly signed up for both Septembers and Novembers CraftFest.

CraftFest is one of the first online craft fairs, much like a virtual craft fair but so much more.  Its not just about the selling, its also about building a community and meeting and making new friends, of which I have already met some fantastic people.

The advertising and promotion of CraftFest is a community team effort, where everyone takes part in helping to promote each others stalls and CraftFest as a whole via social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

 


Applications are still open, so If you are interested in joining the community and taking part why not



I am still preparing my own stall for CraftFest but some stalls are already up and running for browsing and shopping.  So here is just a taster of some fabulous CraftFester's Stalls up and running

Handmade In Keswicks Craftfest Stall



Find more photos like this on Creative Connections

Hi I'm Lu, and I make contemporary mixed media art, some of which I feature on handmade sketchbooks, notebooks and journals.  My work is a bit quirky and unusual, but I find that people seem to look at pieces and know immediately who they're gonna buy for.  The books especially make lovely little hostess gifts and thank you gifts for when you don't want to give flowers or chocs.

Elloria's Boutique Craftfest Stall


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Lorriane Dowdle Lampwork Craftfest Stall



Find more photos like this on Creative Connections


Hand creating gorgeous glass beads and incorporating these original gems into wearable creations is exhilarating! The most rewarding and exciting thing for me, is to bring joy though my work. May My hand created glass treasures bring joy to the receiver whom will create luscious one off pieces of their own

So this is just a small sample of the stalls currently taking part in Septembers CraftFest, keep your eyes peeled as I will be featuring more stalls soon.

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Pantone Colours Fall 2012

Have you heard of Pantone?


I discovered Pantone last year, its a great resource for information on the latest colour trend predictions ranging from fashion, home, graphics and more.

Pantone predict the colours they think will be trending for upcoming seasons, now personally for me as a jewellery designer and a polymer clay artist this is a great resource of information to incorporate the upcoming seasons colours into my work and is perfect for colour mixing the wide range of colours available in polymer clay.


So here are Pantones colour predictions for fall 2012


Source: pantone.co.uk via Clare on Pinterest



With a passion for both fashion and colour I enjoy watching the seasons styles come into play throughout the coming months.

So what do you think of this Falls 2012 colour predictions?