New Decorative Trinket Bowl with Kaleidoscope Design

Introducing our New Decorative Trinket Bowl handmade from polymer clay.  As you can see above I've created a new Kaleidoscope cane for the design in pink and brown hues that once together creates this beautiful floral design.

New Turquoise Kaleidoscope Trinket Bowl

Here's another new addition to my ever growing Ring & Trinket Bowl Collection.

I am in love with this one it reminds my of the beautiful tiles found in Turkish baths, in fact you may remember the design from an earlier post Polymer Clay Kaleidoscope Cane.

Polymer Clay Kaleidoscope Canes

Here's my work in progress each cane slice has to be careful placed to create the overall intricate pattern for the bowl. 

Work in progress creating my trinket dish

Just out of the oven and its looking good, once its cooled the bowl will be ready for some sanding, polishing with a little gold application on the trim and finished with a gloss varnish.

All ready my Turquoise Trinket Dish handmade from polymer clay by Lottie of London

All ready my Turquoise Trinket Dish handmade from polymer clay by Lottie of London

New Polymer Clay Bird Brooch

New at Lottie of London my Polymer Clay Bird Brooch available now in my Etsy store, handmade using slices taken from my Kaleidoscope cane.

Turquoise Stud Earrings handmade using my polymer clay kaleidoscope cane 

Yes and I have also added some Stud Earrings, these are the first pieces to be added for my latest kaleidoscope cane, you can read more about it here

Polymer Clay Kaleidoscope Cane

Blast from the Past here's some more blog posts on my work with Kaleidoscope Canes

CraftArtEdu Review for Polymer Clay Tutorials Part 1

CraftArtEdu Polymer Clay Tutorial Part 2

My Kaleidoscope Cane Needs Something More

Polymer Clay Kaleidoscope Cane

Here's some new pendants and earrings I've made from my latest Kaleidoscope cane from my earlier posts a few weeks ago.

Polymer Clay Kaleidoscope Cane - Jewellery brooch & earrings a work in progress

I've also made this bird brooch too along with some smaller stud earrings, they all need finishing now with backs and varnishing.

Below you can see the original canes I made along with the sheet I created.  These canes were the result of a tutorial I purchased from the CraftArtEdu website by Julie Eakes.

Definitely a challenging tutorial but it was so worth it as I'm delighted with the results.

Polymer Clay Kaleidoscope Canes & Sheet

Here's some past blogposts on my Kaleidoscope Canes

CraftArtEdu Review for Polymer Clay Tutorials Part 1

CraftArtEdu Polymer Clay Tutorial Part 2 The Results

My Kalediscope Cane Needs Something More

Polymer Clay Pink Kaleidoscope Necklace handmade by Lottie Of London

Chunky Pink Kaleidoscope Beaded Necklace handmade from polymer clay

 #jewellery #jewellerydesigner #polymerclay

Polymer Clay Ribbon Necklace Comission

I missed last weeks Handmade Monday as I was busy working on a commission.

It was a replica of my turquoise and orange ribbon necklace made last year, I really like the colours on this necklace as they are so vibrant and the kaleidoscope cane used is one of my favourites and reminds me that I really need to make more of these canes if different styles, a blog post for the future.

Turquoise & Orange Ribbon Necklace handmade from polymer clay by Lottie Of London

I also took the opportunity to finish off my Turquoise Rose Ribbon Necklace that has been waiting for completion for a while.

Turquoise Rose Ribbon Necklace handmade from polymer clay by Lottie Of London

Turquoise Rose Ribbon Necklace handmade from polymer clay by Lottie Of London

Well that's all my makes for this week, why not pop on over to Handmade Monday and check out more great crafter's over on Handmade Harbours Handmade Monday

CraftArtEdu Polymer Clay Tutorial Part 2 The Results

In part one of my CraftArtEdu polymer clay review, I reviewed the tutoiral Have a Heart by Donna Kato as I created and learned how to make the polymer clay cane need to progress onto part 2 of the pendant.

My polymer clay cane for CraftArtEdu's tutorial Have a Heart

If you missed part one you can catch up here

Have a Heart Polymer Clay Tutorial by Donna Kato Review

Part two of the tutorial involved the creating of the heart pendant using your kaleidoscope cane created in part one, again I found the tutorial really easy to use and picked up more great tips/techniques on applying my cane to the pendant and creating the heart pendant itself.

So here are the finished results of the tutorial

My Have a Heart Polymer Clay Pendant, created using CraftArtEdu's Tutorial

My Have a Heart Polymer Clay Pendant, created using CraftArtEdu's Tutorial

And of course I just couldn't stop there, here are a few more pendants I created using the same cane and the tips I learnt from the tutorial.

Black & White Polymer Clay Pendant created with my kaleidoscope cane

Black & White Polymer Clay Square Pendant created with my kaleidoscope cane

Black & White Polymer Clay Lariat Necklace created with my kaleidoscope cane

Did you miss my post on digital tutorials here From the Craft Book to the PDF - Online Polymer Clay Tutorials.

This post is part of Handmade Monday don't forget to check out more great crafter's over on Handmade Harbours Handmade Monday

CraftArtEdu Review for Polymer Clay Tutorials Part 1

Following on from my mini post From the Craft Book to the PDF - Online Polymer Clay Tutorials this weekend, here's a review of a tutorial class I have tried with CraftArtEdu.com

I've had my eye on CraftArtEdu's polymer clay tutorials for a while but I've always found their higher prices slightly off putting, are they really value for money?

My initial thoughts had always been that for the price of the one online tutorial I could by a book full of tutorials, so where is the incentive to buy?  Well it would seem that quite a few of the artists that had initally published books are now have tutorials available on CraftArtEdu, so if like me you have a favourite artist or technique that you want to learn this is now the place to go.

A few weeks back they offered a free promotional download via email for the polymer clay tutorial Have a Heart by Donna Kato, with Donna being one of my favourite polymer clay artists it was an opportunity not to be missed.

So what do you get with a CraftArtEdu tutorial? Well initially when the website first started purchased classes where only available to view for a limited period of time, thankfully this has now changed and you are able to view the video classes an unlimited amount of times.  Classes will consist of a tutorial video and material list and its worth noting that some classes will also consist you will also get a PDF file of your class, though this can vary with each class, so be sure to check.

Have a Heart by Donna Kato Part 1 

Have a Heart Donna Kato's polymer Clay CraftArtEdu Class

Upon purchase the email link for my class was sent quickly, which is perfect for all the crafter's out there, after all we are an impatient lot when it comes to wanting to learn new things.

This class was spilt in to 3 parts, an introduction which is usually free and a teaser to tempt you into purchasing the class and then 2 more sections Part 1 was for the assembly of the cane that will be used in Part 2 creating your jewellery piece. For this review I'll be focusing on part 1 of the cane assembly.

Now I thought that the class video would actually be them showing you how its done, as it done, pretty much like many tutorials on YouTube, but its not, its a video class of images showing you each part for which the tutor talks over explaining what to do and also includes written directions to.  How is this any different to a book tutorial? well the video class contains a lot more pictures than a book with more detail for the techniques used, for this particular tutorials cane construction it was great, I could move the player back and forth through sections I didn't understand to get it right and Donna's instructions where very clear to work with.  I actually watched the video first and then got all my materials together to go through the class again, I could stop and rewind as necessary and the class moved at a good working pace.

My polymer clay cane construction for Donna Katos Have a Heart class on CraftArtEdu.com

A plus for this method of tutorial was getting tips from the tutor on techniques to improve my work, which is invaluable, just like being in a real class with the tutor which is what CraftArtEdu is trying to do, make a online tutorial class for everyone to be able to access and not replace tutorial books.


Despite my love for book tutorials I was pleasantly surprised with the class I really enjoyed it and I'm delighted with my completed cane for part 1 and can't wait to grab some time to move onto part 2.

My completed cane for Donna Kato's Have a Heart class waiting for Part 2

Would I buy again and pay the higher price? yes I would, I think like most crafter's if there's a technique or particular item you want to learn to make you will ultimately pay any price to learn it and CraftArtEdu classes are a very enjoyable way to do it.

Did you miss my post on digital tutorials here From the Craft Book to the PDF - Online Polymer Clay Tutorials.

Update 22nd April 2013
You can now find Part 2 here  CraftArtEdu Review The Finished Results Part Two
This post is part of Handmade Monday don't forget to check out more great crafter's over on Handmade Harbours Handmade Monday

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.

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.