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Friday 24 April 2015

#PCChallenge : Week 16 : All the green and blue

Hi !

Here is my week 16 pieces for the #2015PCChallenge. This is my third post this week.What with all the late entries and forgotten weeks ,there has been too much writing and not enough making!

I was exhausted this week and I have picked a simpler set than usual so ,I increased the total number of completed pieces ( since its me and I make things complicated).

I like most of them as they are already , I might sand some more or varnish a bit as time goes.
This is a modified version of my first tryst with faux copper leaf .

This is again a simple project , but quite rewarding.Planning on making some more color combos soon :)

There are 3 pendants ,  3 pair of earrings and 3 bangles / cuffs.


Thanks for reading ! Have a great day :)

Thursday 23 April 2015

#2015PCChallenge : All pending week entries! Week 2,3 & 4

Hi!

Going through the #2015PCChallenge page , Katie Oskin had a gentle reminder for this month , "Are you falling behind ? Are you overly productive ?".
I was late in posting the previous week due to a unforeseen issue , but I remembered after reading this post , that I still haven't posted the challenge items for Week 2 ,3 & 4 ( Here is my post dated week 1 entry ).
I did not make anything in January as I was not home for most of that month.So all my pieces for my firt four weeks are from 2014.

I have not made a composite image of all the weekly entries, as that would way too many. I have an average of 2 items for every week , so that's more than 30 individual items.
I am only posting about the catch up weeks.This was a bit tricky , as I needed something old ( 2014 and Jan 2015) , and not something I made recently.As usual (other than for this month) , there is a primary piece and a companion piece for each week.

I am not one of those self motivated people , so I really needed to announce somewhere about my plans.Thankfully , I normally do keep my word , so my postings have been on time barring the family emergency of last week.I love looking through the the #2015PCChallenge albums , they are full of marvelous mixes of possibilities :)

Thanks to Katie and Katersacres for this challenge and for the reminder :)

Week 2 : Noodle beads : Made in August

 I love noodle beads. I bought my first extruder last year ,before I took up polymer clay. I was already playing with cold porcelain , and wanted to try making the retro cane. Needless to say it did not work out.At all.The only plus point was that I made a whole lot of noodle beads in cold porcelain.

When I did buy my first batch of polymer clay in August 2014 , the first thing I made were a lot of noodle beads.

1.Blue Noodle bead neck piece with labrodite,leather cording and colored copper.


This was my first necklace attempt. I was very proud of myself , using all the various materials :)
 I baked the blue beads on corn flour , and I could not wash it all out.I am planning on restringing it at some point of time.


 2.Noodle Bead post  earrings in gold and pink

 The pink was scrap clay , but its a very pretty earring. I am frankly surprised at how well they turned out considering I made these right after I got the polymer clay.These are really very simple and very satisfying to make.
I call them noolunda beads , translating to a ball of thread beads , but noodle beads are a lot easier to type in , hehe.

Week 3 : Simple cane earrings : Made in September



Both the earrings have the canes from one of my very first posts.These were made simultaneously with that post.
I then lived in a lala land where I thought making tutorials would be easy and fun. Well , they are not. I now have an immense respect for people who make quality tutorials and thus share their time, energy, ideas and experience with us.I like to buy technique tutorials as well , it saves a lot of time and money in the long run , compared to my tendency of doing innumerable tests.

I have coated the black and purple tear drop earrings with an acrylic glaze.

Week 4 : Bangles : Made in November 2014.




The colorful kaleidoscope cane bangle was the first bangle that I made.It has a copper wire armature. While I expected this to be the strongest type , it is this one that bends and loses shape. It was very lumpy when I made it and had to sand a lot ( I tried with 100 grit "shudder" ) , and the sanding scratches are still there on it.I actually sanded it to around 800 grit , but the initial scratches that I made never went away.

The blueish bangle is something I wear a lot. This was the first piece where I sanded from grits 230 to 1500. I then buffed it once I got the dremel as well.This is satiny soft to the touch.It is not perfect , (lots of grooves) but there something about it that makes it a go to piece for me.This is a trial bangle made from scrap cane in subdued colors. Nothing indicated while it was being made that it would be one of my most favorite pieces.


Thats it for today! All back to back posts done.Another post coming up tomorrow for the week 16 challenge!
Thanks for reading and have a good day!

Wednesday 22 April 2015

Week 15 #2015PCChallenge :Trial applique : Late entry

Hi !

This is my entry for week 15 of the #2015PCChallenge. This is also Week 2 of my personal April challenge of jewelry sets ( of 3 pieces minimum) and first time entry for the Art bead scene monthly challenge.

This week is quite special, as I have joined the ArtBeadScene challenge. I was quite sure I wouldn't be able to take part , what with me being just a beginner , but Yaay !

 This blog is full of inspiration and wonderful pieces of wearable art.The blog does not  just showcase  polymer clay , it involves art and artists involved with ceramics ,metal, felt , precious stones and everything else that can be made wearable. Even if you are not an artist of the jewelry kind , but beautiful things fascinate you , you must check this blog out.

Art bead scene has a monthly challenge for art beads and jewelry containing art beads. .The theme for this month is a self portrait of Frida Kahlo  titled  Self portriat with thorn necklace and humming bird.You can read more about it here .

It was quite challenging for me to take this up as I am just beginning to co-relate and use art as an inspiration and as a starting point.
 For my sake of easing in gently I have chosen to concentrate on the color palette.I wanted to bring in a sort of feeling of melancholia to the jewelry.

This is something of a trial piece and will not be up for sale. The chord lengths of the neck piece and the bracelet is correct for me , however I  have to finalize the sizes before variations are up for sale.I am open to taking custom orders for this design.



This is the bracelet along with the set. I have chosen to make this with the lighter shades seen in the picture.I have weaved the handmade plain beads with the cotton cord.


As you can see this post is published on 22.04.2015 , not on 17.04.2015 as planned. I could not do as there was a family emergency that called me away.I was unable to complete the third portion of this set before Friday of the previous week. I am not adding it to this challenge right now , but I might do it later on.

Thanks for reading. Have a great day !



Tuesday 14 April 2015

Trial : Jhimki Caned and textured

Hi :)

As this week continues with the set challenge , I did not want to start anything new.I was going through my pieces stash   ( which is  full by the way) , and I saw a few half done pieces.I thought it was time to fix them up!

Since I rediscovered jhimkis last week , I sat down and made a few  caned jhimkis.I shall put those pieces up soon for sale.

These were the few pieces that were already completed. I made these in November. I was terrible at making canes , and these are the very first canes I made.These are not for sale , just for my reference.






As you can see , they are not perfect.
There are spots around the dome structure devoid of any cane and just showing the scrap clay.
The wire work is quite terrible and uneven.I had made the holes in the dome with a toothpick and this led to hole sizes of uneven sizes.I used 22 gauge of wire for wrapping both , this meant that for one piece it was just right , but the other one the wire work  just sank through.
I had not added the balls at the end as they were not staying on for me.

I have no intention of selling  them , but they are easily wearable as long they are tweaked a bit, These are the results.



I also made a few more Jhimkis before trying out the new caned versions.



These were fun to make as well.I shall try to update on the newer cane jhumki's as soon as I am done.

Thanks for reading :) Have a great day!

Friday 10 April 2015

Week 14 #2015PCChallenge : Blue floral set

Hi ,

This is week one for my personal April challenge : Jewelry sets and week 14 for the #2015PCChallenge .

 I have seen many artists / jewelry designers and newbies like me make these beautiful jewelry sets inclusive of something for the neck , something for the ear , something for the arms.Occasionally even finger rings and toe rings are part of the pack.

I decided to do this challenge taking into consideration the advice I have been receiving about having complete sets in my shop.Once I decided that this was the challenge for me this month , I started thinking about the reasons why would this be a challenge for me. Lots of introspection followed.


Note :This is a slightly long and somewhat rambly post , so if you want to , just skip to the pictures to see what I was up to this week.

I don't wear a lot of jewelry other than for formal functions , where I need to dress up a bit to blend in.This might sound like an oxymoron( did I get that right?)  , a jewelry crafter ( ok, aspiring ) who hardly wears any jewelry !

I collect a whole lot of jewelry. I love the big baubles and most of all the huge strands of seed beads , all twisted up with huge chunky pendants. Oh , how I love them! I adore silver jewelry and I can honestly spend thousands of rupees on them without feeling (too) guilty.  Add to all of this the fact that I have been making ( trying to make) jewelry since I was around ten years old , yet I wear minimal jewelry !

The main reasons I do not wear jewelry is that :


1. I did not find the kind of jewelry I was always looking for. For example , my favorite stone would be labrodorite , followed by opals and agates. These are not considered very valuable here in my community, certainly not valuable enough to be worn for functions. Finding good quality focal pieces and setting them seemed like an impossible job.

2.I am expected to wear gold jewelry (only). I do not like gold jewelry that much , I am more of an antique silver person. I don't think the 22 carat gold that is popular here flatters my skin tone.I also don't like the societal connotations that go with gold jewelry . All of this adds up to me avoiding wearing jewelry all together.

There are beautiful pieces of jewelry being made in gold. I have a few pieces that have been passed on to me through family , and a few pieces that were purchased for my wedding that I dearly love.They are gorgeous ,pieces of traditional Malayali jewelry and I feel amazing when I wear them.My attachment to them is mostly on the basis of their history,personal significance  and the handiwork that has gone into it , not because they are simply gold.
 However where I come from, gold is a sign of wealth , so wearing gold is flaunting your wealth.It doesn't matter how you live , you wear gold. It doesn't matter how ugly your gold jewelry is , it doesn't matter it doesn't suit you, you wear gold.Add to all of this the fact that 22 carat gold is garishly yellow. I agreed to wear gold for my wedding , because I didn't want other people to be mean to my mother and because I do understand that gold is a form of investment.

3. Heaviness of jewelry : I have tiny earlobes. They cannot support the weight of the heavy , ornate beautiful jhimkis ( Jhumkas , Jhumkis , the pronunciations changes from place to place.) and other earrings  that I love.If I cant wear what i like , I decided I  wont wear any jewelry at all.

There are frankly some more reasons, such as I don't like mass produced jewelry.I am also not fond of wearing identical pieces that someone else has ,( unless of course I like the person).I like to wear jewelry that is beautiful but also significant.

                                            ****** Introspective section is over ******

I hated wearing fully matched sets. I do not normally wear completely matched sets , I like a bit of unexpectedness in matching my jewelry.That is one the reasons I took this months challenge , to move out of my comfort zone. making multiple similar looking pieces is a major challenge for me.

To be fair , I gave myself a short cut and based my week 14 jewelry on the week 13 challenge. So hehe , a significant short cut for me.

Here they are , my pieces for #2015PCChallenge , week 14.
Blue green Jhimkis with floral motifs and blue textured choker.

The whole set together



The textured blue choker is made up of four individually crafted pieces , and handmade polymer clay beads.Back is black and textured.Brown cotton cord for stringing and sliding knots for closure.

These were harder to make than I planned. I wanted to do something other than my typical cord and sliding knot , so I gave tiger tail wire a try. While it is nice , it is not right for me. I like the feel of cotton cord that is used on this neck piece.I initially planned on adding more beads , but it didn't look like something that I would wear , so opened it back up. Now I like it!



These are the jhimkis along with the set. they are pretty light weight. I could wear them comfortably for around 8 hours , because I would forget I am wearing them in the first place.
This blue-green stud based earring comes with textured leaves and cane flowers.Little polymer clay balls for accents. These balls are typically much smaller on the gold and silver versions.

Sorry about the poor quality photos. The weather nor electricity was on my side today :( Try to put up better pics soon !

Thanks for reading ! Would love your feedback :)
 Have a great day!







Friday 3 April 2015

Week 13 : #2015PCChallenge : Floral Cuff in powder blue

Hi ,

My entry for this week , is a powder blue ,curved and luxuriously textured cuff with floral cane embellishments.The back is black and textured , closed with a brown leather corded slide knot and blue glass beads. It is meant to fit snugly on to your fore arm.

This is the last week for my jungle theme. I made a whole lot of things that can fit in for this theme this week. The real reason I did that  is because I loved the technique that I used. I don't know what this technique is called , I am checking up and once I am done , I will clarify it here. If you know the name please do leave a comment.On another note , I will probably utilize the flower and leaves motives regularly as long they can be part of some challenge , and that's not including the store.


The real challenge for this week was the photography. We have been having very windy weather here this week , so I kept putting off the photo session. Oh, why you ask ? I take photos in a tiny balcony outside , on the third floor, with just a tiny stone slab as my photo table.I love taking photos outside , as the colors tend to come out just right. There is minimum photo manipulation , and the natural color is mostly retained.

As I said ,this week was very windy , so  I kept waiting for the right time and I kept putting  off the photo session. Since today is Friday and I need to put this up , I finally gave up and set up my makeshift studio ( rather a big word for my swalpa adjust madi rig) , pushing my electric kettle and microwave out of the way.I put down a gray (sort of) paper as I read somewhere , draped it with a thorthu and tried to do something.

Now of course the gray paper that I read about was the white balance gray card , something I have to yet purchase. The thorthu was standing in for a light muslin cloth to filter the light. My source of light was a table lamp.

Oh , Swalpa adjust madi literally translates to little adjust do.And thorthu is a white, light cotton towel , excellent for toweling your hair.

This was the result.

Photo Experiment 1. Gray paper and camera on auto

I had to adjust the color so that it looks similar to the actual cuff colors.While I was Ok with it ,I wasnt sure I liked it liked it. You know what that means.

Then I decided that I am going to try a couple of things and see how it goes.I just used the auto settings for all these.I certainly have to start learning how to set the settings for macro photography inside the house.


2.I tried it with a regular white paper.

Photo experiment 2 : White paper


3. Then with a rough sandpaper , grit 100 I think.

Photo experiment 3 : Black sandpaper

4. Then an old grey t-shirt. 

Photo experiment 4 : Grey T shirt


Then I went out for a bit of air , and I decided to give a go outside as well


The colors are a bit muted on this one as well . The blue and greens are a lot more vibrant.They glow , and that doesn't come out here.

What I have learnt today is that it is very important for me to learn photography. While I want to sign up for some course ,  what I really need to do is learn how to make my camera really work for me. That is another sub quest for me now :)

Thanks for reading :) Have a good day!