#2015PCChallenge : Week 36 : Resist attack!

Hi !

I am back to playing with alcohol inks this week. While I liked the bangles I made a few weeks back using the resist technique , they don't look very batik-y to me. So I have been pretty much experimenting for a bit now.

Clearly I haven't gotten a handle of how to get it right. But this particular experiment may  slightly, very slightly help me progress. At least I haven't traveled backwards this time ( I think ).

I was too tired to photograph them separately , so I just did it together :) .

Thanks for reading !Have a great day !

Also :
 Please pardon my late posts. We are having intermittent rains and frequent power cuts here , and its frustrating to upload and fail multiple times.I am thinking of even posting just once every month with four items , but I wont do it simply because its the next step  to posting once in three months and so on.
Thank you guys who still bother to read :) 

DIY Cuff / bangle form : Inexpensive & Quick

Hi !

When I started making bangles & cuffs , the first obstacle I faced was finding the right form to base my bangle around. I started making them using an empty soda can. I could wear it with a bit of discomfort , but I was finding it difficult to find a measurement that fit me exactly.

One way to find your size is by making a few bangles on different forms , such as tumblers , glass bottles and big sized cookie cutters. The drawback is that if the size is not right , you may have a few unusable bangles in your hand.And of course potentially wasted clay.

Then there are a few of us who find even this quite difficult because we cannot find the right sized form to use, even after much trial . This DIY is particularly for you.


MAKING YOUR OWN BANGLE/ CUFF FORM ( The lazy girl trick )
Please read the notes ( on the bottom of the post) as well before starting this project.

Supplies : Bangle , Caliper, Toilet paper roll & Aluminium foil roll. 

Materials Needed 

1. Aluminium foil
2. Toilet paper roll
3. Circular Bangle that fits you correctly 
                            or

    measuring tape / scale & string / Caliper tool

Time taken : Ten minutes

Measuring 

If you have a bangle that fits you right , measure the diameter of it (1st measurement) . Reduce 2.5 or 3 millimeters from this measurement ( 2nd measurement).

OR

My husbands hand for reference

If you do not have a bangle ,then take the string or measuring tape and keep it ready.

1.Measure around the widest area of your palm.Make note of the measurement.

In my case it is : 21 cm.
2.Divide this measurement by 3. ( 7 cm for me) - 1st measurement.
3.Now minus .5 cm or 5 millimeters from this measurement ( 6.5 cm for me) - 2nd measurement 


                                                                                                   Getting the form ready

Unravel the toilet paper roll , till the diameter of the roll is the 2nd measurement. In my case 6.5 cm.

Tear the aluminium foil to go around the ( now smaller roll) paper 2 to 3 times.

Holding the now aluminium foil wrapped roll, slowly tuck in the excess amount sticking out from either side , into the empty core of the roll.




Also:

• This measurement is for a bangle/cuff that fits snugly over your knuckles and falls to your wrist.If you regularly wear bangles , this would be correct for you.
• If you prefer your bangle to be of a looser fit around the knuckles, deduct .25 cm from your first measurement rather than .5 cm

                                                                                  OR

The truly lazy method ( which I use )

• Measure around your hand as in the picture I have attached.Make a note of the measurement. 
• Start tearing away the paper roll till it starts becoming thinner. periodically measure around it , so that the circumference of the roll is same as that of your hand.
• Tear away a few more sheets so that the roll circumference is a few millimeters less than your hand measurement.
• Tear the aluminium foil to go around the ( now smaller)paper roll 2 to 3 times.
• Holding the now aluminium foil wrapped roll, slowly tuck in the excess amount sticking out from either side , into the empty core of the roll.

That's it ! 

The total cost of purchase I incurred was around Rs. 90/-.
I have only used half a roll of toilet paper + a quarter roll of aluminium foil , thus  I actually utilized materials of about only Rs.40/-

Note : 

• Since the inside is tissue paper , I will not recommend using this more than few times.If you liked making bangles , and would like to do it regularly , it would be wise to invest in a form that is sold commercially. If that is not possible , try making a form similar to this , but only using aluminium foil.
• A kitchen roll could be substituted for the toilet paper roll. You might need to cut it down to size to fit in the oven better.
• The extra tissue can be used for armature building or for wiping down your work space etc.

If you have any questions , I would be happy to answer them.
Thanks for reading ! have a great day !

#2015PCChallenge : Week 35 : caned bangles

Hi !

I discovered that I had a 2oz slab of Premo wasabi with me . I was not sure what I could do with it. I made a skinner blend of it with white and paired it with a skinner blend of navy blue & white. These were the results.
I actually liked the cane and the color wasabi waaay more than I thought I would. I unfortunately reduced the canes too much ( never know when to stop :( ).

Thanks for dropping in ! Have a great day :)

#2015PCChallenge : Week 33 & 34 combo

Happy Onam everyone !

This week I am posting for both week 33 & 34. I could not post last week due to an internet issue, which is now rectified ( thank God ! ).

So,week 33 : Batik Printing on Polymer clay with Alchohol ink

I had been planning on trying out a batik effect for a while , but I kept putting it off. Recently I have been seeing the batik effect on polymer clay , popping up quite often online. Last week I was talking to Preethy ( fellow clayer & friend ) , and I mentioned this.She very helpfully explained to me the process that is followed for textiles. Keeping that information in mind , I gave this a try.

While I am quite happy with this  , I don't think it completely captures the spirit of Batik printing. I certainly could not get the veiny effect , which is something I love.I have not varnished this since I like this texture.I made this for me , so I might as well as check out how the colors fade in time.
I have a semi idea in my head to get the veins as well , hopefully it works out :)

Artybecca has a pretty great tutorial on this. She also has other amazing stuff if you are wondering. Thank you Artybecca :) I am certain that , this is the reason I was able to do this technique quite easily.

For some reason the rubber cement / masking fluid I had was not working very well with the clay , and I was rather stuck the last time.This time ,I was playing with some split fevicol and discovered that white glue does this job just fine.It worked much better than I anticipated.

Week 34 : Simple textures

I was planning on doing an Onam themed challenge , but I finally changed course and made something I could wear for onam :)
Little selfish huh ?

so here it is , week 34 :

Primary piece : Chunky  rustic earring , translucent clay with acrylic

I love translucent clay. I dont know why I am fascinated with it , but its probably tied with my love for alcohol inks. So when I realized that all stores have run out of translucent clay here I was very sad. I finally found a few bars a few weeks before  and I ordered it immediately. The clay I received was super crumbly and I was absolutely unable to work wit it.

I was very upset , so I hid it away.

This week I wanted to make a floral cane ( which I did not make btw ), and I wanted some translucent clay to fill in the spaces. Since all I had were the crumbly clay , and no amount hammering was helping me out in making them workable , I finally decided to give a go with baby oil to soften it up.

I was very hesitant about doing this , because the very first pack of translucent clay I bought was crumbly, and I attempted to soften it by adding baby oil. It unfortunately backfired. All the pieces I attempted  using that batch were crumbly after baking, even though the other pieces ( which did not contain translucent) baked just fine.

Yes , I can use TLS / clay softner as well , but the thing is , TLS & clay softners are rare here.they are impossible to find. I do not want to use TLS here , and finish my stash , so this was the only option.And with so many clayers swearing by it , it must contain some truth ,even if my first experiment was a disaster.

Anyway, this time it worked.

What did I do differently ?
 I worked the oil in without natural absorption the first time , baked it within a few hours to a day after softening it.
The second time , I smashed the clay and put it in a ziploc. Poured more oil than I planned, and forgot about it for around four days,Then made it into an oily (icky) blob and wrapped with a printer paper , and left it to leach for half a day.This resulting clay was softer , but not even. So I then worked it with my hands , part by part ( took me a few hours ) eventually resulting in an even soft texture. I left it for a day ( in another ziploc) and then took a small piece and randomly put in a few drops of alcohol ink. Baked it and Tada ! it

So the end result is not spectacular to look at , but what it stands for is pretty amazing to me :)

Secondary piece : My selfish piece for Onam

This is my great grand piece to wear with my kerala saree ( when I get to it).

 It took an awful amount of time and a nice  little boil sort of thing on my finger with all the chaffing from the mini pliers.

 I bought a few ball end pins last month.Even though it was clearly mentioned 20 mm , I happily bought it ( I didnt see ( UGH )). What happened was that they were too tiny for my original plan , so I had to scrap that . For the next trial I used some gold colored seed beads instead. They were still surprisingly difficult to wrap around.
Then I tried to reduce the thickness of the clay instead ( made other disks) , but they crumbled( after already using up quite a number of my limited stock of ball ends).So I went back to the original plan. As you can see, the wrapping is below par , some have one wrap , some have two. I am too exhausted to sit and redo it, since it only for me,I guess I will just keep fixing it if something happens. On the other hand they are quite snug , and I don't think they will fall off.

Both the earrings look quite heavy , but they are quite light weight ! The second one looks quite dressy and its gold , so hopefully I can wear it for some function soon.


Thanks for reading this lengthy & rambly post :) Happy Onam everyone ! Wishing you & your family peace & prosperity !Have a great day :)

#2015PCChallenge : Week 32 : Colorful Rustic cuffs

Hi !

This time I made a simple, yet colorful rustic style cuffs.These are the first attempts of this style for me , so will be working on this style for the next two weeks as well.
I have wanted to make these ever since I bought the Rustic beads tutorial from the BlueBottleTree blog , but I kept putting it off.I was feeling rather "off" for the last month, so I thought I shall revisit the basics and this was the result.
While I am quite happy with them , there are quite few kinks to be worked out.
Just one pic with both the bangles this time.

Thanks for reading & have a great day !

#2015PCChallenge : Week 31 : Floral Bangles

Hi !

I wanted to make something cheerful & some thing very colorful this week.I call these my adult sized kiddie bangles :)

While they look quite similar , they are not identical. They follow slightly different methods even though the end result is quite These are based on the week 10 entries , using translucent liquid & alcohol inks.

so here both the primary & secondary pieces :

Both are very colorful , but the bottom flowers look like they grow in the water & the ones one the top look like creepers on a wall. Incidentally , I wanted the blue to represent the sky ( lol ).

I am not happy with the finish of the bottom bangle , so that would go into my private stash.I shall be putting the top one up for sale soon :)

Thanks for reading ! Have a great day !

#2015PCChallenge : Week 30

Hi !

I keep thinking that this challenge will get easier as weeks pass on by, but it has not happened yet. I planned to have an easy month this time , and I set myself no boundaries at all. I experimented a bit , tried on a bit of bargello , a few faux ceramic jhimkis , a bit of mokume gane trials and made a few leaf canes to keep for later.

I wanted to make a few leafy bangles for this week , unfortunately all my flower petal canes have dried out :( . I am very very sad . They crumble when I try to cut them. I have now  put a bit of TLS on them and wrapped in a plastic sheet to rest , hopefully it shall come out fine. There is a shortage of white Premo & white translucent  in all the stores I buy from , this makes me bit wary to make petal canes again , as I don't want to waste the bit of white clay I have.

After that , I wanted to try making a mask , similar to the one worn during masquerades( shaped like a sleeping mask lol ) , I made a mess of that as well. I certainly learnt a lot , but wasted a fair bit of clay.

By now, more than half the week has passed me by. I was feeling pretty despondent by now, so I thought I shall try a mokume gane. Another failed attempt to my name :( . My color choices were terrible , and I have a lot to learn.

In between all of this , I was making a few jhimkis to list in my store . Frankly they were the only thing I am happy with this week.I did not want to list jhimkis again , but they are the only completed pieces I have , so here they are :

Primary piece : Extra large Jhimki in red , gold & pearl.This measures 4 cm at the widest.

This is the secondart piece : There are three of these jhimkis. They are quite small , measuring around 2.5 cms at the widest.

Thanks for reading , have a great day !

#2015PCChallenge : Week 29 : A mix of blues

Hi!

Here is my submission for week 29 for #2015PCChallenge.

This week I wanted to give Bargello style a try.Not unusually , I started meandering within the first hour or so,resulting in something I was not planning on making.

Primary Piece : Textured geometric Cuff in Blues & white

Fastened with turquoise suede chord in a sliding knot.

Secondary piece :Textured  Fishy pendant in blue.
This can probably be directly related to watching shark tales on tv , while playing with clay (lol).
Fastened with turquoise suede chord in a sliding knot.

Hope you liked what I made this week ! Thank you so much for reading :)

Have a great day !

#2015PCChallenge : Week 28

Hi !

For this week's challenge , I made a mix of floral themed pieces.
I rather forgot about the challenge this week , so these were made quite quickly. They are made with a flower mold I rediscovered. They are quite simple to make , but the results are quite rewarding :)

I am trying to make a few more pieces for some experiments. I will try to post them here.

Thanks for reading this quick post :)

Have a great day !

#2015PCChallenge : Week 27 : Jhimki trials

Hi!

This week I have tried to make some jhimki's. These are dome shaped earrings , usually made with silver or gold. This style is one of  thetraditional style earrings that can be found through out India.
They have recently had a resurgence in popularity ,however the materials are now paper , terracotta & clay.

I have been making jhimkis with cane designs for a while , but I could not try an textured styles.
Recently , a friend ordered some  texture sheets for herself from cooltools , and very kindly offered me the chance to buy some for me as well. So now I have a few sheets to play with !
I right away tried making some Jhimkis.
Textured jhimkis were fairly easy to make , one color sutton slice technique based ones were tougher but doable , the multicolored sutton slice based one was quite tough & time consuming.

So here goes :
Primary pieces : Textured jhimkis with wire work .

I am a rookie in the matters of wire work also , so I am not a 100% happy with the purple jhimkis , and would not be putting these style earrings for sale just yet. 

I am quite happy with the blue pair , I initially put them up for sale , but i have withdrawn them since.I happen to have a perfectly matched saree for this , and I was also hunting for the perfect earrings. So a bit of self indulgence in this case.

Secondary pieces : Sutton slice technique 

The jhimki pair on the bottom was single colored sutton slice experiment. It went off without a hitch. I am quite happy. 

The jhimki pair on top was a monster to make , and even then I am not perfectly happy with it. I was done with most of it , but completed it just a few days back.Thankfully the better version of this is off to an owner , and this is an experimental piece. I wasted so much clay , just trying to get all four colors in.I spent days get it just right. Finally when everything was in place , the hole for the eye pin would be off by a millimeter or so . I was a frustrated mess.  This is by far the toughest earring I have had to make.

Sorry about the delayed post , I was unable to upload the photos on time due to our rather slow internet connection.

Thanks for reading.Comments are always welcome !

Have a great day :)

Now we Bake !

Now that we have gotten answers to the most common questions , let us move onto finally baking our project.

Most of us use different methods to ensure burning, browning and soft spots don't mar our work. I follow Ginger Davis Allman's method of baking clay.I have had good results so far , with only few instances of burning ( because of temperature spikes).
To bake this way ,you need :

Aluminum containers are easily available in super markets. Buy a size that fits your oven.

You need at least 2 binder clips for this. I used four for a while, but it doesn't seem make any notable difference.

She uses a small size ceramic tile , which she places inside one the containers.
Then , on top of it , copy paper or printer paper , then the project is placed on top of it , close with the other container , use the binder clips to close the sides.

Picture Credit : Blue Bottle Tree . Thank you Ginger !

Putting Ceramic tiles in your oven has another major benefit for those who have misbehaving ovens. Ceramic tiles help with spiking , that is , it helps with stabilizing your oven temperature so that your projects have a better chance of baking thoroughly.

Covering your project with containers helps with stabilizing temperature. This also has an additional benefit of containing any toxic fumes on the off chance your project gets burnt.


I however did not find any small size ceramic tile , so my alternative is to put a cardboard piece, cut to size ,inside the box. I have tried putting only printer paper , while this prevents shiny spots , the paper has to be replaced every time.I am essentially lazy so I use cardboard instead.You can use a single piece of cardboard for baking around 20-30 times.

Putting a piece of cardboard instead

Another common technique is using baking soda / Corn powder. This is a good option for baking sculptures or projects that are not flat , or otherwise needs some support during baking to retain their unique shapes.

Set project in the corn powder. Cover & bake.

You will  need 2 aluminium containers as well as 2 binder clips for this technique also.

Pour the powder of your choice into the container and put your project in. Close the container using the other container and binder clips. Bake.

I do not follow this technique generally as I mostly make things that do not need support. If you want to bake small figurines or flowers with delicate petals etc , this would be a good option for you.

Con : The powders may stick to the crevices in your project. Use a toothpick or tooth brush to get them out.


 The piece used here for explaining is NOT polymer clay. It is cold porcelain. I wanted to show the type of projects that would benefit from this technique , as well as to show powder sticking.


NOTE : Many people use regular baking pans ( non disposable) for baking polymer clay. Line the insides with foil before putting in the tile/cardboard or powders. Use another regular baking pan that covers the first one perfectly and bake,

You can bake your PC project directly, using the pan provided with the oven & leaving your project open , but this generally results in burning. If not burnt it will most likely discolor your baked clay or leave a shiny spot where it touches the pan.

You are sure to find many more techniques as you get familiar with clay. You will most likely modify a technique you like to fit your particular needs.Also :

• The clay will be quite flexible after taking it from the oven. Once it cools down , it will be much harder , but still a little bit flexible. This is normal.The thinner pieces will be more flexible than the thicker pieces.
• If you try to break your project during this stage & the piece crumbles ( feels a bit like crumbled wax), then your project may be under baked , ie, baked at a lower temperature than recommended.
• When you bake whites or translucent clay , and you notice that  the clay is slightly beige or brownish , then you may be baking at a higher temperature than needed.So please purchase an oven thermometer to ensure that your clay doesn't give you any nasty surprises.
• You can bake your clay pieces multiple times. As long as the temperature range is controlled , your item will not get burned .Infact , experts say that baking for longer makes your pieces stronger.

I have tried to add in the questions I answer most of the time. I cleared most of my doubts from the blue bottle tree. Ginger writes very clearly &  articles are easy to read. Please read through the comments on her article  as well , as your question might be answered there as well.

If you would like me to add anything in , please let me know.

Thanks for reading , have a great day !

Some common questions about polymer clay : Before baking stage

Hi !

Now that Polymer Clay ( from now referred to as PC) is quite easily available in India , I see a lot of people who are beginning to play with PC. Even though I am newbie as well , having the virtue of being a slightly older newbie , I get quite a few questions about PC. For the most part they are recurring , so I have decided to answer most questions here.

1. Is PC an air dry clay ? 
: No. It needs to baked.

2. What temperature do we need to bake the clay at ?
: The temperature is mentioned on the cover of your clay.
Sculpey3/ Premo/souffle at 130 degree celcius , Kato at 135 degree celcius.

3. My clay packet does not have baking instructions. What can I do ?
: Most good quality clay's come with baking instructions as the baking temperature varies from brand to brand. If the baking temperature is not mentioned , you will have to experiment on your own and see which is the baking temperature.
 A word of caution : Polymer clay burns if the temperature is too high , but it will be under-baked if the temperature is too low. The baking temperature may even vary from packet to packet of the same brand of clay where the temperature is not mentioned.

4. Can I bake my home made PC ?
No. Cold porcelain is also called as home made PC and that is an air dry clay.Their chemical composition is quite different , Cold porcelain being a PVA based clay and PC being a PVC based clay.

5. What can I do if I don't have an oven ? 
To work with PC you need an oven. There are many brands of toaster ovens available in the market.

6. Can I use microwaves to bake PC ?
No. It is mentioned on most of the packs as well.
Here is a Video of what happens when you microwave clay , by claycupcakes4 on YouTube. If you go through the comments there are some who recommend using a bowl of water to cure clay in the microwave. I have not tried it this and I don't know if the clay was cooked through.

7. Can I use the pressure cooker or water in some form to cook PC ?

I would say no, Water evaporates at a 100 degree Celsius , and most clay brands need at least a temperature of 130 degree Celsius for it be correctly baked.

8. What oven should I buy ?

As long as the oven has a temperature control feature ( such as knobs) , you can buy any oven in your budget.
 There are pros and cons to every oven out there. Go online and check out the various offers available along with the reviews. Speak to people have baking experience ( not necessarily clay) . Speak to electronic stores , check out guarantee / warranty offers.
Another thing to keep in mind are the projects you plan to do. For example if you intend to make large figurine's at some point in the future , ensure you buy an oven big enough to accommodate it.

9. What else do you use regularly while baking PC ?

I use an oven thermometer every time I bake.
Many , if not all ovens have temperature spikes, My oven spikes anywhere from 30 degree Celsius to 80 degree Celsius.If I don't use a thermometer , I will only know about burned projects once I smell them on opening the oven.
I need 2 aluminium containers to bake my projects in , and 2 Binder clips to keep it closed.

10. Do you burn projects ?

Yes. All of us burn projects at least once in a while.We may burn things due carelessness ( did not notice wrong temperature on the dial ) , or forgetfulness ( forgot to put the second aluminium cover on) , or because oven temperature suddenly spiked more than normal.Just like how a baby falls when they take first steps , we may burn things on the way to becoming artists. Don't let that stop you from loving clay :)

My very first project : BURNED !

Hope this was useful to you . Please comment to give feedback or to add the other questions you commonly recieve , question will be added with due credit.
Thanks for reading have a good day !

#2015PCChallenge : Week 26 : Rainbow bangles !

Hi !

I have submitted a half year worth of projects ! Yaay ! I am very happy to move onto the next half of the year.

I have seen many rainbow themed canes in this past year and I have always wanted to make one. Last week I finally decided to take the plunge and make a rainbow cane.
Since it was a lot of work the way I planned it, I started off with the individual canes last week itself. I was done with a few colors and BOOM! Facebook exploded with rainbow profile pictures.

Neither am I sure if this is the right place to say this, nor am I good with words.But here goes -
While same sex marriages are still illegal here in India, along with being a societal taboo, we are slowly moving along with the world, and inter-caste, inter-religion and inter-region marriages  are beginning to be given more leeway.

I understand it is not the same situation, and that growth of tolerance in one area does not mean growth of tolerance in another, but I still believe that tolerance level on an average level is going up.
Borrowing my husbands words ( he is much more concise than I am ), I hope that we soon wake up and see that it must be one of our basic rights that consenting adults may freely marry each other.
That's all that it really is .

Okay, moving on, there is no theme this month. I am just going to make whatever my heart tells me to.

Here is this week's project:

I have put both the primary & secondary pieces together in this photo. Even though they are very similar looking, the actual patterns are quite different and varied.

Thanks for reading :) Have a great day!

#2015PCChallenge , Week 25 : Calla lilies

Hi !

Whew , its finally the fourth week of my floral month.I love flowers , I really do , but this was a very tough week. I normally make imaginary flowers, realism is not really what I do , so trying to keep the 'real' part was tough.

To add to everything , my oven is slightly mad this week. I burned everything for two days.Now it seems ok , but I am going to listen to the advice I got and get it checked up as soon as possible.

Primary Piece : Simple floral danglers

And the secondary piece : Simple floral pendant

I am not too happy how this week turned out , I did not learn as much as I planned to.Hopefully next month is better.
Thanks for reading , and have a great day!

#2015PCChallenge: Week 24 : Hibiscus cane

Hi !

I am so glad this is the third week ! Every week of this monthly floral challenge is tougher than the last.I expected it to be easier as the month wore on ( as it normally happens with me) , but this was a tough week.

I decided that this week my attention would be turned towards hibiscus flowers.

Hibiscus flowers are commonly known as shoe flowers .I normally call it  Chemparathi , which is the  Malayalam word for it.Until I moved out of Kerala, I never realized how much I missed the dash of color this flower always brings , it just about grows in every garden and quite abundantly in the wild too.There many varieties and colors , mostly due to cross pollination. The most commonly found are the bright red shoe flowers , along with the pastel pinks and yellows.

Chemparathis in my memory are all tangled up with my memories of my Grandma.One thing I remember, she used to always make sherbets out of the red ones which grew in abundant profusion in our house.It was a trick of hers to give them to visitors and when they oohed and aahed oved the taste and finally when asked where to buy them from,she would tell them she made it and everyone would be surprised. Our regular visitors always had some at their home , she was not stingy about giving it away.

She  used to add the flowers to her  hair oil  , and added them for me as well when she would send me some. My grandma had thick , jet black,  beautiful curls  and hardly any grey hair well into her seventies.Now that she is no more, I buy a version from the Ayurvedic shops , but they are no match for my grandmas recipe.Eventually I hope I can make them myself.

Even though this was a tough challenge , it was a nice one as well. I always forget how amazing my grandmothers are , all three of them , and this week as I was working on this , I was pleasantly reminded of it again and again.

I was unable to make any pieces of jewelry this time. So I am submitting two hibiscus canes. These were quite difficult for me to make as I had to visualize the flower and make it. I did see some canes , but they were single colored or dual colored , but I wanted the beauty of the colors to shine through.

I am a novice at cane making , especially floral canes . While I am satisfied with the way they turned out for trial 1 & 2 ,I now know how to improve it. I will probably go back to them and give it a try later.

Primary piece ( cane ) : Red hibiscus.

This was the first hibiscus cane I made. Took me around 5 hours. It was longer than I anticipated , and I didn't get it right. The stamen along with the pollen did not look right at all. Not to mention the green color just looked strange,
So I made the next one.

Secondary piece ( cane ) : Pink & yellow hibiscus

This took me about an hour from start to finish. Even though the other  cane didn't turn out so well , it helped me a lot with what to look out for in this cane.
This cane also has issues , such as the petals look squished and the pink area looks like the background rather than part of the petal itself.On the upside ,I am quite certain how to improve these particular issues , but I am sure the next cane will teach me some more.

Hibiscus flower

I still don't know what to make with these , so I am putting them away for now. Hopefully the tube light would come on soon and when it does , I shall update the post .

Thank you so much for reading. Have a great day :)


Update !

I just saw that the polymer clay group 52 weekly clay projects have some amazing hibiscus canes ! I unfortunately did not see these canes before I attempted mine. I sure feel stupid , because I am infact part of that group on FB.I could have saved oodles of time !
I saw a group pic upload on Pinterest and there is an indentical pink and yellow hibiscus cane right on top ! I dont know who made it ,  I would love to know :)
The canes look quite similar , but I am going to try making those to see where lie the differences.

#2015PCChallenge , Week 23 : Marigolds in Polymer Clay

Hi !

For this week , I thought I should try my take on the only flowering plant I have ever been able to grow , a marigold.In case you are interested, they are ridiculously easy to grow where I live.

They deck wedding halls , they sometimes form part of the Pooja plates in temples, they are used to make garlands for weddings and other functions, they are used to make the wreaths for the dead. If you pass market areas early in the morning, say around 4-6 am , you can see huge coils of these flowers , wound about and kept ready for sale.When you travel in the train , some areas are blanketed with vibrant shades of yellow; these are marigold fields.

Their colors range from a pale , almost white yellow to a  deep blood red , with a yellow band on the outside of the petal.

The heavily petaled ones would have looked liked an orange colored giant Allium by the time I was done,so I chose to make my interpretation on the simple, home style marigold.

It was tougher going than I expected. I knew exactly how it looked , and I was growing increasingly frustrated that I was not able to make the exact miniature , perfect in details.

It took me quite a few efforts before I realized that I actually liked the style it had morphed to somewhere during the process.I used that style to make  a few pendants , a bangle & a pair of earrings.

Primary piece : Marigold bangle

Secondary Piece : Marigold buds Jhumka

I am quite happy about how this experiment turned out. But no more oranges for a while at least.


Thank you for reading :) Have a great day.

#2015 PCChallenge , Week 22 : Alliums in polymer clay

Hi !


For the month of June , I have decided to go the floral way. I am going to select a flower for a week and try to make my take on it.
This is  week 22 for the #2015PCChallenge.  I have chosen " Giant Alliums" for the week.

I have seen pictures of these beauties , but I never knew that were part of  the Allium family , which also have onions , garlic , scallions & shallots on their list.

So here they are : Premo! used with mica powder & chalk.Cotton cord & glass beads used as well.

1.Primary piece : Giant pendant with sliding knot

2. Secondary piece : Three part necklace with glass beads & sliding knot.

Both of them have a few remaining touch ups to be done . The first piece is a slight bit crooked so I will not be putting it for sale.

I am planning on making a few more of these as a collection for my store.Some earrings , a few pendants are in the works and hopefully a few cuffs too.

I would love to hear your feed back .

Thanks for reading & have a good day !

Shilpa :) 

Week 21 : Last week of scraps and oddments

Hi !

This is week 21 for #2015PCChallenge.
This is also the last week for my scrap month and I am so glad. Its been a great journey trying to move from the muddy browns to the vibrant oranges.But it has been very frustrating not to come up with completely  new stuff .

I missed out on many techniques , since I only tried out the Natasha canes.
I did not try the Sutton slice technique , which when made with scrap clay ( Poonam style ) makes me hold my breath.I simply don't have the required texture sheets , they are not available in India :( . If you are wondering,plastic sheets are not deep enough and wooden blocks are not smooth enough. My selfmade texture sheets from pc are not flexible enough and the mold maker style texture sheets run out on details.

I also could not try the Stroppel cane as I am running short on Premo clay , especially black and white. I am woefully short on Premo .All my scrap canes , well , almost all my scrap canes are Premo  and not having large quantities of any color is an issue. I mixed up Premo and Kato for a few experiments during week 15 , and I burned them :( . All of this aside ,I plan to give this a try before the year runs out.

There so many more amazing things to do with scrap clay , and I plan to do them all. I started following some great boards on pinterest for the same.

Ok , so onto the pics.

Primary piece : Rustic style , asymmetrical hoop earrings.

These are some components I made in September. The spirals were accidental , but I loved the look of them and made then into these. the hoops are slightly different , one is longer and other is more horizontal.
 I could not figure out how to arrange them till now. I finally used the cotton cord.I love these earrings as they are very"me".
They were a major pain to photograph , but when wearing them , the beads stay in their place.


Secondary piece : Simple pendant , cotton cords with sliding knots

I had bought the " Masterful Faux Made easy " from Diva Designs a while back.I unfortunately haven't had the chance to explore it yet. As usual I don't have the recommended items , and the items that could have been available are out of stock :( So I am not yet sure , when can I try out her amazing tutorial.

However I had a trial sheet from week 16 , which incidentally was not based on the tutorial.Mine is just an experiment , which was based on another one of my experiments.

So what I did ere for this pendant , was utilize my scrap sheet onto a ruined bracelet piece ( I had burned it) , and arranged it in her style :)
The scrap sheet on the first glance looks somewhat similar to her style and that's the reason I picked the design.While it looks nowhere as good as her creations , just arranging it her way has made it look more realistic.I might like this piece better than almost all the things I made for week 16.

I am looking forward to actually following her tutorial soon ( once I have the resources),as the things she makes are drool worthy.I need to save up for the marbling tutorial as well.

That's  all for today :) Thanks for reading and have a great day !

#2015PCChallenge : Week 20 : Mirror styled cuffs

Hi !

We are having a very hot week here in Hyderabad. Its a miracle I haven't melted yet.My palms are sweating and the clay is not responding too well.Making these simple cuffs were bit of an achievement as far as my will power is concerned.Anyway its almost June , hopefully rains are coming soon enough.

I am still doing a few Natasha beads inspired pieces.
By the way,I was wondering,why are they called " Natasha Beads " ?
I did a preliminary google search , couldn't find anything.


The primary piece : Blue and green Ikat cuffs.

I love my Ikat & Pochampally sarees and dupattas , making this cuff is very wearable for me.
This cuff has a lot of my favorite colors , and I think I can wear this with a majority of my clothes.
This is made from the trial homestead cane as well.

Secondary piece :

This is a flaming bracelet. Well,I guess this is what happens when everything is just too hot. I squished an old floral " attempt" cane and a few random pieces of white and black along with the scrap from the previous cuff.
I think it will be wonderful to wear during the cold winter.

I was so lethargic this week I wasn't sure I could put these up.Thank God I could :)

I still have my art bead challenge piece left , since I have to follow my scrap month challenge as well , I hope I can make something satisfactory,
Then there is a group challenge over at another FB group on "mother nature" , which leaves me scratching my head as well.
Hopefully I can get all these done :)

Thank you so much for reading :) Have a good day!

#2015PCChallenge : Week 19 : Neck pieces , mirrored style !

Hi !

It is already week 19 for the #2015PCChallenge! Wow ! That's a lot of learning for me :)

I have accumulated a lot of scrap clay during this process , as I tend to experiment as much as I can.This particular pieces were made from a recent cane experiment.

I recently joined the 52 weekly cane projects group on Facebook.The theme of the week when I joined was homestead. A little hobbit home immediately came into my mind.This picture by Ted Nasmith is what I was thinking of.
I did not know of the artist before I searched it out , even though the picture has been a favorite for years.I feel really terrible about that.

Anyway , my cane looks nothing like I planned ( LOL) , it was pretty fun never the less. I think I should proceed like a sane person from week 1 and THEN go into the second year :)

I used up the spare pieces from making the cane and also the pieces left over after reducing it,

Both the pieces are made using the Natasha bead technique. Even though it is an easy technique on paper , I found it takes some restraint from me to form these pieces.

The primary piece reminds me of a bubbling brook ( as the saying goes) , the plants in it swaying to a rhythm unknown to us.It is finished with silver colored chain.

The secondary piece reminds me of wahat I think plants on a ice would look like.It is finished with cotton cord and some rainbow beads , I still have plenty left over :)
I had cut a rather unlikely piece for the secondary piece. I cleaned it up a bit , but I left the trailing "tail" pieces as it is.If you notice , it has two separate Natasha pieces joined together.

In case any of you were wondering , here is my cane and "the idea". They definitely don't match! I sure have a long way to go!Please ignore the spelling comedies , if you can read my handwriting.

Thanks for reading through ! Have a good day !

#2015PCChallenge : Week 18 : scrap clay trials!

Hi !

For my personal May challenge , I am trying to utilize my time by using all the left over components and clay sheets to assemble a few pieces.

 I always have a few left over pieces / sheets of clay that were too pretty to throw away. I keep these separately so that I may use it later.This pile has been steadily increasing , so here are somethings I made with  them :)

Primary piece : Choker with rainbow beads , cotton cord and sliding knot closure

These beads are the results of the very first alcohol experiment. I wasn't sure what to do with them exactly , so I made a few tube-ish beads and some small round beads.This week I put them together.

I can just see someone lounging in a free flowing gorgette saree , playing with these beads as she sips something cold from a tall glass.

Companion piece : Square sunburst necklace , with gold colored chain and closure.

This is directly from my last week entry. I had a few left over pieces and they were just so pretty I did not want to ball it up or mush it up.I don't generally use chains to complete my pieces , however it went well with the theme.
I find this a very calming piece , just like the dawn :)

Thanks for taking a look. Have a good day !

May theme announcement : Scraps only !

Hi !

We have come to the month  of May 2015. Since starting on the #2015PCChallenge , I have been busy making wearable art. I have accumulated new learning experiences, met a few co -clayers online ,  started my store in these past few months. I have also accumulated a lot of scrap clay  and already completed individual beads / components.

This month I can only post to the PCChallenge the items made from existing scrap clay or completed components. I can use fresh clay to only make new items when its for an existing component.

I need to make a few fresh pieces as well , one for me to wear with a saree for an upcoming function  ( OMG ! No gold ) , ( wish me luck ! ) and hopefully one as part of the art bead scene May month challenge. I will post them separately other than the #2015PCChallenge.

I am probably going to be really busy this month ( functions galore) so I am going to complete everything as fast as I can and you may see the items in the stores before its up here on this blog.

I am planning to use the schedule function for the first time here/ Facebook store and the emajic store.

Thanks for reading and your support!

Have a great month of may !

#2015PCChallenge Week 17 : Sunburst set

Hi!

I am still kind of hooked onto alcohol inks :) They are just so vibrant!

I made a set with a necklace , bangle and earrings, along some extra pieces as well. I still have to clean up the remaining pieces and put them on for sale.

I wanted to try out colors that were not in my comfort space , so I chose a bright orange and a  vibrant pink.

It reminds of the colors when a cheery sunny day is dawning , the birds are already flying around , and you are looking out with a cup of hot coffee in your hand.

I hope you like these too :)

Thanks for reading  , and have a great day! 

#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 :)

#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!