#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 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 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! 

Week 9 : Sunset in Lakshadweep & Bitter gourd earring

Hi !

My entry for #2015PCChallenge , week 9 is a simple chunky bracelet. Its based on the organic beads tutorial by  Ginger Davis Allman , from the Blue bottle tree. The primary piece : Sunset at Lakshadweep.

Lakshadweep is a group of islands in India. I had the good luck to travel there a few years back. The water is turquoise blue and the sunsets are a vibrant orange.I tried to take pictures showing the beauty of the sunset , but I only had a lousy 2 mp phone camera , and I could not capture all the colors.

The colour combination for this bracelet reminded me of those magical sunsets I saw.

My companion piece is the Bitter gourd earring. Its a simple ,rustic , bumpy earring .

Thanks for reading , have a good day :)

Week 1 : Polymer Clay Challenge : Back to back entry !

Hi !

 I entered the #2015PCChallenge quite late , as in the 5 th week. This leaves me for 4 weeks to catch up on.
I had a few completed pieces , but I don't think its fair to enter those , as most had been completed before January.I did not want to come up with brand new pieces either , because my competency level has certainly increased during this month , thanks to the challenge. While this is an excellent change , it does not show progression correctly.

What I have done is , I have a stash of half completed projects, components that needed sanding and buffing and trial canes. My plan for the back to back is to bring some life into them.


These were very first complex canes I made.I still remember how happy I was to be progressing from bulls eye canes and jelly rolls :) .

So Week 1 : Kaleidoscopic floral earrings : Primary piece

Week 1 : Kaleidoscopic Cell earrings : Companion piece 

I could not really bring out the translucency of these canes even after a lot of sanding. I think I might have to get a Dremel soon !

So what I did it was this :

1. I provided a thicker base. ( important learning bit for me  : make the base before hand instead ) 

2.Attached the stud base

3.Sanded from 320 grit to 1500. ( lost a few finger tips)

4.Buffed manually

5.Drilled using a drill vise

6.Made the jump rings

7.Put it together

I can see all the flaws , the finger print I cant sand away because it is in a groove , the browning in one of the studs , uneven application of cane slices.Even then I am happy , because all those flaws have taught me.

Thanks for reading. :)

Comments are always welcome !