Multi-colored Retro Pattern Dish

When I was making snaps from the retro pattern canes a while ago I suddenly felt inspired to make a dish.  Even though I really enjoy making beads, buttons or interchangeable snaps, it is a satisfying feeling to create something much larger.

With smaller items such as a bead or snap, the pattern can be quite tiny or only a portion of the design is used.   With an item like this dish, the "canvas" is much larger allowing the polymer patterns to show more.  In this dish I combined slices from different canes to create a rainbow or color shifting effect.

This dish, along with some others are now available in our online store.

Vintage Lace Design using My Art Deco Technique

It is so exciting to use up a lot of our clay scrap left-overs to create some unique patterns.  I had a pile of white clay scrap after cutting out flower snap and button designs that I was saving.  Rather than just mixing it all up, I added some cane scraps for more color and wanted to see what the results would be using my Art Deco technique.

The result was the complete opposite when using black as a contrast.  Instead of bright and bold designs these patterns have a soft vintage look.

I love this technique as each Art Deco piece is totally unique.  Each time I slice and arrange the pieces is like opening a present revealing a surprise inside.

Vintage Lace "Snaps"

Vintage Lace Snap on the Fancy Heart Pendant

These snaps have genuine Swarovski crystals embedded into the centers for some added sparkle.  

Vintage Lace "Snaps" and on a Snap base ring

Kaleidoscope Designs

I have always been fascinated with kaleidoscopes and admire some of the beautiful kaleidoscope canes others have created in polymer clay.  I always wanted to give it a try and never got around to it until now.  It was a lot of fun experimenting with different techniques until I figured out a method that worked best for me.

Now that we have our new logo stamp (see our last post here), I managed to finish some of the pieces.    Here are a few pieces that can be worn either as a brooch or pendants.  I used some of my left over cane pieces and color blends in the Pantone Spring 2012 colors of Tangerine Tango, Cabaret and Solar Power combined with my favorite olive green.

A Fun Swap

I just received a fun package in the mail today.  It arrived from Sandy who is a fellow Canadian clay friend I've connected with over the internet.  I am an avid follower on her blog,  Simple Inspirations by Sandy and she checks up on mine as well.  We decided some time ago to arrange a swap between us.  She requested a pair of earrings from myself and I asked for one of her gorgeous landscape canes.  I can't show you the earrings I sent her as she hasn't received them yet and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

My goody package arrived in the mail today and Dave and I were both in awe when we opened it.  She ended up sending several canes and they are more beautiful in real than seeing them in a photo.

One of the arrangements we made is that I will demonstrate on my blog how I can use her canes to turn them into finished jewelry pieces.  I am going to have a lot of fun with this and can't wait to get started!

So stay tuned and you will see these beauties transformed into wearable pieces of art.

Another Color Variation of the Extruded Swirl Cane

Here is the other color combo I did with the Extruded Swirl Cane Tutorial I shared with you last week.  I did this one in the Pantone Spring 2010 colors of Tomato Puree, Fusion Coral and Pink Champagne and used the same three extruder dies as the last cane experiment.

This color combo is a little more subtle and makes a nice soft blend.  Here are some pieces I made with the above canes.  I only did a small cane for this one as an experiment but I still managed to make a few things with it.  I decided to put some cane slices on a black background to really make the colors pop a little more and added some bling with some rhinestones.

It was fun experimenting with this technique and I'm starting to see more possibilities with it that I might try out later.

Going "green" with my scrap clay - part 3

Similar to making moulds, I also like to make my own texture plates and here are a few that I have made.

For easy identification, I prefer to make my texture plates in different colors.  Polymer Clay Central had a Texture Sheet Swap some time ago and there are a lot of great ideas there.  If you're not sure how to do this, Helen Breil has a great tutorial available.

Similar to texture sheets, you can also use the scrap clay for making reverse textures or moulds from your rubber stamps:

Here are some other ways I like to use my scrap clay:

• Use as a filler for beads
• Use as a backing when making a clay sheet 

• Colors can be mixed into Natasha Beads (This bead was made from left over cane scraps).

• Build some canes . . .

I like to combine my scrap clay into colors that can compliment or work together -- here is an example:

I separated the colors that might make nice skinner blends or for more mixing.  Here I have three piles of greens that I separated.  I liked the combination of the light and dark greens in the two piles on the left and made some fun leaf and jelly roll canes from them.

There are so many ways to use up your scrap clay, there is never any reason to throw any out.  Of course once it is baked, that is a different case but if it didn't turn out quite like you expected -- then cover it up with a veneer and create a new look!

Because I don't like to waste, I have a rule of thumb to spend a little extra time examining my piece closely before firing making sure it is smooth and nicely finished.  If I have any doubts about my pieces not turning out, I prefer to smoosh it and start over again rather than bake and deal with it later.