Mica Shift Buttons and Snaps in Blue Raspberry Sorbet

We just finished making a large batch of our Sorbet Flower Buttons as a custom order for Heather's Fabric Shelf.  They will be used in a special kit that she is putting together for her store.  They were made using Dan Cormier's mica shift technique using his peeler which is such a helpful tool.

We had some patterned slices left over and were wondering how the mica shift would look as "snaps" for our jewelry so did a bit of experimenting.  We added some Swarovski crystals which gives a bit more depth and were quite happy with the results.

The cool thing with the interchangeable snaps is that any technique can be used for them which makes them so versatile.

We are slowly adding more snap findings to our online store and if you would like to know about any new items added, sales or events, you can sign up for our news letter here.

If an invite does not pop up when visiting our site you will find the form on the front page here.

Slouchy Cable Hat Tutorial

Carla at Grace and Favour has now finished the tutorial for her gorgeous "Slouchy Cable Hat".   (see my previous blog post here.)  You will find all the instructions to knit one for yourself over at Imagine Gnats.

The button Carla used on the hat is one of our Color Wheel designs.

They are sold in several local yarn and quilt shops.  If you do not live in our area, we now have these available in our Etsy shop. 

Color Wheel Buttons

I have been experimenting with various forms of the mica shift technique which is also referred to as "ghost imaging".  When you impress or stamp polymer clay that contains a large amount of metallic (or pearl) particles, it leaves that image behind.  After baking, the piece is then sanded smooth to bring out the image even more.

Here are the new "Color Wheel" buttons we have created using a mica shift based on a stacked clay technique by Dan Cormier and Tracy Holmes called "Holes and Lines".  Their special peeler works beautifully and is fun to use. Now with their new wider  peeler, we are able to make even larger (2 inch) buttons which are a popular item at the quilt and yarn shops that sell our work.

We make the buttons in several sizes (1-3/8", 1-5/8" and 2") in a round concave shape as well as a smaller "football" shape.

Kato clay has several metallic colors that can be used for this technique which are the pearl, gold, silver and copper.  I have been experimenting with some new recipes to create a range of brighter mica shift colors. As some of these brighter colors are difficult to mix up with using only Kato clay, I've had to combine it with other products (other clay / inks, etc.) in order to get the shades I wanted as in the buttons shown here:

And zipper charms in some of the matching colors as well:

Mica Shift Colors to Dye For

These are some new floral buttons in rich sorbet colors I made using the mica shift technique with Kato clay and alcohol inks.  They were made for a special order to fill for one of the local stores that sell our beads and buttons.   In case you are wondering, mica shift is an amazing technique that creates a three dimensional affect in a smooth or flat piece of clay by manipulating the mica particles.

I first mixed in different inks with small amounts of pearl clay for samples and then baked the sample chips and attached them to cards.  I recommend doing this first as some of the inks can change their color drastically after mixed in with the clay or you might end up with a batch of clay in a color you might not like.

I wanted to be able to use my new clay colors for a mica shift to make the floral buttons so I measured out 3 parts of Kato pearl clay and 1 part Kato transluscent.  I laid out my clay squares and put several drops of ink onto each square and spread the ink all over with a metal spatula so it would dry quicker.

Just for a measurement comparison, my clay squares were 2" and I used about 7 drops of ink per square.


I allowed the inks to dry completely before mixing in.  I then created my flowers from the dyed clay.  You can see how this mixture made an excellent mica shift.

Doing the Mica Shift

Another technique I love to do is called a mica shift.  It is also referred to as ghost imaging which I think is a better name.  The pill box shown above is a good example.  The pattern appears to be textured when in fact it is totally smooth.

Only metallic or pearl type clays can be used in this technique due to the mica particles they contain.

To create this effect, the clay is rolled, folded in half and rolled through the pasta machine  many times in order for the micas to be evenly distributed.  The clay sheet is then impressed or stamped with a pattern.

Here I'm using a texture sheet I made from clay.  You can see the raised leaf pattern on the green sheet of clay.

Using a bendable and sharp blade, I carefully shave off all of the raised areas.  If I cut too deep, I will lose some of my pattern.  It takes time, a steady hand and patience to do this but can be very rewarding when it turns out.

The clay sheet below is finished and you can see the leaf images left behind in the clay.  These are some of the tiles I created for my mosaic tiled table ready to bake.

 The tiles are much smoother after sanding and here they are mounted onto the table top.

The necklace below is another example of some mica shift shown in the pendant and the two round beads.

Here is a bracelet that was created with a color blend (green at one end to gold at the opposite)  combined with the mica shift pattern.

The bracelet is attached to a watch face and is a new listing in our Art Fire Studio.

I Love a Challenge!

Our daughter had a pair of earrings that were her absolute favorite.  She called one day and told me that she lost one and wanted me to make her a new pair just like them.  The picture below is the original earring.  It is made out of a thin strong metal with a baked enamel pearl-like finish.

It is nice to know she has so much confidence in what we can do but when I looked at this earring I was wondering how I could imitate it and yet still keep the sleek thinness without it being too fragile?  She also knows that I love a challenge, so of course I told her I would and once I sat down to work, the idea came to me on what to do.

I decided to dress it up a bit and do the fronts using a mica shift technique.  This is a technique that creates a "ghost-like" image in the clay where it appears to be textured but in fact it is silky smooth.   I will show how this is done in our "How We Do It" series later.

I love how the earrings came out and so decided to make a matching pendant which I hung from a navy blue ultrasuede cord and embedded a Swarovski crystal for a little added sparkle.

To finish them off, I decided to add some texture to the backs which gives a slight 3d effect when the earrings swirl around at times.

I am really glad I took on this challenge since it has inspired me to make more of these but with variations in design and color -- something I can really have fun with!

We will have some of these fun pieces in our Art Fire Studio soon but in the meantime, enter our Birthday Celebration Contest to win a $25 gift certificate towards anything in our shops.  Contest ends this Saturday evening.

Custom Designs

I love the challenge of creating custom designs for people as it forces me to stretch my creativity and try new things.  One of our latest requests was for a cross pendant (in brown or beige tones) on a brown suede cord with some sort of matching earrings.  I thought of the cross pendant we had made for a friend last year in a mokume gane but decided to try a few other techniques and then let her choose which pendant she liked the best.

This is the pendant she chose and so I made earrings to match.  Because she likes her earrings to dangle a fair bit, we added the sand opal Swarovski crystals which added a nice finishing touch.

The filigree cross pendants shown in the photo below were created by arranging tiny strands of clay to form a pattern.  These were a lot of fun to create as well as the mica shift ones shown in the bottom photo.  A mica shift is a technique where you create a ghost image in the clay.  The crosses appear textured but in fact they were sanded to a silky smooth finish and then buffed to create a satin sheen.

We decided to finish the crosses with some rich velvet ribbons to create an elegant look.

Go Fly a Kite!

I once saw a beading project for a necklace made with "Kite" beads that totally fascinated me. The design of these beads is unusual where the hole enters on one corner and exits the opposite corner and opposite side. When they are strung, they overlap totally hiding the stringing material. I kept thinking about those beads and wondered if they could be formed out of polymer clay, so I thought I would give it a try. The above necklace was the first prototype we made and since we had one under our belts we thought we would try our hand at another. The one in the photo below was done in a mica shift and skinner blend of an olive green and golden yellow. 

We plan to do more of these in a wider range of colors and designs.

Keeping time in style ...

For as long as I've known Dave, he has never owned or worn a watch. He must have some sort of built in sensor as he always seems to know what time it is and never late for any appointments.

I, on the other hand, can't get by without some sort of timing device. There is a clock in every room of o

ur house plus several kitchen timers. I also feel totally lost if I happen to go out and forget my watch.

I like bracelets but never found them very functional like the watch that I would always have on my wrist. I thought about combining the two in some way so I made several beaded watch bands turning my functional piece into a very attractive bracelet. When I discovered polymer clay I saw some beautiful bracelets and the wheels in my head started to turn a little faster. Why not make my own watch band links out of the clay to create designer watch bracelets? So I went to work right away and have since made an assortment of watch bands, some of which coordinate with the necklaces and other accessories we have made. You will find some photos posted on our flickr site.

Some people have asked me how I make them and so I will be sharing my technique at our next meeting with the Vanouver Polymer Clay Guild. Hopefully by the end of the day, everyone attending will go home with their own designer watch band.

Below are an assortment of watch bands we have made.