A Tartan Brooch for Mother's Day

I finally finished the tartan cane for my grandmother's family clan.  I wanted to make something special out of it for my mom for mother's day and decided on a brooch pin.  She hasn't seen this yet since we will be seeing her in a few weeks when our family all gets together to celebrate her and my dad's 60th wedding anniversary and I can give it to her in person.

Had a difficult time taking a good photo.  For some reason there was a real glare even though the piece is not shiny at all.  It is textured to look like cloth which is also hard to see in the photo.

A New Tartan Plaid

I met a lady who was volunteering at the World Masters when we were there.  The tartan plaid jewelry we had on display had caught her eye and I explained to her how it was made.  She asked if I could make some pieces that would match her family's tartan and I was glad for the challenge.

She brought in a book with her family history and an old worn Scottish cap or tam.

This happened to be more of a challenge than I expected with the seven colors and larger pattern.  I explained how the lines tend to become a little crooked or wonky when reducing the tartan cane and she felt that would be okay as long as the colors were close and it was similar to the pattern.  I've been working on several methods of reducing the tartan canes without too much distortion and I found that packing it in extra clay (scrap) before reducing helped a fair bit.

I was quite pleased with the overall colors and decided to reduce the cane further so I could create more of a mirrored plaid pattern like in the cap.  By the time I was finished I still had a fair bit of cane to work with but I had a tone of "scrap clay" left over.  Of course when I say scrap clay that doesn't mean it gets thrown out but it can still be used in other ways.

Carol requested a bangle and a tartan "cloth" style pendant each for her and her sister and she was very pleased with how the finished products finally came out:

  

  

One of our neighbors popped in the other day while I was working on this set.  She was totally fascinated by it and asked if I could do something for her if she did some research to find out her family tartan.

Tartan + Wool = Sheep

I finished another custom order this week.   a tartan in blue and green with a red stripe, similar to the ancient tartan her husband wears.  I was already planning my next tartan cane and looking for color combination ideas, so this is how my latest tartan came about:

I love the colors in this plaid as they are very striking yet also warm and soothing.

I was asked if I could make a shawl pin in the form of a sheep using this tartan cane.  She explained how as a knitter and the wife of a Scotsman, sheep have a special place in her heart.  I never made a shawl pin before -- or a sheep either on the other hand -- but I loved the idea and decided to take the challenge!

Once I drew out my pattern, the rest fell into place.  I made a veneer in the tartan and cut out my design with it.  I added the face and ears last.  I found the perfect steel pin that I covered in clay that actually glides through the knitted sweater or shawl beautifully.

I'm extremely pleased with how the whole piece turned out and now I will have to make a shawl pin for myself!

Some new Tartan Plaid

I've been working on perfecting my technique in creating my tartan plaid canes and experimenting with some new colors.  This new one is in blue and green with a red stripe.

And some pieces I've created with it so far:

  

Tartan "Fabric" pendant     &      Earrings

  

Modern Tartan Pendant      &      Earrings

  

Tile Bracelet Links             &             Beads

I love the warm feel that the tartan pattern gives to my clay pieces and I think I'm hooked.  Since my  grandmother is from Scotland I decided to look up the tartan for her family clan and this is what I found:

I'm thinking of creating something in this pattern for my mother this Christmas that can represent her family history.  Since my mom doesn't have internet or a computer I think I'm safe in sharing this here!