Playing with Textures

I love how polymer clay can take on so many forms and there are so many things you can do with it.  I enjoy playing with textures and using all sorts of stamps and texture mats but I also like to experiment and create some of my own.  I found these large brads in the scrapbooking section at Thread & Paper the other day.  I was attracted to the deep etched pattern on them and so created several textured type molds using them as the center design.

I also stumbled across some other item that had a cool textured pattern.  I made some templates and these are the pieces made from the templates and colored with mica powders.  I haven't quite figured out how to use these yet but I really like the geometric shapes.  Can you guess where these textured patterns came from? I will give the answer later on facebook.

 

This weekend Dave and I are teaching another workshop which is all about playing with textures and making molds.  It is with some of the group that took our beginner workshop and have enjoyed playing with the clay so much they have asked for a more advanced class.  We are looking forward to teaching but even more getting together and having fun!

Update:

So here is where the above textures came from:

From the soles of my new walking shoes.  I bought these the other day so I could get back into shape for spring with lots of walking and when I got home and was taking them out of the box, I was so excited to see the cool patterns on the bottom.  I heard of some people using soles of shoes for a texture but the design on these was so unique I had to use it in some way.

Folded Bead Sweater Shawl Pin

Here are some more sweater pins in a different style that were inspired by Helen Breil's Folded Bead tutorial.   The pieces are textured on the front and back and the textures used in the first two  pieces are by Helen Breil as well.  I show how to make the matching clay bead dangle in my latest tutorial, Constructing Accent Pieces for Your Scarves, Sweaters & Shawls.

  

For this piece I used Wendy Orlowski's texture called "Feather Boa".

These are a few of my prototypes and I have a few more ideas that I am playing around with.

Vintage Floral Shawl or Hair Sticks

Here is a shawl or hair stick version of our vintage inspired sculpted flowers.  So far they have been a real hit with the yarn shops that sell our work and every time I make a batch, we end up selling out.  I love making them in all the different jewel-tone colors.  The centers are from a mould I created from a vintage button with Swarovski crystals embedded into the centers to add that little extra sparkle.

These are available in both the clay covered steel pin or the longer silver plated steel pin which are a better fit for those tighter weave or bulky knits.

These sticks also look great in the hair.  We tested one out in my friend's hair braid the other day.

New Goodies to Play With!

Our clay supply was getting low and had to order more.  It is so nice to have an excellent supplier of Kato clay available right here in Canada.  Shades of Clay not only has fair prices but great service as well.  Whenever we order clay I like to order a few extra "goodies" to play with and use to create new pieces.

I had to order several of Helen Breil's latest texture plates as they all have such unique patterns.  I saw "button" designs in them immediately and here are some new ones we created:

And have you seen some of Wendy Orlowski's latest textures and CaBezels?  I've been having fun playing with these and have a few fun tips to share with you later on in the week.

Embossed Clay Earring Tutorial Featured

I just discovered a new site today called All Free Beaded Jewelry.  It is a site that lists all sorts of links to free tutorials for jewelry making on the internet and they featured our Embossed Clay Earring Tutorial there.

  

Of course you can make these earrings in other colors or shapes and are great for coordinating with your favorite outfit.

We have more free tutorials available on our blog for you to enjoy and you will find them all listed at the top of this page.

Maple Leaf Buttons

Here are more buttons I made for Dianne Jansson from Di-Versity Quilting Supplies.  While making these, they reminded me of the maple leaf cream-filled cookies!  I used one of Helen Breil's texture sheets to give them that funky swirl design and then accented them with inks.

These buttons are quite large and will make a gorgeous accent piece on a bag, sweater or jacket.  I will be listing these in our Etsy shop soon.

Di-Versity has such a wonderful selection of beautiful fabrics and I couldn't resist buying these pieces by Caryl Bryer Fallert to make a bag.  I'm thinking one of these leaf buttons would look great on it.  I'm still deciding on my bag design and can't wait to use it this spring.

Textured Tube Tips

I have received a lot of positive feedback on the tutorials I've written and I'm always happy to answer any questions.  I've had some people ask if they can sell the beads or buttons they make using my tutorials and my answer is a definite "yes".  When you purchase any of my tutorials, you are free to make what I teach and sell it wherever you like.

I want to share with you a few new tips on making the textured tube beads from my tutorial.  Some people prefer not to have as large a hole in their bead and I explain in step 4 on page 3 how to prevent this.  Softer clays like Premo or Fimo tend to make a larger hole so if that is the case, then I recommend allowing your beads to rest for a few hours to firm up before texturing them.

The large holes are nice if you want to string them on thicker cords but if you want to string your beads on a thinner wire, you can "fill" in the hole at each end with some attached clay rondelles or embed some beads into each end before baking.

  

Here are a couple of examples showing finished pieces with metal and glass seed beads embedded into the end of each tube.

I've been experimenting with some new textures and if you find that a texture sheet is too flimsy, then try making a reverse texture plate from clay.  I had this scrap piece of fabric that was not going to work so I used the Sculpey Bake & Bend to create a texture sheet from it.  You can see my previous blog post on how to do this.   I am now able to use the texture sheet to create my tube beads.

I will show you my finished beads and more on this later...

Make Your Own Flexible Texture Plates

This is how to make your own flexible texture plate so you can use them right in your pasta machine afterwards.  For this technique I use ....

That's right ... Sculpey Bake & Bend.  It has some really good uses other than making bendable animals...  I found they make great texture plates -- and flexible ones at that.

I found these paper heart doilies at the dollar store.  I want to use them to make a texture sheet.

1.  First of all, make sure the Sculpey Bake & Bend is well conditioned.  I find some of the colors aren't quite as soft so I like to mix them until I get a nice consistency.

2.  Roll out enough clay in your pasta machine on the 3rd thickest setting (I used the #3 setting on my Atlas) that is slightly larger than the doily.

3.  Making a texture plate from one of the paper doilies won't make a deep enough impression so take a stack of about 4 - 5 that are "stuck" together and do not separate them.  This will add depth and make a better impression.

4.  Lightly dust the clay sheet with some cornstarch to prevent the doily from sticking.  I generally use water but with the paper that won't work so well.

5.  Change your pasta machine setting to the 4th thickest setting (#4 on an Atlas).  Lay the doily face down onto the clay sheet and carefully insert the two together into the pasta machine and roll through.

6.  Place your clay sheet facing up on a clean ceramic tile making sure there aren't any air pockets trapped underneath.  Lightly tap it so it sticks to the ceramic tile.  Carefully peel away the paper doilies and trim the edges all around so they are nice and neat.  Bake your texture sheet right on the ceramic tile following the temperature and time on the package.

7.  Allow your sheet to cool completely before removing it from the ceramic tile.  You now have a texture sheet you can use with your regular polymer clay over and over and it is flexible so can be used right in your pasta machine at your thickest setting.

These are a few pieces I made from my new texture sheet that I highlighted with mica powders.

You can use this method to make other texture sheets.  Here is one I made from a piece of vintage lace.

And some pendants I have made from it:

Oh yes, and another cool thing I found is the container from the Sculpey Bake & Bend works great for storing canes afterwards!

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and have fun with it!

More Shawl/Scarf Pins

Made some more new shawl pins this week in some new colors and styles.  The last three I used a variation of my double-sided textured bead technique at the ends of the steel pins that have been covered in clay.

Some New Buttons and Tutorial

I just listed some new buttons in our ArtFire Studio and Etsy shop.  I was busy experimenting with different styles for another tutorial I've been working on for the past couple of weeks.

  

  

  

The tutorial is on how to construct nicely formed and beautiful buttons using your own clay patterns.  I also include in the lesson how to make your own wire shank as well as have perfectly centered holes every time.  It should be available in the next day or so....