Ebbtide Series

I love playing around with our "snail-like" pieces from our Ebbtide collection.  We're now making them into buttons and here is a sample of a few that will be listed in our Etsy shop soon.

We are taking a short break to regroup and organize so our Etsy shop and ArtFire Studio will be closed for a few days.

Filling Metal Filigree Frames

This is an antique bronze metal frame I decided to fill with clay for a pendant.

I just used a scrap piece of mokume gane left over from another project that just seemed to work for me. This is actually the same mokume gane I show how to do in my Clay Color System Tutorial.

My Fabulous Faux Turquoise tutorial is more than just a lesson on how to make a natural looking turquoise.  It also includes a variety of basic jewelry making techniques such as how to fill metal frames or bezels without requiring any glue to hold them.

Any type of glue will eventually break down over time and if you can secure your pieces by using the clay itself, your piece will be much stronger and less likely to fall apart after several years of use.

In my tutorial, I also show you two methods on how to make your own beads in consistent sizes.  One method is using a clay veneer sheet and the other using cane slices.  You also learn how to create your own cabochons to coordinate with your beads.

And last, you will also learn how to make your own clay "headpins" to use as dangles and accent pieces for your jewelry.

Round and Round We Go...

I find lentil swirls so mesmerizing and it seems once you get the hang of making them from polymer clay, you are hooked for life!

We finally found a new use for our lentil beads and are now creating a whole new line of Candy Swirl Buttons.

I've been working on my technique so I can cut my lentil swirls in half and embed our handcrafted wire shanks without distorting the swirl pattern and yet also maintaining a consistent size and shape.

I've also been experimenting with different effects on our swirls like in the ones shown below.  The swirl button on the left was carved and then backfilled with clay and the swirl on the right was carved and then highlighted with acrylic paints.  I really like the backfilled one but took a lot more work and elbow grease when it came time to sanding -- but then again -- that is what I have my claymate, Dave for!  He keeps saying he is more than just a pretty face and when it comes to times like these I have to agree with him!  lol!

Which effect do you like best?

Happy Mother's Day

I don't make my geckos as much as I use to these days except for custom orders.  This set was specially made for a mother's day gift by special request in a rich denim blue.

Happy mother's day to all the moms out there and hope you are having a special day.

Marigolds in time for summer

We just finished off another order of marigold pins for the gift shop at the local Kamloops Museum.  The marigold is the official flower for the city of Kamloops and they are planted every springtime in the downtown area.  It's a real honor to know that this little souvenir carries our work to all corners of the world.

More Rondelles in Stock

I'm finally caught up (for now) with making more rondelle spacer beads and have my new colors now listed in our ArtFire Studio as well as our Etsy Shop.

It seems we are always running out and is hard to keep these little babies in supply.  I like to organize all the rondelles and cube spacer beads in a drawer in little containers.  I don't know if our drawer has looked this full in a long time!

If you are interested in making these yourself and have never worked with polymer clay before, my tutorial, "Make Your Own Rondelle Spacer Beads" is just for you.

And I have some yummy color recipes for using Kato clay that are perfect for making these beads.

If you want to learn how to mix up your own colors and blends and a cool way to organize them, you will learn all that and more from my complete Clay Color System.

Even if you are an experienced clayer.  I have received comments from people who have purchased my tutorials saying they are clear enough for most beginners to understand yet enough tips and other information that a more experienced clayer would appreciate and enjoy.

Mini Tutorial - Filling Bead Frames

I've been wanting to add a few belts to my wardrobe and this is the first one I made that coordinates with my Bargello style set from our Chianti Collection.

I found these cool Tibetan silver metal bezel frames that combine beautifully with clay and I show how to fill them without any need for glue in my Fabulous Faux Turquoise tutorial.

We import the frames from Hong Kong and I've had a few people ask if I could sell them so I've made these and a few more of our favorite pieces available in our ArtFire studio.

The other cool pieces I like to use and work great as belt links as well as other jewelry pieces, are the little bead frames and connector links.  These come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and are meant to string as is or with a bead inside them.  But rather than use them plain or with any average bead, I like to fill them with clay, making them more special.

I will show you how to fill some simple round type frames and you can then add your own special touch to it later.

This is a round connector link that I used in the belt design I showed above.

Step 1 - Roll a ball of clay that fits nicely in the center with a little space around it.  I experimented with several clay thicknesses and shaped cutters until I found the right combination for this.

Step 2 - Hold the ball of clay that is still inside the frame, between your thumb and finger and squeeze the clay ball until it fills the frame equally on both top and bottom.  Squeeze a little more until the frame becomes slightly embedded into the clay.

Step 3 - You can leave these nice and smooth or you can texture them.  Here I am using a nylon dish scrubbing pad to texture both sides at the same time.  Spray your bead and the scrubbing pad with water and place your bead on one end or piece of the scrubbing pad and with the other end, apply enough pressure to texture your bead but not flatten it too much.

Here I am doing the same thing but I am using a rubber type texture sheet instead.

Step 4 - You can leave your beads as is or you can accent with paints or mica powders to antique or add more contrast.

Here are some samples of bead frame connectors I filled:

Top row:  texture sheet with mica powders,  texture sheet black acrylic paint

Middle row:  scrubbing pad texture with mica powder

Bottom row:  scrubbing pad texture,  plain black with no texture

Variation:  This is a smaller bead frame that has a large hole in the center for adding a bead and a hole that goes through sideways for threading.

I fill this frame the same way as in steps 1 and 2.  After the clay is embedded into the frame, I insert my needle tool through the frame and clay center leaving it in place while texturing.

Samples:

I will show you more types of bead frames and variations later.  Hope you enjoyed this mini-tutorial