Art Vessel – week 39

Tags

2016PCchallenge, ArtVessel, polymer clay

It seems my grotto bottle (which you may remember from week 23 and 24) has been waiting for the Art Charm Swap reveal*. Perhaps there is some quantum resonance as I planned to add some similar tiny frogs around the outside?

* Unfortunately the Art Charm Auction has been slightly delayed while Jen Cameron arranges a venue that will ensure all the proceeds go to Beads of Courage. I will share the link as soon as it starts… after I’ve made my bids 😉

Grotto Bottle WIP by Cate van Alphen

The decoration is STILL not finished, but it is starting to look more interesting. I’ve added some glass gems, which I originally prepared for my Art Charms before deciding they were too big and starting again. I’ve linked them together with swirls of “silver” coloured polymer clay. I was thinking of them as metallic bones in the landscape, except they now look more like liquid mercury. Perhaps the rocks are bones, and these are more like veins.

I’m planning to add some moss and plants for the little quantum frogs now on my work board. There may be bugs and a fungal infection or two before I’m finished. I’ll see how it grows.

Polymer clay challenge week 38

Tags

2016PCchallenge, beads, necklace, polymer clay, retro

This week I have made some beads using the canes inspired by the vintage teacup I’ve been working with. So far I’ve made one necklace.

The beads have different patterns on either side so the look changes depending on how the beads are flipped.

I plan to make some more beads using the canes, and I have made some accent beads to go with them when I do.

Remember it’s nearly time for the Art Charm reveal :). I’ll be showing the fairy tale inspired charms I made along with links to see what the other participants have made. This will also be the start of the auction to benefit Beads of Courage, so be sure to come back on 30th September.

Week 37 – still a vessel?

Tags

2016PCchallenge, ArtVessel, fairy garden, polymer clay, retro

I’m not entirely sure what I’ve made this week for my 2016 Polymer Clay Challenge. I decided to do something with the base of the broken cup from last week. I started by covering the sharp edges with polymer clay. Then there was a scar left from where the handle broke off, so I made some retro flower canes inspired by the cup pattern to cover that and make it into a feature.

I decided to make a little garden inside the teacup. And because I had massively oversized unrealistic flowers, I decided to make it an unreal fairy garden. I made the ground white to match the china cup. And there’s a silver bridge over a golden river.

I used gold ink in liquid polymer clay for the river, but it didn’t end up as sparkly as I’d hoped. I did consider adding some residents, but my miniature work is still a bit ham-fisted.

I’m not sure that it still counts as a vessel since it’s now full, so you wouldn’t really want to put other things in. My daughter says it’s a wishing garden. I suppose wishes don’t take up much room.

You may have noticed that I have not yet revealed what I made for the Art Charm Swap. That’s because the date is now 30th September 2016. The theme is Fairytales so there will be lots of enchanting things to see then. 😉

Week 36 – Anti-vessel

Tags

2016PCchallenge, headpin, polymer clay

This week for my Polymer Clay Challenge, I have unmade a vessel. I wrote previously about how I am fascinated with pottery shards, and this week I finally got around to combining them with polymer clay.

I have made a few headpins. These were from a vintage teacup that died of natural causes.

I textured the backs with a stamp and antiqued them with acrylic paint.

I think they are quite successful. The polymer clay seals the razor-sharp edges nicely.

I think I can hear the earring muse calling. 🙂

Save

Art Vessel – week 35

Tags

2016PCchallenge, ArtVessel, dish, patchwork, polymer clay

Hooray! I have actually made a vessel this week. I sat down to make some black and white beads and ended up covering a glass dish with the leftover canes from my AJE headpin challenge.

Despite taking great care to avoid air bubbles, I was disappointed that quite a few appeared after baking. They are visible as the top surface is glass with polymer clay decoration on the underside. I do have an idea for something to try on my next attempt to avoid this.

The glass blank is a square with curved edges to make a shallow dish. Luckily I have a few more to practice on.

I textured the back and added some gold paint to antique it. I think it could do with a touch of sanding to remove some of the messy paint from the raised areas. But at this point I’m just glad that I made something.

Art Jewelry Elements Headpins

Tags

crochet, earrings, handmade beads, headpin, necklace, polymer clay

This month I decided to take part in the Art Jewelry Elements design challenge to make something using artisan made headpins. In an earlier post I showed the polymer clay headpins that I made to use for this challenge. I decided to make several so that I’d have scope to make something other than earrings. Therefore the first thing I made was a couple of pairs of earrings.

I bent the headpin wire into a circle and crocheted over it. I like the negative space that the circle creates. One pair of earrings had petals, and the other was just a simple circle.

Next I combined the petalled circle with the simple circle to create a necklace featuring a crocheted chain. There are a few things I’d like to do a bit differently, but it was so time-consuming to make that I’m not going to change this necklace. Perhaps one day I’ll have a go at making another version.

The yarn I used changes colour, so I decided to jumble the loops to create a patchwork contrast. I’d like to try crocheting from one end to the other to create a more subtle ombre effect. The other disappointment is that the chain links pretty much obscure the flower design. So I had a go at another pair of earrings to see if I could improve the flower shape.

I still need to think about how to link the flowers together without obscuring them to form a necklace. In the mean time I’m looking forward to seeing what the other participants have made.

Guests:

Alison Herrington
Renetha Stanziano
Karin Grosset Grange
Gloria Allen
Deb Fortin
Cate van Alphen
Mona Arnott
Shai Williams
Sarajo Wentling
Kathy Lindemer
Solange Collin
Brooke Bock
Melissa Meman
Patricia Handschuh
Tammy Adams
Melissa Trudinger

AJE Team Members:

Caroline Dewison
Lesley Watt
Cathy Mendola
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Susan Kennedy
Laney Mead
Diana Ptaszynski
Lindsay Starr
Niky Sayers

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Polymer clay challenge – week 34

Tags

2016PCchallenge, earrings, polymer clay bead, spectrum

This week I have a pair of earrings to show you for week 34 of 2016 Polymer Clay Challenge. I am working on other things too, but I can’t show you yet.

I used a pair of spectrum beads and matched them with the brightest bead combination I could find.

Polymer clay challenge – week 33

Tags

2016PCchallenge, bracelet, handmade beads, polymer clay, yellow

Here are a couple of bracelets that I made using my polymer clay beads. Since I actually made them last week I’ll put them down for week 33 of 2016 Polymer Clay Challenge, even though this blog entry is a bit late for that.

I used the colours from my Yellow Palette.

Polymer clay challenge – week 32

Tags

2016PCchallenge, art bead, charm swap, headpin, kaleidoscope, polymer clay

I have finally found some time to work with polymer clay, even though I haven’t worked on a vessel. I have signed up for this month’s Art Jewlery Elements design challenge to make something using art headpins, so I have made some using a polymer clay kaleidoscope cane.

Polymer clay headpins by Cate van Alphen

I tried to make several of them so I’ll have the option of making something other than earrings (although I have already siphoned off one pair for earrings). I also changed shape when I got bored ;).

Come back on the 27th August to see what I make using them.

In other news my Art Charms arrived today from Jennifer Cameron’s Fairy Tale themed swap, but you’ll have to wait until 16th September to see what I made for that.

Art Vessel – week 28

Tags

2016PCchallenge, ArtVessel, light catcher, polymer clay, vintage bead

I have missed a couple of weeks from my Art Vessel challenge. Firstly I lost momentum with the vessel I was working on, then I was inspired by the British summer weather to knit a cardigan so I was working on that in the evenings instead of polymer clay. Then because I wasn’t working on polymer clay projects in the evening, or planning them in the day, I noticed there was a terrible backlog of housework to do, so I have spent all my time and energy working on that.

However this week I was inspired by my parent’s 40th wedding anniversary to create an assemblage that includes a polymer clay vessel. It is in shades of pink and red as it’s their Ruby Anniversary.

Ruby Assemblage by Cate van Alphen

I used 4 vintage crystals (possibly from a chandelier) for each decade together with a scattering of old foil beads, and a few modern ones. I also had a few textured cube beads that I had made from polymer clay that were waiting for a purpose.

I chose the stick which I pruned from my honeysuckle for its shape, but it turns out that in the language of flowers honeysuckle represents “the bond of love”, so that fitted in perfectly. It’s a little weathered too, but 40 years will do that. 😉

The vessel in the assemblage is a little scroll case where I added a short message with good wishes. The kanji charm has the symbol for friend as I believe that is an important element of marriage. I attached it using two gold coloured wire jump rings to represent wedding bands.

It looks good in a window, but I didn’t manage to capture it that well in a photograph.