Polymer clay challenge week 41 – toggle

Tags

2015PCchallenge, button, flower, flower power, polymer clay, toggle, virtual retreat

This week, for my Polymer Clay Challenge, I made a flower power toggle. I started with two different sheets of blended colour, and then I cut and replaced flower shapes to create a pattern.

Flower power by Cate van Alphen

It’s a variation of the technique I learned earlier this year in Anke Humpert’s class on the Virtual Retreat. (You can still join the 2015 retreat as all the classes will be available for a year after the last sign up.)

Flower power button clasp by Cate van Alphen

The flower shape means the button I created from the cut out fits through the hole easily as it is longer across the petal tips than between two petals. I noticed this when I made my indigo mokme gane pendants back in week 31. I’m still planning on adding an edging to finish off the components.

Flower power focal by Cate van Alphen

I drilled a hole through the thickness of the loop so it could be attached discretely with a seed bead anchor. Or the hole could be used to secure a wrapped attachment so it doesn’t slide away sideways.

Flower power components by Cate van Alphen

There is a different pattern on the other side created from the second blend of clay.

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Polymer clay challenge week 11 – toggle

Tags

2015PCchallenge, buckle, button, Cate van Alphen, daffodil, handmade bead, jewellery component, polymer clay, yellow

I’m so excited, I had an actual sunbeam this morning for taking photographs! I started this week off by making some buttons. They may look familiar from a couple of weeks ago when they were cabochons.

Polymer clay shank buttons by Cate van Alphen

But now they’ve got their shanks on baby 😉

Polymer clay shank buttons by Cate van Alphen

Next I made some bar buckles using the mokume gane sheet from last week. I also made a new sheet of mokume gane for the oval buckle using the offcuts which were still on my board.

Polymer clay buckles by Cate van Alphen

I whipped up a bracelet using some old green ribbon and some of last week’s beads to test that the buckle actually worked.

Polymer clay and ribbon bracelet by Cate an Alphen

It worked well until I took my jumper off and the whole bracelet came off too. The buckles hold quite well while the ribbon is horizontal, but when the buckles are lifted up they lose all tension and the ribbon just slips through. Maybe they would be better able to grip thicker (or rougher) fabric?

Daffodil bracelet by Cate van Alphen

Perhaps the buckles should only used decoratively, or just to adjust the length rather than as a closure. I think they make interesting focals and I like the big hole button look of the round one. I’m sure they’d look great with sari silk, but I haven’t got any to test with. Or a band of macrame, but that will have to wait.

Shrink plastic buttons

Tags

button, handmade button, kaleidoscope, polymer clay, polymer clay buttons, shrink plastic

As I was making my polymer clay buttons, I thought I should test how they cope with being washed. From my research on the internet, polymer clay buttons hold up fine but I do like to check these things myself. I also remembered that a while back I got the materials to make buttons using shrink plastic, so I decided it would be good to test those at the same time. Since the first batch of buttons I made is packed away, I made some new ones.

My shrink plastic is printable, so I made a variety of buttons to test different surfaces. I still need to test washing the buttons, but there are already a number of things I don’t like about the shrink plastic.

The first kind is 100% colour printed, using a pattern derived from my kaleidoscope cane. It was easy to make perfectly aligned kaleidoscope designs using the computer, but the colours are disappointing. The colours get darker (which I accounted for) but they also change when the plastic shrinks. I’ve pictured them next to a polymer clay button for comparison. Somehow the shrink plastic has lost vitality.

I made the next buttons by printing out black lines and colouring them with coloured pencil. Generally I like the colours but the ugly khaki colour in the yellow circles was originally orange pencil which mutated when the plastic shrank. And does one button have a wonky shape? Yes indeed! I used a punch to cut out the shapes so they started off evenly sized and perfectly round.

Some of the buttons are not very flat either. These buttons have simple black lines printed on the white plastic. And the backs…

The backs are slightly discoloured yellow. Perhaps the tile they were on burnt them? I was using my heat gun on the front of the button so I’m a bit confused. Too hot? Too close? Just something that happens?

Shrink plastic buttons by Cate van Alphen

I’m not particularly keen on the white edges of the buttons either. Maybe I’m just too fussy. Oh well, we’ll see what the washing machine makes of them.

Polymer clay challenge week 7 – toggles

Tags

2015PCchallenge, bead, button, Cate van Alphen, handmade, kaleidoscope cane, polymer clay, shank button, toggle

The biggest challenge with blogging something I’ve made every week is not the polymer clay but the photography. Waiting for a sunbeam, so I can photograph using natural light, in Northern England is difficult. In winter it’s even more unlikely. A sunbeam in England, in winter on a Tuesday or Thursday morning (when someone can look after my girls) is practically impossible. So I have had to resort to using a flood lamp for taking my photos, and the results are a bit grungy.

Kaleidoscope shank button clasp by Cate van Alphen

I made a shank button using the kaleidoscope cane I made earlier. I love how the shank button structure doesn’t interfere with the kaleidoscope design.

Shank button clasp back by Cate van Alphen

I liked the button so much I even signed the back ;).

I also made a wire hook which was a bit of a trauma. I wanted the wire to be flat. Previously I have used a DIY hammer (with clunky results), so for my birthday I got a nylon hammer specifically for wire. Unfortunately, this did not have any visible effect on the wire despite whacking it gently, harder, with venom and even asking my husband to have a go. I can only assume it’s the wrong type of hammer because it’s a hammer – there isn’t much scope for user error. Is there? In the end I resorted to using the DIY hammer again.

Polymer clay buttons by Cate van Alphen

I also made some regular buttons and a toggle bead. To make the buttons, I used the edges of the kaleidoscope sheet I made for the shank button. Because I had laid the cane slices over scrap “mud” clay I had to add a layer of clay to the back and edges of the buttons. I used orange because that is supposed to be my focal colour, but after I had made a few I thought brown would have given more definition.

Polymer clay challenge – week 3

Tags

2015PCchallenge, art bead, bead, brown, button, handmade, orange, polymer clay, retro, toggle

This week, for my polymer clay challenge, I have made toggles. I wanted to make a toggle to go with my retro beads from last week.

The decorative dot conceals the holes of the button. But it also caused some technical difficulties.

I ended up making three toggles because the first hole was too small to account for the bump on the button. So I made a new thinner button without the dot, and added a stripe of the patterned clay to the brown frame to link the two pieces.

Then the second toggle frame was too big and it got scorched in the oven so it’s now covered with mosaic made from scraps. Although the colours seem to be departing from orange, I think this one is my favourite. It just goes to show that  mistakes are often opportunities with polymer clay.

Which one is your favourite?

Simple things and big adventures

Tags

button, polymer clay, simplify

I can’t remember if I blogged about making buttons… I got a little bit carried away trying to make the ultimate button making tool that I didn’t ACTUALLY make many buttons. OK – I made two (and I haven’t got the tool right yet either). The point is one of my buttons has been featured on Zibbet’s blog which is always nice encouragement.

My button (the featured one).

My other button (this one has a jump ring shank).

Perhaps I should simplify and actually get down to making some more buttons – but not this weekend as I am off to Polymer Pamper Play. I’m so excited!