Going, going…

Tags

British Red Cross, earrings, handmade, jewellery, necklace

Here’s a reminder that my auction to benefit the British Red Cross will be ending tomorrow, Sunday 9th July. The British Red Cross assist people in crisis. Their current appeals include assistance for the people left bereaved, injured and homeless in the Grenfell Tower disaster and those involved in the recent UK terror attacks as well as people suffering from conflicts around the world.

Please have a look at everything available and remember that the proceeds will be going to a good cause. The bids start at only 1 penny so you may get lucky and win a (practically) freebie.

And another thing…

Tags

British Red Cross, Charity Auction, charm, earrings, jewellery, keyring, polymer clay, purple

There are a few more items included in my charity auction that I’d like to talk about. Remember – all proceeds will go to the British Red Cross who are helping people involved in the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower.

Purple earrings by Cate van Alphen

I chose to make these purple beads into chunky earrings because the texture matched the wings of my Angel painting. They look like ceramic, but because they are made from polymer clay they are still light enough to wear as earrings.

Macramé bag charm by Cate van Alphen

This stone bead and macramé handbag charm was one of a pair of earrings, but unlike the purple leaf earrings above I was worried that they were too heavy to wear. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them because I liked them so I didn’t really want to dismantle them . After making the love charm for the auction, I realised the weight wouldn’t be a problem if it were a bag charm.

Stone key ring by Cate van Alphen

Its partner became a key ring – just to be different.

Purple bead earrings by Cate van Alphen

I chose the next pair of earrings because they were waiting on my desk for new photographs to be taken, and because there can never be too much purple.

Bauble pendant by Cate van Alphen

This red, purple and green pendant goes with the earrings. It’s hollow polymer clay so it’s super light.

Please have a look at my other items and remember that if you do bid it will all be going to a good cause.

 

Forget-me-not again

Tags

British Red Cross, Charity Auction, earrings, pendant, polymer clay

I wrote about forget-me-not jewellery that I made earlier this year. I made another pair of faux soutache earrings which I have included in my charity auction for the British Red Cross. The Red Cross is assisting people affected by terrible incidents like the Manchester bombings and the fire at Grenfell Tower, so I thought the name (forget-me-not) was appropriate.

Forget-me-not earrings by Cate van Alphen

I’ve also included the stunning blue pendant I made as part of the Polymer Clay Adventure virtual retreat. It’s here because the colours matched.

Blue pendant by Cate van Alphen

The auction ends this Sunday, 9th July 2017. I’d love it if you joined in with some bids.

Peace

Tags

Charity Auction, earrings, Egg ornament, peace, polymer clay, white poppy

The British Red Cross is helping those involved in the Grenfell Tower fire. They are also supporting people who have been affected by the recent terror attacks in the UK, and other conflicts around the world. I chose to include this polymer clay egg in my Charity Auction because I made it following a previous terror attack.

Easter Egg by Cate van Alphen

I wrote about this Easter Egg back in 2016. The technique I used to decorate the hollow hen’s egg was a symbol of my wish that after all the injury and grief, beauty could still be found.

White poppy egg stand by Cate van Alphen

I made a matching stand for the egg which is included in the auction. Inside it I etched and painted a white poppy. The white poppy is a symbol of peace that embodies a rejection of killing fellow human beings for whatever reason.

White poppy studs by Cate van Alphen

Because you can’t have too much love and forgiveness, I’ve also included a pair of white poppy studs. They are made from pearlescent polymer clay, which I sculpted by hand onto surgical steel posts.

Earrings by Cate van Alphen

The last pair of earrings, in this blog post, looked a bit lonely waiting in the queue for new photographs. I chose them mainly because the colour matched, but I’m sure they too would appreciate a good home.

The auction will run until Sunday 9th July 2017. All the items are starting at 1p, so you might get yourself a bargain, if not it’s going to a good cause. 😉

Love, hearts, pink and pretty

Tags

art charm, Charity Auction, earrings, heart, love, necklace, pink, polymer clay

I have been horrified watching the events unfold at Grenfell Tower. I felt the need to make something pink and fluffy as a distraction from the dark thoughts in my mind. I kept thinking about the charms made by Brooke Bock that I received in the 2016 Art Charm Swap. In fact this gave me the idea to run a Charity Auction to benefit the British Red Cross.

Charms by Brooke Bock

Here’s the necklace I made specifically for the auction. I paired Brooke’s pendant with some salmon/pink/magenta seed pod beads that I made myself from polymer clay. They are on a baby pink cotton cord with even more pink beads.

Heart necklace by Cate van Alphen

For the Love charm I decided to keep things simple. I added a trigger clasp so it could be used as a handbag charm. I added a dangle of green dyed lava beads. I liked the colour contrast and I thought it was fitting because they have come from fire.

Love charm by Cate van Alphen

I also decided to include these lava bead and wire earrings. They were sitting on my desk waiting for new photos to be taken and I thought since the beads matched they should go too.

Lava bead earrings by Cate van Alphen

Since I couldn’t get enough pink and pretty I added these bead earrings. They are made using very fine vintage beads with tiny rosebud flowers. They are dainty and sugary sweet.

Pink earrings by Cate van Alphen

I do hope you are tempted to bid. The auction ends on Sunday 9th July 2017. Until then, please also share the link.

Thanks!

New Earrings, New Backgrounds

Tags

earrings, handmade jewellery, polymer clay beads

Here are a few pairs of earrings that I have made recently. I’ve also been playing around with the backgrounds in my photos. Please let me know what you think. 🙂

Violet pinstripe barrel bead earrings by Cate van Alphen

Purple flower earrings by Cate van Alphen

Yellow retro bead earrings by Cate van Alphen

Sunset square earrings by Cate van Alphen

Before I forget

Tags

art bead, cabochon, earrings, mica powder, polymer clay

I made another pair of forget-me-not earrings that I kept aside for a separate blog. And here’s why…

Forget-me-not earrings by Cate van Alphen

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I have made a Patreon page. It’s a site for creators to find sponsors in order to spend more energy on creating and less time worrying about how to pay the bills. As part of making my page I clarified some goals for myself: I want to use more art beads (made by other artists) and I want to make more tutorials.

I planned for the earrings above to incorporate both goals. I’ve got the art beads: I made the ivory coloured floral disks from polymer clay and the blue ceramic beads are by Jenny Gholson-Morris. But the tutorial part: not so much.

Making a video tutorial is proving more time-consuming than anticipated – I’m struggling to get footage that is in shot and in focus. Oh, right! This is why I set up the Patreon page in the first place – because at the moment I haven’t got much time for figuring this out. So until I can make a full tutorial, here’s a little tip.

Faux concrete cabochon by Cate van Alphen

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I made this cabochon as a way to use up the scraps from making carved beads. The muse wanted a matt concrete effect. My logical brain tells me this is to contrast with the shiny fragments. I wanted something more interesting so I drew in some scrolls and dots. I thought it still needed some subtle pep so I mixed green iridescent mica powder with a drop of water to paint into the dents. This caused the water (and mica) to puddle in the indentations and not all over the surface of the piece. I did the same thing for the petals of the flowers on the earrings.

I used Perfect Pearls for this technique as it has a built-in resin and I painted it onto uncured polymer clay. It didn’t seem to stick as well when painted onto baked clay.

By the way, if you would like to sponsor me, you can start from $1 a month and change your mind any time you like.

 

I remembered forget-me-nots

Tags

earrings, flower cane, forget me not, polymer clay, soutache

I remembered to make some forget-me-not jewellery for the window display at Craftworkshop. I made a flower cane inspired by Ivy Niles’s class on Polymer Clay Adventure.

I made the background using transparent clay so that I could add the flowers to different coloured backgrounds. It worked pretty well on the plain blue polymer clay.

Forget-me-not earrings by Cate van Alphen

However it did cause a mica shift effect on pearl clay which is more visible from certain angles. It was a bit unexpected but I don’t think it’s necessarily bad as it gives the flowers a little halo.

Forget-me-not earrings by Cate van Alphen

Unlike this…

This bookmark was one of the first things I made back in 2009 and I’ve been avoiding translucent clay ever since! Putting aside the confused design of flowers and stars together, there’s a long list of things I did wrong here. I cut my cane slices too thick and then squished the sheet through the pasta machine to try and flatten it, so everything got distorted. I don’t think the plaquing was entirely my fault (beyond the thick slices) but more to do with the fact that I used pre-formula-change Fimo. I used Pardo for my new forget-me-not cane. Anyway it’s quite encouraging to look back at old work and think: “Yuck, I can do better!”.

I also made a pair of faux soutache earrings inspired by Jana Murinova’s tutorial (again on Polymer Clay Adventure).

Faux soutache earrings by Cate van Alphen

Wire crochet earrings

Tags

earrings, giveaway, jewellery, polymer clay, wire crochet

This year I signed up for the Polymer Clay Adventure. I’m generally not very good at following a tutorial literally, but I thought this year it would be a good exercise to try a run through at least once.

The first tutorial I had a go at was a combination of polymer clay beads (by Kira Slye) and wire crochet (by Yoola). I almost managed to make something similar.

Earrings by Cate van Alphen

I used carved beads (from another of the retreat tutorials) for these earrings. I didn’t have gold hooks so I made some spirals that I attached to steel studs. I thought the focal beads were a bit too chunky so I added another bead to give the earrings more length.

I also made a pendant with a stamp textured bead. When I made this bead I thought the edges were a bit fat so I pinched them and added a slight wave. Some of the purple coating had cracked off the wire by the time I worked the bottom row, but I thought it picked up the gold mica on the bead quite nicely so I still used it.

I made another pair of carved beads, this time in silver, since I thought the first ones were a bit fat. I included some black beads in the wire crochet but they are a bit too similar to the bead colour and don’t really stand out.

By the time I got to the next silver carved bead my fingers were objecting to the crochet (I think my wire is too hard) so I decided to weave a little cap instead. I also scribbled in some scratches. This is purely for textural effect and is in no way related to the fact that the bead got scratched while I was working on the wire weaving. 😉

I also made a pair of purple beads similar to Kira’s, but I haven’t yet decided what to do with them.

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Giveaway

If you’d like any (or all) of the pendants and you are willing to pay for the postage*, pop a comment here on my blog before the end of January. If more than one person wants a pendant I’ll do a random selection.

*Shipping is from England (95p to UK, £3.15 to US addresses).

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Polymer clay challenge – week 45

Tags

2016PCchallenge, earrings, flower power, polymer clay, vintage

I have been a little waylaid from my polymer clay so I’ve pretty much lost track of the 2016 Polymer Clay Challenge. Since it has been a while since I last blogged, here is some of the jewellery I recently made inspired by the broken teacup I previously wrote about.

Long shard earrings by Cate van Alphen

Teacup shard pendant by Cate van Alphen

I finished some earrings and a pendant using the shards I wrote about in week 36.

Flower earrings by Cate van Alphen

I also made some earrings to go with the necklace that I made in week 38 using canes inspired by the flower power pattern on the vintage teacup.

And since I had some canes already made, I made more earrings.