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Fulgorine

~ My adventures with art and polymer clay

Fulgorine

Tag Archives: green

Green Jewellery

05 Mon Sep 2016

Posted by fulgorine in jewellery

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Tags

bracelet, cabochon, earrings, green, kaleidoscope cane, necklace, polymer clay

I have been making some green jewellery using the polymer clay beads I made last year. These, and other green goodies, are now available in my Folksy store.

Big bead choker by Cate van Alphen

Big bead choker by Cate van Alphen

Macrame bracelet by Cate van Alphen

Macrame and leaf button bracelet by Cate van Alphen

Kaleidoscope cabochon by Cate van Alphen

Kaleidoscope cane cabochon by Cate van Alphen

I also made some earrings using my Blue Palette.

Blue kaleidoscope earrings by Cate van Alphen

Blue kaleidoscope earrings by Cate van Alphen

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Green set

17 Wed Feb 2016

Posted by fulgorine in jewellery, My work

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Tags

earrings, green, handmade beads, necklace, polymer clay

Here’s an earring and necklace set I made last year, but I’ve only just taken photos of it and listed it in my Etsy store. It features some of my stained glass polymer clay beads (here’s my free tutorial for the technique).

Earring and necklace set by Cate van Alphen

Necklace detail by Cate van Alphen

Earrings by Cate van Alphen

And in other news, I am still sanding my inro.

Art Vessel week 1

06 Wed Jan 2016

Posted by fulgorine in 2016 Polymer Clay Challenge, Art Vessel, My work

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

2016PCchallenge, ArtVessel, glass jar, green, mokume gane, polymer clay, vase

For my 2016 Polymer Clay Challenge I have decided to make a vessel each week. I’m planning a wide range of objects from inros to bowls to covered jars so my first dilemma was deciding where to start!

Since I had a sheet of mokume gane lying around (as one does), I decided to start by covering a jar you either love or hate ;). It was already dark glass so I didn’t feel too guilty covering it with an opaque sheet of polymer clay.

Green jar by Cate van Alphen

Green jar by Cate van Alphen

My idea was for it to look like a chunk of lava rock that had been shaped into a vase with a the sides polished off to reveal the bright mokume gane inside. Something almost completely, but not quite, unlike a bolder opal.

I started off by baking pieces of mokume gane onto the flattened sides of the jar so that it would remain smooth while I textured the black polymer clay around it. Unfortunately my simple idea soon turned into a rescue mission as one side cracked. I tried filling it with liquid clay for the next bake and I ended up with a bigger crack and another on the other side. (It’s only just occurred to me that I should have popped off the mokume gane and started again). The more I tried to fill the cracks, the bigger they got. 😥

cracked mokume gane by Cate van Alphen

Since this is my first jar, I’m not sure if this is just something that happens when you cover a glass jar with solid polymer clay or if it was because when I baked the patterned sheets I did a part bake as I knew I would be adding more clay and doing further curing. I do have (up to) 50 more* times to practice, but any suggestions to prevent cracks would be appreciated.

I have started a group on Flickr for Art Vessels if you’d like to join in with your own creations. It’s not limited to polymer clay either, just in case you make chocolate tea pots.


* I am determined to also have a go at making an inro before the end of the year!

Polymer clay challenge week 22 – toggle

04 Thu Jun 2015

Posted by fulgorine in 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge, My work

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Tags

2015PCchallenge, buttons, Cate van Alphen, green, handmade, kaleidoscope, polymer clay, shank button

This week I made green toggles for my 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge. I do intend to come up with some more interesting mechanics for my clasps, but I haven’t had the time to experiment. So for this week I went back to making shank buttons.

Green shank buttons by Cate van Alphen

Green shank buttons by Cate van Alphen

I did start making a wire hook to go with a button to complete the clasp, but then I couldn’t find my hammer to harden it (and add some texture). I’ll have to finish it later when I’ve unpacked.

Back of shank buttons by Cate van Alphen

Back of shank buttons by Cate van Alphen

The different designs all came from the same pattern sheet.

Kaleidoscope shank buttons by Cate van Alphen

Kaleidoscope shank buttons by Cate van Alphen

I’ve just realised there are only two days left of green and I’ve hardly been able to give it a fair go.

Polymer clay challenge week 20 – focal

21 Thu May 2015

Posted by fulgorine in 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge, My work

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2015PCchallenge, Cate van Alphen, green, handmade, pendant, polymer clay

This week’s offering is a bit rubbish, but the Polymer clay challenge is to make something – it doesn’t have to be good! I managed to excavate enough space among the moving boxes to make a green pendant. It wasn’t easy.

Green shard pendant by Cate van Alphen

Green shard pendant by Cate van Alphen

Panel bracelet by Cate van Alphen

Panel bracelet by Cate van Alphen

The filigree shard is from a disaster in week 18. I wanted to revisit a technique from a few years ago where I made a filigree pattern from finely extruded polymer clay and then, after baking, I squished in a backing of layered clay to make a subtle mokume gane background. Unfortunately when I squished the backing onto the baked filigree pattern, the curves snapped. Then when I came to sand the surface to reveal the colours in the extruded threads the whole sheet crumbled. I’m not sure if it was because the backing clay was thinner than I had planned (I didn’t have as much clay mixed as I should have) or because the clay wasn’t properly cured (I turned the temperature down in an attempt to stop my beads cracking).

I hoped that I could put a shard from the crumbled sheet onto some backing clay to make it strong enough for me to sand. I couldn’t find my blades, so the background shape is a bit rustic (it’s uncut from the pasta machine). I couldn’t find my sandpaper to texture the clay either so I used a scrunched up ball of tin foil. I quite like the effect.

Back of green pendant by Cate van Alphen

Back of green pendant by Cate van Alphen

When I took it out the oven both layers cracked which made me suspect the temperature wasn’t high enough. So I stuck it together with some bake and bond and cured again. This time it held together, but the cracked filigree irritated me, so I added some crackle effect varnish to make it more of a feature. I haven’t used it very often and the cracks were smaller than I wanted. I tried adding some green alcohol ink to highlight the crackles, but it just coloured everything (see the smudge on the right) so that was a fail.

But I made something.

Glitter repair

08 Fri May 2015

Posted by fulgorine in My work, Tips

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Tags

Cate van Alphen, glitter, green, handmade beads, polymer clay

I couldn’t bear looking at the cracks in my green beads anymore, but I didn’t want to completely obliterate the green patterns, so I added a layer of transparent polymer clay mixed with green glitter. I backfilled the cracks with some green clay first to reduce the chance of air bubbles being introduced. I made a few spacer beads using the excess transparent clay.

Green glitter beads by Cate van Alphen

Green glitter beads by Cate van Alphen

This time when I baked them I put the top shelf back into the oven with a tile on top to protect the beads. It seemed to work – I didn’t find any cracks or air bubbles 🙂

Polymer clay challenge week 16 – focal

23 Thu Apr 2015

Posted by fulgorine in 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge, My work

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

2015PCchallenge, bead, focal bead, green, handmade bead, polymer clay

So my grand plans for a fancy start to green have been slightly postponed because I’m spending a ridiculous amount of time painting skirting boards in our new (200-year-old) house.

Green polymer clay beads by Cate van Alphen

Green polymer clay beads by Cate van Alphen

I managed to make these two hollow focal beads because I had the blank cores ready to be decorated. So all I did was extrude a snake and mash it together to form a cane. They have a velvety matt texture with a dusting of green iridescent mica powder. No sanding, see?

Hollow beads by Cate van Alphen

Hollow beads by Cate van Alphen

The beads are pretty chunky and make a noise when you shake them. I was experimenting with making a rain bead (a mini rain stick that is round) which is why I had the blanks on hand. The sound is ok but not like rain. I think a length of tube is required to make the right sound.

Green colour palette recipes

15 Wed Apr 2015

Posted by fulgorine in 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge, Tips

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Tags

colour mixing, colour palette, Fimo, green, polymer clay

Today is the start of green. This time I’ve prepared some ideas so the transition should be easier than the switch to yellow.

Here are my green colour palette recipes. I’m using Fimo Professional, and percentages for the quantities (click here to see why):

RiceFieldHues

Green colour palette scan

Beige

  • 99 white
  • 0.45 true yellow *
  • 0.05 true green *
  • 0.5 black

* (0.5% mix of 90 true yellow 10 true green)

Light Green

  • 95 white
  • 2.75 true yellow
  • 2 true green
  • 0.25 black

Green

  • 89 true yellow
  • 10 true green
  • 1 black

Dark Green

  • 57 true yellow
  • 38 true green
  • 5 black

Grey Green

  • 61.5 white
  • 3 true yellow
  • 10 true magenta
  • 23 true blue
  • 2 true green
  • 0.5 black

Light Grey

  • 95 white
  • 1.5 true magenta
  • 3.5 true blue

Art Bead Scene April Challenge

08 Wed Apr 2015

Posted by fulgorine in Art Bead Scene, My work

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

APR ABS, brown, Cate van Alphen, green, handmade beads, polymer clay

Although I’d like to claim full responsibility, the necklace I made for this month’s ABS challenge seemed to make itself.

 Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940 By Frida Kahlo

Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940 by Frida Kahlo
Oil on Canvas, 61.25 cm × 47 cm

It all started when I was taking photographs the polymer clay beads I made for my Etsy shop, and I was inspired to put the green and brown beads together.

Green and brown beads

I loved the combination, but unfortunately I only had four of the brown beads. The strand wasn’t even long enough for a bracelet, and they didn’t work so well together when “watered down” with other beads. Then I remembered when I was back at school (in my original zigzag phase) I did a drawing of the Midgard Serpent with small sections of different patterns all down the length. This gave me the idea to make a necklace using several short motifs of different beads.

Oddment necklace by Cate van Alphen

Oddment necklace by Cate van Alphen

I call it an Oddment necklace, and it was a great way to use up some orphan beads. There’s no clasp – it just goes over the head. I like the way it looks different depending on the way it’s hung. I hope it conjures up some of the richness of Frida’s paintings.

Oddment necklace by Cate van Alphen

Oddment necklace by Cate van Alphen

The short section of beads on waxed cotton cord is a nod to the intertwined thorns of the inspiration painting.

Brown beads by Cate van Alphen

Bead Soup is on its way

13 Thu Mar 2014

Posted by fulgorine in 8th BSBP, BSBP

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Tags

Bead Soup Blog Party, beads, green, grey, purple, swirl, teal

Bead Soup is in the mail… Here’s a preview.

Abstract swirl

Things will become clearer once I hear that my partner Wendy Chamberlain has received them. 😉

TTFN

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Fulgor, n.
Dazzling brightness; splendor.
Fulgorine, n.
One who creates that which dazzles.

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