Time travel earrings

Tags

bead earrings, blue earring, Cate van Alphen, handmade beads, polymer clay

These earrings don’t allow you to travel through time, and they are not from the future. Instead I made them a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve only just got round to photographing them, so they are a bit out of sync with my 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge posts. So it’s not quite as exciting as it sounds, but I think they are nice earrings.

Water lilies bead earrings by Cate van Alphen

They feature my double-sided sequin beads, so the underside is a lighter blue.

Water lilies bead earrings by Cate van Alphen

I also made some earrings with just the sequin beads.

Sequin stack earrings by Cate van Alphen

It’s hard to convey in the photographs the way the colours change with the viewing angle.

Sequin stack earrings by Cate van Alphen

Polymer clay challenge week 19 – bead

Tags

2015PCchallenge, Cate van Alphen, disc bead, green bead, green sequin, handmade beads, polymer clay

My post is a bit early this week, but we are moving and the internet goes tomorrow. 😮 What will I do without internet? Oh, right – pack boxes!

Green sequin beads by Cate van Alphen

My offering is pretty simple this week – again it’s the moving thing. I made some rustic polymer clay sequin beads. The twist is that they have contrasting colours on either side.

Beige disc beads by Cate van Alphen

I think this will create a nice dynamic effect when they are strung into something like a necklace because the colour will change depending on the viewing angle.

Green disc beads by Cate van Alphen

Glitter repair

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

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 🙂

Retro necklace

Tags

handmade beads, micro-macrame, polymer clay, yellow necklace

Previously I mentioned that I’d kept some of my yellow polymer clay beads aside because I knew how I wanted to string them. Here they are in a yellow and brown micro-macramé (or microme 😉 ) necklace.

Retro necklace by Cate van Alphen

Retro necklace detail by Cate van Alphen

Macramé necklace detail by Cate van Alphen

This chappy is now available in my Etsy shop.

Polymer clay challenge week 17 – beads

Tags

2015PCchallenge, beads, green beads, handmade beads, polymer clay

I was a bit disappointed with my cane last week and then I remembered that previously when I’d made a similar cane I had used clay that I had made into a skinner blend first. I used the same quantities of each colour as I did last week and the same extruder die. I think the new cane is more subtle and interesting, although perhaps it could do with a few solid lines as well as the blended ones.

Green polymer clay canes by Cate van Alphen

Again I didn’t have much time this week to make my green beads, so I only made 6 using the new cane. I added the same green iridescent mica powder.

Green beads by Cate van Alphen

I was really disappointed to find that they all cracked when I baked them 😦

Cracked beads by Cate van Alphen

The worst part is – I’m not really sure why. Previously when my beads cracked I thought it was because the clay was only partly cured while I did multiple bakes. It did take a few days for me to finish off these beads, but they were raw clay throughout and sitting on a glass board, so they shouldn’t have leached. Since the cane was made from blended clay, I didn’t think it was a conditioning issue either. Now I wonder if the temperature of the oven spiked more because with only six beads, there was less polymer clay in the oven than usual.

Green beads by Cate van Alphen

Anyway they look ok in selected shots 😉 I don’t know if I’ll be able to cover them with something else since the cracks may result in air bubbles.

April Earrings – Evening Glow

Tags

glow-in-the-dark, handmade beads, handmade earrings, mood beads, polymer clay

I was inspired to make a pair of glow-in-the-dark mood bead earrings by the Earrings Everyday April challenge.

“Hemispheric – Valencia, Spain – Jan 2007” by Diliff – Own work.
Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons

The thing which struck me from this photo was the dynamic quality of the light, so I included the mood beads which change colour. I made the beads on the bottom from polymer clay and the “white” veins glow in the dark. These beads convey the glow from windows.  The central beads feature the colours of the photo and the patterns are mirrored like the reflections on the water. And the pink cotton cord… well that connects the beads to the ear-wires 😉

Evening Glow earrings by Cate van Alphen

Here’s a close up where I’ve changed the colour of one of the mood beads by warming it in my hand.

Evening Glow earrings by Cate van Alphen

You can find these earrings in my Etsy shop.

Evening Glow earrings by Cate van Alphen under UV light

Glow-in-the-dark beads by Cate van Alphen

Goodbye yellow

Tags

art beads, beads, Cate van Alphen, daffodil, handmade beads, necklace, yellow

Today is the last day of Yellow. I’ve been a bit more organised this time and I have listed most of the components in my bead shop.

Earring pair by Cate van Alphen

Tassel pendant and buckle by Cate van Alphen

Yellow tracery beads by Cate van Alphen

I’ve kept a few components aside because I know how I want to string them to make a necklace. No doubt they will make it to my Etsy shop with finished pieces of jewellery like my Daffodil necklace eventually.

Daffodil necklace by Cate van Alphen

Goodbye (for now) yellow, it’s been fun!

Art Bead Scene April Challenge

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
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.

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

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

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

Spectrum Necklace

Tags

bead necklace, Cate van Alphen, handmade beads, polymer clay, rainbow, spectrum

I made these polymer clay beads a while back when I was making spectrum beads.

Spectrum bead necklace by Cate van Alphen

I’ve just got round to making them into a necklace.

Spectrum bead necklace by Cate van Alphen

And it’s mine, all MINE 🙂

Orange components listed

Tags

artisan bead, etsy, handmade beads, orange beads, polymer clay

It’s nearly a month late, but I have finally been able to list all the orange polymer clay components I made in my Etsy shop.

I have been slightly distracted by our new baby who is over 200 years old and made of stone. We *finally* completed the purchase of our new house just before the end of orange. 😉