Mosaic Pendants

Tags

Art Deco, handmade, mosaic, pendant, polymer clay

The Thunderbird necklaces from my previous post have now evolved into these mosaic pendants.

Polymer clay mosaic pendants by Cate van Alphen

Initially these started because I decided to squish all the off-cut scraps from making the Thunderbirds into some fresh raw clay to make new sheets to use for mosaics. I had yellow and orange on my table at the time so that’s what I made. Because I didn’t know how the baked scraps combined with new clay would hold together when cutting into tesserae I decided to make some simple geometric shapes. I also added some deco beads for shine and to give a contrasting texture.

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So, yes, I do have a favourite child here – the yellow and orange one appears in every photo! It’s the last one I made and I like the Art Deco look. I also used some bigger off-cut chunks (from carved beads) with fewer deco beads hidden in the spaces.

Pendant closeup.

The edges of the tessera are pretty rough. I could probably improve this by warming the clay before cutting, or sanding the edges, but I quite like them like this. I think it adds character. Anyhow it’s very fulfilling when all the little pieces come together and seem to fit.

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Lost Masterpiece

Tags

gelli print, mokume gane, mono print, pendant, polymer clay

Here’s another of my lost projects. This one was inspired by Syndee Holt’s Mini Masterpieces class on Polymer Clay Adventure.

The project included several techniques including gelli printing and transfers. I didn’t make the exact projects, but I used some of the techniques separately.

I really liked her bezels so, while I waited for my gelli plate to arrive, I created a couple of pendants using some polymer clay domes that I had already made from a mokume gane sheet.

Once my gelli plate arrived, I spent a morning mono printing onto paper to make into greetings cards.

Unfortunately the photos are not great. I just had time to take a few snaps before quickly hiding my paints as it was time to fetch the children from school (it’s extraordinarily stressful when they get hold of paint).

These photos don’t really convey the layers of colour and shimmer from the metallic paint and pearlescent paper that I used. I’ve since taken the cards to sell at Craftworkshop, so I can’t take better pictures. They were loads of fun to do, so I’m sure I’ll do more soon.

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.

Blue summer pendant

Tags

blue, pendant, polymer clay, virtual retreat

It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog. I have been making things, but I have also been doing some rearranging (my time, my room and my photography), so it hasn’t filtered through to the blog yet. The Art Fair went well, so I have been making more jewellery featuring my Spectrum Palettes. Here’s a pendant I made in my Blue colours.

The design is from a tutorial on the 2017 Polymer Clay Adventure by Elena Marunich. It’s pretty big so it’s quite a statement piece.

I have been experimenting with different backgrounds in my photos (trying both more texture and pure white product shots). You can see more examples of my experiments on my Patreon post.

Art Bead Scene Challenge – June

Tags

glass nugget, macrame necklace, MAY ABS, pendant, polymer clay

I’m pleased that this month I have completed a necklace for the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge. Here’s the inspiration painting:

“Literary Poster for the Century Magazine”, 1896 by John Louis Rhead
Original Lithographic Poster Printed in Colour with Letterpress

I made the pendant from polymer clay and a glass nugget. The sculpted spiral at the bottom reminded me of the roses in the image.

I picked up the olive-green colour in the cords I used. I decided to form slightly meandering macramé as a reference to the organic stems in the image. I added a scattering of gold pearls and bronze beads to echo the colours of the pendant.

It’s quite a short – nearly choker length so I have added an extender chain to ensure it will fit.

Art Vessel week 2

Tags

2016PCchallenge, ArtVessel, handmade, jewellery, mother of pearl, pendant, polymer clay

This week, for my 2016 Polymer Clay Challenge, I went back to a comfort zone I didn’t know I had and made mini pendant sized vessels. I was intending to make a yarn bowl, but there is an upcoming celebration for the new baby in the family so I was asked to make a wishpot for her.

Wishpot by Cate van Alphen

What’s a wishpot? I came up with the idea when my girls were babies and we had a welcome party for them. Family and friends spoke their good wishes for the new baby (like fairy godmothers) and blew into the pot. Afterwards I glued the lid on to keep the wishes inside. I’m keeping them safe for when my girls are old enough to wear jewellery.

Wishpots by Cate van Alphen

I made one of them quite minimalist with a faux cork stopper, but I couldn’t resist making another one that was more florid. I’ll let baby’s mum choose :).

Wishpots by Cate van Alphen

They are quite dinky as befitting a baby. I have tied a cord around the lip of my girls’ vessels to make them into pendants.

Polymer clay challenge week 46 – focal

Tags

2015PCchallenge, mokume gane, pendant, polymer clay, red

Here are the first red components of my my 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge. I created the pattern using stamped mokume gane.

Polymer clay components by Cate van Alphen

I had intended to make the cabochons into pendants, but I’ve been struck down with they lurgy, so I’ve been sleeping instead.

Polymer clay pendants by Cate van Alphen

I textured the moon shaped pendant and sanded the doughnut smooth. I think the texture looks warm and fuzzy – perfect for the current chilly weather.

Polymer clay challenge week 37 – toggle

Tags

2015PCchallenge, Cate van Alphen, focal, Indigo, pendant, polymer clay, shank button, toggle

This week for my indigo colour scheme toggle I super-sized a shank button.

Indigo polymer clay toggle by Cate van Alphen

I made a hook from silver coloured copper wire.

Polymer clay focal toggle by Cate van Alphen

I made two loops at the back so one can be used to attach the beads and the other is for the hook. I thought it would give it a better “V” shape to a necklace than using only one shank. It also means that they are off centre so it gives the option to use the focal as a slider pendant without it flipping over.

Polymer clay and wire toggle by Cate van Alphen

Polymer clay challenge week 35 – focal

Tags

2015PCchallenge, Cate van Alphen, focal bead, handmade bead, Indigo, pendant, polymer clay

This week of the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge I made a ring to go around one of my beads from last week to make a compound focal/pendant.

Indigo compound bead pendant by Cate van Alphen

I even sanded it to make a smooth contrast to the textured bead.

Compound focal side view by Cate van Alphen

Compound indigo focal by Cate van Alphen

The only problem now is that I think several of them would look good all joined up together to make a necklace, but I don’t know when I’ll find the time to make them.

Sedbergh Sheep Fest 2015 – part 3

Tags

Cate van Alphen, kaleidoscope, landscape, miniature painting, pendant, polymer clay, sheep, Sheep Fest

Here are the last of my Sheep Fest pendants. Click here for part 1 and part 2. These are a combination of polymer clay and heat set paint to pick up some of the details.

Painting pendants by Cate van Alphen

I made the green picture first to test the frame idea. It’s 100% polymer clay with a little acrylic paint to antique the frame.

Green landscape pendant by Cate van Alphen

The back is inspired by the ubiquitous slate walls in this area.

Back of landscape pendant by Cate van Alphen

For the next pendant I used marbled polymer clay to form the landscape which I accented with a bit of texture, and painted in the details of the sheep and background walls.

Sheep painting slider pendant by Cate van Alphen

Again the back was inspired by dry stone walls.

Back of sheep painting pendant by Cate van Alphen

The last pendant is larger, more of a medallion than a miniature painting. Again I started with marbled polymer clay to form a basic landscape which I accented using heat set paint.

Sheep landscape medallion by Cate van Alphen

The bail and edging is intended to suggest the dry stone walls.

Stone wall edging of pendant by Cate van Alphen

The pendant is a hollow lentil which I made in two parts and joined together. The back makes slightly less sense as it is from a sheet of kaleidoscope cane veneer that I had left over on my work surface. It makes a nice pendant on its own, but perhaps it doesn’t work with the rustic stone edging. However, instead of making a more refined faux metal bail, I decided to be true to the front of the pendant. It probably would have made more sense to make a faux stone back too.

Back of sheep medallion by Cate van Alphen