I finished a… thing

Tags

abstract art, bead, freeform beading, handmade, mixed media, polymer clay

A few years ago I made a Bead Habitat. You may have noticed that all the pictures are fairly tightly cropped. This is because I hadn’t finished the edges.

I had intended to frame it as a picture to go on the wall, but my mother objected, saying that it was too tactile for that and needed to be explored closely rather than hung from a wall. After that it got buried under all the debris on my beading table.

As part of my recent tidying, I came across it again, and decided to finish it. I’ve done a bead edging and a backing fabric to hide my workings. I had to try really hard not to embellish the back too!

I’m not entirely sure what it is. It’s a kind of sculptural, 3D painting, abstract, mini landscape, ornament… thing. It’s purely decorative and quite small, so I’m thinking of it as “coffee table jewellery”.

It’s a mixed media piece including some of my polymer clay beads and components, silk covered wire, embroidery and glass beads on fabric.

Let me know what you think it is. Sometimes feel that I don’t make these things, I’m just there when it happens. 🙂

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Happy Easter

Tags

earrings, handmade, jewellery, necklace, polymer clay

It’s unlikely I’ll be making an egg this year, however I have changed my window display to some happy yellows. (Please excuse the fuzzy photo and clunky editing.)

I have just listed this jewellery in my online shop, some of the earrings haven’t been available online before now.

Happy Easter!

Green Man Mask

Tags

green man, handmade, mask, paper mache, polymer clay

My husband’s Christmas party this year was a masquerade ball so he asked me to make a mask for him. We decided on something inspired by the Green Man.

Green Man mask by Cate van Alphen

The base of the mask is paper mache (I used layers of gum tape) with a final decorative layer of my mono printed papers torn into little pieces. The leaves and acorns are polymer clay and there is a foil backed glass gem in the center. I also sprinkled in a few acrylic flat backs for some Christmas bling.

It was a fun project. I’m tempted to make some more masks although I’m not quite sure what to do with the finished products since I find masks pretty creepy.

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.

Hidden treasure

Tags

polymer clay, recycle, tallow balm, vessel

This morning I spent ages looking through my computer files for some photos that I KNEW I’d taken. Finally it occurred to me to look on the camera, and there they were along with a few projects that I realised I had forgotten to blog about.

Here’s one was a birthday gift back in September. It was an empty face cream pot that I decorated with glass nuggets and polymer clay.

The lid was plastic and I wasn’t sure what it would do in the oven, so I pre-baked a mokume gane disk which I glued on at the end.

I filled the recycled jar with some of my handmade tallow balm. Here’s a recipe if you’d like to make your own.

Hooray!

Tags

earrings, for sale, handmade jewellery, polymer clay, shop

My new shop is finally online! There are many items I haven’t listed yet, but in the meantime here are a few pairs of earrings that I think have not been seen online yet.

Polymer clay and Swarovski crystal bead earrings

Yellow wonky cube bead earrings

Violet flower cane earrings

Please have a look, I’d appreciate any feedback. Thanks 🙂

Are we there yet?

Tags

bracelet, jewellery, necklace, polymer clay

It’s been ages since my last post. I have been waiting to tell you about my very own, fabulous, online shop. This is not that post! 😦 I won’t bore you with the technical details, other than to say the gnashing of teeth and tears involved in its creation continue.

In the meantime here are a few pieces of jewellery that I dropped off at the Craftworkshop in Sedbergh yesterday.

Yellow retro necklace by Cate van Alphen

There are a couple of necklaces featuring my polymer clay beads.

Blue flower necklace by Cate van Alphen

And a pair of elasticated bracelets.

Blue bracelet by Cate van Alphen

Purple bracelet by Cate van Alphen

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. 😉