28 Sun Aug 2016
Posted in 2016 Polymer Clay Challenge, jewellery
This week I have a pair of earrings to show you for week 34 of 2016 Polymer Clay Challenge. I am working on other things too, but I can’t show you yet.
I used a pair of spectrum beads and matched them with the brightest bead combination I could find.
01 Fri Jan 2016
I’m starting the New Year with a look back at the old year. I took part in Katie Oskin’s 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge which I combined with my idea of dividing the year into blocks focussing on each colour of the spectrum. Each week I made bead components*. Look at the pretty gradient that they make!
Some of the components need reworking, but I’m pleased to say that I managed to make something every week (despite moving house in the middle). I think perhaps this exercise needs another iteration since one of my objectives was to develop a more homogenous body of work. Maybe I should choose my favourite component from each block and make a version in each colour palette? But that’s not my challenge for 2016…
For 2016 I plan to make a vessel each week. I’ll probably start with covering my collection of glass jars, but I’m also hoping to make items of jewellery like inros. I’ve made a group on Flickr if you’d like to join in (it’s not limited to polymer clay since although that’s what I work with, I love to be inspired by other media too).
I hope my year, and yours, will be filled with beautiful things!
* I have a page dedicated to the Spectrum Year project where you can click on the thumbnails and find my colour recipes. I am working on adding some of these beads, and jewellery made using the colour palettes, to my Folksy shop.
23 Wed Sep 2015
I’ve been a little bit distracted the past couple of weeks by a new tangent. I’m fascinated by the discovery of gut flora and the concept that our bodies are more of an eco system than a single organism (since there are more microorganisms in a human body than human cells). Sometimes the wonky polymer clay beads I make have some personality, so I think of them as “creature beads”. I put the ideas together to make a bead habitat where my creature beads could live.
Bead habitat by Cate van Alphen
I suppose it can be described as an abstract 3D textile painting. I tried to make something lush and varied like a rich ecosystem (something like a garden or rock pool). I used scraps of fleece fabric that I had to hand, but I think it would have benefited from having another layer of more decorative fabric over the top. The fleece gives a nice dimensional structure, but I found the solid blocks of colour a bit of a challenge visually.
Bead habitat detail by Cate van Alphen
It also includes some of my handmade polymer clay beads, glass seed beads and silk covered wire spirals.
Bead habitat detail by Cate van Alphen
I actually finished it last week (at least I think it’s finished), but then I discovered another, slightly related, rabbit hole which I’ll tell you about soon. Don’t worry, I still have some polymer clay beads ready for tomorrow.
10 Mon Aug 2015
Last night I finally got to try out my new Genesis heat set paints. I haven’t dared try to paint recently, since with little children I know as soon as I’ve mixed up some colours I’ll get called away and they will be left to dry out on my palette. Because the Genesis paints remain usable until heat set, I thought they’d be a safer option. I decided to buy them with my birthday money, but I wanted to wait until after we’d moved. My birthday is in February so there has been some antici… … pation!
Hello World by Cate van Alphen
So here’s my first little painting. It’s really just a little doodle for me to test out the spectrum of colours. I think I need to get a magenta to pep up the purple since the one I mixed from red and blue was not bright enough for me (I think the red is too warm). The yellow is pretty warm too so I couldn’t get a cool green. I think I’ve gotten used to mixing with 5 primary colours (from using the Fimo Professional True Colours range).
31 Tue Mar 2015
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 🙂
28 Sun Dec 2014
Posted in 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge, Inspiration
In preparation for the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge I have created a page with details of what I intend to do, and some colour palettes to get me started.
I’m starting with orange, because a) it’s the most difficult colour for me b) I want to work on warm colours when the weather is cold c) I want to work on yellow in the Spring (I’m thinking daffodils :)).
08 Mon Dec 2014
Posted in 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge, Challenge
I tend to flit between projects, so nothing forms a series of work. While I was having fun making my spectrum beads, it occurred to me to divide the year up into 7 and focus on each colour of the rainbow in turn.
Spectrum beads by Cate van Alphen
It was a vague idea until Katie Oskin from Kater’s Acres invited me to join her 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge. This helped me focus on what I wanted to make featuring the colours…
As I have been populating my new Etsy store with jewellery components, I keep thinking it would be good to have beads that co-ordinate with each other to form sets. So I figure if I spend each week making beads or components featuring one main colour they should co-ordinate with each other at the end of the block.
So my plan is to cycle each week between focals, toggles and accent beads with a review and colour change every 7.4 weeks (a year divided into 7).
I have also signed up for the Polymer Clay Adventure Virtual Retreat so I hope I find the time to do it all :).
30 Sat Aug 2014
Posted in My work
Tags
Following my previous post I have been continuing to make spectrum coloured beads. Here are a few…
Different sizes…
different pattern…
different texture.
This fatty was made with the scraps.
Spectrum wobble, focal bead by Cate van Alphen
And there is another batch cooling in the oven 😉
16 Sat Aug 2014
Posted in My work
Tags
beads, colour, Fimo, fimo professional, polymer clay, spectrum, True Colours
A little while ago I tried the new Fimo Professional clay. I got the True Colours pack which included a great colour mixing chart which I imagine is going to end up dog-eared with use.
Wow! The colours are fantastic!
The clay was wonderfully easy to condition, although I did wonder if it would be a bit mushy for cane work. We were enjoying some amazingly* warm weather at the time. Or perhaps it was because the clay was fresher? Either way it didn’t particularly matter for these beads as I was going for a blended tie-dye effect. And I loved the colours so much I decided I didn’t really care.
I didn’t manage to figure out the reusable packaging and ended up with the same torn, flappy mess as before. However I have since found a video which should help 😉
Did I mention I really loved the colours?
* This is English summer after all.
