Polymer clay challenge week 52 – toggle

Tags

2015PCchallenge, clasp, handmade bead, polymer clay, red, toggle

For the last week of my 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge, I have made an old school bar and loop toggle clasp.

Polymer clay toggle by Cate van Alphen

It’s pretty chunky and mostly red.

Polymer clay toggle by Cate van Alphen

I wanted a contrast between the pattern on the side and the front as the bar will be seen side on when in use. I’m mostly happy but I think it could do with another iteration – the stripes in the bar are a bit thinner than I’d imagined.

Polymer clay toggle clasp by Cate van Alphen

The hard part was carving the polymer clay to look interestingly irregular without ending up a wobbly mess. Maybe it could do with a touch more wobble? 😉

This is officially the last week of my Spectrum Year, but I’m sure I will be making more as I feel I’ve barely scratched the surface. For 2016 I plan to make a vessel every week. Have a look at the Flickr group I’ve made if you’d like to join in.

Until then,

BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR!

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Polymer clay challenge week 41 – toggle

Tags

2015PCchallenge, button, flower, flower power, polymer clay, toggle, virtual retreat

This week, for my Polymer Clay Challenge, I made a flower power toggle. I started with two different sheets of blended colour, and then I cut and replaced flower shapes to create a pattern.

Flower power by Cate van Alphen

It’s a variation of the technique I learned earlier this year in Anke Humpert’s class on the Virtual Retreat. (You can still join the 2015 retreat as all the classes will be available for a year after the last sign up.)

Flower power button clasp by Cate van Alphen

The flower shape means the button I created from the cut out fits through the hole easily as it is longer across the petal tips than between two petals. I noticed this when I made my indigo mokme gane pendants back in week 31. I’m still planning on adding an edging to finish off the components.

Flower power focal by Cate van Alphen

I drilled a hole through the thickness of the loop so it could be attached discretely with a seed bead anchor. Or the hole could be used to secure a wrapped attachment so it doesn’t slide away sideways.

Flower power components by Cate van Alphen

There is a different pattern on the other side created from the second blend of clay.

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 33 – toggle

Tags

2015PCchallenge, Cate van Alphen, chunky bead, handmade component, Indigo, marble, polymer clay, toggle

I was tempted to make more shank buttons this week for my indigo colour palette toggle, but then I realised time was running out for me to try some of the more interesting toggle mechanisms I’d planned at the beginning of the year.

Polymer clay clasp by Cate van Alphen

This clasp is formed from two hooks. By aligning the angular cut holes of the two pieces at 90°, they slide together to form a chain link. It’s very satisfying to open and close :D.

Indigo link clasp by Cate van Alphen

The clasp is based on one from a chunky wooden bead necklace that I found in a charity shop, but I’ve made mine from polymer clay instead of wood. It took a few prototypes to get this far, and it is still a work in progress.

Prototype clasps

The first couple of clasps were a bit too flexible for my liking, but I didn’t really want to make everything a lot bigger and thicker. I put wire inside the third attempt as reinforcement, but you can just see it peeping through on the inside of the hole.

Clasp Doh! by Cate van Alphen

From the photos above it looks like I’ve cracked it, but turn one of the hooks over and there’s wire sticking out. I lost track of which side had the gap in the wire for cutting the hole through, and I chose the wrong place. Doh!

I’ve given the link a good pull apart and although the loops do flex open slightly (the one without the wire noticeably more so) I think a necklace made using the clasp would survive a tug from a toddler. So on the bright side cutting the wrong side helps to prove that the wire does provide some support, but also that I need to think of a way to keep track of where to cut ;).

Polymer clay challenge week 26 – toggle

Tags

2015PCchallenge, blue, Cate van Alphen, focal, polymer clay, toggle, water lilies

This week I decided to make a polymer clay toggle to go with the water lilies beads I made previously. I still haven’t got round to working out more interesting mechanics for the toggles so it’s back to the circle and bar design.

Focal toggle by Cate van Alphen

It is pretty chunky though.

Focal toggle by Cate van Alphen

I feel a necklace coming on 😉

Focal toggle by Cate van Alphen

Polymer clay challenge week 15 – toggle

Tags

2015PCchallenge, Cate van Alphen, handmade bead, mosaic, polymer clay, retro, toggle, yellow

This week I’m slightly early for my Polymer Clay Challenge piece because it’s nearly time to start the next colour – green. I made toggles this week. I kept it fairly simple because I knew I didn’t have much time to work on it. I wanted to make something to go with my retro beads.

Yellow focal toggle by Cate van Alphen

I used the cut and replace technique from Anke Humpert’s class on the Virtual Retreat. It’s the same on both sides, but I think it would be interesting to try contrasting colours on the reverse.

Mosaic focal toggle by Cate van Alphen

The mosaic focal toggle happened by accident because my on my first attempt the clay was a bit thin. Adding shards of polymer clay helped add some thickness and I like the look of it too 🙂

Now you can find it in my Etsy shop.

Polymer clay challenge week 7 – toggles

Tags

2015PCchallenge, bead, button, Cate van Alphen, handmade, kaleidoscope cane, polymer clay, shank button, toggle

The biggest challenge with blogging something I’ve made every week is not the polymer clay but the photography. Waiting for a sunbeam, so I can photograph using natural light, in Northern England is difficult. In winter it’s even more unlikely. A sunbeam in England, in winter on a Tuesday or Thursday morning (when someone can look after my girls) is practically impossible. So I have had to resort to using a flood lamp for taking my photos, and the results are a bit grungy.

Kaleidoscope shank button clasp by Cate van Alphen

I made a shank button using the kaleidoscope cane I made earlier. I love how the shank button structure doesn’t interfere with the kaleidoscope design.

Shank button clasp back by Cate van Alphen

I liked the button so much I even signed the back ;).

I also made a wire hook which was a bit of a trauma. I wanted the wire to be flat. Previously I have used a DIY hammer (with clunky results), so for my birthday I got a nylon hammer specifically for wire. Unfortunately, this did not have any visible effect on the wire despite whacking it gently, harder, with venom and even asking my husband to have a go. I can only assume it’s the wrong type of hammer because it’s a hammer – there isn’t much scope for user error. Is there? In the end I resorted to using the DIY hammer again.

Polymer clay buttons by Cate van Alphen

I also made some regular buttons and a toggle bead. To make the buttons, I used the edges of the kaleidoscope sheet I made for the shank button. Because I had laid the cane slices over scrap “mud” clay I had to add a layer of clay to the back and edges of the buttons. I used orange because that is supposed to be my focal colour, but after I had made a few I thought brown would have given more definition.

Polymer clay challenge – week 3

Tags

2015PCchallenge, art bead, bead, brown, button, handmade, orange, polymer clay, retro, toggle

This week, for my polymer clay challenge, I have made toggles. I wanted to make a toggle to go with my retro beads from last week.

The decorative dot conceals the holes of the button. But it also caused some technical difficulties.

I ended up making three toggles because the first hole was too small to account for the bump on the button. So I made a new thinner button without the dot, and added a stripe of the patterned clay to the brown frame to link the two pieces.

Then the second toggle frame was too big and it got scorched in the oven so it’s now covered with mosaic made from scraps. Although the colours seem to be departing from orange, I think this one is my favourite. It just goes to show that  mistakes are often opportunities with polymer clay.

Which one is your favourite?

ABS July wishlist

Tags

art bead, bead, black, components, green, head pins, lampwork, lampwork beads, polymer clay, polymer clay beads, silk, teal, toggle

I love the colours in this month’s Art Bead Scene challenge, so since I am spending time posting to my new Etsy shop, I decided to make a treasury wishlist.

Portrait of Olga in the Armchair, 1917
Pablo Picasso
Oil on Canvas 130 × 88.8 cm

‘ABS July wishlist’ by Fulgorine

This is my wishlist of beads for the Art Bead Scene July challenge.

Blue Black and Clear XL Lent… artforms $25	Head pins – helix teardrops … IcedMoments $5.2	Two Hole Peacock Feather Ins… 2GoodClaymates $18	10% SALE Premium Recycled Sa… SilkDivine $8.55
3/4″ Teal black Art Nou… JLynnJewels $12.5	Vintage Foil Glass Beads Tea… thecuriousbead $9.5	One Enameled Ivy Leaf Pair /… GardanneBeads $7	Teal Crystal Dangle Charms S… UncleBobsBeadS… $5
On Sale Etched Copper Metal … carolynsbeads $10.4	Needle Felted Balls — Carib… NotSoShabbyChi… $6	Polymer Clay Beads, Round Be… tooaquarius $15	Light, Medium, and Dark Gree… BeadSwedeSuppl… $12
Lampwork Beads – Boro Beads … Firelily $26	ON SALE 50% OFF Glass Lampwo… gracebeads $11.5	Textured Brass Bead Caps, Tu… MetalMeThis $5.5	Lampwork glass bead pair, ha… rufusandroxy $8

Another birthday, another wishpot

Tags

BSBP, kumihimo, polymer clay, toggle, wishpot

This is simply a “what I’ve been doing” post (I do find these interesting on other people’s blogs, so maybe someone else will find this interesting).

So… I have made another wishpot – this time in purple as requested by the recipient (I love purple so this was no problem). 🙂

Purple Wishpot by Cate van Alphen

Probably the most time consuming part was the cord which I braided myself (using a kumihimo disk).

Following the Bead Soup Blog Party (which I am STILL looking through) I realize that a clasp can (and should) be much more than a cheap finding you add on at the end. Therefore I made a matching toggle with polymer clay and wove two different ribbons into the kumihimo braid as I worked to form loops along the whole length. This means the necklace can be worn at different lengths (by selecting a ribbon loop where you want to join) and the toggle can be a decorative element in it’s own right.

Purple Wishpot by Cate van Alphen

P.S. Happy Birthday 😉