Polymerclay Playtime

 We had heavy rain today - so I was forced to stay indoors, so I decided that it was about time I got back into crafting.  So what better way to start than going back to one's childhood and just messing about - not with plasticine, but with something very similar - Polymer Clay.

All these pieces are straight out of the oven - so are in their 'naked' state. They'll need to be sandpapered several times to start with.  The above beads are tiny lentil beads, and will look so much better when polished.

 As I am a beginner, this is all experimental to me - so lots of learning curves.

 I'm messing about with textures at the moment.........

 and these are all destined to be painted, or coloured, or inked, or maybe gilded - all experimental

 Every piece is unique, it's impossible for me to make two the same.

Sadly I have managed to break the tail off one of these fish - I rubbed too hard with the sandpaper - so gave up doing anything more to any of these pieces until tonight as I am tired.

 Those with holes will be for pendants or bracelets, or key rings.

 I was quite pleased with how these bigger white fish turned out,

in real life they look ivory coloured - but I want to make them look vintage - Chinese perhaps?

So, I'll be doing some research to see if I can find out how to do that.

I am showing you these in their 'raw' state - just to prove that you can't really make something and bake it and expect it to look perfect - like all clay-like projects, there is quite a bit of work involved to make them look better.  And I have no idea how many of these will survive my clumsy attempts!

Oh, I nearly forgot - I have being messing around trying to make buttons and discs.  More texture - these will be practice peices as far as colouring goes.  The backs are textured too.

TTFN

I'm back thanks to the 'little pleasures' in my life......

My son and daughter in law and little grandson came at the weekend.  

We went out for a nice Sunday lunch - then it was play time.

It took me/us so long to get this simple looking structure to stay in place - about half an hour!  It all just balances on each piece!   When it was finished, little one had fun rolling the marbles down it - for all of ten mintues - then kept knocking it over - much more fun.

Horrible 'posing' photos - he's at that age, and was getting bored!

This sort is far much better - catching him unawares.

After we (he) had reached the boredom threshold, it was time to change tact.

The oldies were dozing off their Sunday lunch, and I was in charge of entertainment - so something calming was called for.

Polymer clay - a few bright colours and a rolling in, and a little one's imagination.

I never got time to photograph the finished pieces - I'll have to email his mum to ask her to do so for me.  But this turned out to be a lion's head - and he also made a little mouse - all baked and taken home.

A couple of weekends ago, my husband's eldest  son came with his three children which we haven't seen for a while - and we took them all out for lunch too.  They are 18, 15, and 11.

The two oldest were absorbed in their Ipads and state of the art phones, but the youngest was really keen to make something - as we all used to do. 

So off we went to the studio again for her to have a play.  We all used to spend hours out there when they were younger - giving the 'oldies' some peace and quiet to chat.

I hadn't started playing with jewellery when she was last here - so asked if she would like to learn how to do something - which she did.

I gave her free reign of my beads etc and she made this little bracelet.  

Using my three only glass star beads that change colour  and are so beautiful, she decided to make a bracelet and luckily I had a selection of beads to compliment the stars.  The only thing she didn't do were the metal clasps - even I found that difficult.

It looks absolutely beautiful in 'real life' and natural light.

She also wanted to make a card - for her mother - so spent a happy hour going through all the stamps and craft supplies and she chose the stamps she wanted, and made a lovely card - alas I didn't get time to take a photo of that.

We haven't heard from them since - but I assume that her mum liked the card she made and I hope that 'K' treasures her bracelet.

Having played with my grandson and watching the fun he had with polymer clay,  gave me the enthusiam to take time to play myself.  I'm getting to feel like my 'normal' self again too - and have signed up for a couple of 'swaps' which I know that I can do in the allotted time - so I am off to play with clay for myself in the garden studio - I hope to be some time!

 I've done a little bit of flower arranging - a design for my garden room.

 Inspired by an ornamental cage using bear grass, garden foliage and bought flowers.

 There were some flowers left over.....

So with different garden foliage I created different designs.

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed messing around with a few flowers.

I mustn't leave it so long again!




Happy Birthday Mum

Messing about making moulds

 Its raining again, so after the usual morning chores 'sigh' off I went out to the end of the garden.

I thought I would experiment making impressions of 'things' and see how they work out when 'caste' with polymer clay.  

The above which I used polymer clay to make the impression - turned out quite well I thought.

 I wanted them to look like 'found' objects rather than works of art

 So they don't have to be perfect, and I have 'messed them up' a bit

 It's great to experiment with supplies that are so inexpensive that it doesn't matter if they get messed up.

 

These two are just fragments of the impression I took of

 A roman relic I made here

I made a few more then they all got baked for half a hour - and I sat looking out the window at the torrential rain!

Here are some of the baked examples

 A mushroom

 

It was fun getting three different face projects from the one mould just by experimenting, and playing with a moulding tool.

These are for an 'Roman' theme project.

So that kept me busy for a few happy hours - it's great to just 'play' and experiment - you never know what you might come up with.

Next I will try to colour the faces etc - but need to wait until I get my 'new eye' !

Thanks for visiting

Stir crazy rainy day distraction

 I am going stir crazy - and just don't  know what to do with myself.

I can't read, can't do much crafting - as you have read, the wooden ATC took me days, I shouldn't really be on here - but I won't be long.

 

I thought I would distract myself sorting out my garden studio as it's been hammering down with rain all day.

 

I decamped to a tiny room indoors winter 2010 due to bad weather not much fun trudging up the garden in deep snow - although once inside it's cosy and warm and I have internet connection.

 

The builders commandeered it during the summer for all their materials whilst we had the garden room added.

 

Then this past winter we had lots of snow too - so apart from a bit of flower arranging it's been abandoned.

 I got distracted all right - just sitting looking out of the windows at the views - the chooks running around in the rain, and digging for worms and generally having hilarious fun

 I daydreamed of the summer, and the roses outside the window, the flower borders filled with colour

The gooseberries on the side of the garage getting lush and plump.

I opened some big boxes - which I found contained some of my eldest son's wedding photo's in Japan, and sat and daydreamed of their traditional Japanese wedding a temple, and the guests dressed in beautiful kimono's and the gentlemen in smart black suits and white shirts, and white gloves.

Haruko had the most beautiful white kimono and headress for the monk's ceremony and blessing, and my son was dressing in the tradition Japanese style too - looking very handsome.

Then Haruko changed for the wedding reception at a big hotel, and wore a stunning beautiful embroiderd silk kimono and the traditional headress that goes with.  

Then I pulled myself together after quite a while, and had finished looking at several other photo albums, and got tidying again.  Do you get side-tracked?

I did some tidying up - sorting out things to go - then putting them back in drawers 'just in case'

 I bet you can't spot the difference - but there is a lot, including packing up lots of oak floor boards and moving them!

Still - I do have some empty drawers now, and I have decided to move all my polymer clay 'equipment' in here - and maybe some of my stamping and painting, and gluing and inking.........

or not!!!

Well just the polymer clay stuff first, and the sewing machine, and perhaps I'll move my metal stuff and start playing with that in a few weeks time when my eyes are properly sorted and healed.

Best go back indoors - it's time for tea.

 

One eyed crafting

Apologies in advance for the dreadful  photos and any typing errors.

I have been trying to craft with the 'corrected' eye seeing only long distance, and the other eye not being able to see clearly more than a foot!

I ordered some crafty goodies from Happy Daze  the link is in my side bar too.  Amongst them were the set of 'Flapper' stamps and a chunky wooden ATC.  I think that I will enter this for the Happy Daze Challenge here

 

In real life it does look so much better and I am pleased with my efforts - but  you'll have to take my word on that!

 It's taken me quite a few days to accomplish with blurry vision.

The wooden block is the colour of pine, and it has a lovely grain, so I mainly left it as it was and just added a bit of white ink in the middle to stamp on.

 I used sepia ink for the image and swooshed a bit of water colour pencil around the edges of it.

 

Of course I had to pick the hardest colour combinations to photograph!  

Trust me!

 

I used a sepia water colour pencil to add extra colouring and shading to the images.

and a light coating of copper rub and buff to pick up the wood grain.

The idea was to create a faux perfume bottle.

 Crickey these photos are so bad which is such a shame as it looks pretty in real life and more like a bottle with the light catching the copper highlights and the wooden knob on the top shines like solid metal.

I really love this set of stamps and can't wait to see again so that I have really play with them.

It's been ages since I stamped - I really lost enthusiasm for it - but I have got it back now.

8 days until my next operation - and only 9 days until I'll have 20/20 vision in both eyes - yippee.

(But I'll still need reading glasses)

Flower Arranging

I haven't been on a flower arranging workshop for over  three months and it was wonderful to be able to spend yesterday afternoon in a little village hall half an hour or so from here, in lovely company, playing with flowers.

This month Claudine picked a lazy S style - which is one of the most difficult to do.  We all groaned - including Claudine - but we did have fun.

The arrangement took a bit of a battering on the journey home - but hey ho - I still like it.

 Brenda, our tutor, got the flowers for me from a supermarket, and I love the colours.

 

For some reason, the camera automatically altered this photo when I saved it!  I had to close the blinds and stand the arrangement on the floor as it is very tall and I couldn't get a proper photo of it on the table.   The sun was streaming in, so I stood it on the floor and drew the blinds - they are white not blue!