Monday, February 22, 2010

Sneak Peek - Polymer and Moonglow


I can't say exactly why Moonglow beads have suddenly captured my attention. I bought a few vintage necklaces years ago. I took them apart for their beads and have held onto them ever since. A random decision to search Etsy for Moonglow beads has reignited a long banked fire. Combined with a sudden compulsion to listen to Roy Orbison and I'm not sure what's going on....lol.

I purchased a bunch of them on Etsy. They've started rolling in and I've begun playing with them. The first pieces I made were along the line of the sun necklace. I cut out a hole, not reserving the removed clay, and planned to use a Moonglow bead in the middle. Experimenting with a tube to punch out the hole I discovered it would make a nice side bead.

These are a larger size than my typical pendants. The blue and white flower piece is approximately 1 3/4 inch (4.3 cm) across. They will probably be finished in a simple, slightly rustic fashion on a cotton or leather cord.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Hieroglyphics on the Driveway

While shoveling the light snow the other day, I noticed that the packed snow from my trip to the bus stop with the children did not easily shovel away. The patterns left by the wheels resembled ancient writing or corn field symbols. Was I sending a message to the heavens?

I loved the division of space and the graphic quality.

One thing for sure, it was a lot easier to shovel than the 6-8 inches we got last night will be!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Material and Technique Test -Three Dimensional Dots


In the past I've done some polymer work where I added dots to create patterns. The dots were always either clay squished into clay, or paint dotted on.

Only dimensional fabric paint gave me the three-dimensional dots that I was after. However, I found the surface tended to stay slightly tacky and would pick up dust and dirt.

Messing around with some polymer clay materials I ended up with nicely dimensional dots with no tackiness. They even glow a little with side-lighting.

Off to play some more!