Showing posts with label clay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clay. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Painting, Sculpting, Potting

I feel super productive lately!

Last night, I actually felt the urge to pick up my paint brush, and inking pens, and work on my Spirited Away illustration. I've been feeling such a lack of passion and enthusiasm for so long, that it's great to feel inspired again.

Spirited Away Work in Progress teaser pic

The first batch of polymer clay leaves are out of the oven and cooling off right now. They may still be a bit soft, so I might have to put them in for another few minutes. I have to be really careful not to burn the clay, lol... I've had interesting accidents in the past.

Blue Iridescent Polymer Clay Leaves, freshly baked


And I've been organizing my collection of small pots I bought at the thrift store over the past month for my balcony/window herb garden. I wanted a mix of eclectic pots, of various styles and materials, to create an interesting look.

Nine different pots for my herb garden

A close up of the pots

Some of the seeds I've been collecting

What's this?! A kitten intruding on the photoshoot :P

Honey, inspecting the green glass pot. 

That's all for now folks! 

Friday, March 23, 2012

Michael's Art Supplies Shopping SPREE!

michaels art supplies


I'm under the opinion that one can never have too much art supplies.

Just when I've finished one project, I'm totally inspired to start a new one - and that generally means I have to find, thrift, or buy something for that particular craft. I also love being on the hunt for unusual art supplies and LOVE that thrill of finally finding just what I didn't know I needed.

My newest crafty ambition involved several items I didn't already have (believe it or not, lol), so I ended up treking out to go find the supplies.

1. Premo! Sculpey Clay

Sculpey Premo Clay
Rainbow assortment of Sculpey Premo Clay.

I totally SPLURGED and bought 9 different colours of Sculpey Polymer Clay. After playing around with the clay for a bit, I found it kind of 'tough' compared to Sculpey III. But when you mix the two together to create a blended colour, the consistency is really nice for sculpting (not too hard, and not too soft).

2. Mica Power

Mica Powder Shiny Clay Colorant
Mica Powder Shiny Clay Colorant
I was so excited to try using Mica powder on polymer clay. The Mica powder gives the clay a gorgeous iridescent shine. I already had a bunch at home since my mom used them in soap and cosmetics sometimes.

Blue Mica Powder
Blue Mica Powder
Here's a little close up of one of the bottles of Mica. I would have taken some pictures of the actual Mica Powder, but it is very messy and I didn't want to waste any. So here's a picture of some, via From Nature With Love:

Teal Mica
Beautiful stuff eh? Makes me think of Tinkerbell's Pixie Dust!

3. Micro beads 

These suckers are aptly named - for they are tiny, and very difficult to get back in their containers. I've seen other crafters and artists talking about these beads, so when I saw some at Michael's on sale, I picked them up. They are VERY tiny, shiny metallic, little bobbles, that add a unique texture to arts and crafts. 

micro beads
Micro Beads
And a close up:
Micro Beads
4. Sculpting Tools

I thought it was also high time I got some good sculpting tools. The ones I had been using before were the really awful changeable screw in kind, and they would often come loose and get filled with clay. These tools, by Sculpey, are clean and beautiful, double-sided, and perhaps best of all - ERGONOMIC. And for those of us who use our hands a lot and have a tendency for tendinitis, these are a blessing. 

Sculpey Clay Tools - you can see my reflection in the big one!

And last but not least, my favourite item of all...

5. GLITTER!

These glitters were very affordably priced, and I thought they would add some extra pizazz to my clay creations, over top of the Mica Powder.

Glitter

Now what did I make with my art supplies, you ask?


Silver Branch Necklace with Green Leaf Pendants
This lovely, unique and original, handmade necklace is up for sale in my etsy shop.



I'd love to hear what you think! Have you ever tried using polymer clay? Do you horde art supplies too, and become a shoppaholic when you're in a craft store? 

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Krafting with Kids

Greetings!


Nearly every weekend my mom's friend comes and stays with us, with her two children and dog (otherwise her commute to work would take 5 hours there and back).

It's my opportunity to get away from the computer, give the crafting, painting, business, and Etsy a rest, and just have some fun. Last weekend I brought out the polymer clay, beads, and paints, and the three of us set at creating!

Here are some highlights from that day (accept the first photo) Click to enlarge:

Us at Playland gobbling candy apples. I'm wearing the hot pink scarf.




This is ten year old Marcus' Leaf. He sculpted and painted it all by himself!

This is fifteen year old Lauren's abstract piece. I love how colourful it is!



 Marcus asked me to sculpt something boyish for him. 
So I made him an evil alien scull pendant! 
He painted it gold, an I attached it to a chain for him. 
I also painted red flames on his hand. :P

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