New clay creations

Fairies, Gnomes & Trolls: Create a Fantasy World in Polymer Clay

I've been quite a busy bee lately, had a few orders for cake toppers, mostly birthday toppers which I will put on here another day.  But I've been working through a couple of the projects in the Maureen Carlson books I bought recently.  I made these little fairies from one of the tutorials. 

I'm loving some of the skills I am learning from the books, I definately feel that my faces have more character now... but the hands still defeat me, although practice will make perfect (eventually!!).

Maureen Carlson Clay Characters

How to Make Clay Characters

Sorry about the long pause between blog's, I am a bit disheartened with the internet at the moment, my speed is not what it's supposed to be!!!

Well last week a did a little bit of online retail therapy, for a little while now I've been scouring the net to find sites about creating more realistic characters from my clay...

I bought three books in a bundle from http://www.amazon.co.uk/  two were by Maureen Carlson and one by Katherin Dewy.  I am enthralled by their work and would love to be anywhere even half way near to the talent of these artists.... but one can dream!!!

My first attempt is from the book by Maureen Carlson on How to Make Clay Characters, I tried Maureen's character Suzette, (I called my little one Tammy).  I am still trying to get to grips with the hands.... they are quite tricky, practice makes perfect!  i deviated a little from the character in the book, as I only did one ribbon and added a large lollipop for Tammy to hold.

I love the details and the information about actually clothing your characters, which I have found quite hard in the past, I never really thought about designing them as "actual" clothing patterns before, but Maureen's background is in sewing so naturally she thought as a seamstress.  Which makes sense really....  this is definately a must have for peeps looking to improve their sculpting skills.

When I get time I'll review the other books!!!

Here's my attempt at Maureen's character.

I've been so enthralled with the book, I've hardly looked at the other two, I will though!!

Oh and there's a new addition to the family.... meet Princess the goldfish........ she's happy in her new home!

Facebook addict cake

Royal Easter Show 2010, originally uploaded by Creative Cakes by Julie.

Recently I have become very interested in the art of cake craft, after watching the "cake boss" on tv endlessly I have found myself browsing flickr and google for other innovative cakes.

Being on facebook and knowing how difficult it is not to "just log on for a second" and end up spending endless hours browsing and chatting when I saw this cake I just thought it was absolutely so apt! What brilliant work....

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Washout weekend... typical!

What a washout of a weekend.... I had three days off work..... and guess what it has rained for 2 of them so far! After such a beautiful couple of weeks, it's just typical of my luck that it has been miserable since I have been off.....

But  I won't let that phase me!

We went to Dundalk Craft and food fair today (north of Dublin, near the border of Northern Ireland)  it was a nice day out, almost 40 min's from where we live, but I wanted to see how others were displaying their crafts, as yet I have never done a craft fair so  I was interested to see how they run.  We spent most of the money, actually make that ALL of the money we spent was on my 4 year old daughter.  She got her face painted and she painted a model, she got a beautiful felted hairband from a girl from Latvia... photo will follow.... her web address is here. 

I haven't been to that many craft fairs before, but I definately got some ideas of what not to do.... I would have bought from a lady who sold some beautiful jewellery, but when she asked me where I "bought" the necklace I was wearing I told her I made it myself she was like a rat up a drain pipe... she had some beads in her pieces I had never seen before, and  they were very wearable, had she not run away from me as if I had a bad smell I would have bought from her.......  very poor selling skills....  i've often bought jewellery from fellow crafters online so I was always going to be a customer! But her reaction to me being a fellow jewellery maker put me off.

I was a bit intimidated by the work that others have put into their stalls and crafts....  I always think that mine is just "not good enough!"

Thought I'd show you my little un wi her face painted from a lady called Jo-Anne from Erin Crafts lovely lady and my daughter ACTUALLY listened to someone which is a first!!

It was indeed a nice day even tho it rained!

Beaded bead

Pink Candy, my newest is my newest creation, I've not done so much beading recently, since I am working a lot of 12 hour shifts of late, (damn those bills!!!)

You might recognise the focal bead, I made it quite some time ago, following a tutorial from Liz Reed at the Crimson Moon, I loved the tutorial, but just wasn't sure how to use the beads I had covered so painstakingly.  After making these candy floss beads (they remind me of candy floss) from fimo, I immediately thought that the beaded bead complimented them, so I teamed them with some lilac irradescent size 8's and some wire beads and this is the result.... I'd like to make a bracelet to go with it, but that would mean making a smaller beaded bead and I really just don't have the time.  Maybe a pair of earrings will do the trick!

Little girl topper

 

I made this topper after a day out with my little munchkin, she loves nothing better than cake dresses and presents!!!  What little girl doesn't?

I kinda wish I'd made her sitting up a bit more, she looks like she's about to fall over with the laughter! 

My little girl who's 4 has taken to naming my toppers now, I think she said this one's name is McKenna, I'd say that's after Barbies friend  although, by morning the name could have changed (our poor goldfish don't know whether they are coming or going, one day it's Peppa and George, next it's Marlin and Nemo!!!).  The main thing is that she loves the toppers..... next job, find some customers who'd like my toppers too!!!

I've been having great fun with my fimo creating these little characters.

I made these one's over the last week or so. 

The whole cake topper thing is new to me, but I love the idea of creating little people with a resemblance to the recipients. 

This little bride is very cute, I'm quite happy with how she turned out, but really unhappy with the way the groom has turned out, I don't know what it is about the soft clay (I can only seem to source the soft fimo here in Ireland) but the black clay is awful, I honestly can't see any use for the soft black clay at all?  It's very unmanageable, I can only describe it as trying to model with chewing gum. 

So I'd say this little bride will be divorcing her current husband (maybe I'll make a divorce party topper next!! lol!!) and finding herself a dashing new husband, as soon as my new clay arrives from craftcellar, I've ordered the big blocks this time, so that I hopefully don't run out as quickly.....  it's my first time using this company, I have to say that so far the customer service has been excellent, I placed the order on Friday and they rang my husband the next day (unfortunately I hadn't told him I'd used his card to make the order!! so he was a little bemused at first),  to explain that they were out of the white but would send on the order and forward the white as soon as it came into stock.  So faultless so far...... I await my package! 

40th Birthday Polymer clay Cake topper

Here's a peek at the cake topper I made for my friend in work's sister who's 40th birthday is today! (Happy Birthday Mary!) She is a demon for her food and unlike myself she is blessed with "good" genes that allow her to eat what she wants and still stay slim!!  This is a long standing joke in her family as she's known to be always eating!!!  Hence the steak, mash potato, carrots and peas she's eating!! 

I made this one on Wednesday night at very short notice... so I'm quite pleased at how it turned out with so little time to make it!

Hope you like it.... actually more importantly I hope Mary likes it!!!

Some more tiara's

I have been a busy bee, this last couple of weeks, I have made my cake toppers and also a couple more tiara's.  These are more for young girls, but I'm sure they would be suitable for brides or bridesmaids as I could make them on a larger band.  Having said that not everyone has a "fat" head like me so maybe the small bands would be ideal.

Here's a look at what I have been making

Wedding cake toppers continued!!

Since my last post, I have shown my wedding cake toppers to one person outside of my family, a lady  I work with, one of her family members is getting married this year.  She had recently seen a programme on Irish station RTE about a lady down the country who made similar items, she really liked her toppers (I had no idea that the girl was to be married this year.)  Anyway when I showed my work colleague the pictures on my mobile of my first ever cake toppers she immediately got me to forward it on to the girl. 

Anyway as a result I have 2 orders for cake toppers, one for the wedding and another for the lady's friends 40th!! I am delighted, I have made most of the 40th topper tonight and will get to work with the other one when I recieve a picture of the dress and of the groom!

I am over the moon with this, absolutely delighted... I loved making the figures and plan to put my own stamp on them for my orders.... wish me luck.

Polymer clay Wedding cake toppers

What's been keeping me occupied this week?  I've always admired the craft of modelling, I especially love the cute little figures  I've seen online for weddings and cake toppers.  I decided to have a go at one for myself. 

I needed a bit more information before I got started, so I was googling tutorials to make these for quite a while and had drawn a blank.  I came across the site of an extremely talented German lady called Betty (well at least I think that's her name), Betty works not only in polymer clay but in sugarcraft, you should see her frog prince cake!! Wow!! It really is something, so cute, I only took my daughter to see the new Disney frog prince movie recently and loved it... so I absolutely adore Betty's frog prince. 

Anyhoo Betty has a brilliant tutorial for making bride and groom wedding cake toppers for sale on her site, so after buying it I had a go. 

I wasn't really too fussed that the white got a bit dirty, as I really only wanted to see if I could follow the tutorial.  My biggest problem was my fimo... the black was like chewing gum to work with, I'd normally use fimo classic, but could only get soft of late and I hadn't ever used the soft black.... I opened two packs as I thought one might have been an old one the shop had. As a result the groom is not really how I had anticipated.  But I am quite pleased with the result.  I added earrings to my bride and a tiny tiara made from seed beads and wire.

The tutorial was easy to follow, and very few tools were required, so it's ideal for beginners with no real outlay other than the polymer clay itself.  I used the tube that my seed beads come in to shape the mouth.

If you want to see any of the fabulous work of the talented crafter Betty you can see it here the website is in German, but click on google translate to view it in English.

Business ideas!

Beading, I had never heard of such a thing in the year 2000, I worried about millenium bugs and that the world would collapse due to no computers knowing what year it is!!! 10 years since the year 2000, what direction did you think your life would lead you in? I thought I was going to be a karaoke star, or maybe a media mogul!!  None of those things have happened since the year 2000, I worked in the karaoke industry for a few years, but haven't even sung since I lived in Scotland (except the odd outburst in the car), media mogul, I barely even read the papers now!?!?!?!

WHY???? I very loudly ask myself????

Well the reason is quite simple, I am obsessed with beads, beading, polymer clay, infact anything remotely related to beads....

I spend hours browsing beads online, browsing forums and blogs online shops for supplies and inspiration, my husband will ask me "what u doing" and I will look at him with "those eyes" his reply "oh that's the beading eyes again".

The result of this obsession is that I have lots of ideas, but very little actual beading time!!!  Having a four year old it's difficult to bead before 8.30 pm when she goes to bed.

I'd love to be a full time beader, but sure I'll never be able to make a full time income from it.... although that never stopped me from spending DAYS trawling the internet for my latest beading idea!!

I want a MOBILE library or a van to convert into something like a mobile library, I have an idea I want to create a mobile bead/craft shop, where I can teach beading techniques in a portable studio.... I think it would be ideal for parties etc, I can also sell wares at markets etc in it!!


I must be mad! But I have been thinking about this for ages and I really want to do it!

Pity is I have no money  to do such an idea!

Aww I can always dream!

Communion tiara's

Over the last few evenings I have been working on a couple of tiara's. My niece is making her first holy communion in May and I want to make a couple of designs to go with her dress.  Although these are supposed to be children's head bands I really think that they would still be suitable for the more slightly built bride!

The dress she is wearing is asymetrical, it comes up in a ruffle at one side, so I wanted to try to balance this by creating a design that is asymetrical to the opposite side. So far I have created two designs with this in mind, but I will probably work on a couple more over the next couple of days (got a few holidays this week!) as I'm not entirely sure that this "balancing" will work with the dress.

She's a character my wee neice, like my own wee one, they could almost be sisters, they look so alike!

So here's a look at the pic's of the latest creations!

The first tiara is made using Lucite flowers, swarovski crystals and pearls. On a solid tiara band, I have woven the crystals pearls and lucite and added ab coated czech glass leaves, it's quite a romantic design, probably more suitable for a bridal party, but sure you never know!

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The second tiara is very simple in design, a star shaped flower made with czech glass ab coated drops, 4mm swarovski crystals create the "buds", 4mm swarovski pears adorn the band.

STAR EARRINGS PHOTO TUTORIAL

STAR EARRING TUTORIAL

EQUIPMENT

• fireline (or similar thread)
• 2 6mm Swarovski crystals
• 10 4mm Swarovski crystals
• 4 2mm silver spacer beads
• 2 eyepins
• 2 earring posts
• size 12 beading needle
• Round nosed pliers
• Chain nosed pliers
• Wire cutters

STEP BY STEP

THE STAR

1. First begin by threading your needle with around 50 cm of fireline.
2. Thread on one of your size 11 seed beads as a stop bead (sew back through the bead to anchor it)
3. Thread on another 4 size 11 seed beads, sew back through the stop bead to create a star shape. (you can sew through them again if you wish to make the structure more secure.)
4. Exit your stop bead and thread on 1 size 4mm Swarovski, 1 size 11 seed bead. Sew back down through the swarovski so that the size 11 becomes a "plug to stop the Swarovski moving".
5. Sew through the next size 11 in your original star, add another 4mm crystal and size 11 seed bead continue step 5 until you have 5 points in your star.
6. Secure your thread by tying a knot (I find one is sufficient) tuck in the ends and trim.

THE DANGLE

1. Pick up one of your eyepins, thread on, 1 2mm silver spacer, 1 6mm Swarovski crystal, 1 2mm Swarovski spacer.
2. Make a simple loop (you could make a wrapped loop if you prefer)

CONNECTING

1. To connect the dangle to the star, open one end of your eyepin, thread it through the top of one of your extending points of the star.
2. Open the other end of your eyepin and connect this end to the earwire.

REPEAT THESE STEPS TO MAKE A MATCHING PAIR!

Update on the earrings I've been making

Well as promised here's those earrings I have been making recently. I found a tutorial on http://www.mydailybead.blogspot.com/ for some of the wirework ones which I adapted to suit the beads I had.

The rest are mostly my own design.

I feel that when I actually complete something I feel better about life..... so even if I only make a pair of earrings a day I should be happy!!

The Beaders Color Palette Margie Deeb

Colour..... hmmm..... I'm always a bit of a "black girl" mainly due to my figure, I tend to stick to muted colours for my own outfits... but I want to actually sell the pieces I make, so black isn't really an ideal selling colour.

A while ago I bought The Beaders Color Pallette by Margie Deeb as I felt that colour was a bit of an issue with me, I wasn't sure how to use it to the best effect....


I hadn't had time to actually look at it properly, but recently I had a bit of "me" time and decided to take a deeper look into the book. 

The book begins by explaining how to read the colour pallete, which was invaluable for me, Margie refrences the Delicia bead by number which she has chosen to correspond with the palette, whilst engaging you to choose your own accent beads in whichever material you feel fits in with the palette.

There are some fabulous projects to complete, although I still have to actually make any of them, they are inspirational in themselves as the use of colour and texture has changed my creative thinking process.  I was particularly inspired by "This Gorgeous Planet" section I love the colours in the "Celestial Combinations" section, full of beautiful pinks, purples and heather colours.

Near the end of the book there is also basic information on stitches and basic techniques.


You can see more about Margie Deeb Here

Mojo anyone???

Well I hate to admit it I have for a little bit of time lost my mojo!!

What is mojo?? To me mojo is the creative spark, the actual WANT to make something I have lost this mojo thingamigig recently! ... it's funny how life can affect this creativity.

I've been suffering from the most almighty cough and flu since January... my friend who is a nurse was visiting from Scotland. was quite concerned over this, me being me brushed it off.. but it definately made me feel uninterested in my jewellery making.... until today, I finally decided to go to the doctor.... he told me I had a problem with the medication I was taking for my blood pressure and that sometimes this can exasperate flu symptoms....... so finally I know why the hell I am coughing so much! And can actually do something about it.... he signed me off of my day job for a week so now I feel so much better that I have time to recouperate and get better.... I don't know if it's this or having looked at www.mydailybead.blogspot.com that has rejuvinated the lost mojo..... but since looking at it early this evening I have since made 6 pairs of earings 3 pendants and a necklace (photo's will follow soon!).

I hope to feel refreshed after my bit of time off!

Woo hoo, hope it's back for good!!!

Bridal Watch

Continuing on from my other bridal pieces I have started a couple of watches. When I got married I never wore a watch, so was constantly asking in a panic "what time is it now?" So I thought that making matching watches to team up with my bridal tiara's and jewellery might be something other brides might be interested in....

Bridal set

I've been working on a bit of a bridal range this year. Hope to show a couple more bits soon.

This set consist's of clear quartz, swarovski crystals and 6 & 8 mm Swarovski pearls... there's a couple of stardust beads thrown in for extra dazzle. Both are finished with a sterling silver clasp and extender chain.

Polymer clay bangle

Made this one a while ago, used a coke can for the base, this one worked out alright, although I made one other that cracked and another one the colour just wasn't right after I baked it... This was made using a bullseye cane that I made a mess of (forgot to put the darker middle bit in! But I was quite happy with the result.

Been a while!

I knew I would do it, totally forget to blog.... but I'm gonna try and make an effort to blog at least once a week...

Well here's some of my most recent "makes" the top pic is of a bridal bracelet, using 6mm Swarovski pearls and AB crystals... hope to add it to my etsy, but want a better pic.

Second one is a necklace made using my own polymer clay beads and 14mm glass pearls, I love those beads...

Third one is my play on a necklace I saw at the Big Bead Show in Sandown racecourse last year, the original design just used all 14mm pearls, but I added some glass and a little metal, I love the chunkiness of this piece....

I've been on a buying ban for a while now, so I am trying to use up what I have, so the last piece is made using another of my own polymer clay beads as a focal, a mixture of hematite and czech glass makes this asymetrical necklace..