From pendant to necklace

Here is the necklace put together from the pendant and beads that I made last week. I hope you enjoy the tutorial and try this technique for yourself. I do not wish to call this my own invention because it was the combination of techniques I've learned through my journey with Polymer clay and still, there is a lot to learn and explore.

I also made this Red necklace early this month. Shown, how I prepare the pendant and matching beads.

This necklace I sold to a gentleman who bought it for his wife. I sold 2 necklaces for another gentleman who also bought them for his wife too. They are all Red necklaces.

Now that I got this technique down to the science, it's time to explore a different one.

Here's what I am working on right now. Still, the technique needs to be refined but I've gotten a good result so far.

This one is a drawing from the book that my son gave to me as a present. It is a book with pretty photographs of the fishes and animals that live under the sea.

Sad to tell you that I bombed this pendant in the process, so it will sit in a jar until I figure it out what to do with it.

Oh, well, that's how we learn from our mistakes.

Questions & Answers

Q: What kind of rubber stamp sheet that I use?
A: I used Barbara McGuire's rubber stamp sheet. www.barbaramcguire.com She is also on ETSY, you can order her stamp from there. Her stamps have deep grove and thin lines, perfect for the technique that I use.

Q: What kind of varnish that I used?
A: If I am using Metallic powder on my beads, I put on one coat or two of Fimo Gloss varnish. I used to put varnish on everything until the customer asked if I can make it Matt, so I stop putting varnish on my beads. I don't sand and buff my beads, occasionally, I brush on a thin coat of Future floor finish.
Sometime I sand and buff my pendants. It depends on the design and the look that I want. Most of the time I just rub it on my pants, or a piece of carpet to make it smooth and has a little bit of sheen on it.

Q: If you have any questions and want to ask me, what can you do?
A: Feel free to email me with any questions that you have. www.silastones@aol.com I am on-line all the time.

Q: You want to buy my jewelry, how?
A: I have my jewelry on consignment at Lilly's boutique in Zionsville. I also sell at craft shows and art shows around town. If you see something that you like, email me. First come, first serve, because most of my works are one-of-a-kind. I am also trying to put more stuffs on my ETSY store. My friend also sell my beads at Intergalactic bead show.

Thank you
Hugs
Ponsawan

Pendant 101

I just post the tutorial on my other blog of how I made my pendant. You can see it HERE.
For the sake of the argument, many people had called it "Hidden Magic" technique. For me, there is no magic there because I was the one who hide the treasure underneath that Black&White sheet, so I know exactly what the result is going to be.
There are many different ways to do it and it is "Magic" because your will get the image that is unexpected, just like the techniques used by many French clayers.

***The rubberstam sheet that I used is from Barbara McGuire's. www.alteredartsource.com ***

What to do with a slab of Mokume Gane

I really like this technique of layering the different color clays together, poke it with different kind of objects, then slide it with the thin blade and hope for the good. Rule of thumb that I use is to alternate the darker color with the lighter color, for example; dark blue, pearl, dark green, then light blue. Also sliding it in an angle will give you the pattern that looks like waves with bubbles.

Now what to do with it.

For this slab, I make the cuff, which was part of the claypen project then I covered the Altiod box. After shaving it for a while, with the bottom layer, I got myself a perfect pattern for the pendant. So I got 2 necklaces out of it and probable 2 pair of earrings and a ring that i am going to make next.

This way when I do the show, I can group my jewelry into a set with similar design and color. Now that I have Blue&Green, next will be Pink&Purple, Red&Copper, Brown&Orange, etc.

Under construction part 2

The construction project is underway. I feel like myself again, walking through the construction site, checking the drawing, the dimension and picking out floor material, wall color and furniture. You can see the counter bar is taking shape, the liquor cabinet behind the bar with space for the big screen TV, the ceiling is ready for the track light and the floor is ready to covered with dark brown vinyl, wood look alike material which will prevent slippery when wet. All the materials used are soy sauce proof. You should see the contractor's face when he saw me pouring soy sauce on everything. LOL . After all, this is a Sushi restaurant and soy sauce do stains. Now, up stair will be the banquet room, I called it the "Red Room"

As you can see, it is RED, very red. I picked the color and love it. The dark brown color from ceiling and floor should tone it down. The utility pipe will be copper. A couple of Geisha paintings would definitely gave this room a talk of the town. I asked my boss if i can do Mural Painting upstairs. What do you think? We will cover the windows with Bamboo. My boss will visit Ikea next week to pick up the lighting and lamp shades.

We should have fun decorate the place. My boss totally trust me on this, which is nice. I hope we get it done in 3 weeks so we can have our New Year party in the "Red Room"

Recycled artwork

Inspired by the post on Polymerclaydaily, I was looking for the way to alter these discs that I painted sometime ago. Not that it is ugly, but not good enough for me. Throw them away or do something with them. I started out by wiping them with the wet paper towel, some paint came off but left the nice blend of pastel color. With the Speedball carving tool in hand, I started carving it. First, the leaves, then swirly pattern. Not bad, ha!

I still have a box full of clay pieces that I made and don't know what to do with them. Cut them into small pieces and cover a counch, not a bad idea either.

Here are some discs that I put the frames on them. The "Sunset on the rough sea" is leaving to Paris with my daughter. The other were send to Thailand to be auction off at the Class Reunion along with a necklace, a bracelet and more pins. All the money will go to the good causes.

Gingko box

More Altered Altiod boxes. This one I stamped the Black clay with Gingko stamp sheet which gave me a deep impression. I used another one of my Beauty Supply Store finds as paint.You are right! I was using the nail polish. The result is breathtakingly and stunningly pretty. Of course, inhaling the toxic fume from nail polish kinnda make me felt like I was using drug or something. :)

May be I should wait for summer so I can do this outside in the open air.

Deep Purple

This is another box I just finish. The color purple is so pretty in person, it is so hard to take a good photograph.

This is a result from the "Beauty Supply Store" find. It had become my favorite place to go, right across the street from my store. They start giving me discount because they like what I made with the eyeshadow.

Black & White Beads

I've, secretly, learn how to make cane. LOL. I always tell people that I don't make cane, just simple Jelly Roll. After helping "Cat" in her class at Bead&Button, I felt like I should give it a try. So, here they are. Just like most of my works, they look more "Graphic" than "Realistic". So don't ask me what kind of flowers are they. They are flower look alike.

Pearl Powder for Polymer Clay

Here's the "secret" that I 'd promised to reveal. The metallic powder, or the Pearl powder that I used are eyeshadows. I stumbled into a Korean Beauty Supply store and saw these small bottles of eyeshadow, so I bought a few. The results are stunning and if these powders are to be used on your face then they should be non-toxic, right. They come in a small bottle which allowed me to buy several colors.

If you don't have a Korean Beauty store near by, or do not have enough courage to go in one, I offer these powders on sale at my ETSY store @10 bottles for $20.00.

If you happen to have the beauty supply store near you, may be, you should venture out of your way to discover something new and different. Be creative and don't forget to share.

P.S. You can order the powder from ETSY now, I ment to put 5 sets on there not just 1, duh. You can also email me or send in the check. Thanks for asking

More boxes

2 more boxes, the Gold one is Rub N' Buff and the Blue one is made with the "Magic" Powder. :) Pretty, isn't it?

The Power of Mint

My new toy, the Altoid box. Just decided last night that should give it a try. I finished 2 boxes. Both using Barbara McGuire's rubberstamp sheet.

The silver one I used Rub&Buff and the colors one I used the "secret" powder. LOL. I will tell you soon what they are and how to buy them.

I've asked Matt if he would save me his Altiod box after he had finished it. He put his mint in a plastic bag and gave me the box. Later, he makes a joke about a bag of mint that make him looks like a drug dealer. So, Matt, this one for you.

Don't under estimate the power of the Mint and the empty tin box covered with Polymer clay. I think he will like it.

And I will have many, many tins to cover in the up coming year.

All the leaves are Brown

And the sky is Gray.

My leaves are Silver and Gold. :)

These are my new leaf pins with magnet backing. Simple to make but looks sophisticate, isn't it? Light weight but durable. Thanks to my private on-line tutor. Without your technical support, it won't look this good.

Hum, do you want to guess how I make those leaves?

The round pendant in the middle is the disc I painted. Just put the frame on it so it can be used as a pendant.

Back on the drawing board

This is just an update for my fans who might wondered if I am still around. Before I called myself a Polymer clay Artist, I was a beader. Before that I am a stay-at-home mom and a crafter. Before I quited my job as a landscape Architect to be a full time mom, I was an Architect. Now I am a book-keeper at the Sushi restaurant named Naked Tchopstix. I am making $10 an hour just like when I started working 20 years ago. No complain here, I am thankful for my second chance in life to go back to the workforce. Also eating Sushi everyday is not bad either. My boss want to expand the restaurant so I offered to draw a plan for him, now I am back on the drawing board.

I still pretty rusty, after all, the last time I was on the drawing board was 15 years ago.

I am the old breed of Architect who still draw with pen and paper. AutoCAD version 1.0 was the one I learn in college but I am pretty sure making a sketch by hand is a lot faster than using a CAD, for me that's it.

I still clay, but not as much as I used to, so I have to apologized. The construction will be done in a month, then I will go back to clay again.

Monet - Yellow Irises with Pink Cloud, 1903

Ponsawan - Yellow Irises on Polymer Clay, 2007

Faux Raku Beads

I start making the Faux Raku beads 3 years ago and they were popular at the Bead Show. I used Fimo Metallic Powder which gave out the vibrant color but they were discontinued.
These are my new beads with new powder that I'd recently acquired. It is easy to use and easy to blend.

Faux Raku

I am playing with the new Metallic powder that gave out the brilliant color. I am back to making Faux Raku again. Many people want them. I am very excited about this new found. They cost so much less and not hazardous to your health just like others powder.

The pretty Rhinestones make them look more sparkling, don't they? And, of course, stamp sheets from Barbara McGuire make them perfect.

Painting on Polymer Clay

I spent a lot of time knitting scarves with my daughter. We went to get yarns from Hobby Lobby. They have pretty yarn on sale at 99 cents, and they also have a manager who rang all of them up at 99 cents. I think he fell in love with my gorgeous daughter.
Beside doing bookkeeping for the restaurant called Naked Tchopstix; the owner had decided to expand the restaurant that will double the size and have a small bar in it, and I also will play a role of an Architect in that project.

I am still playing with clay. New project, new ideas and I am having fun with it. Ok, ok, first I thought I will not post it on my blog, but many of my fans were disappointed not to see any thing new in the past few weeks. I am painting on clay. Here's some of the pictures.

These are not very good pictures of the cabochon. I took the picture as soon as I finished it so I can paint another one. Many are the picture of the flowers from Scott's garden.

Scott has a blog now, you can see it HERE. He wrote about the Blue ribbon he got from his "Best Bloom" Dahlia.

These cabs will be made into pendants. I'm in the painting mode not a finishing mode, so please give me some ideas of how to finish them.

I also have a store at ETSY now for a month. Just have 5 items on that for now. Please stop by www.silastones.etsy.com

An afternoon in the park

We used do this every Sunday, going to the park. We will first stop at the playground, then walked down the trail to the river. Took off our shoes and played in the water. On the way up from the river, my kids raced up the hill and sat there wait for me to dragged by butt up the hill. I can't remember why we stop doing this, but it was a nice day today, so we went to the park.

The playground seems smaller and not much of the challenge like it used to for the boys. We walked down to the river but did not go in because Ada has to go to work. We still talked about the time when Arthy walked through the mud in his booth and the booth got stuck in the mad, so he fell down and covered with mud.

We had a great time today, laid down on the grass and talk to each other. Archie did the flip like always. I love my kids. We like to spend time together as much as we can. Ada is thinking about going to Paris. It will be hard to let her go.

Tagged

I have been tagged twice by others blogger. To tell you the truth, I don't like it at all. Tagged is like the Chain letters that we received way, way back when we still write with pen and paper, not with finger and keyboard. Some of those letters had stated that if I won't send out 10 letters to 10 people, then bad things are going to happen to me, but I still alive and well.
I don't send out the tag, or chain letter, or chain email, but I understand how some people really enjoy it and hope that more people will visit their blog later on.
So, I will play along by posting 8 facts about myself, but I will not tag anybody else. Sorry to have to put an end to the game here. Please don't hate me.
1. I cannot swim.
2. I cannot jump rope.
3. I learn how to ride a bike when I was 25 and drive a car when I was 30.
4. I reverse letters and numbers, so misspelling and dialing a wrong phone number is normal.
5. I don't know left from right.
6. I used to be upset with myself about No. 1, 2,3,4 and 5 but at the age of 50, I made peace with myself and accept who I am.
7. I like to play golf. Just me, the stick and the ball. Trying to hit the ball and hope it will land somewhere that you don't have to look for it, is not easy. It is the best way to discipline yourself because there is no one else to blame if your score is +25.
8. I am working on a project that I am proud to call it my own. It is the co-op project with my best friend, so you have to come back to see it later.
Ilknur is the one who tagged me, so go see her blog, ok. http://www.bosphorusglass.com/

Jungle Fever

Another Saturday at my work table and here are 2 more necklaces to add on to the "Wild Things" series. I made the Blue and Oranges pendants 2 years ago when I thought I had to put varnish on everything, the other one was the pendant I made recently. I bought purple flower and green leaf from B&B. All the colors seem to go well together.

Also yesterday was the day for Penrod Art Fair. I was put on the waiting list this year and was quite upset until it rained all afternoon. Now I felt bad for all the artists at the show because they must be really disappointed. I'll get in next year, I just know it.

Facts: By using the same brand of clay, FIMO, I am able to match the color of my new beads with the color of the pendant I made 2 years ago.

Happy claying

Finally, the whole Saturday to clay. I am so happy to be able to sit down at my table and make something.

The first one is trans. with some metallic powder over raspberry. The color looks mysterious. I will have to explore more with that. Also the metallic powder I used is something new. I have to experiment with that before I can tell you more.

Next are the snake skin over different color base beads. I will make more of those for sure.

The third one is the pendent and matching beads using the technique I learn from our French Polymer Clay friend. They will turn into a necklace one of these days.

I also have the Black& White beads in the oven. A nice lady who lives in Kansas but comes here to visit her fiance, always takes all of my Black&White beads. May be she will be here next week. I better be prepared.

My friend who sells beads for me had booked 9 beads shows around the Midwest. She wants my beads so I better get busy, busy and busy.

I also have a new idea for my new collection. I hope you come back and see them. Scott had been a big support these days. He is coming next week with his flowers.

Neo is up and walking well. He still drags his feet a little bit. Thanks for asking about him.

I will visit my niece tomorrow. Then will hurry back because it is DH"s Birthday. We might go out to eat or go to Rib Festival. Yum, yum. Have a nice Holiday everyone.

Booth Utopia

I had a show today. It was called Feast of the Lanterns. They lit the lanterns all over the park at night and the show run from noon to 11 . I set up my booth a bit differently this time. I put more bright color shirts on the mannequins and lined them up at the front. In the back I have a table with my tree and trays of beads and earrings and bracelets. It seems to work this time because more people walked into back of the booth to look at my beads but I only sell one necklace. I think because the location of this show was different from the last show, more male than female this time so the jewelry did not sell well. In the evening it was crazy at my booth because I put out the lanterns and and they had stopped the traffic. Everybody just wanted one. They also wanted to buy shirts and skirts on the displays. I did the greeting, the smile, the I made my own beads, the I give you discount if you buy two, the this is one of a kind things, you know all that and they seemed to work this time. Thanks for all the advices I got from many of my PC friends.

But you know me, I might change the set up next time. Just for fun. :)

French Connection

From Polymercalydaily, I saw this technique used by a French Polymer clay artist, so I email her and she wrote the tutorial for me. How nice!
I tried it and loved it and did a demo at the Guild meeting last week. Everyone was excited about it. You can see the tutorial HERE.
This is a similar technique that I always use, putting different layers of clay together, stamped and slided the pieces. This one is different because the skinner blend gave out the effect that look like air-brush with different color. Also the pieces that were slided off will be used to make up another design, so you won't get the pendant that look exactly like the image on the stamp sheet.

Snake skin

These are cool looking beads, aren't they. I just covered the black beads with the cane. Oh, yes, I made cane. LOL Very complex cane I must say. It is my left over sushi rice cane, just trans. with white. Imagine the possibility of covering gold, copper and every color clay with it. Yum, can't wait to try.

TIPS: I used translucent clay made into 1" dia. log and about 3" long. I covered it with white sheet, reduced to a long, long log then cut into pieces and put them together into a big log, the reduced it down. I made base beads with different color clay, and cut a thin slide of cane and covered the beads, baked and plunged them into ice cold water.

My after-mid-night-love-affair

I haven't been sleeping well lately. There are so much going on in my life that I, not only spend my waking hour thinking about it, but also spend my sleeping hour the same way. So, what to do when you wake up in the middle of the night and cannot go back to sleep.

See, I am having an after midnight love affair. I toss and turn in my bed thinking about it. Who to blame but myself, and a gentleman who is very dear to me. He sent me the pictures of the pretty flowers from his garden. I am crazy about flower, I just love them. I look at the pictures all evening and still dream about them at night. So what the girl to do. I got my drawing paper and a couple of the pencils and start drawing those flowers. I email the picture to Scott and went back to sleep. The next day he send me more pictures.

Now, before I go to bed, I just grab the pencil and paper and draw a flower, email it to Scott, go to bed and sleep well knowing that I had made someone very happy. This is going to be a long term love affair (with the flowers, of course), Scott just send me 300 more pictures. Sweet dream, Ponsawan, and thank you Scott.

Irvington Guild of Artists' Walk in the Park

This is a small art show I participated in but it was the best. The show shared the day with the Garden Club's Farmers market so we had our booth in the park under the trees. Not only did I, surprisingly, sell 5 necklaces, but also sold a few bracelets, rings and a bunch of loose beads. IGA also gave us breakfast, lunch, cold drinks throughtout the day and ice cream sandwiches from Dairy Queen for a snack. Many people came out despite the very warm weather and they were buying.

I borrowed wire form and fabrics from the Boutique. Since my neclaces are big, chunky and different, displaying them on clothing helped people visualize that they can actually wear them. I sold the Mother-of-Pearl, Africa and the Blue one (sorry, Jackie, I'll make you another one), all 3 of them were shown at the front of the booth. The customers did not really walk further into the booth, so those inside did not get much the attention, I guess. I have to fiugre that out before the next show (in 2 weeks).

People were surprised that I used FIMO. They had no idea that you can make these pretty things with Polymer clay. A few people asked if I teach classes, maybe I should start.

Purple fish & Mother-of-Pearl necklace

2 more necklaces today. I hope you are not tried of seeing them. May be a few more on the way then I will make something else. The purple fish was made using Barbara McGuire's rubber stamp that I bought from Bead&Button. Using hidden magic technique, I put thin sheet of black and green over the Skinner blend of pink and purple, stamped and shaved. Very cool design. I used the scrap to make matching beads. For me, by using FIMO to make all my beads, I am able to use beads that I made years ago with the new beads because they have the same shade of color.

The Mother-of-Pearl necklace is just lovely. All the white with a touch of pink. I add small sticks of different color coral to give it a break.

I have used up a lot of my old beads that I have. I still have a lot but I have not really buy beads lately, just some seed bead and small glass beads. It's nice to be able to make your own beads, isn't it

I will have a booth at Irvington Guild Art in the park tomorrow. Small show, only half day. I hope someone will be looking for a beautiful necklace.