Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 07:15PM I really like this neck cuff (like a tiny scarf).
I have one of those hairpin lace thingies... someplace. I would like to give this a go- and I guess if hairpin lace causes my head to explode I could always knit or crochet a similar sort of thing. Nice though isn't it? Any of you do hairpin lace?
Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 01:01AM
As a special treat ;-) (ok to prove that I am not entirely fickle) I have some handspun to show you- it looks small but it is a LOT of lovely BFL-angora from EGMTK. It's taken ages to spin, and I plied it as a boucle-ish texture. i think I will knit a simple triangular scarf from this, probably in garter stitch. This is about a sportweight, but I'm going to treat it as a DK due to the texture and the fact that this yarn will probably bloom like nobody's business, given the angora content. Summer's almost here and I spend a LOT of time sitting by the pool playing lifeguard. It's knittin' season!
I also pulled out my next lot of spinning fibre so that I wouldn't go completely dormant- so watch this space.
Ok, now here's a pic of the little pendant I made Tara the other day (part of my frustration with current host is the weird treatment of rotated pics!! This should be turned 90 degrees but T-pepad has turned it back. GAH)
Before you say 'that's much better, really pretty, you're on the right track now!'- please know that I really don't like it much, but to a 6 year old it's pretty hot stuff ;-).
In return I promise to keep babbling about jewellry making off this blog, and confine it to my NEW blog at http://longleggedfly.squarespace.com. I hope you'll come take a look, but I know that as fibre people it may be of limited interest- I'll keep personal drivel and pics of kids on this blog for your amusement (ok, on the new version of this blog).
My goodness that's so confusing. I hope you will stick with me!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 06:41PM This is the fourth trilobite brooch I have made along the same general
design. It is very close now to being ready for Etsy. The only thing
bothering me about this little guy is the somewhat sloppy fit of the
top of the bezel. This is partly due to the fact that I think I should
buy a proper burnishing tool, and partly that this bezel is about .5 mm
too high for the stone. I'm annoyed with myself about this because I
really took a lot of care over the rest of the piece, and then I popped
the stone in a bit prematurely- I didn't want to wreck the bezel
digging the stone out, so it remains a bit too high. I will say though
that in person, it's not noticeable (not to a non-stone-setting-person
anyway). The little guy is tiny, maybe 2 cm long (excluding his antennae).
As well as being an almost-right prototype for a piece I want to
offer in my shop, this is a gift for my friend Judy, because she's 1) a
geologist and will totally get why a trilobite brooch is cool 2) a
silver jewelry wearer and collector 3) one of my oldest friends- in
fact she is probably my oldest friend who didn't originate as a friend
of my parents or sibling! (she's not my *oldest* friend- you know what
I mean). She has always believed in me and cheered me on, no matter
what crazy thing I said I wanted. So she deserves a handmade pin
shaped like an extinct bug. [that makes total sense to me].
Also, my son asked me for a Darwin bracelet- man style. So I made him this today while the bug was pickling.
He says he likes it.
Monday, October 5, 2009 at 07:23AM Polymer clay. huh. Certainly not something that I would have thought I'd be even a bit interested in, a year ago. I'm fairly sure that it wasn't until I was looking for media that would be friendly to my women scientists project that I came across it. One thing led to another, and now I seem to have several books on the subject in my possession. I'm still not sure it's going to be something I really get into, let alone become proficient with, but it's been interesting learning more about it, and it's always nice to have another way of dragging an idea out of my head. And when has being proficient ever stopped me?
So, when surfing Amazon for reviews of the various basic books on how to do things with polymer clay (the kinds of things I may want to do- not so much with the mermaids and shoes and dolly faces- there are many books out there on these variations), the one book that seemed to be solidly recommended as the "if you could only have one polymer clay book" title of choice was this one: "Making Polymer Clay Beads: step by step techniques for creating beautiful ornamental beads" by Carol Blackburn (Interweave 2007).
Having ordered it- I can see why it really deserves this reputation.
Everything is here, materials and workspace lists and explanations of all the techniques I have seen mentioned elsewhere, as well as detailed explanations of many things that hadn't been explained clearly to me before. Everything from conditioning the clay, creating skinner blends (that's when one colour grades incrementally into another- and it's a diabolically simple and clever method!), making beads of all imaginable shapes and configurations, basic caning and millefiori (not my cup of tea particularly, so I didn't mind that this book only covers the basics of these techniques).
While the text primarily deals with the bead making techniques, every 2 page spread has colour photos across the top fifth of both pages, showing gorgeous beaded objects, using variations on the types of beads described on those pages. It really shows visually so much better than words could do- the endless possibilities of polymer clay- as well as the fact that there really is no such thing as an ugly bead, in the right context.
Now, I don't know what it says about me that I, as a lover of natural materials, am so totally drawn to the "faux" techniques available to the polymer clay artist... but I am! The rainbow colours of the unabashedly plastic beads are pretty, but I don't think I'd try to make many of them. However the best thing about this book, to me, is that almost half of it contains detailed recipes for jawdroppingly realistic faux- everything. Faux leather? check. Wood? yep. Abalone (?!) yes!! Mother of pearl! Turquoise! AMBER. The list goes on and on. While my attempts to replicate the author's success with coral, amber and turquoise has been variable- I think it's an indication of the quality of the instruction that they came out as well as they did.
I have to say that plastic or not- I would pay pretty much any price for some beads just like the faux amber ones in the book. Mine aren't quite as lovely, but it's a first attempt- and they're not bad. Looking at them now I wonder if they just want a bit more vigorous polishing.
Coral:
Not as thrilled with my coral- again, I think it needs more shine, mainly. I didn't actually buff these at all.
Turquoise:
Not too bad for a first try. I reckon I could use these in some earrings or something, and may well do so, just for fun.
Anyway- this is a fantastic book. The organisation is excellent, the index well thought out and very useful. Information in this book is scattered amongst several sections- but the index as well as some clever page footers make it all clear.
"Making Polymer Clay Beads" goes well beyond the beginner-basics, into the realm of reference-book status, and well deserves its reputation as your 'desert island' book on the subject.
Friday, October 2, 2009 at 10:21AM I have a stash of broken.925 silver bits and pieces, broken chains, rings and so on. I've been hoarding for years, and it finally occurred to me that I could do something with the silver. I set a little sodalite the other night, and planned to make some silver balls to embellish it- which was fine, but when I started melting one of the old chains I had, I became enchanted by the way it can form little sticks that look exactly like wee twigs. So, I embellished the setting with a few of these twigs and some of the little silver blobs (mine aren't very round, I need a better surface to make them on), and I haven't had so much fun since I discovered not colouring-inside-the-lines at the loom.
Boy, the photo really shows how much improving my bezel-setting needs to do. Ah well.
I also finished these earrings, from a sheet of etched text that I have been "sitting on" for a while.
they're in my Etsy shop.