Saturday, February 22, 2014

Getting ready for Easter

I teased you a bit with the yellow Daffodil Egg Trinket Box in my last post.  Since then I've done three more and they are so much fun!  I now have all four that have been completed and listed in my Etsy shop plus I have the option for the few remaining egg bases to be covered in the purchaser's choice of colors.  These lovely little trinket boxes measure just a tad over 3 inches and are a great place to store - or hide - treasures!!!  Let's look at all four:

This one I call Yellow Daffodils Egg Trinket Box.  It features a skinner blend on the top half topped by deep green leaves and a bouquet of flower blooms with a few trailing down the sides. A baroque looking trim edges the top and hugs the outside of the lower piece to keep things  snugly in place. 

A spiral stamp adds interest to the background and the baroque trim is repeated around the bottom.



This one I call the Purple Dragonfly Egg Trinket Box.  It is very similar to the daffodil design except that I've added dragonflies.  Another difference is that I used a skinner plug to give the flowers light to dark petals.  The join between the two pieces are covered by sprays of leaves and more of the flowers.




 


  On a different note, this one has no flowers.  Instead it is decorated with stylized fleur d'lis.  I call it Rose Fleur d'Lis Egg Trinket Box.  A rich rose background is textured, then a more detailed square flourish is added on the top and the design continues from each of the four corners. The stylized fleur d'lis you see on the side of the upper portion of the egg is repeated around the egg.  A more traditional fleur d'lis borders the top and snugs over the edge of the bottom portion.

A light brush of silver Rub 'n Buff brings out the details and adds contrast and interest.  










I've got to say, this one is my favorite.  I call it Copper Patina Egg Trinket Box.  It started with a random mix of teal and blue that once finished reminded me so much of patina'd copper that I just had to go that direction with it.  I used a metallic antique copper glaze to bring out the details. 

The set of molds that much of this design came from is from Penni Jo Couch's Etsy shop and reminds me of a vineyard.  I love these small molds!

So, which is your favorite? 





Wednesday, February 19, 2014

What makes you think Spring?



Just last week we were fighting unusual winter weather including sleet and snow.  Today I was out walking around my yard in short sleeves admiring the first hint of spring, my first daffodils!  Aren’t they pretty?  I'm a glass half-full kinda gal so I'm seeing signs of spring instead of thinking that it is time to rake the leaves!!!  Although it is going to have to be done before too much longer.  Oh well....

In the meantime……back in the studio, I’m thinking about Easter and spring and all things sunny and bright.  The March PCAGOE challenge is eggs or egg shapes.  Several years ago I found these lovely little ceramic egg shaped trinket boxes at one of the local stores.  I picked up several thinking I would cover them with a pretty design for Easter.  I did one, then put the rest in a container and stored them away!

One of the great things about cleaning and reorganizing your studio is that you FIND things that you’ve totally forgotten about.  That was the case with these little egg shaped trinket boxes.  So in view of this challenge and the happy little touches of spring that I’m seeing here and there, I’ve covered a few.  The one shown is my yellow Daffodil Trinket Box.  I also have finished a rich rosy pink one called Fleur d'lis because of the designs on it, and a purple one called Dragonfly because - you guessed it - it has dragonflies on it!

 I don’t yet have them listed in my Etsy shop but hopefully will get that done within the next day or so.  If you see something you like in meantime, let me know.  They measure about 4 1/2 inches tall.  I’ll be selling these for $15 plus shipping. 




Tuesday, February 4, 2014

The next step... silk screens

So far my mosaics have been limited by the rubber stamps that I can find.  Not too long ago our local guild - Central Mississippi Polymer Clay Guild - made silk screens.  So when I started looking for a concept for my online guild - PCAGOE (Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy)'s monthly challenge - Wall Art - I decided to try my hand at making a silk screen.  Everything is polymer clay except the wooden foundation and the message which is was done using a silk screen and acrylic paint.  I think it turned out pretty good!  What do y'all think?

The entire piece is made of polmer clay layered over a masonite sheet measuring 8" x 10" with a wooden frame backing.  Two skinner blends were used for the color block panels on the right side and the bottom.  A skinner blend was also used for the flower and bud as well as for the leaves.

The background on both the main panel and the lower right panel is done using the finger-painting method as taught in my Finger-Painted Mosaics tutorial.  And, of course, the message was silk-screened.  Opens a world of possibilities!

This is my entry in the February Monthly Challenge for the PCAGOE (Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy).  You can vote for your favorite by clicking here

Monday, February 3, 2014

It's not supposed to SNOW in Mississippi!!!

I tell everybody that I was born in the south for a reason!  I DON'T LIKE snow!  We so rarely get much in the way of cold weather, much less snow!  And usually when we do it is light flurries and is gone quickly.  This stayed for three days! 

I know, I can just hear you!  Those of you who are used to this are just laughing your heads off but for those of us not used to this, it was quite troublesome!  And since I live in the country - off of the frequently traveled roads - it was even worse.  Here is the view from my front porch during the snow storm.

The good news is that I did get to spend some quality time in the studio.  Our local guild, the Central Mississippi Polymer Clay Guild is hosting a workshop with Jana Roberts Benzon on March 15 and 16, 2014.  I've been working on covering some tins to go in the goodie bags.  I used a variety of different techniques on these beginning on the top row (left to right) with a faux batik butterfly design, and three different stamped texture techniques.  The second row (left to right) is a totally random design that I wish I could duplicate!  It has the look of crumpled paper and was just the result of conditioning old and new clay together.  The other three in this row were done using a water color mokume gane.  The third row (left to right) is an ikat design with millifori flowers and leaves, then three have a hand-carved look.  They were actually done using a combination of several molds.  Two are Penni Jo Couch's designs, the other is made by Plaid as part of their Mod Podge line.