I wanted to experiment creating decorative patterns by drilling holes in cured clay with a knife and hand drill then back filling with black clay, baking and sanding







im really pleased with how this came out though in order to achieve a relativly large area to show the design i feel the bangle isnt as elegant as some of my other designs. The bangles measures nearly an inch in width.

Flamingo cuff


decorative experiment with coloured pencils.
spraying with an artists fixative designed for charcoal or pastels allows the application of varnish without smearing the design
as always comments or advice are more thn welcome

tiny tumbling gingerbread men for your ears



this was my first attempt at miniature food . i used a violet cutter to cut the shape from light brown polymer clay and stippled the surface of each to give a biscuit texture. the details were painted on with liquid clay mixed with white oil paint.





as always comments or advice are more than welcome : )

i really must try paper craft the cut out cards look amazing!
 we dont realy do valntines day but i usually try to make a little something even if its just a quick card.
this is my 'crafted' card for my O/H (he sculpts so i used one of his own creations as the inspiration for the card)



he got it immediatly and was really pleased with it so im happy 




been painting gingerbread men again (i know...its feb... ) o/h birthday is the next  on the list he liked this one but complained bitterly that i had only done the most basic lego man and not a falcon knight gues what im painting next

my O/H told me my work would never win a competion because it was not 'funky' or 'far out there enough'
so i decided to create a bangle that was sensclessly time consuming to produce ie: expensive and in keeping with all designer creations: utterly impractical.



this is one BIG bangle it measures just over 14cm in diameter. i had planned to sculpt one then create a push mould to make the rabbits as i felt creating each rabbit from one lump of polymer clay would make each the protrusions  (especially the ears) less likely to break if knocked but the mould didnt work well, i had great difficulty aligning the mould correctly and in the end i just used the mould to ensure they were all roughly the same size and sculpted the details of each by hand.
i made the bangle first and inserted pins into the base of each rabbit before baking. i then drilled holes into the bangle baking filling with clay and baked again to hold each rabbit securely onto the bangle



bunnies before baking:


i dont think it going to win competitions but i love it and its surprisingly comfy to wear (as long as you dont try to change your top, attempt any sort of manual labour or want to comfortably hold hands with your partner )
as always comments or advice is more than welcome

all my bangles start life like this: an armature of scrap polymer clay.

 the easiest way to make one is to use an extruder gun with a half circle disc.



 i then wrap the extruded clay around a thick cardboard tube but just use whatever you can find thats the correct diameter and oven proof (old straight glasses and bean cans etc) then bake



zipper canes:
 polymer clay central has an easy zipper cane tutorial: http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/zipper_cane.html   though i altered this by following the tutorial up to step 5 then squashing and lengthening the log until it was 2in wide, 6+ inches long and about 4mm thick.
i then put a sheet of white polymer clay through the thickest setting on my pasta machine (mines only got 7 settings so use your judgement here ) place the flattening log on top of the sheet of white (make sure the sheet of white is wider and longer than the log!) and run through the pasta machine again. i cut strips from this sheet and stacked them as in step 9.


yellow and blue zipper canes

cut slices from the canes and cover the out side of the armature. trim away any excess from the inside of the bangle and bake



i then roughly sand the bangles using wet/dry sandpaper correcting the shape as needed. you can see the difference between the sanded bangle on the left and the unsanded one on the right.
i then add a strip of my chosen colour to the inside of the bangle and trim the excess (a small amount of liquid clay smeared on the inside should help it to adhere easily) bake again.

then sand. i work up through the grades (from 400 to 600 grit paper depending how much reshaping i feel the object needs) until i reach 1000grit paper then buff.

bangles made with the yellow zipper cane:





blue zipper cane:




as always comments or advice are more than welcome

my sister in law had a set in blue that she had bought from a discount/ end of line store, my second SIL saw them and wanted a set in red but of course the store no longer sold them so i painted her this set
painted with underglaze onto premade bisque, dipped in clear dipping glaze and fired.



detail of coasters


a leaving mug i made for a friend whos a huge Pirates fan (and an even bigger johnny depp fan..) the back reads 'yo ho, a pirates life for me'
the kiln caused the colour to bleed slightly across his forehead but im still pleased with how this turned out (and shed loved in anyway )


a second leaving mug for a colleague (who is a proud Nanna and a bit of knitter!)


a (somewhat late ) seasonal mug

as before these are painted onto premade bisque with underglaze, dipped in clear dipping glaze and fired
as always comments or advice are more than welcome : )

this was a cracker gift for my father in law. a key ring for his plane keys with his own plane on. i hadnt used shrinky dinks before and though the drawing came out well despite the fact i had cut the shape straight it had warped slightly (thank you to waterbaby for suggesting sand paper. worked a treat, its not perfect now but looks miles beter unfortunatly i didnt get a chance to take a photo of its new shape before it was wrapped )

i wanted to make my father in law something for his cracker gift and thought he would appreciate a keychain for the keys of his new plane. i've not used shrinkie dinks before and through the drawing came out okay despite the fact i cut out the plastic straight its warped . i followed the instructions and waited until it lay flat, i then tried on a higher temprature but with no effect
im still pleased with it though, despite its wonkyness!





any advice would be greatly appreciated

sorry late pic of my third sister in laws pressie. my first sister in law has a set she bought in an end of line discount store so when SIL no.3 said she would like some especially in red, the store no longer sold them and they were no where to be found on the web...so i painted her this set



i am determined to be better organised this year

why yes! i AM making Christmas decorations in January...



i love the simplicity of stamped decorations but i prefer the durability of solid clay. this was a happy compromise
the stamp im using was one of a selection of papermania stamps that i got free with a craft magazine over a year ago...if i remember correctly it was probably why i bought the magazine but you could use anything you fancy.



roll out a sheet of clay (in this case white pearl) and cover/spray your stamp with your preferred release agent (either water or cornflour are my usual stand bys)
place marzipan spacers/ knitting needles (or similar) the same thickness (preferably just under to ensure a nice deep clear print) either side of clay and over the stamp firmly.



carefully remove the stamp and you should be left with something like this..



trim to shape with a tissue blade or craft knife. you can either add a hole to hang it by with a needle at this point or drill one later



bake in the oven at the recommended temperature for your clay for the recommended time. i find once i've removed it from the oven immediately placing it under a flat heavy object prevents any air bubbles  which may prove a nuisance later

take some well conditioned clay and using a craft knife smear it firmly over the surface (like buttering bread). make sure you get it into every part of the design.



using your craft knife remove the excess (unless you REALLY like sanding)



now bake again. once cool use wet/dry sandpaper (im using 1000 grit) to sand away the excess clay to reveal a crisp design.



either buff or varnish then string and admire



as always comments or advice are more than welcome