Featured Etsy Seller: dapperden

Well starting today I will be featuring users from Etsy every Monday.

Who Did I discover?

This Monday I discovered dapperden's shop. Dapperden makes several different types of jewelry, purses, and even has a separate category just "for the boys." Daperden also uses several different materials including wood, leather, metal, and fabric to create their unique style.


Who is Dapperden?

Located in Australia, dapperden strives to have a timeless style while using different textures, and colors.

Dapperden's etsy shop can be found by clicking here.


My Top Picks Are?



The first item that really caught my eye was the "Green Envy Spiral Diamante Ring", as shown below.




I love how the green diamantes are contrasted with the black. The pictures really show the sparkle as well, and I do like shiney things. ;)



Another item that tickled my fancy is the "Foxy Lady Pewter Necklace."






The fox's head is very detailed and I can tell a lot of thought and work went into this item.




Finally my favorite piece from dapperden would have to be the "Bird's Nest Earrings."





These earrings are very styled with the weaving of the steel wire and I personally think it's gorgeous.


Dapperden's Advice to Beginners:

" Well, if anything I learnt so far, its that...sometimes a design / creation takes a whole new turn and we should embrace it cos there will be someone out there who will appreciate it. :-) "

My Final Words:

I enjoyed my time looking at these items in this particuliar shop. Also I wish dapperden lots of luck on Etsy. :)

Technique Time: Cane Work Part 1

I decided to do several posts about doing canes with polymer clay. Today I shall focus on a more basic cane, the bullseye cane.

Update: There are two other parts to this series.

You may find part 2 here:
http://cbspolyworks.blogspot.com/2008/09/technique-time-cane-work-part-2.html

What is a bullseye cane?

A bullseye cane is one of the most simplest and most forgiving of all canes. It is a simple matter of rolling polymer clay sheets and/or making several snakes.

How to make a bullseye cane?

1) For this post I thought I would use the example of how I make my candy corn. First you will need to make a snake by rolling clay either on the palm of your hand, or down on wax paper. This snake will be the inside color of your bullseye cane, so think carefully of what color to use.

For my candy corn I first used white transparent clay and rolled it into a snake as shown below.




2) Next you need to flatten a sheet of clay either with a pasta machine (on thickest setting) or with a roller. This sheet will need to be big enough to wrap around your snake. If you are using three colors this color will be in the middle.

I used a sheet of orange and wrapped it around the transparent clay.



As you can see from the picture some of the transparent clay is sticking doesn't have any orange around it. I did this on purpose to give myself some wiggle room when applying the orange sheet. This will now be cut off.




3) If you are only using two colors then you will not need this step; however, if you are following my example read on...

Next I added a yellow sheet of clay around the orange.



Again some orange clay does show through and will be cut off once the yellow sheet is placed how I wish it.




4) At this point you will need to reduce the cane. To reduce pinch the middle of the cane to make an hourglass shape as shown.

This picture is not mine! I obtained this picture from this great source: Desirees Desired Creations I used this source often when I first started out. ;)

Now you will need to roll both sides of the hourglass separately until your cane is equal in thickness on both sides.


5) After reducing the inside of my cane looks like this:



6) Now I simply cut off a slice. This slice can be used as a bead itself, simply by putting a hole in it with a needle. For candy corn though you take a different route.




7) I first slice the original slice in half.





8) Then slice that in half at an angle, as you can see the smaller slices look a lot like candy corn, but candy corn is more round.




9) Round out the candy corn with your hands.

Bake it and this is what the completed candy corn piece looks like:

10) I have used this technique to produce individual small pieces of candy corn for my witch Kia as shown below. There is about fifty pieces of candy corn that I did have to round out by hand. That was a lot of work! :P

Kia is in my etsy store at this moment. You can find her by clicking here: :)

Final Say

Now bullseye cane can be used to make various patterns. I will be talking more about that next time in part two. Part three will be a much more complex way of making your very own canes. :)

Tool Of The Week

Well it is time to present you with the tool of the week. This week I am featuring...

"Shaving Gel Can!"

Oh and before saids anything this is a brand new shaving gel can, has never been used, and has been wiped down with cleaning wipes on the outside. It is important to not mix polymer clay with shaving gel, as I highly doubt the chemicals are safe when combined in an oven. ;)

Why A Shaving Gel Can?

I know at this point many of you are thinking about not reading the rest of this, I mean of all tools out there why pick a shaving gel can? I have found that the most versatile of polymer clay tools are not usually found in a craft store. This can has a few uses when it comes to polymer clay.


How Can I Use A Shaving Gel Can?

1) The first thing to do with nearly any object and polymer clay is to use it as a texture tool. This particular shaving gel can has large grooves around the lid.





One can press these grooves into clay and get the result as shown below.



Here is another picture of the grooves in the clay at a different angle. The shiny spots on the clay are the raised areas.






You can also use these grooves as accents on a pendant, or as a mold for future projects. Then the grooves can be antiqued (see post about antiquing here) to make a bold statement.


The other special quality about this shaving gel can is on the top there is a small flower design.




This can be stamped into clay.




One could also use inks (like stamp inks) to leave a more stamped effect onto the surface of the polymer clay.





Here is another picture of the stamped flower on the clay's surface. The flower design would probably come out better after is has been antiqued, or stamped on with ink.









2) Another use for this shaving gel can is as a template. One can use the bottom of the can to get a perfectly large round circle. You can do this either by putting the can face down on the clay and then cutting around it as shown.








You can also stamp the bottom of the can until it makes a small imprint of the bottom's circle and then cut around it. You shouldn't press to hard, just hard enough to make an impression as shown below.






This template is perfect for larger projects such as making lids for containers, or making the background for a door handle decoration.


My Final Words

With a little bit of creativity and imagination you can make almost anything a polymer clay tool. Thats one reason why I love working with polymer clay, it doesn't have to cost thousands of dollars to make beautiful pieces and one can be very open minded with how to create that piece. ;)


Question for you to answer in comments: What unique tool(s) have you used in your craft?

Tips: Keeping Blog Organized!

I really like seeing all the feedback on my blog, talking to others, and reading their blogs. The world of blogging is a lot of fun, but can still take a bit of work too. This is why I decided to better organize my blog today, as well as give people tips to organize their blogs with. Now don't worry I will try to keep this short haha!


Why Organize My Blog?

I believe a blog that is organized will be easier for all to read. Also people know what to expect when they see your posts. Not to mention as the person posting on this blog, it makes it easier for me to plan my blogging days.


Tips to Organizing Your Blog:

1. Find a layout that suits your needs.

For example, I am in the process of changing my layout to one with columns on both the right and left, so I have more space for links, ads, and what not.


2. Have a layout that conveys a message.

A layout should convey what type of blog you have. If it is about your art then it could have pictures of your art in it.


3. Have a schedule and stick to it.

As someone who tends to a little lazy in life I have procrastinated in this tip. Finally, I have a schedule for this blog, as shown below!



One should have a schedule that fits in their routine, you don't have to post every day. Also it shouldn't be too difficult for you or your readers to follow.


4. Don't clutter blog too much.

If all a person sees when they enter your blog is link after link after link, then you have way too many links. :P The space where you post should be clutter-free, meaning keep your posts about the topic at hand and even doing sections within your post might help. I usually do sections by making titles bold, and questions in red. Also describe pictures with brief text.


5. My Final Say:

Keeping blogs organized is something one has to work on, especially people like me who procrastinate and get lazy. ;)


Question to answer in comments: How do you keep your blog organized?

Technique Time: Antiquing Fun!

Well my hubby's sister is having a birthday soon so I decided to make her a pendant. While making this pendant I used the technique of antiquing and in this post will share any tips I may have. :)Oh and yes I even "made" my husband work on this project too. :P

What Is Antiquing?
Antiquing is basically using a darker color to age or antique a creation. For polymer clay this means to create an illusion that something is antique.

Why Should I Antique?

Many may feel that I will never use this technique, as many times it is used for only certain creations, or occasions. This isn't really true. Antiquing a creation gives it a unique look all it's own, it can be quite the bold statement.

Also this technique is great for faux creations such as bone, and jade. Many faux creations look better when antiqued, feel free to experiment. ;)


How Do I Antique?

1) First condition some clay, any color will do, and make sure to have some way of texturing at your disposal. I used a texture sheet as shown in the picture below.




2) Shape the clay in any shape you so desire. For this pendant I decided to make it a moon. Next you will need to texture it.




With my texture sheet I sprayed it with a release agent...water. ;) This is to prevent the clay from stinking to the texture sheet and making a very sticky mess. As you can see from the picture on the right part of the texture sheet has a bit of stuck on clay. I forgot to do the water the first time around and had to start all over! This was also very hard to get off the texture sheet later on. :P

If you don't have a texture sheet handy, make your own textures. One can carve textures directly into the clay, or even use textures around the house. For example, I have a nice shaving can lid with a beautiful flower engraved into the top. This makes for a great stamped flower into clay.

3) When you are done texturing and your creation is complete its time to bake it. Please bake according to the clay's instructions, I use Fimo Soft often thus my settings are shown below.




4) After your creation cools you will now need to antique it. For this I recommend using a small paintbrush. One can antique using acrylic paints, inks, glosses, transferable antiqued images, or even antique backings.







For this pendant I used "burnt sienna" brown acrylic paint. You will want to brush over the entire piece and it may end up looking a bit like a blob like mine. *points* ;)

Do not let the paint dry like this though!


5) Finally wipe the excess paint, or whatever you used to antique with, with a paper towel, or even a slightly damp cotton ball. When you are done, your creation may look a tad like this:




6) You will need to sand it lightly, especially spots that may have dried paint on it where it isn't suppose to be. Now, remember how I told you I "made" my husband work on it well here are the little charms he made, antiqued, and sanded. These charms will hang from the moon pendant later on.






This only proves that even someone who has never worked with polymer clay can use the technique of antiquing! I'm so very proud. :)




7) As a final step, you may want to put a thin coat of glaze over your creation to protect the paint from rubbing off if it is used on a daily basis. I personally use "Pledge Floor Finish with Future Shine." I love to use this as a glaze, because it is very thin and makes things glossier, while protecting them. It can be found by the mops in a regular store. I found mine in Meijers. ;)









For example this is a picture of two ring napkin holders I have made with a thin coating of glaze over them.



8) I do hope you all have fun experimenting with antiquing! Also I leave you with one good resource on the subject, take a look. :)

http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/cyclopedia/antiquing.html


PS: My hands are no longer purple, thanks for you comments on this. I really enjoyed them hehe. :P

Question to answer in comments today is....

Q: Which one of these items do you think were antiqued naturally, and which one antiqued by hand?

You have either A) the belt:



or B) the compass:

Technique Time: Art of Tinting :)

Hello all! I have been experimenting today with Tinting and thought I would share my findings with you. ;)


Question for you to answer: What creations have you made using tinting or after reading this article will you now try tinting?


What is Tinting?

Tinting is generally making an original object darker by adding something else to it (think Car window tinting) or colorizing something that is white (Easter eggs anyone).

For polymer clay tinting usually involves making white or translucent clay in different shades by adding something to it.


Why Should I do Tinting?

Tinting is a great way to make different shades of the same color, for example if you wanted several shades of green, but don't have the money to buy all that polymer clay simply tint.

Also tinting makes color combinations you may not be able to find in polymer clay that you can use to make many Faux materials. Many shades of green (from dark to light) can make a very pretty Faux Jade. ;)

How can I do Tinting?

1) Use either white (on the right) or translucent (on the left) clay as shown below. One can even mix white and translucent clay for a different look. Now roll your clay into balls, how many depends on how many shades of colors you trying to get.




2) You can tint with many things including inks, paints, powders, and dyes. Personally I like using food coloring dyes. The reason I use them is because they have nice droppers on the top of each container. This makes it easy to blend colors to make new ones. The picture on the right shows the food coloring dye I use. :)





For example if I wanted to make brown I can simply do:

two drops of red + two drops of green = brown

Now if I wanted a deeper reddish brown then all I need to do is:

Four drops of red + two drops of green = reddish brown.

The dropper heads make it very easy to control.


The other reason is well....I'm not rich haha. You can get a pack of food coloring dye now days for less then a $1.00 while getting all the colors you will ever need for tinting!

3) You will want to put the food coloring dye into different containers, mix colors to get the desired shades. You can use any container, as long as it's not plastic! I used small glass containers as shown below.



Sorry, but when it comes to tinting you need to say no to Tupperware or else you will forever have a very blue or green tinted container that will also stain your food. :P

4) Once you have all the colors you want in separate containers it's time to get well... colored. ;) Dip a ball of clay into the dye and blend the dye in so the entire ball is now tinted. When I was experimenting I did five balls each of a shade of green. Some darker, others lighter. When I was done they looked like this:




I later used two balls of two different shades of blue then mixed the clay together to get this color:




This kind of reminds me of a turquoise blue.

5) Now that you know how to properly use one technique of tinting I hope all of you will experiment as I did. Find what is right for you. :)

I leave you with one small, yet helpful, advise. Please use gloves, as uh tinting can be rather messy.




Lets just say I really hope by next week I have non-purple hands again :P

Farewell all!

Polymer Clay of the Month!

Well I decided this would be a good time to introduce a new polymer clay to you. Every month I will be posting information about a color of clay. If you want to determine the next month's clay color, as well as tips of how to use that color, answer this small poll in the comments section!


Q: What color of clay would you like to see for October?

A: "Night Glow"
B: "Light, Flesh"
C: "Tropical Green"

For the month of August I give you:

"Glitter Blue Fimo Effect"


I love glitter and blue is my favorite color thus it shouldn't be a surprise that I picked this clay. Glitter Blue Fimo clay gives a little sparkle and it makes a great base for pendants or use it to make faux metallics!

Here is an example of what this clay looks like on a pendant I made that I am now selling on Etsy:




This picture really shows the sparkle!



With other colors Glitter Blue Fimo Effect looks great, I would highly recommend it to anyone who needs just a hint of blue sparkle. :)