Polymer clay pendants... some colour play...

Not really a lot but a little bit play time with polymer clay. I think they look like they just came out of a painting. I enjoy the effect! :)

These ones were meant for the art bead scene monthly challenge. Life happened but I like how they turned out! Maybe I'll use them someday soon (hopefully!)

The other two pendants you can find in my etsy shop (house and cup of coffee).

Inspirations: Reflections (Leipzig, our balcony door...)

I like how strange and surrealistic the reflection of the world around was looking in the glass of the door. I was standing on our balcony, just turning around and the reflection looked like a door into another world.

"Memorabilia" - A kind of mixed media earrings, between new techniques and childhood memories

I was inspired by old paintings refined with gold leaf on wood of saints or virgin maria. There were some quite old ones in our home and they are a childhood memory for me. My father had from his travels and my grandparents these typical paintings. Thinking of it, I have to say, that they are actually a kind of mixed media work! It is this style that you somehow often find in temporary work (even if the topics and motives are different). 

The image is transferred on polymer clay, the halo was refined using gold coloured leaf (not real one) and the small charm then covered with resin. The sides are roughly cut to enhance the impression of old charms. My last image transfer on polymer clay was done quite some time ago. I don't know why sometimes I am "forgetting" a technique and why I start using it again from one day to the next. But this is my first transfer that I overlaid with resin. There were some troubles but it all worked out in the end. 

The ear wires are pure brass while otherwise the used metals are a combination from bronze alloy, steel and brass giving an old, vintage impression. I really love them!

The dark red glass beads move beautifully and even while the earrings are quite long, they are not heavy!

You can find them in my shop here :)

"Arrows" - Delicate tribal earrings with polymer clay charms

Tribal, ancient... a kind of a modern take on the stone age? 

These earrings are really delicate and (at least for me!) small. They move lovely or as I prefer to call it "dangle". I made the little arrow head charms with polymer clay. More and more I tend to use super sculpey firm if the desired style/work allows for it. It has such a great strength to work with it. Even while you work on one side, the other side stays firm. I know now why people love to use this clay for sculpting (although it is still a little bit in the soft side for Rumpel and the sculptures he creates... but I honestly don't know any other polymer clay brand as firm as this... but we ordered bees putty summer firm now to try it).

The golden accents are made with gold (coloured) leaf and antiqued with acrylic paint afterwards. My favorite colours is Payne's grey from Reeves. While I have small/middle sized bottles from most colours, this one I  have in a really big bottle!   

I even already listed them in my shop here! :)

"Ephemeral moments" - Where have all the flowers gone...? (Knotted bracelets)

I am just in love with these tiny wee czech glass beads! They are just 8 mm sized flowers, so beautiful with the shape and the colours!

I wanted to create simple, sweet but elegant bracelets that have these tiny wee flowers as central focal point. But also some bracelets that could easily be stacked to create a more bohemian or hippie style.

They are all lovely on their own and I can't tell you my colour favorite, I just can't! ^^

The bracelets are made with waxed linen cord with just easy double knots between the flower beads. The knots are close to the beads but not too close so the bracelet moves easily.

See how the colours of the waxed linen cord complements the colours of the flower beads? Don't laugh but I may have spend even more time just deciding which colour combination I want to use than to create them!

Even though I have the flowers in more colours, you can clearly see some of my favorite colour schemes seeing all the bracelets together! Blueish, turquise, teal, aqua, purple...

You can also find them in my shop here :)

Colour and texture... tiny wee ear studs!

Finally I started making some new ear studs with polymer clay. I had enough for a while after I made several hundred or so ;) I usually love to create them to test new textures, patterns, colours as well as strange other treatment (from eye shadow to resin...).

But even so after too much repetition, even if the repetition just lies in the fact that they were all ear studs and nothing else, bores me and actually makes me resent to create more. At least for a while...

This is true with nearly everything I do. I need to experiment with new or at least with different materials and techniques to reset my mind. To create is really essential for me, I am often joking "it keeps me sane" but it is rather the truth than a joke. 

It leads to a real mess of started but unfinished projects I have. Some are finished weeks, months or even years later, some won't ever be finished. The difficulty lies to realize what may be true and let not too much time go by. 

But as you see, I found my love and joy again to create tiny wee ear studs with polymer clay! All of the shown one are done using super sculpey firm. Except the last ones I also applied gold coloured leaf before I added some acrylic paint. 

I tried this layering of the gold leaf and the acrylic paint with the ear studs for the first time and love the results. Now this is why I make them: To play, to experiment and still, have a beautiful creation in the end! Now I'll have to apply this to larger beads and pendants too (or other stuff....).

PS: Just so you know... I also throw a lot of experiments in the trash! The ones that didn't turn out well. But since I only made tiny wee pieces, it doesn't hurt at all :)

Earrings full of colour, rust and texture - "Full of life" and "Under the blue sky"

We all have all-times favorite bead artists and Kimberly Rogers (numinosity beads) is one of mine. The enameled copper (he numis-sticks) rom both earring pairs are made by her and I also have a little hoard of enameled pieces as well as glass beads from her ;)

The tinned glass beads from Sasha Crow are comparable new in my stash but they were just made for the numi-sticks. Both dark and rustic, with an organic surface and interesting textures.

I love how the beads dangling from the chain creates beautiful movement and even while the earrings are rustic and with patina, they are still also colourful. 

There is a little bit more texture at the top of the enameled pieces because they were too "naked" for me and while I create everything has to have a kind of balance. I used very thin steel wire, braided it (surprisingly easy!) and wrapped the braided wire around. It creates the required subtle but necessary accent. 

The "greenish" one ("Full of life") you can find in my shop here (the blueish/pink one "Under the blue sky" is sold).

"Winter Solstice" - Ornament swap

Some of the rare few pieces that turned out as I imagined it! But... and there is a huge "but" involved, there were a lot of times I nearly threw it away! There were a lot of new ideas, material and methods I tried for the first time and way too much went wrong during the creation process!

Kimberly Rogers started the "Winter solstice ornament swap". What a great idea and I joined! My swap partner was Karin Grosset Grange. How perfect since I love her work! Maybe not as perfect for her... since my ornament arrived way too late at her... *sniff* I will show you the gorgeous ornament she send me as soon as I get the right light! I already tried but didn't like the results. So... will try again soon :)

First thing going wrong: My material order didn't arrive in time. I waited... and waited... oh... and I waited!  

The back is actually a postcard from the Grassi museum (just around the corner where we live). It is an old arabic pattern and the heavy car board was impressed as well as gilded with gold effects. To make the first cut was really hard but the pattern reminded me so much of the rays of the sun!

I also bought the sculpey face mold. Yes, a commercial mold but I wanted to have the mold for years! All these little moon faces are so lovely! I used super sculpey firm now one my absolute favorite polymer clays ever. It holds even the tiniest details so perfect and really firm even unbaked. Sadly only available in grey but grey was perfect for this ornament. The baked face was antiqued using acrylic paint and I added the gold details complementing the background pattern with gold (coloured) leaf.

The back is also covered with gold leaf. Both sides are then covered with resin. I added some purple powder in the back but the effect is a little but too subtle to really see it ;)

Some chains and czech glass beads to add some dangling because every ornament and jewellery piece gets better with "dangling"! The etched yellow drop just seems to glow.

I don't want to go to all difficult parts nearly going wrong. Just the worst (the one I wanted to start crying and throw it away): Putting resin on the back side it started dropping to the front (the piece was put on a little stand) and I didn't notice it. I saw it just the next day when it was hardened: A big purple drop around the nose. All the work that went into this piece, for nothing? But I remembered reading something about this resin cold glaze (it is only for adding a surface layer, not for big pieces): That is adheres to paper and metal and wood and... and... and... but not on plastic. So what is polymer clay in the end? Plastic! I carefully started to try to rip the resin blob off... then with a little bit more force and it worked! 

Now I just love this piece, my version of "Winter solstice" and if I am honest, I think I love it even more because of all the difficulties I had to overcome :)

"Morning dew" - Bracelet

Something simple, still a piece of work I am a little bit enchanted by! Maybe also a good example for an easy knotting bracelet with a tiny wee bit of macrame, if one wants to try. 

Etched green seed beads that seem to glow, combined with waxed linen threat (from "The Curious Bead Shop") and cotton thread, a mixture of czech and other glass beads as well as a gorgeous lampwork glass button made by Sue Reynolds.

She actually send me some of these buttons as a gift after I won beads in a fb auction from her (thank you again Sue)! Simply because I told her how much I love them but just didn't have any idea how to use them. She told me that they are mostly used as clasps and send them to me as a challenge!

...and here we go... I also "just" used the button as a clasp.

But I already started a pendant with a completely different way of incorporating one of these buttons! I just started it... months ago... ehm... ^^

A nice little bracelet, that would also look great combined with other bangles and bracelets!

If you want to catch this one, you can find ir here in my shop :)

"Frozen time" - New years first post and, of course, earrings!

It may be a little late to wish you all a happy new year, no? The time before christmas was just running away with work, more work and even more work, combined with christmas markets, workshops I gave and last but not least the creation of advent calendars and christmas presents. The time "between the years" ("zwischen den Jahren" in german) was filled with family visits and family dramas. What else? Thankfully most of them had a happy ending. Especially with the young dog of my little brother ("higher" than me by the way ^^)... he had a car accident. But he is getting better and better after the first critical days. 

I made a lot of "stuff" too. Some of it already sold (yes, it happens to me again and again that I forget to take pictures.... or that it is too dark to take them) and others I still have to take pictures off. Quite difficult since I need daylight for my camera and there are just a few hours every day. Normally they are gone when I am back home from work.

But these beauties, what shall I say? Made last year (how long ago that already sounds ;) ) with gorgeous rustic, crusty and organic blue lampwork headpins made by Kimberly Rogers from numinosity. She also send me some silk with it. Originally for some other earrings, but the dark purple was just meant to be with all the shades of blue frozen in glass.

The wire is wrapped with steel wire, combined with dark oxidized sterling silver ear wires. They have a good weight, move and dangle beautifully and before all, they are just magical. Frozen time was the name instantly coming into my mind. There is a feeling of old in the blue, of a hidden, deeper meaning, of stories untold but just below the surface... 

You can find them here in my shop.