Mosaic frenzy

I had bought some christmas glass ornaments from where I work (Michael's). The original plan was to put christmas designs on them but the desire to do mosaics won out and I rolled out some black clay, stamped it with a texture and rubbed each square and rectangle with some pearl ex and metallic rubs. The pictures really don't do these ornaments justice. They shimmer and shine. =)

I am now working on a more flat surface to put on a desk or table for home decor. I have one other on my etsy along with this one. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32137767

Flower obcession!!

I've been on a tiger lily thing lately and thought I would give daisies a try. With the odd petal slices and extras I made some roses. The flowers went so well together I did a candle topper with them. Now my daughter and friends want daisies and then some more. =)

I did a tutorial for the tiger lilies that I am hoping to get on my etsy soon. I do have some tiger lily designs on etsy. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30484541

Haunted Fairy Door

I had a request for a Halloween fairy door. It took a few days on paper to get it worked out just right. The person asking is so nice and full of positive energy that I didn't want to do the normal Halloween. The snakes sorta come out of an accident but learn a cool way to make them now. This picture doesn't show the reds and a few other colors good enough but I have to say this door came out rather nicely.

Check out my store http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6195895 Take some time to look around thru sold orders and my flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/craftaddict02/ I enjoy custom orders and give discounts for them. =)

Faux turquoise

This is the faux turquise I made from polymer clay. I also made a feather cane last week and thought the 2 would make a beautiful wand. The larger beads are also from polymer clay. You can see more pictures of this wand on my etsy. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26166486

Week of fun with Debi

NanaDeb from swap-bot.com came down to spend the week playing in clay. We tried some new ideas together and I showed her how to make a few things I like to make. She also brought a book on how to make the cutest of characters, the witch is one of them and I'll be posting a girl I made on flickr later on today. I got behind on my house chores but it was well worth it. After losing my job and being involved in a hit and run this visit really picked my spirits back up to my norm. =) We spent much time claying, talking and lets not forget the shopping. We made faux turquoise, coral and lapis. Mind you we didn't get it right the first time but we caught on quick.

Time to mow the yard but I will blog more about our adventure later. =)

Clay Pin Toppers

A fellow swapbotter put in a request for some clay pin toppers. I have to admit I really enjoyed making something new. I love these pins and need to make my mom some. I know she will have a fit if I don't. LOL I think she's my biggest fan. It also forces me to create on a smaller scale as well. The teapot and cup are my favorite and first attempt at creating them.

Time to catch up =)

I've been a little slack on my blog lately. So here is for a little catching up. I have been playing with clay here and there nothing really great but hoping to change that very soon. I have been having lots of fun with perler beads. I have a small etsy with them http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7505581 . My niece and nephew from DH's side of the family have been staying the weekends with me here and there. I love having them around. I can play like a kid without looking to foolish. LOL I have also as of yesterday, 6/26/9, lost my job. Like many other companies/factories they just couldn't survive the economic downfall. Thanks to the wonderful girls on swap-bot.com and their support and advice. I see the good in what has happened. Move on to a better career. Use this time for a better education. I woke up today feeling much better about my future. Yaa!!!

I will get back to posting my claying adventures and hopefully inspiring some, if not all, to give clay a good try. =)

New use for old tools.

I found some cake icing tips at a yard sale and bought them. I was hoping to find some way of using them in my claying adventures. Ugh I couldn't get the clay to push through the tips so I decided to try and get them to work with an extruder. It so worked with the Makins Clay Extruder. So here you see the 2 tools combined as 1 and a cupcake I made using the new take on icing tips. =)

Layering clay sheets for the first time

I wanted to try the technique I have seen others do. You know the one where they have flowers and bees and butterflies all in a nice clean sheet of clay. Vblarney of swap-bot.com bought me the tut for my birthday from my etsy favorites and I finally got the chance to try it out. This keychain is one of my first attempts at the techique. I used my butterfly cane, a couple different leaf canes, a flower cane and a couple different colored skinner blend canes with black and white stripes around them (also bought by Vblarney). The keychain is on my etsy. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6195895

The very first project from this tech was also made into a keychain and sent off to Vblarney as a thank you. =)

New use for temp. tattoos

The punk heart and the butterfly will soon be added to my etsy store. I was wanting to try image transfer but it really wasn't working for. Mostly because I don't have a toner printer. =)

I do however have a large collection of temporary tattos so I thought I would give it a go. I avtually like how they turned out. I also have more things I made with them on my flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/craftaddict02/

How to make a cupcake frompolymer clay

The pictures are in order. I hope I make this easy enough for you clayers and beginners to follow. First you will need TLS(liquid clay), polymer clay(brown, gold, copper and white), mini cupcake holders, seed beads and aluminin foil.

 Start with rolling and sqishing the foil into a somewhat cupcake form makeing sure to keep the bottom flat as possible. I keep a cupcake holder out to measure and get an idea of the size the foil needs to be. About 1/4 inch smaller than the holder to allow for the clay. 

 Mix the brown with a some gold and just a small amount of copper. Flatten the brown out with your pasta mahine or roller. Wrap the sheet of clay around the foil cutting all extra off. Smooth out the seems and place it in te holder to make sure you have the right size. Use the extra clay to cover the top to give it that "muffin top". Now for the final time put this cupcake back in its holder and push the top to overlap the paper just enough to hold the paper in place. 

  Now for the icing. I use white polymer clay about a 3/4 to 1 inch ball. Smash the clay ball with your fingers for a more realistic look. Keep the ends slightly uneven. keep checking the size by lightly placing it on your cupcake. Once you have flattened and stretched it to the right size place the icing on the cupcake making sure to keep out any air bubbles. Squeeze a small amount of TLS on the top and rub it all around the icingincluding the edges, don't miss a spot. Now just place your seed beads over the top and lightly press them into the clay. The liquid clay will help adhere them to your cupcake.  

  Follow the clays recommend baking instuction and then polish.

Cupcake time

I am starting to make mini cupcakes from polymer clay for my etsy store. My friends seem to take them as fast as I make them. =) I can't get the pictures to do them justice but I do plan on a tutorial by this weekend. I tried glitter as confetti but to be honest I didn't like how those turned out.

Feel free to check out my etsy. =)

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6195895

Yet another heart

I am a memeber of swap-bot.com where good folk trade crafts and such. I started just for the ATCs but polymer clay is my true craft over the past couple years. I have started getting more serious about it this year tho. So I stop trading ATCs and mostly do polymer clay swaps. I am collecting hearts ranging from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches tall and 3D'ish. So I have started a series of swaps. The first one was "wonderfully weird" hearts where you make 1 partner 1 heart. I am hoping my partner likes his. I was really impressed at how the eyes on this heart turned out. It was just an experiment and I was just playing around with some ideas. 

Fairy doors

I have recentely wanted to try my hand at fairy doors. Here are my first 2 doors. My favorite is the one with mushrooms added to it. Mixing the clay for the stone was a challenge as I do not have a grater or a food processor dedicated to clay. I really like making these little doors. I have them in my etsy store. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6195895

Woodland folk

I've been trying my hand at create more than just charms and hearts. I'm having a hard time making faces from clay so I used a mold for the forest goddess. The dress is made from an Ikat cane I made at a guild meeting. The hair has leaves in it made from a matching leaf cane. Her cape was made using the mica shift tech. The elf wizard has an Ikat shirt on and I made the face myself. As you can see I still have alot of practicing in that area. 

Mushrooms and snails

I have so much fun making these little mushroom charms. Someone had ask if I could make snails as well. I tried and came to the conclucion that they are just as much fun as the mushrooms. I will definately be adding different types of the snails to etsy. =)

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6195895

Today I attended a polymer clay guild meeting. My very first one. For the longest I thought I was the only one that clayed in my area. Of course I had to drive over an hour to get the but the girls made it work the drive. They had a heart swap where we made 4 funky wierd hearts. I made 4 but realized it wasn't what they meant so I made 4 more and I think they were way better than the first 4.