Phrases of the Heart

Every year for the past five or six years, the Greater Los Angeles Polymer Clay Guild has done a "phrases of the heart" swap.  We each make a piece that somehow references a phrase containing the word "heart" or about matters of the heart.  This year, I chose the phrase "Hearts afire."  Here's the resulting brooch:

I received this striking brooch titled, "Heart to heart," from Aviva Nizani.  She used a transfer on one and texture on the other, all topped with glossy resin.

Some of my past entries for the swap can be found on my Flickr page here, here, and here.

Guild holiday swap

As always, the holiday season was a busy, crazy blur.  I can't believe it's been almost three months since I last posted!  I'll start the catching up with showing you what I made for my polymer clay guild's annual holiday gift swap, back at our December meeting.

At the time, I had a stack of clay sheets in a nice palette left over from my guild demo on "Lizard Tails" (from Julie Picarello's book).  Her book also covers makume gane techniques, so I decided to use one of the small stacks for that, using my square and rectangle clay cutters for the impressions.

We currently have one male member, so I always try to make something unisex.   I decided to make a nice, chunky key ring, using the makume gane as a veneer.  The result is below.  I sanded and buffed to give it a nice feel.  I ended up not liking the metal key rings I had, so I made kumihino cord in matching colors as a loop and added a tassel on the end.  Not your typical key fob, but I like it.

I received the lovely little box below made by Celeste Mouchebouf.  The whole top slides off from the base with a nice snug fit.  Celeste demo'd her technique for making those at the January meeting.

Halloween/Autumn Art Market

I'm signed up for my first craft fair in a long time.  I'm excited!  I'm almost done with the mandala purse, so that will be ready for sale.  It came out beautifully, if I do say so myself.  I'll also have the extrusion jewelry (shown on a previous post), as well as a new rainstick I'll be putting the finishing touches on this week.  Plus, I'll have a nice selection of polymer clay and gourd items -- see my Etsy store & Flicker blog (links on the right) for previews.

This market is hosted by The Majestical Roof, a great little gallery store carrying handmade stuff by local artists.  If I get enough interest in my wares, they'll carry some of them in the store!  So....Please come out and support me! 

Hope to see you there!

Playing with extrusions

A few months back, I was playing with extrusions to inlay in a gourd.  The colors which looked so bright separately, ended up looking too dark together.  Not enough contrast, I think.  It seemed a shame to waste them, so I put some slices onto the turquoise clay I had used in the blend and brightened it up with some mica powder.  I'm quite happy with the result.

I've also been playing with making kumihimo cords to match.  They're fun to make.  I gave a demo on them at my polymer clay guild a couple months ago and we had a blast :)   The middle pendant is on a custom-made kumihimo cord.  I'm keeping the set with the rubber cord.  The rest I'll list on my Etsy store by next weekend.  For the pendants, you can have your choice of kumihino or rubber cord.

Book submissions

Mystic Vision Rattle

 Today, I submitted three photos of my work to be included in an upcoming book from Lark Crafts, to be called "500 Gourds."  Hopefully, my gourds will be part of the 500 chosen.  Wish me luck!
The first photo I submitted (above) is of my Mystic Vision Rattle.  The second photo is my Indian Maiden Doll.  She's got a jewelry gourd for her body & head.  The rest is polymer clay.  I built the arms & legs on wire armatures, so they move (at least they swing up and down).

Indian Maiden Doll

The third photo is of the my Fire Flower and Mystic Vision Rattles together:

Fire Flower and Mystic Vision Rattles

The flower and leaves are polymer clay, as are the stoppers and beads on the Mystic Vision Rattle.  For the iris, I painted the back of a glass stone and inlaid it.  Thanks to Mark Mauthner for the beautiful photos!  It would be awesome to be published!