Art Nest in Progress

 I'm working on my art nest.  To see more pictures and read more, please check out this post on my mixed media blog.  I hope to be done painting by the end of the weekend, so maybe more posts to come soon.

Art and Jewelry Building

A few years ago my art room was turned into a music room for my husband and my art area moved into the dining room.  After my second child was born I decided to pack my art stuff up and put it in the laundry room and made a small sewing space in my bedroom.  I miss my art space, and now with my kiln I really need a space dedicated just for art and jewelry making.  So when hubby's friend offered his building for sale we jumped at the opportunity.  It's a tiny 8x8 building, but it is wired and has an ac unit.  It should be just what I need for making my jewelry and storing most of my supplies (except for my paint, Sculpey, and other items that might be damaged by the temperature variance).  Here it is in our friend's yard, ready to be moved to my place.

She'll have to be moved and painted.  I'm thinking off white with a red door to match the house, then I can do whatever I want inside (which will mean lots of teal, turquoise, hot pink, and citron).  The building is set to be moved Tuesday, and I will keep you guys posted on how the move goes.

Fabric Bouquet in Pink, Gray, and White

A wonderful lady at our church commissioned me to do a bouquet for her wedding, and I am so pleased with how well it turned out!  I thought I would share it with you even though it is not jewelry.  She had almost all of the materials, including fabric, rhinestone buttons and brooches, tulle, lace, some pieces of her grandmother's jewelry, some flowers from her mom's wedding and bouquet, and some artificial foliage.  I added the pink material since it was just the right color.

Here's a picture of the color-test I did so I could give her an idea of what the flowers would look like.

Assembly - I ended up making 15 of these flowers!  

Flowers put together, ready to attach to the base.

The finished bouquet!

A detailed shot.

Bouquet in hand.

Miranda was just precious and loved the bouquet!  I was so excited!  It is very special and will look just right with her dress on her big day, and will stay beautiful for her for years to come.

Diffuser Necklaces

I have a Lemon Dropper friend who requested some diffuser necklaces for her essential oil classes, so I ordered some materials and got to work.  Here are some pictures of some of them.

One hanging from an anchor charm.

I like to mix metals too!

Metal Clay Monday - Initials Part Three

The third edition of my Initials Round Up.  I found way too many awesome initial jewelry in metal clay to put in one post!  Which is your favorite?  I really like the branch initials.

Crown Initial Wax Seal Necklace by Shannon Westmeyer

Silver Branch Initial Necklace by Kate Szabone Jewellry

Small Ornate Letter Charms by Divine Spark Designs

Silver Monogram Bracelet by New Hope Beading

Monogrammed Sterling Silver and Leather Wrap by Once in a Silver Moon

Poetic Initial Pendant Necklace by Art and Elements

On My Table - Sculpey Premo Earrings

I'm working on some earrings, and I thought I would share some pictures of them with you.  I think I might make a bracelet out of this design too.  I chose four different colors of polymer clay and pressed them onto a stamp.  These are stamps I have had for a while, they are the Martha Stewart Create Camellia Set, and as far as I can tell they are no longer available.  I used Sculpey Premo Accents polymer clay (bronze, peacock pearl, silver, and purple pearl) and just made them as flat as possible without making them weak.  I used Martha Stewart glitter (brownstone, lapis lazuli, sterling, and charlotte), and a mix of different colors of Apple Barrel and FolkArt paints.  I just mixed white with a coordinating color to make a top coat a shade lighter than the clay.  I brush it on over the top of the texture, not into the impression, and the sprinkle with a coordinating shade of glitter.  The little flowers are for another project.  A secret project.  I can't tell you about it yet.  

I love the texture of this stamp.  By the way, the polymer clay is almost impossible to remove from clear acrylic stamps, so use some sort of release if you want to use the stamp for something other than clay.  

I used a paisley texture stamp from Cool Tools for the back and coated with an almost black acrylic paint and sprinkled that with black onyx glitter.  Next I will coat these with Pledge FloorCare Multi-Surface Finish (aka Future Floor Wax), then punch some holes and add beads and components.  

Helpful Links for Metal Clay Beginners (BronzClay and CopprClay)

Here are some links that I found helpful while figuring out my kiln and how to use metal clay.  Please keep in mind that I have a Paragon SC2, and I use BronzClay and CopprClay.  I have my own firing schedule that I figure out after doing a bunch of research and some trial and error.  I had to lower the temperature of my kiln much lower than recommended, I think by almost 100 degrees, but my pieces kept blistering.  I am still working out the kinks with CopprClay.  
This really is tough stuff, so if you have taken on the challenge to learn this medium, congrats and best of luck.  If I can help in any way at all, just shoot me an email (nativebloom@outlook.com).  I'll keep adding to this as I go along.

How to Choose a PMC Kiln by Lake Erie Artists

BronzClay Troubleshooting by Cool Tools

Magic Carbon Instructions by Cool Tools

Creating with CopprClay

CopprClay Firing Guide by Wanaree Tanner

Temperature Tweeking by Wanaree Tanner

The Care and Feeding of Your Paragon Kiln by Pam East

PMC Connections Health, Safety, and Copper-Based Metal Clay (Copper I) and Health, Safety, and Copper-Based Metal Clay (Copper II)

Experimenting with White Bronze by Studio 28

Creating Bronze Jewellry - Firing Times by PMC Tips

An Etsy Forum by Metal Clay Heads on Firing Schedules

BronzClay Fail by Studio McManus

Problems in Firing BronzClay by All Things Metal Clay

Enamel Tests on CopprClay by About Art and Other Stuff

Firing and Enameling Art Copper Clay by Pam East

BronzClay and CopprClay Programming for Kilns 703-117 and 703-118

Hattie Sanderson's Top 25 Metal Clay Tips and Tricks