Sunday, February 23, 2014

Polymer Clay and I aren't speaking

Yes. You read the title right. I am not speaking to my polymer clay. I have gone so far as to 'Unfollow' all of the polymer clay pages on Facebook. Soon, I plan to stop receiving e-mail from polymer clay stores. Yes, this all seems very dramatic.

However, I have come to realize that I'll spend a whole day making polymer clay beads and most of the time  I don't even like what I make. I could BUY beads (probably cheaper) that I liked better and spend my 'art days' actually MAKING things.

Don't be sad. Remember I did say that I was a bit of a fiddler with my hobbies didn't I? My only question now --- do I try to sell all of my polymer clay stuff --- the pasta machine, the extruder, and my remaining clay, and the two books I bought. The louder part of me says YES, YES, YES! Because honestly, I could use the money to buy other craft stuff. The quieter part of me says, well, maybe this is temporary.

What would I do you say? Well, don't forget I'm still wire wrapping/wire weaving and that IS going well and I AM enjoying it.

Plus, I have a few things I'd really like to try.....

1. Bead weaving --- this is excellent because I already have beads and silamide/nymo. From what I've read these should be okay to practice with. I guess I'd like to buy some Fireline at some point if I'm enjoying this.... but really this is a relatively inexpensive pursuit since I have all the supplies I need from my days doing bead embroidery. Plus, I've found some kiss-ass tutorials on the web.  So --- expect some commentary on this in the future. Only con with this --- some of the best designs use 15/0 and to be honest, I have trouble with my 11/0. Sucks to get older doesn't it?  (Disclaimer...I'm really middle age....but I would compare 15/0 beads to lace knitting .......just not my thing! (: )  One big plus, I've found this tutorial on www.beaducation.com. This seems to combine wireworking with beaded beads and hey no  15/0 beads. However, I don't currently have spacers that will work for this design so something to try in the future maybe??

2. Bezel Effect. This is a combo of this nifty paint and resin.  I will confess this has been on my wish list for a while. Because I tend to be rather structured in my approach to things, I just love, love, love things that have own serendipity....like watercolor paint, and the randomness of gemstones, and well you get the idea. This paint, it does random, very cool things. Want to know what I mean?




For an even better idea of what I am talking about, check out this tutorial. Okay, now that you'e seen it, you can see how cool it really is. Biggest problem with this -- BEZELS are expensive, and the deep ones that work best for this are even more so. So what stops me from pursuing this at the moment is the money required to buy the supplies. Also, along this same line of thought....I'd also just like to try bezels and resin in general. SO, if you know of a place that sells nice bezels at a steal of a price, do let me know. (:


Oh on a completely different line of thought.....I have some MOST excellent news. I have created THREE bead soups as options for my swap partner. NOW I am NOT going to give it away because my swap partner might read this blog...but I'm especially happy with one of them and I hope that it will work. It's amazing, but I actually found some really excellent beads in my stash. For one of the bead soups I will need to buy another strand or two but for the most part, I think they are really beautiful.
Of course, the plan I spoke about earlier...the polymer clay or the wrapped pendants...don't actually appear in these bead soups!  But I was afraid the wrapped pendant would impose too much of my own style, and as you can see above, I'm not talking to my polymer. (:

On that note, I'm see you next time! (:



4 comments:

  1. I never give up any of my jewelry, bead making items, you never know when they will come in handy. have you thought of making pendants instead of beads with your poly clay?

    I have so many different mediums that I work with and it's nice to have the materials on hand even if it's something I don't use often.

    Love your bezels. You can find decent brass or base metal findings at michaels or hobby lobby.

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  2. Hello Maria!!! I have a blog visitor! Welcome! I probably will keep my poly stuff, I just had a desperate moment where I wanted to toss it all! (:
    With regard to the bezels, I live in a town without a Michaels or Hobby Lobby OR a bead store!!! So, I'm a big fan of online shopping! (: I should check out Hobby Lobby online though........

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  3. You definitely need to try out beadweaving. I have a pretty large blog post about the pros and cons of different threads, which I would have liked to know when I had just been starting out. It's waaaay too much to list here. I think I would curl up and die if I didn't live in a place with a bead store at least within a weekend trip driving distance. I can't imagine not having anything.

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    1. Nicole -- First, I like your blog! Can you consider including more information about the size of needles and beads? Two -- I'm going to take your suggestion. I got brave and bought some seed beads in a few sizes I did not have (11/0 and 15/0!!) and some needles and some Fireline. I have some basic instructions for RAW and once they get here, I'll give it a go! Three-- it kinda stinks not having a local craft/bead shop but I have Etsy and lots of online bead stores so that helps.

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