Buttons, buttons and more buttons

I use to sew a lot and I always thought buttons were the finishing touch to the project. I would search high and low for just the right buttons. I don't have to do that anymore; if I want a button I make it.

I made the cute little buttons you see with polymer clay. Each one is hand formed,sanded and buffed to a glassy sheen. they measure 15mm and are the perfect size for a blouse/shirt,scrapbooking or maybe to embellish a quilt.

I made a bunch of each for me and some to put into my Etsy and Artfire shops for others to use on their projects.

My favorites are the pinstriped ones and the gold retro patterned ones.


Today Is Easter Sunday and I am having a sale in my http://Gingerbells.ArtFire.com shop
FREE SHIPPING! on all jewelry
and
Buy 3 Get 1 FREE on all handcrafted soap bars.

Sale ends at Midnight....

Happy Easter to all !!!!!

What I made with my handmade beads...

I wanted to show what I made with the beads I showed in the previous post.......I like how the lavender highlights the pretty flowers and the cute little hummingbird on the pendant.

I love the way polymer clay works so well in beaded designs. It makes every piece a one of a kind piece of wearable art.

I wanted to show that I also work with gemstones on occasion. So I am showing the blue pendant and necklace I made the other night. I LOVE the pendant it is one of my all time favorites. I love how the colors work together. I also am glad I was able to work the black and blue ceramic beads into the design.

If I were honest I would say I am obsessed with beads........

How I make beads

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Here is what it looks like when I am making polymer clay beads. This isn't meant to be a tutorial but more a quick look at some of what goes into making polymer clay beads.

Step 1...
pick out canes and blend base color for beads.

Step 2...
cut out and roll base beads

Step 3...
slice paper thin slices of cane and apply to base, roll to smooth.

Step 4...
cut and shape bead caps from base color. Add to beads.

Step 5....
pierce beads with bead pins hang on rack and cure..

Step 6....
when cured sand through 5 grits of sandpaper and buff to a glass like finish.

Yup I know that was a quick run through and some steps were skipped. I promise to do a proper tutorial on bead making soon.

The beads came out pretty nicely. I made a pendant base to go with them and as soon as I get the pendant beaded I'll post photos of the finished necklace.

New on my worktable

My online clay buddy Jackie [ http://www.etsy.com/shop/ThePleasantPheasant ] has been making the most lovely canes. I couldn't resist buying some of them.

I used Jackie's awesome canes to make these very pretty pillow beads and square cabochons for beading. I love them all but if I had to pick a favorite pattern it would be the blue ones.

With the yellow set I think I'll make a bracelet with the pillows and a beaded pendant for a necklace with the cabochon.

The small green rounds and cabochon are going to be a pendant for a necklace.

The blue set will be a bracelet, necklace and pendant...

I am looking forward to designing the pendants because the square shape can be a challenge to work with and keep it soft looking.

So if you are looking to buy some awesome canes check out the link to Jackies shop I loved working with them.

Thing a day challenge

http://polymerclaycentral.com is having "a thing a day" challenge. We are making 1 thing a day in Febuary featuring polymer clay and posting it to the website for all to enjoy.

My day 1 project was the teardrop shaped necklace and pendant. The pendant base and the accent beads are made with polymer clay.

Day 2 project is the beads and pendant base all made with polymer clay.

Day 3 project is the beaded pendant from day 2.....

So far I am keeping up, I have the Grandkids the next couple of days so we will see.

What is a Polymer Clay Cane?

When people see the things I make they often think the patterns are painted on. I explain that they are made by applying thin slices of " polymer clay canes ". Then they look at me and say "what is a cane?" if you have ever had the same question here is a quick simple explanation with visual aids.

A polymer clay cane is made by blending contrasting colors of clay and forming them into a pattern. I know; it's still confusing....I'll use this simple flower cane to illustrate.

Photo #1
I took the following colors green pearl/blue pearl/white pearl and blended them together to form the striped pattern for a single flower petal and I wrapped it in a sheet of pearl clay. Then I "reduced" it; [squeezed it to make it longer] , and cut it into 8 equal lengths.

Photo #2
I took each of the 8 pieces and shaped them like a flower petal. I took the 8 petals and arranged them around a yellow center to form a flower shape.

Photo #3
I took translucent polymer clay and "packed" or wrapped it around the flower shape to help everything hold it's place during reduction.

Photo #4
I took the 3 inch wrapped and packed cane and redused it buy squeezing ,pulling and rolling it until the tube measured about 1/2 inch around and then cut it into 6 2x1/2 inch canes ready to use on projects. Just like the Pillsbury cookie dough at the store the flower pattern goes all the way through the cane.

That is how a polymer clay cane is made....Have I further confused you? I hope not; I hope I have intrigued you enough to learn to do it too.....

Polymer clay and seed beads

I think polymer clay and seed beads are a match made in heaven. They play so nicely together.

I love good gemstone cabochons but they are so expensive and really drive up the price of the pieces I make. The cabochons in the hair pins are gemstones and were expensive so I will have to sell them at a higher price point then I would like. Had I made them with polymer clay I could knock about $10 off the retail price.

Another advantage of using polymer clay is I can create some awesome stone like cabochons with awesome colors and detail for a lot less then I would pay for a natural gemstone. Using my handmade cabochons allows me to spend more money on the high quality crystals and seed beads to give my customer a higher quality product at a reasonable affordable price point.

The necklace in this post is a beautiful example. The cabochon is one that I made with polymer clay,ink,mica and gold leaf; it's full of detail and pretty colors. because the cost to make it wasn't high I was able to use a generous amount of expensive high quality Swarovski crystals and delica seed beads. By making my own cabochon I am able to offer my customer a OOAK necklace at a very reasonable price. It's a win-win situation for both of us.

Victorian Poinsettia Brooches

I have always liked Victorian styled things around the holidays. I think these 2 brooches have a Victorian look to them.

When I started making them the other day I had intended for them to be pendants on necklaces. By the time I finished the beading and making the ruffles edges they were way to big for pendants. So.....brooches they became. In the end I think it worked out for the best. I'll take the beads I made for the necklaces and turn them into a bracelet and earrings.

The soft diamond one is my favorite. I like how the champagne beads and black opal seed bead ruffle frame the bezel.

on work table......earrings, earrings and more earrings......

Pretty Poinsettia set

These are my first holiday themed projects of 2009. I am very happy with how these turned out. This set is the ball point pen and the pill box key chain. Instead of offering them individually I will be selling these as as set.

The designs on each piece are not painted it is made with polymer clay. The poinsettia cane I used wasn't one of mine; this time I used a cane made by Cat Therin. I have been enjoying experimenting with other peoples canes.

I liked these so much I made a set for myself, I just love pretty useful things.


on my worktable.......poinsettia beads

Fun with accesories

I really like making things that are functional as well as pretty.

I have some craft shows coming up so I have been making things to sell that are moderately priced and that will make great gifts for the upcoming holiday season. I have several nice gift sets made for my bath shop so yesterday I made some sets for my gift shop.

I am trying to decide weather or not to group coordinating pieces together and sell them as a set or offer them as individual items. There are pros and cons for doing it either way. Myself I would like to by the set if I could but I know not everyone feels the same way.

I like the set in the photo the colorful designs on the pieces are made with polymer clay the set includes 1 twist ball point pen,1 pill box key chain and 1 dual mirrored compact.

on my worktable........more pens and pill box key-chains also whipped olive oil soap

Blog Love

I wanted to give my blog a little love today I have been very neglectful.

I have been very busy getting things ready for the upcoming fall craft show season. It is my favorite time of year. The Mid-west has a great amount of festivals. I like the fall ones best because the air is crisp and fresh and people are starting to get in the holiday spirit.

Every year I do a 10 day show called The Parke County Covered Bridge Festival. It is a county wide celebration of arts, crafts and food. If you would like to check it out Google Parke County Covered Bridge festival.

So getting ready is a lot of preparation which I love. It beats the hell out of working a straight job again.

I am posting some photos of a necklace I made today. I am calling it "Bohemian Beauty" or something like that.
When I found the pendant mounting I fell in love with it, I think it has a cool exotic look to it. I mounted some vintage crystals and a polymer clay cabochon to finish the pendant. I made some beads to go with the cabochon and strung them with hemitite rice beads.

In my stash I had the cool brass bead caps and the perfect clasp. I think they all came together to make a pretty necklace. It measures about 23 inches long. I think it would look beautiful worn with a black moc turtle neck or a peasant blouse , it will make a bold statement for sure.

On work table another cool mounting I found waiting for my to make some beads and a cabochon for it.

I love my job!!!!!

Do you wanna win a free bar of handmade soap?

All you have to do to win a free bar of soap is come up with the winning name for this necklace I made today. Think of a name and post it in comments section; I will choose the winning name on Saturday April 25th.

This necklace was fun to design and has what I think is a cool design feature...it is really 2 necklaces in one because it is reversible. The pattern on the focal bead is different on each side as is the beaded bezel.

The focal bead in the pendant is made with polymer clay, ink and gold leaf. I made the free form bezel out of gazillion glass seed beads. The beaded necklace measures 20 inches and is finished with a goldtoned lobster clasp.

Good luck with the contest; I am interested in reading what people come up with.

New Necklace

I have been enjoying beadweaving my lentil beads. I made this necklace with reversable pendant yesterday. It is much prettier in real life; I am happy with it.

Today I am going to make some floral lentils for some pretty spring designs and change the bezel style some. Maybe add some fringe dangles with some of the crystal flower beads I have.

I listed the red one I made the other day on Sunday in my Etsy shop and it sold in less the 10 minutes. I was shocked it sold so fast and pleased because it will be going to someone who really likes it. I am going to list this one later in Etsy and Artfire hopefully someone will like it too.

I got a beautiful fancy professional beading loom today that I am excited to start using and designing for it. This loom is so pretty it's almost a display as well as a tool. I am thinking maybe a floral patterned bracelet would be nice.

I have other looms that are not 1/2 as nice as the new one, I think I'll keep them to teach my Grandkids with when they get older.

Keep on trying

I really like making hollow lentil beads I think they make great pendants and earrings except for one thing...no matter how carefully I trim and sand the beads the seam in the side still shows a little and it bothers me. So I have been working on different ways to design aroud the seam to make it less noticable.

I have made polymer clay bezels they work nicely but still not exactly what I wanted.
I have wire wrapped them that works great because of the channel the joint creates and the wire covers that really well but still not exactly what I wanted.

So last night I was messing with some of my seed beads and I created after much trial and error this bead net bezel in the photo and lo and behold it does everything I want it to do.....no visible seam in bead showing and I think the beads really enhance the pretty polymer bead. The pendant is reversible because the bead and bezel are just as pretty on the other side. I will be using the bezel a lot now for my lentils. I can leave it basic and conservative like this one but it also has a lot of possibility for further embellishment for those times when I feel like going overboard.

I am so glad I didn't give up and kept trying because I met the challenge and am happy with the outcome.