I never wear white.

 It would be like a ghost trying on a different white sheet, asking "Is this more my color?"

But sometimes it looks soooooo pretty!

I'm thinking of making this;

I know, there I go again, painfully out of season. This would have been perfect for Spring, but noooooo, here it is almost September and I am pulling out the pastel flowers and butterflies. Maybe I should send it in to a magazine for next year? Then I would be ahead, not behind!

Did you see that, how I just twisted the time/space continuum to suit my needs?

I used the other flower to create this necklace;

Which version do you like better?
I imagine this one on a dark skinned beauty with big silver hoops. I wish I could afford models. I think they really bring creations to life.

I'll just have to make due until Kella decides to come over from the U.K. and pose for me.
;)

Bird House Pendant

 Inspired to draw a house on card stock, cut it out and use it as a template for polymer clay. I include it as a bonus in my tutorial, Flawless Polymer Clay Bases.
This was a post created last year but it was never posted! I didn't realize it would show up as today's post. Interesting. I wonder what else is back there......

Ardent

My year long project of a new art bead each month is now on February, which seems easy enough. But I didn't want the heart to symbolize "Love". I wanted it to be narrowed down; what love means to me, in my daily life, in my relationships, in my future. So I chose "Ardent" as my word for the month.

Ardent is defined by;
1. having, expressive of, or characterized by intense feeling; passionate; fervent: an ardent vow; ardent love.
2. intensely devoted, eager, or enthusiastic; zealous: an ardent theatergoer. an ardent student of French history.
3. vehement; fierce: They were frightened by his ardent, burning eyes.
4. burning, fiery, or hot: the ardent core of a star.
(© Random House, Inc. 2010)

Upon reading this very definition, I was more motivated then ever to be intensely devoted, enthusiastic and vehement with my love. And so with this passion I created the Ardent Heart.

I am making a bracelet for my little girl with one of the pink hearts. She stood there by my clay table and helped me make heart after heart after heart. She tried so hard to shape her hearts like mama and her perseverance was touching. I sincerely hope I sell a few because I want to go to her with the money and give it her and say "Someone wanted one of your beads!"  I will have her help me wrap it and send it off. She loves being involved with business affairs!

I am also giving away an Ardent Heart kit!

 

This kit is carefully put together with an Ardent Heart in antiqued red, bright red sari silk bundle, heat painted copper wire, a beautiful mix of beads containing Swarovski crystals, red wood, vintage orange glass, Miyuki squares, orange freshwater pearls, trumpet flower beads, ab hearts in topaz, vintage enameled flowers in peach, a copper heart charm and a patinated heart scroll in addition to a tube of fiery seed beads with yellow, orange, red, copper and bronze.  What could you make with such a Flaming Ardent Heart kit?

 Tweet it, blog it, facebook it and leave me a comment each time you do, I will have Miss Pinkerton draw a name on Thursday the 4th. Be sure to leave an email address with one of your comments so I can get your mailing address. I have very special wrapping for this kit so it arrives as a beautiful gift to your Ardent self!

Lisa of Lucid Moon Studios won!

Thanks, everyone, for leaving a comment! I will have another give-a-way at the end of February.  

Should I list them?

These are some of the experimental components I created when deciding on the different art beads to create for each month. They have the same antiqued, enclosed freshwater pearl look of Christi Friesen. I haven't read any of her stuff yet, although I am curious about her new book Steampunkery.

I was imagining pods of some sort but was having trouble deciding which looked best. I can see them in a fringy sort of waterfall necklace. Anyway, should I list them in my etsy shop? Hoard them to myself until the day comes where I finally admit that I am not going to make time for them? I really like their mustard yellow color combined with the orange freshwater pearl.

How does everyone like the new blogger updates? I love the way we can more easily arrange our photos. That was a major pain for me and this way I can choose whether the picture gets the attention or my words.

I'll post soon of some lovely copper pieces I have been hammering and making ancient looking.
They are the focus of the next book and I have been keeping it a secret so no one could beat me to it. Turns out the publisher would like to see more of a platform - ie; people who are interested. And the only way to build that is by showing everyone.  It's a risk. I swear there is someone who has the ability to peer into my brain and take my best ideas as their own. But then again, so many times have I thought "Ah ha! This is completely original!" and started investing time, money and labor into the NEW & COMPLETELY ORIGINAL IDEA only to find someone else has done it before me. What do you do then? Scrap everything? Start over? Go ahead with the plan? I remember when I first discovered this seller on ebay who was selling these weird but pretty vintage beads, I bought a whole bunch, imagining my fresh original designs being snatched up by vintage collectors who liked the mix of collectible handmade. Hahahahahaha! I start listing them and only then do I start noticing other, already fresh, collectible handmade jewelry with vintage beads. The excitement quickly frittered out and here I am with tons of unused, vintage beads. And singed silk for layered flowers. And Tim Burton-like art dolls. And hand stamped tags. And layered transparent collages.  And silk wrapped bangles (that was heart breaking, I mean they had barely been released and then I see them being taught!).

 I felt really silly the first time I bought some czech glass buttons, I loved them and had the thought that I would re-make them into clay pendants and put different colored glazes on them. I created a bunch. I listed them on etsy. I sold some and felt brilliant. I browse the Time Machine on etsy (back when it actually showed what was newly listed and not just repeats of the same stuff over and over) and I see the same czech glass button images go by made in glazed clay! Incredulous, I look at the shop owners store and see she has been selling them months before me. Later as I am looking through old Bead and Button magazines, I see an ad by Earthenwood Studio. The ad displays all the same czech glass button images I had, plus TONS more, all created in many, many colors of glazed clay. This magazine was from 1997. 1997, people!!!!! She was running ads in a magazine waaaaay before I even thought to start selling online. I felt embarrassed. Did she see my pathetic little cheap renditions in polymer? I can't even make them any more, the joy is gone. There is no reason to make them if an experienced ceramic artist is selling them at a lower price in a bigger variety.

I am learning to research before getting excited about a new idea. Definitely before investing money. A few words in ol google would have shown me I am not that original.

Not yet.

Begin

 Through-out time, humans have use talismans to symbolize spiritual aspects of character, religious beliefs and meaningful traditions. As someone who compulsively creates and collects amulets, I thought it would be a great exercise to further my sculpting skills by finding a symbol I could flesh out in clay.

 Each month of the new year I will focus on a special meaning, whether the current season or the holiday of the month. From this focus a certain word comes forth and I use this word, its use and definition, to help sharpen my concentration on what is important to me. After a little research, I decide what symbol should accompany the word and sketch out a design that I can turn into clay. A little acrylic wash, a decoupage of the word in one of my favorite fonts and many, many coats of a matte varnish and I have my own art bead talisman!


  I have started the new year with the word "Begin". What an awesome powerful word! It seems so small, so inconspicuous, but it can be the hardest thing to do. Whether it's to stop smoking (been there and beginning was the most difficult), losing weight (it's always next week with me), starting a new project (what if I can't finish?),  'Begin' is a fantastic word to meditate on  and make concrete in my head, my thoughts, my actions, my daily life.
  I choose a doorway to symbolize beginning. A doorway shows opportunity, a portal to something else; something greater. A movement from one place to another. It symbolizes action to me, a change. This is something I personally wrestle with, perhaps you can relate?

The bead itself measures approx. 20mm long by 18mm wide. The front of the doorway is crafted from the faux wood clay technique and decorated with a tiny door knob and hinges. After baking the bead, it is given an antique acrylic wash, decoupaged with the tiny word and sealed with several coats of matte varnish. The hole can accommodate a 20 gauge wire. I created a necklace with one of the doorways and took pictures along the way to demonstrate one way to use this art bead.

I saw a tassel of sorts, using left over beads and chain in a haphazard, tumbling way. I love this technique but it can sometimes be difficult to make left over beads look good together. I test my selection by laying out chain and small links of beads out this way;

 

Using both oxidized and bright sterling silver helped bring the different elements together. Once I was happy with the arrangement of the links and chain I formed a loop in a piece of 10" wire, approximately 4" from one end. This loop needs to be large enough to accommodate all the elements you will be adding. The example below shows a loop that is 1/4" in diameter and I added a total of 14 dangling elements.

Once all of your danglings are on, continue the wire-wrap to enclose the loop. Slide on a bead cap and then slide on the art bead. Form a second loop above the art bead and create a messy wrap with the remaining wire.

                                              

I wanted to pull the beige color from the door down to the tassel and add a bit more bulk so I added a small section of wire-wrapped leather strap. This gave the tassel a fuller look.

                                       

  Now that the tassel was complete and it needed an asymmetrical necklace. Again, I used left over beads; iolites, peridot and aquamarine to make up one side of the necklace. These beads are caged in oxidized sterling silver wire to help them look more cohesive. The opposite side of the necklace is a piece of warm brown faux suede that has 2 different colors of pearls wire-wrapped to both top and bottom in order to create links that will connect to the lobster claw clasp and the top of the doorway tassel.

So there it is! My first hand sculpted art bead in its very own one of a kind creation! I hope this post inspired you to create a talisman of your own and of course, I have made a limited edition of 11 doorways to share. You can purchase your own "Begin" bead here. Check back at the end of this month for the second installment of my next art bead. February's beads are very special to me as my daughter inspired and helped create the batch.  I have all 12 months completed, but I'm not listing them all at once even though I want to. I have to be patient for the Unveiling.

Scalloped Setting Rings are back!

Super Mod Bird on Celadon.

Yay! I found a supplier who had the scalloped settings in stock! You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to keep these in my store. I had a whole handful of the cabs made with resin set and everything but could not for the life of me find the settings, so I was extremely happy to happen upon someone who had them, all I had to do was order them, epoxy the cabs in the settings, photograph and Viola! I have 20 something rings to list for this holiday season! I say again; Yay!



Verdigris Tree on Black


Plum Blossoms on Dusty Lavender.


Sprouts on Aqua.


Tree Top on Terra Green.

You can purchase these rings here.
I really hope to keep them in stock, the settings from China were not as durable or as charming and they took forever to get here. This setting is a nice solid, silver plated ring with an open, adjustable back that stays on your finger and doesn't pinch.

We are decorating for Christmas today. A lot of our Christmas decorations are getting worn out. Thankfully when they are wrapped in several strands of twinkling lights, they still exude Christmas magic. I put up the roof lights this year but they do not work. That sucked. I tested them first and everything.

Mr. Lovey has been very sick and unable to do much. He lost 7 lbs last week and his lovey's (the lovehandles he is nicknamed for) are just about gone. :( We are not sure if the Aplastic Anema is rearing its ugly head or if it could be something simpler like a virus. He has been to the Dr and to the emergency room but they couldn't help him. He has to go to his oncologist. The worst part are the blisters in his throat, it keeps him from eating just about everything. Would you believe his job fired him? Talk about kicking a man when he is down. Citibank and all their stupid faux supervisors suck. He called in everyday and somehow the messages were not relayed to the correct people and he was terminated for not calling in. How messed up is that?
He drags himself out of bed, his eyes a scary fire red, jaundiced, hardly able to talk and shows them the Dr. note, the emergency room report, the powerful pain medication prescriptions, antibiotics and THE PHONE RECORDS THAT SHOW HE NOT ONLY CALLED BUT THE PHONE CALLS WERE RECEIVED BY CITIBANK EMPLOYEES. They said there was a misunderstanding but it's too late to do anything about it now. Can you believe that? All the humanitary good deeds they do in the name of their business and then they fire a man 2 weeks before Christmas for an admitted misunderstanding. I hate them. Hypocrites. If we were different people we would sue.

Okay, that was a rant, sorry you read through that, but it has to come out somewhere and it's my flippin blog after all.

Focus on the Joy of Christmas, Shannon.
Focus on the Joy of Christmas.
Focus on the Joy of Christmas.
Focus on the Joy of Christmas.

Pendant Necklace Give-a-way -Angel Wing on a Heart

Leaf green mixed with a pinch of gold, a pinch of pistachio and a touch of mica for shimmer, created the most beautiful shade of forest green. The embossed patina-ted, copper graphic is a damask leaf by Leigh Hannan that I turned side-ways and angled to give the impression of an angel wing. The copper chain it comes assembled to is adjustable from 16 to 19" with wire-wrapped links and a lobster claw clasp.

This is about as Christmasy as I get with my work as the traditional Christmas colors just do not excite me.

Do you like it? Would you really like for me to ship it to you gift wrapped, all pretty like?

Okay, just leave me 1 ego boosting comment below (ie; "You're so awesome, Shannon" or "You fill such a void in my life, Shannon" or even "Shannon, I have such immense respect for you") and my Pinky will draw a name from the submissions in about 1 week.
Make sure I can reach you by a blog link or email.
See ya!




Sorry, I forgot to post the winner for this give-a-way! This piece went to DigitalMisfitGirl!
I will have another give-a-way at the end of January and it will be spectacular!

Polymer Clay Pendants with Leaf Graphics

I just wanted to pop in and share a few pieces in polymer I just finished photographing. They are a bit large and bold. For some reason I want to wear them all at the same time. As if they were tumbling down me like a tree, heehee.



The rings just keep getting larger. This newest batch is around 1.25" in diameter.

The transfers are Basic Grey. Love the big pinkish orange leaves!

See you soon with some different leaves!

New Polymer Clay Cabochons!

I created some brooches! I received these settings on accident, I ordered something else and these came instead. Happy accident! The new ring settings are HUGE! I thought their measurement was the same as the settings I used previously at 25 by 20mm but it seems a few more millimeters really make a difference!

As I mixed up some new colors for fall (soft, hazy, fall colors) I thought I would experiment with some very old transfers I had by Fancy Pants Design. These are distressed florals with trims and tapestry flourishes in cream, brown, and light green. I thought they were no good on polymer clay so I had them set aside for scrap booking (yeah, like I'll ever get to that:) ) But I just wanted a tiny bit on a small cabochon and thought I should try them and it worked! All of them worked! It turned into this whole day of baking, buffing, transferring, and resin coating! I love how they turned out and was glad to see some designs from the polymer clay muse come forth. She has been absent for months now as I worked on other projects.

Paprika Orange;

Blue Glacier;

Buttery Beige;

Mica Ivory;

Ginger Pink;

A Winner!

Sorry I'm a little late with this! Time is flying past and the only way I can tell is by the haggard look I see on my face as I zoom past a mirror.

Anyway, my Pinky has drawn a winner for the polymer pendant give-a-way and it is........
Barbe Saint-John! I have to admit that I wanted to ship one off to all the kind souls that took the time to leave comments, but I quickly realized that would be a bit expensive to ship out. So I stuck to the plan of having Pinky pick a random winner and there she is!

Take a moment to check out Barbe Saint-John's website; Saints and Sinners. This talented lady is elbow deep in mixed media jewelry art and I am honored that she would interested in having one of my pieces.

I am sending the Red Branches on Ivory pendant to Barbe and I want to thank everyone for taking a moment to leave a comment. I received wonderful feedback and got some new ideas for color combination's that I would not have thought of without your help, so thank you again!

I will do another give-a-way at the end of Oct. so please come back by for another chance to win.

288 photos to edit, Sooooo Let's have a give-a-way!

Ugh. This is something so necessary and so completely sleep inducing.
I've had tons of polymer clay blanks created for months but I had serious burn out from all the image techniques I use, I just let them sit there. I finally got my butt into gear, applied the images, coated them in resin and finally got them photographed. I am listing a few at a time.

There are a lot of new, different colors for me, not because I do not like them, I crave all sorts of colors, but because until recently most of the silhouettes I used looked best against pale colors.
I did a little experimenting and found some of the brown silk screen images looked fabulously warm and autumnal. (odd word, isn't it? Autumnal)

To make it worth your time, let's have a give-a-way!

Leave me a comment letting me know which piece is your favorite for fall and tell me your own favorite color combination. For example; I am loving this first piece 'Tree on Autumn Orange' (even though usually I hate black and orange), and my favorite color combination right now is purple and yellow. I know! How garish is that!?! The deep violet, purple paired with a mustard yellow. I can't get enough of it!

I'll leave this open for a week and use my Pinky to pick a name from a bowl from all those who left comments. Make sure I can reach you through your blog or email so I can personally let you know you've won.


Tree on Autumn Orange




Mr. Cheeper on Ivory Ring




Blue Green Daisy on Hazelnut




Red Branches on Ivory




Friends Everlasting (in brown) on Gold




Yellow Rose on Brown




Copper Flourish on Sea Green



Espresso Bird in Branches on Lavender

Do you want to know what you'll win? Your favorite from the above!
Thanks for playing and Happy Autumn!

Polymer Clay Bezel

Do you know this painting?
This is a fragment of a painting that I cannot find the title or name of the painter.
I was reading an art history book a long time ago and attention was brought to the way the artist had painted the silk folds in her skirt and how realistic they were. But I cannot remember who!

I love her serene, thoughtful expression and the blue-gray color of the background.

After creating the bezel I paired it with an aquamarine stone and some gorgeous czech glass that complimented the bronze finish of the bezel, all wire-wrapped together with antiqued brass and clasped with a hammered brass hook.

Embossed Brass, Polymer Clay Cuff

First, I saw a monogram cuff at Anthropologie. It was cute and very expensive. Like $168.00.
I know, I know. It's not that bad, but I couldn't afford it so let me break it down for you.
If you were interested in making your own monogram cuff that is.

First I searched 'brass cuff' in etsy. The ones by urbanrose were not there yet, but that would save you a couple steps. I choose this one by mermaidsdowry. It was just the right width for me, but she has wider cuffs also, if you like a lot of FLARE. I also purchased one of these circle findings, which is just a bit larger then the width of the cuff. Don't you love when you find what you need at 1 store!!!

I put a drop of turquoise breeze acrylic paint on a paper towel and rubbed it over the brass embossing. You want the paint to go into the imprinted spaces of the embossed design.
Let that set for a few seconds, it dries very quickly. Now take a dry section of the paper towel and rub again over the surface, this takes the paint off the surface of the brass, but leaves it in the imprinted areas. I swiftly buffed the surface with the paper towell to bring up the shine of the brass.

Next I rolled out a bit of pearl white clay, cut a little circle that would fit inside the brass circle finding, baked, buffed and stamped the white circle with an "S" from making memories magnetic letter kit, Vintage Type. This letter measures only 1/4" long and fit perfectly!

I coated the letter cabochon with 3d crystal lacquer, available here at Sun and Moon crafts.
(she's the fastest shipper, with the best price and spectacular customer service.) and let that set.

Now all you have to do is place a drop of E6000 epoxy onto the center of the colored brass cuff and press the brass circle into it, hold for 30 seconds or so so the epoxy sets. Add a second drop of epoxy to the back of the clay cabochon and set this into the center of the brass filigree circle.
Let the decorated cuff set up over night.

You're done!

The price of your new cuff? Well, let's see that's approx. $9 plus shipping for the brass cuff and filigree circle., $8 for the glaze and epoxy, then $2 for the block of clay. Ink is just pennies and letter stamps can be found pretty inexpensively at any arts and crafts store. You would probably spend around $25 if you needed to buy everything.

Most importantly you made it yourself!

p.s. This technique is soon to be released in Belle Armoire's Jewelry Magazine with stepped out photos, variations and a more in depth explanation for Spring 2010!

Flawless Polymer Clay Bases Tutorial

It's done! Whoo hoo!

This is a wonderful technique for artists who need an inexpensive way to display their art and cross over to jewelry production. Once the pendant bases are created you can decorate them in a huge variety of ways, transfer personal art onto them, stamp on them, emboss them, decorate them with rub ons, hand paint them, etc.

My process is created to appeal to the pickiest of consumers. The 23 steps in the tutorial will insure flawless, lint free, fingerprint free, perfectly flat pendants that any polymer clay artist from beginner to experienced can achieve. Several at one time!

This tutorial is only $10 and it is available here in my etsy shop.

Some earrings, an interview & a really cute artist!

New earrings! Simple, whimsical and shimmery, check them out here.

And.....

My Interview with Capitola Girl where she says rather nice things about me and my work and then I answer a few questions. Cause I know you all have been waiting for a peek behind the green curtain. :P



Now for the world's cutest artist ....
She liked the pictures of fine art Rex and I were studying and decided to embellish them with paint, ribbons and glitter. Then, this is so cute, she had to take pictures of her work, just like mom. :)