Metallic Lustres On Polymer Clay

As you know, I love to play with finishes on white clay.  

In some ways it is silly, really.

I could start with a color then play with it, but NOOOOOO!

I will start with white, paint it a color and then mess with it again.

That is what happened with these pieces.

I used white as the base...

Painted them black and then rubbed them with Metallic Lustres paints from DecoArt.

I love the way they turned out.

But i am thinking down the road to make my life a little easier, I will start with black clay, then use the Metallic Lustres.

Work smarter not harder...

In all fairness to me, when I make polymer pieces, I never know how they will be finished down the road.

I do things in stages....

I make beads and components for a week.

Bake them all.

Then I divide them into groups for how they will be finished and start working on them in those groups.

Lastly I seal them.

Once they are sealed,  they wait to become a necklace, bracelet or earrings.

Anyway, Metallic Lustres are one of my favorite ways to finish beads.

I love rubbing them into the pieces.

Have you ever tried them?

Thanks for stopping by....

Clay Rings

I tend to be a necklace girl.

When I am creating jewelry, it is often a necklace if I do not plan ahead.

So every now and then, I make myself create other pieces.....often bracelets or earrings.

The things I almost never create are rings.... though those are what I wear myself the most.

I did play around with some fun artistic polymer clay rings...

Whoops.....

Can you see the hair on the bead?

In a house with pets, sometimes hair is another food group/common element...

These next 2 were done with Swellegant paints and patinas.

If you are not familiar with them, you need to check them out.  

The paints are infused with real metal particles.

Those particles react with the patinas to produce fantastic looks.

These rings all used the wavy wafer beads I made from polymer clay.  

I used my husband's torches to ball the ends of the steel rebar wire.

I added the bead and then balled the other end.

Then I gave the wire a few quick turns around the ring mandrel.

Easy peasy.

I really should make rings more often....

What have you been up to lately?

Thanks for stopping by....

Fossil Rings

I hope life is treating you kindly.

I feel like I have been attempting to hit a bunch of curve balls.

Everyone has their own curve balls, I know.

One thing that helps me when things get a little bumpy is creating.

I may not get a chance to take photos and blog about it, but I am always making something.

The fact that I haven't blogged just means I will have more to share with you when I get to blogging again so I am going to work on it.

I made these fun fossil rings from polymer clay, metal epoxy, and gold foil flakes.

Each polymer focal was made from a mold of a real fossil.

I picked some of them up at a gift shop for a cavern.

They had quite a nice selection.

I used the silicone molding compound to make a mold of each one so I can make as many fossils as I want.

Then I used some metal epoxy to make bezels and attach them to ring blanks.

The metal epoxy is 2 part epoxy that I got from the hardware store.

Just cut off equal pieces and mix them together.

They dry rock hard.

I have never used gold foil before so there was a bit of a learning curve for me.

I did not have gold foil sheets so I used some flakes.

I brushed on the adhesive first and waited an hour.

Then I used a soft brush to try to add the foil flakes.

It wasn't working to my satisfaction so I just started using my fingers to press and rub the gold foil on.

For me, that was much better.

And then I brushed on a couple coats of Varathane to seal them.

Probably my least favorite part is the adjustable ring base, but I learned a ton from the process.

Hope whatever curve balls are coming your way, I hope you are swinging with all your might....

Thanks for stopping by...