Happy Hands

A few things I finally put together over the weekend. I know one thing for sure.....My fingers would rather be squishing and rolling clay than putting jewelry together! At least my hands are happy some of the time. That's the first time I tried the torn paper technique and I was very pleased with the outcome.

A Little Winner

My miniature sculpture, 'George Vanderbilt's Worst Nightmare' earned 2nd place in sculpture at the 'Small Works by Tidewater Artists' show at the Charles Taylor Art Center in Hampton, Virginia. I'm so excited because it's the first polymer piece I've ever submitted to a show.

I'm Back, I'm Back!

 Some new bracelets, which feel so comfy on my arms.

 My first try at amber with a few sort of turquoise and coral beads.

A few new pendants made with faux bone or ivory. I love making that stuff!

This pendant looks better in real life, the stamped characters are a cool background.

Hi. I'm finally here again and I'll try to keep posting so you can see what I've been up to in my little studio, which has been overtaken by polymer clay. Now go to my Flickr site to see much more. It's debrossart.

To My Loyal Friends

I'm still busy in my studio....and I mean every day! Right now I'm at the beach but when I get back I will make a point of taking pictures and also add to my flickr site. Thanks!!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Some New Canes

A new necklace for my Etsy shop, which I just opened a few days ago. I have tons more to photograph and get into the shop so if you check it out, please come back in a few days to see what else is new. This necklace feels so good to hold. Then pendant is a softer green than what shows here, and the copper dragonfly is wired onto the pendant. The pendant and beads are impressed with Japanese carp and ripples from the water.

See my new canes? Boy, are they hard to make! I've gotten much better but still have a long way to go. 

My favorite is the black and white so I plan to make more of those. Now to find time to make beads with them, and I also have a few boxes I'd like to try covering with cane slices. Fun, fun!

Transfers and a New Head

This little head was so much fun to put together. I used Cernit mixed with a little pink Premo and then acrylics to paint the features. I know he/she looks a little silly, but I've always loved to paint and draw faces and now to sculpt them is even more fun. This is about four inches high.

I did a lot of research before trying transfers. First I tried the  water slide ones....yuck. Then I read about using iron on transfers and they were easy and showed up really well. Now to put everything together and make some jewelry. You should see these in person. Freida looks so cool with the tiny Swarovski crystals twinkling around her face.

Some New Jewelry

Since I posted I've been busy every day still trying to learn the ins and outs of polymer clay creating. I was invited to come to a small gathering of clayers about an hour and a half from here but couldn't make it. What a generous invitation! The lady had never even met me, I just emailed her because I saw her name on the Polymer Clay Central site.

This is my attempt at transferring and I was really happy with the results. All I used was iron on transfer paper and I tried it with Liquid Sculpy but I had better results by just burnishing and curing. Now I have to figure out what to do with these.

After reading Christi Friesen's book I tried this little pin. It still needs some paint, but I plan to send it to my friend for a birthday present.

A pin made by loosely following an idea from Donna Kato's work.

This is a bracelet made to match the necklace posted before. It feels fun and funky on your arm.

The other day my friend and I went to an art show opening and I made this pendant and earrings to wear. See the little Swarovski crystals on the ends? I felt very artsy wearing these! These, also, are after Donna Kato.

Well, I know....practice makes perfect and that's what I'm aiming for. Thanks for visiting and please leave some suggestions for me.

Hello, Little Faces

These are my ladies after painting with acrylic paint. I've never done this before, so I'm pretty excited about it. Of course, they don't look gorgeous, but who really does? I prefer to think of them as more of your average women, and I guess they all look like they live in the middle east because of their scarves. The one below was kind of in the dark, so I took another shot of her so you could get a good look at her face.

Thank you for taking your time to see what I'm doing here. It means a lot to me.

Faces

This is not a very clear photo but I hope you can see the facial features I sweated over for hours. No, really, I loved it and time just slips away when I have my hands in polymer. I read today on Polymer Clay Daily that we now have to refer to it as just polymer and drop the clay. Anyway, I am chalking everything that I do up to a learning experience. I hope I'm improving but I know I'm sure having fun. Now to paint their little, ugly faces.

Some New Creations

These are some of the things I've been working on in the past few days. I couldn't get a better picture but I hope you can see how delicate these flowers are. I used orange wire for the stamens and they move gently as the wearer moves.The wire and chain are copper.

This necklace was so fun to make! Can you see the little brass key near the largest heart? There's a little Swarovski crystal at the tip of the heart.

This is my first try at sculpting. I would like to use my own faces for cabochons, not use someone else's mold. Hey, I got a D in Sculpture in college, so I'm happy with this!

As I read and read and read about polymer clay I get in deeper and deeper. But I bet you knew that would happen, didn't you?

I'm Out of the Closet

Well, it's about time I make a public confession. I have become addicted to polymer clay. All of my painting materials have been sitting there next to me, untouched. I'm a serious artist ( meaning I take making art seriously, not that I'm personally serious...good heavens) and before this affliction I painted seven days a week, if possible. Now I'm claying seven days a week. Of course, I do have goals set for my paintings, so this will have to be moderated somehow.

I've started with jewelry and I'm very critical of my work. After I feel my jewelry is decent, I want to move on to sculpture....not dollmaking, but I'll be trying to represent my painting ideas in three dimensions.

You can see I have tried stamping, caning, mokume gane,and other things I can't show you yet. 

Anyway, all you serious clayers out there, please leave comments and criticisms of my work. I've been lurking aournd your blogs for a few months now, so I feel I know some of you already.