Olive Jewelry Set

I am a voracious olive fan, and eat them almost every day. I also think they come in truly lovely colors--just look at your local olive bar! So for a long time I've wanted to make miniature olives as beads. This set includes nine different varieties of olives including garlic-stuffed, kalamatas, and olives marinated in herbs. They pass the test of looking good enough to eat. For the jewelry I decided to wire them with small beads in coordinating colors for a little extra sparkle. The sheen is due to two coats of Future.

I wonder if I wear this set to a martini bar, if someone will throw gin on me. I just hope it's Rehorst brand.

Project #44

Clockwork Heart Pendant

8/9/09

1 1/2  hrs. clay, 1/2 hr. assembly

Incorporating clock works.

Taking ideas from Christi Friesen again!  Steampunk stuff was all the rage at the 2009 Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, and I just love the style.  This heart incorporates disassembled clockworks I bought at the show.  I used three solid metallic clays (copper, silver and gold) as well as the three blend combinations.  Touched up with Perfect Pearls metallics for some extra twinkle, baked, then used Christi’s antiquing technique (brown acrylic paint rubbed off immediately).  The final step was to glaze all but the metal parts with matte polymer clay glaze.  Looks perfect with copper findings and this multicolored metal chain.

Project #45

Bird Family Mixed Media

1/3/10

3 1/2  hrs.

Fibers for nest, liquid polyclay to hold "twigs" in place.

I got Christi Friesen's Birds book for Christmas, can you tell? I had searched out this great driftwood piece last summer at Point Beach, and it made the perfect perch for this family of fantasy birds. The nest is made of polymer clay "twigs" mixed with thread and yarn fibers. I used liquid polyclay as an adhesive for the first time, as baking the nest was not enough to fuse the twigs together. The liquid polyclay was a perfect solution and yielded a sturdy nest. The eggs incorporated some orange sand to make the speckles. The male bird has Swarovski crystal embellishments. Both birds were given the patina treatment and their eyes and beaks shined up with three coats of Future. I inserted wires in all three elements before baking, and then wired them to the driftwood.

I made this project specifically to go on the table you see in the fourth picture, which stands in our living room.

Project #46

Wood Inlay Picture

2/21/10

4 1/2  hrs.

Faux wood inlay

I love making faux wood, so I wanted to do some sort of inlay project. You'd be amazed how few examples of that there are on the web, at least where I looked.

But I set to work, undaunted. I made nine different "veneers" and then set out to make wood inlay beads from them. After one bead I realized my plan was not good. So I switched gears to do a 5" x 7" picture instead. I actually had no particular design in mind. I just started cutting shapes and laying them out and filling in, all the while wondering if this was going to be one of those serendipitous projects that ended up looking good more or less by luck. I definitely think it did.

Project #47

"Woodswirl" Switchplate

2/27/10

1 3/4  hrs.

Painting with Perfect Pearls on black

So, the spot I chose for the Wood Inlay Picture to hang had a non-color-coordinated polymer clay switchplate. Time to move that to the bedroom and replace it with something that would work in the spot.

I had a nice piece of leftover faux wood, so for starters I placed that on a background of black clay. But now what? I had a sudden idea to simply paint the whole black area with Perfect Pearls in metallic colors of yellow, gold, copper and green. I found it was easy to mix and blend them right on the clay with a very small brush. The ultimate effect, and it was totally accidental, was reminiscent of Van Gogh's swirls.

Needed one other thing, so I added the small clay balls and then painted each with gold Perfect Pearls. That did the trick. Once again I started without a plan and totally lucked out.

You see the ensemble in the second photo. The large picture is a framed two-page comic, done my my friend CC Rogers of an excerpt from my story "As Commonplace as Rain." Now all the colors compliment each other nicely.