Practice makes... cupcakes

Trying to make my cupcakes again. The last time I made cupcakes, I think I was in my second trimester!

These are far from perfect. I need lots of practice to get my mojo back. I hope the baby sleeps quietly again tomorrow night so I can play for a couple of hours!

How pinteresting!

I started pinning lovely online finds on Pinterest. It's addictive. I love how it's like a virtual mood board. Follow my pins there: http://pinterest.com/beadladymanila/

Is claying like riding a bike?

Trying to hop on the "bicycle" again after four long months. The gears are rusty now. It will take a lot of oiling before the ride is smooth again.

It took me two long hours to make 2 tudees and the bead above. Two friggin' hours for 3 puny pieces.

They say when you learn to ride, you never forget. I wish it's true with polymer clay. Because I'm not sure if I still know how. :(

New blog!

I'm moving! Temporarily.

Here's the reason I've been quiet the past few months!

www.beadbaby.blogspot.com

Follow me there. :)

Letting go

I have a tendency to hang on to the stuff I make.  I have bins and boxes of jewelry I treasure, but I've never worn.  Putting a price tag on something you toiled over, and saying goodbye to it is no fun at all.  What if I can't make something like it ever again?  I'm sure some of you can relate.

My hubby says if that's how I feel about the whole thing, I shouldn't be in business at all. I should just call crafting a hobby.  I received the same lecture from my mom. 

So for the past few weeks, while I've been busy sorting through my collection of crafty bits at home, I was slowly talking myself into letting go of the pretty little things I made the past few months.  They've got a point. My collection's just stored in boxes, and won't see the light of day.  Might as well find someone who will enjoy wearing them as much as I enjoy keeping them.

I chose a few special pieces from my collection and decided to finally list them.  They're all lovingly made by hand, lovingly held on to, but never worn.  Here's one of them - a perfume bottle pendant I covered in polymer clay in gold and old rose.  I added sweet details like "stitched" scrolls, textured and skinner blended petals, and stamped tiny butterflies and leaves at the back.  I then antiqued the whole thing to give it a vintage vibe.

Fill this bottle with your favorite perfume, and wear it close to your heart.  Or concoct a love potion and bring it with you wherever you go. Teehee.  The pendant hangs from an oxidized brass chain.  Romantic and one of a kind.

More stuff posted in my etsy shop.

Trash to Treasure: Green polymer clay jewelry

  

The Philippine Polymer Clay Guild's challenge for July was focused on sustainable, eco-friendly polymer clay projects.  Titled "Trash to Treasure", the July challenge entailed using polymer clay to give junk a new lease on life.

Finding the raw materials (aka: trash) was quite easy.  I am a pack-rat, so I had a ton of material to choose from - old light bulbs, tin cans, even blank bullet cases from my grandfather's old gun closet, haha!

The hard part was deciding what to make of the trash.  I had grand plans!  But the inability to decide left me procrastinating until the night before the deadline.  I almost didn't submit a piece, but I fought the urge to give up and decided to just submit whatever I could come up with, even if it wasn't anywhere near my original plans.  In the end, I spent only two hours conceptualizing and making the project.  Quite disappointed in myself, because we had 3 weeks to prepare.  Sometimes, when I'm stuck in a rut, I'm stuck real deep. Sigh.

I chose a beat-up doorknob hardware - the part that attaches the handle to the door.  It looks heavy, but it's actually made of an aluminum-type material so it's lightweight.

 

Fresh from my caning spree the week before, I made a new cane, still in a bright and happy colorway.  I decided to wrap the entire thing with clay, then cover it with cane slices.  After baking, I would drill a hole so I could turn it into a big pendant.  I prayed that my oven was in the mood for a drama-free baking session, because I had no room for errors. Good thing Little Miss Oven was kind to me that night, her temperature didn't spike, she didn't discolor the clay, and no cracks or bubbles appeared. Whew.  I slept peacefully.


The next day though, I find out that I couldn't drill a hole into the piece with my pin vise.  I needed to use a power drill, so I texted my brother and asked for help.  But after seeing what I made, he told me I should have drilled the doorknob part before I wrapped it in clay.  It was too late now, the drill could accidentally chip the clay - he didn't want to risk ruining my piece.  Ugh, why didn't I think of that the night before?

I had no choice but to use the piece as a donut pendant, instead of a top-drilled pendant hanging from a beaded chain.  Here's the outcome of poor planning and cramming.




But I am glad to say that all the other entries from my guild-mates were ahhhhmazing!  Very intricate, well-made, and labor-intensive!  Some used the most ingenious materials: toilet paper rolls, old diskettes, broken zippers, even shellfish!  The creativity and ingenuity was inspiring!  Here are a few of my favorites.  Not only are they works of art, but they're all functional!

Jennifer Cruz: old bottle turned into a lantern.

Jhoi Montano: milk can turned into a bag!

Ghie Malig: diskettes turned into a caddy

I saw these in person, and they are even more amazing up close! All the details, the careful craftsmanship, and the successful transformation from junk to functional art - so amazing, I am at a loss for words.

Check out the other entries here!  This challenge goes to show that polymer clay, although a type of plastic, can be truly eco-friendly! I hope our guild's challenge inspires you to try out more sustainable projects!

Crazy Canes

Remember that slew of late blog posts I told you about in my last entry?  Here's the first of many!

I went on a crazy caning spree last July.  This is a huge deal for me, since I am not a cane person.  Ironic, because the first few beads I sold were actually cane slices.  Now I no longer work with canes, simply because I am lazy.  Reducing canes can be such a chore!  Plus, few customers appreciate the intricacy of caning, and fewer still are those willing to pay a premium.  So I stopped caning altogether.

If you've been following my work, you'll notice that I stick to projects that are sweet, romantic, or vintage-inspired.  But pumped up by the last guild challenge (amazing cane work in those tiny beads I received in the swap!), and inspired by all the talented ladies in the Philippine Polymer Clay Guild, I was challenged to go outside my comfort zone. 

I decided to give the art of polymer clay millifiore another go.  This time, I won't allow myself to be daunted by the tedious task of cane reduction (is that even the right word?).  I won't think about the commercial value of the project, and focus on just the process itself.

Here are a few of the canes I came up with.  I still couldn't shake off the bright-and-happy colorway I am so used to (I like pastels and bright colors).  But check out that scary-looking red and black cane on the left!  That is so not me!  I shuddered after I made it.  But on hindsight, I actually like it's tribal appeal.

What drives me crazy is how, sometimes, some of the intricate details get lost when you reduce the cane.  I wasn't able to take photos of the larger versions of these, but take a closer look and you'll notice, for instance, that the round pink and white feathered cane on the right is actually the top portion of the triangular cane beside it.  Do note that these are blown-up photos, and the canes are actually the size of a fingernail.  So in real life, you won't notice all the lovely details unless you really stare.

The hubby says this fact actually gives the final product more charm - because the more you look at the finished pieces closely, the more you'll notice all the work that was probably involved in creating it.

So now we're back to the questions I dread the most: how much will I sell these for?  Will people actually buy these?

To test the waters, I made a couple of earrings for a bazaar, and yes, somebody actually bought them!

The ones in the pictures above are still with me though. I still can't decide how I'll string them into necklaces: on a beaded chain, on a cord, on a long link chain?  I'll keep you posted once they're ready.