Mokume Gane Pendants with Beaded Bezels - Beading, Polymer Clay & Resin

I've been doing some beading instead of wire wrapping on my last batch of MG pendants because I liked the look so much more. It is not really a cost effective thing to do though! If I were to sell these factoring in the actual time it takes to make one....well, I'd have to charge more than many would want to pay, I think. It is the problem with doing something you love...:)

This one is reversible. I would also have to take that into consideration as a cost factor!

The black beads in the bail below are matte finish Toho beads. Love how symmetrical they are.

Here is the other side of the pendant above.

I used some matte finish Toho beads on the pendant below. Loved the verdigris look with the polymer clay colors! There is so much foil in this cabochon...hard to see in the photograph but the color really pops. I had someone ask me where I got all the colored foil to make these pendants with! That's why I love this method so much...all the sparkle! This one reminds me of a dragon eye!

This one is from my second batch of the Mokume Gane method Marilyn Ray Knopic teaches.

This is one of the older ones, too. I didn't really like this Mokume gane batch until I put the resin on!

This one is actually made with scraps. I think it's my best beadwork in this batch! :)

But those aren't the only things I've been working on! Here's some others...

I've made these flags before...there's a simple tutorial on the internet here for it - but the person I made it for told me the finding turned immediately....that's what I get for not buying real silver! So this replacement I made for her is 999 sterling. :) 

I've also been playing around with resin some recently and had these tiny dragonflies and gears from Lisa Pavelka that I thought I'd use with this setting I came across. I really like the way this one turned out.

This is another resin bracelet I came up with using my tiny gears and sprockets with Lisa Pavelka Magic Glos. :) First steampunk items I've ever made that I liked! :)

Now you know what I've been doing lately! Let me know what you think in the comments! And make sure to stop by my Pinterest page to see a lot more of my creations, and please like my Facebook page, Karmic Confetti!

Best Ones Yet - Marilyn's MG Technique - Polymer Clay

I must be addicted to this technique, because I keep trying it again and again! You'd think I'd be happy with the ones I've made, especially after rescuing that one batch, and yet...here's another attempt!

First side: Used my usual favorite inks, Mountain Rose, Sunset Orange, Pool, Stream, Mermaid, and added a new one - Purple Twilight...I think the new one is the one that made this batch so pretty!

This is the second side of the pendant pictured above. Puuuurrrrple...

The bigger sparkle is the silver leaf, especially if it isn't silver. The silver color throughout this batch is the Old Silver Inka Gold paint. I am happy to see it crackles...I love that look. Side A

Side B. 

Side A. Not sure where the brownish color came from. Additional colors I neglected to mention above are Sunshine Yellow, Lettuce, and Cranberry. Maybe the Cranberry mixing with the Lettuce is where the darker colors came from.

Side B.

Side A. This is one of my favorites. The sparkle in the black is the silver leaf..I really love it.. and wish I put more!

Side B. There is the Old Silver. It's really lovely inside the Magic Glos. There's that brown again...And a coppery color...

Another one of my favorites....oh, who am I kidding, they are all my favorite! Side A.

Side B. Definitely got to add more Purple next time!

Side A.

Side B. Love the silvery blue in this one. And how it crackled.

Not sure where side B is but this is the last one I'll bore you with!

Thanks again for looking - make sure to stop by my Pinterest page to see a lot more of my creations, and please like my Facebook page, Karmic Confetti!

Fake Gold (Polymer Clay)

I have mentioned before that I am subscribed to Meg Newberg's polymer clay tutorials. I have made a few canes based on her tutorials so far and have been wanting to try her technique to make plain non metallic/mica clay look like shining gold metal via color. I was waiting for a good clay sale to get the colors necessary, finally finished up a few other projects and had a chance to try it. It was another gift I made for my aunts. I can't divulge the technique because these are paid tutorials but I am allowed to show the results! I can't say that they are fantastic but I was pretty happy with it for a first try. Meg not only shows you the techniques, she shows you how to use them and gives examples to try. I had this glass from a thrift store ages ago and loved the black. It had some engraving on it but I covered it in clay.

There was a lot of blending colors and cane making involved, which means a lot of pasta machine rolling! I would never have come up with this idea on my own, that's for sure! I rolled a few of the canes the wrong way but that was my own fault! The project still came out pretty much the way I intended!

I think I got a little too small on this butterfly's wing cane. I embedded wire into the butterfly heads for their antenna and then spiraled the ends. 

The other side of the bottom. I made a cane of the leaves, as well.

Another side of the glass.

The shine on the clay is Sculpey gloss varnish. These are not for drinking. I suggested they fill it with flowers. I really loved this red butterfly. And I liked the way that one tendril right below the blue one's wing is lighter at the end, like gold would do in the light...that is the technique that I was trying to explain!

'Scuse the flash but this is the only picture of the entire glass that came out well. :) They really liked it.

I still had (and have!) a lot of the various canes from the glass project on hand so I decided to try putting the clay on a large Christmas ball. It looks more like a Spring ball than a Christmas one! 

I didn't know how to color the glass and didn't want to leave it natural so I used some faux etching paint...they call it "Frost" paint. It looks pretty good and no nasty chemicals...If I were smart, I probably would've coated the INSIDE with something...oh well. :D

I probably should have painted it before I put the clay on but sometimes I do things and THEN think about it...learn from my mistakes, like I always do! :D

I used Sculpey gloss again to coat the clay after baking. 

Can't wait to see it on the tree. :) I think it will look nice with Christmas lights shining through.

The directions for the paint said to wait several days before baking. Luckily the curing temperature was the same as the clay for about the same length of time, so it was perfect for this project. In reality I normally would cook the clay a little longer but the pieces were thin and 1/2 hour was fine. 

I already have a vase that I coated with the faux etching in preparation to use up the last of my canes.  :)  Thanks for looking - make sure to stop by my Pinterest page to see a lot more of my creations, and please like my Facebook page, Karmic Confetti! 

More Fun with Marilyn Ray Knopic's Mokume Gane Technique

Warning! This post has a LOT of pictures! I've been playing around with the Mokume Gane technique by Marilyn again, this time with greens and blue inks only. Here are some of the nicest! 

This is the back of the previous one. I had these baked for a couple of weeks now but ran out of Magic Glos. I ended up getting a 6 oz bottle from Amazon because I know I'll be using it for these! It came out about half the cost of getting it in the store....well worth it!

It is amazing how the blues and greens pop on these once the resin is on them. They are quite dull without it, even if you polish them...The shine from the foil really stands out after doming!

This is the back of the previous one.  This side is flat. It just looks textured. :)

Front. 

Back. This one is textured.

Front. Love the colors in this one. I used Sailboat, Stream, Lettuce, Bottle...a few others...

This is the back of the previous one. 

Front.

This is the back of the previous one. 

Love the ones with the dots in them. :) Front.

This is the back of the previous one.  The backs of some of these aren't great...

Front.

This is the back of the previous one. 

This is one I wrapped from the previous batch with the reds and yellows.

This is the back of the previous one.  No resin on this side.

Previous batch again. Front.

This is the back of the previous one. No resin on this one. The matte finish can be interesting, too.

Back to the blues! This one is much smaller.

This one is a bit different from the other ones in the red batch. I used some Kato Liquid Clay over it at first and didn't like it, so I sanded it smooth and used the MG. It gave it a hazy look that I really love. It reminds me of Bryce Canyon.

This is the back of the previous one. 

First one I used the twisted wire with. Had a coupon @ Michaels! :) The bursts of pink look like tiny flowers...love this batch!

This is the back of the previous one. 

The red batch again. 

This is the back of the previous one. I use coarse sandpaper to make the texture on the back.

This one is a little different from the others. It is still the same red Mokume Gane stack, the very end scrap...I flattened it over a previously completed bead and pressed a stamp into it. Then I rubbed some copper powder into the high spots. I really like it.

 Made a couple of swirl beads with some scraps I had laying around (from my next post!) and decided to use some eyelets to run the cord through.

This is the back of the previous one. 

Another swirl bead.

This is the back of the previous one. 

Then I had been thinking about a bead I saw online recently that had a lot of swirls and layers and translucency. I had got a new Fimo clay color called  Blue Ice Quartz and wanted to try to emulate the one I had seen, making a light blue striated "stone" of clay.

Well, I may have wanted a light blue stone but this is what came out of the oven.  I think the Ice clay is a transparent clay and it wasn't quite what I was looking for. I used a variation of the Mokume Gane technique Marilyn uses, without any ink or foil. I just wanted the layers. I am not saying it's ugly, it's just not what I planned on. :) I used transparent, the Ice blue and some white. I have the light pink quartz, too and may not try it with this technique! 

I also got the bright idea to use some of the sheet metal I've been working with (available at Home Depot, 10 5x7" sheets for less than three dollars!). I had been cutting very thin strips of it off and noticed how it curled up. I decided to embed it in the clay to give the plain clay some life. It does make it a little harder to sand the piece after baking, so plan accordingly!

I also used white eyelets to strengthen the holes. I love the polish on this one! Again, I just sanded well at 220, went over it again with some 2500, then buffed. I did find a trick that makes it shine even more though...use a light paste of cornstarch and water. Rub it on the stone and use your Dremel to buff it off....outside, preferably, as it makes a mess! But look at that shine...!

More sheet metal. This one buffed up very nicely, even with the aluminum on top...

I really loved the shine on this one, as well. Maybe not what I was going for but still nice. Can you imagine it in a light blue though? :P I have to say it reminds me of faux ivory, which I love.

The darker area is where the blue Ice was. Hmph. ;)

Last one! I loved the striations in it. Hope you enjoyed the photo show! 

Thanks for looking - make sure to stop by my Pinterest page to see a lot more of my creations, and please like my Facebook page, Karmic Confetti!