The Post You've Been Waiting For...(drumroll, please...)

I am still not happy with the back but I can wait no longer! Here is the project I've been working on for a while now...(cue extreme closeup)

Yes, I jumped on the fairy door bandwagon and made one from a tiny journal, ala Mandarin Ducky, whom I adore!  This thing is TEENSY WEENSY....the entire thing is only 3.5" x 4". The door knocker and the tiny angel fairy move freely. I used pieces from watch parts where I could. Part of the delay was trying to find one I liked for the doorknob. I wanted to use a gear from the watch parts but I couldn't attach it so it was sturdy, like this one is.  The part I settled on is a little large but I still like it. It is a Tim Holtz part. I used a Martha Stewart mold for the tiny leaves, but next time I will either make more realistic ones or use beads...

I hope you found my tiny book worth the big buildup! I had a good time trying things out - making the moss, for instance, and the granite clay, which I was rather impressed with. It has tiny sparkles and has a granite like sheen to it after baking. I liked making the pebbles for the walkway and stone work. I have another fairy door in the works, this one will be built on a round glass vase...:)

Thanks for taking a look and make sure to stop by my Pinterest page and like my Facebook page! 

More Engraved Stained Glass Pendants

I DID say the next post would be the topic I've been holding back on, but I am still futzing around with the results, so it will have to wait one more post! I hope you find this one interesting anyway! I started off asking in one of my beading groups how to bezel a square pendant. Being that the stained glass is only one layer, it's a bit thin, which makes it harder to bezel. I would probably do better if I rounded the corners somewhat. I was pointed at a design on Youtube and came up with a netted bezel. Below are pictures of the front and back. The Swarovski crystals are actually on what I consider the back! Don't ask me why, it's just how it came out. :D I just couldn't leave the back plain so I engraved it, as well....

The front is mirrored. I love this glass! Not THAT happy with the beaded bezel, but you can't love everything you make! :D It looks a little crooked in the photos but I promise it is not. It is just how it sits on this thin glass....

 I've also been playing around with the flat aluminum wire bezels again, this time with my engraved stained glass experiments. I found some copper colored wire in my stash, and I love the way it looks next to the glass! I came up with this novel method to wrap the stained glass so there are no sharp edges and no chance of breakage. The wire that holds it in is minimal and yet strong and decorative. It has a clean look and feel to it. At the same time, it is much faster, cleaner, and easier than wire wrapping OR beading. What do you think???

This one is in black bezel wire. Sorry for the picture quality! I think I did better outside...

Another copper colored bezel. Love this color! The glass looks so different in person. This is also the mirrored green.

Just to show you the difference...here is one photographed indoors. 

Same pendant, outdoors! :) Aren't the colors just luscious?? This one is a little large for a pendant, though. I think it might be a Christmas ornament! :D

Last, but not least! Thanks for looking and come back now, y'hear? :D

Tomorrow...the unveiling! 

My mostly finished Rose beads - Love that Magic Glos!

After much hemming and hawing (ok, it's because I have Craft ADD!) I finally got around to digging out my Magic Glos UV resin and using it to give my recalcitrant Souffle beads a beautiful shine! Some people like Souffle's matte finish...not me! I LOVE this product! It is a little finicky to work with and these beads took all day to get to my perfectionist state...and they are not perfect, by any means! But they are as good as I could make them. :)

The biggest issue I have with this is that it does not like to stay to the edges of the bead. I imagine if my bezels were a little more consistent, I would have had better luck the first time I tried to get a nice dome, as it needs an edge to stick to or it gloms up in the center. The best technique I've found is to make a smooth ring around the edge of your bead FIRST...set the resin with your UV lamp (never use the sun as I do most crafting at night), then, go back and fill it in with another layer covering the entire bead. I am so happy with the results though, that it is worth the finicky-ness of this resin! :) It really looks like glass. (I would like to remind you that I am making no money on this blog at the moment and no one has given me anything to promote a certain product. I am just telling you what *I* like.) :)

As you can see in the photos, the result on my beads is wonderful. Would you believe the one in the photo above is actually just scraps I threw together? I love the way it came out. What do you think? Let me know! I can't believe how excited I am about all my projects coming together that I wrote two posts in one day...and am dying to write another to show you my latest creation! I'm so proud of it! :) But...you have to wait, just a bit....Just wanted to share these with those on my FB group who were following my progress with this cane. Thanks for looking! 

Glass Flowers (Updated!)

One of the things that my microwave kiln (MWK) group talks about is using regular glass not meant for fusing in our tiny kilns. Regular glass is rather a mystery because you don't know what the COE is for any glass other than glass specified for using with glass fusing. COE has to do with how fast or slow the glass cools and if you try to mix COEs of differing kinds of glass they will just break, maybe not right away, but eventually. Anyway, one type they have mentioned are the glass holeless flat beads you can buy at the dollar store or in floral departments. There are many different types, large, small, different shapes and thicknesses. I have a ton that I've accumulated from when I was doing mosaics with them, and decided to try them and make flowers in my MWK. I made many of them in one day! Below, is one as I was checking on it in my MWK. Red hot, baybee!

Below is a sampling of all the different ones I made yesterday! The first one I made was the blue ring on the lower left. Then I tried mixing colors by snipping green glass beads in half with my tile nippers and using them for leaves. The funny thing is, the yellow ones below started off as a deep red. It's the only color I tested that did that, so apparently the dye can't take that high heat! The yellow one on the top right is one that started off as red petals and center! The blue one with the yellow (red) center ruptured about five minutes after I took this picture, so apparently those two colors are different COEs! The white/clear one I let go a little too far, same with the blue puddley looking one but I still like them. Most of them have a natural hole in them, so I plan on making another windchime once I get a few more saved up. :)

After a while I started getting tricky, cutting the beads in half and arranging them! It worked out nicely because the shape stayed defined, yet the center melted a bit more than the rest of it since it is thinner, and ends up holding everything together nicely. These green bits have not ruptured off so hopefully they are the same COE and will stay!

Last one. I really like this technique...I just wish I either had a bigger kiln - or a few more of them! Oh! And for anyone who cares, I don't do anything special with the firing schedule of these. Some people who use a MWK use a slower firing schedule, starting at 10% power and working up to higher powers, but I use a microwave/convection oven on high, for around 6.5 minutes. I turn the lid and spin the entire base a quarter turn about every 2 minutes, checking on the contents as I go, and that way I have relatively few hot spots. The only breakage I've had are the ones with mixed color beads. 

(Update!) Tried a white pearlized iridescent...not too sure of the results! I made another red/yellow one and this one got cloudy on one side, as you can see in the photo below...not sure why! And the blue ones show a slightly different technique. I laid the cut nuggets flat for the upper one and used no center. These are smaller and would be suitable for a pendant!

I really like this one. The edges softened just right and made a circle in the center. A suggestion was made in the group to use a baggie to catch the splinters of glass as I cut these glass nuggets...instead of my hand! Lol. Great idea!

I hope you got inspired! Make sure to stop by my Pinterest page and like my Facebook page! 

Cutting glass with Scissors - better than running with them!

This video has been all the talk of our Microwave Kiln Fusing group! And it's super easy to do! I found it easier and faster to do this than use the grinder, and leaves a softer edge than nippers do.

I used this pair of heavy duty nippers that seemed to work better than my old shears. I think having a shorter blade helped. I did try to use regular scissors and they worked fine but this glass was a bit thicker and these worked better on it. You can see the little bits of glass I had after I was done. It is advisable to wear gloves and eye protection before attempting this! "Don't try this at home!" Below you see the pieces I started off with...well, the two on the left were already nipped.

Below are the pieces after I trimmed them with my blades. They are rough, but for fusing, this is fine as they will self round in a lot of cases. I love science! :) The triangle shape above became the oval below. And I used this technique to round the edges of my etched piece of stained glass on the lower left. If you do decide to try it, take tiny cuts, don't think this is like cutting paper! Little nibbles work best. You don't want to crack it or break it in the wrong place! I suggest trying it on some scrap glass, like I did below.

I hope you try this easy technique...! Let me know how it goes if you do! Thanks for visiting and make sure to stop by my Pinterest page and like my Facebook page! 

Stained Glass And Copper Wire Wrapped Pendants

Greetings! I've been playing around with the rotary tool and stained glass (see my previous posts) and decided to try to wire wrap the glass this time. What do you think? Front and back of the palm tree. I like the natural white streak "mountain" hidden in the glass on the middle right side. Reminds me of Hawaii!

Don't ask me why I zig zagged the back. Would have been better if I wrapped it like my next one...the same front and back. Oh well, I still like it!

This one came out a little better. Having the wrap the same front and back gave it a little more stability and of course, symmetry. :) The glass is hard to photograph but it's iridescent, rather purply and pinky. This is the same glass I used in the windchimes I showed here last week. It photographs much better outdoors!

And it's transparent. :) It would actually be a nice Christmas ornament or window decoration. As you can see, I wrapped the back to match the front wires. It almost looks like a reflection in the phototgraph! :D

As always, thanks for looking and come visit again! You never know what I'll be up to next....

Polymer Clay Rose Cane and a Dummy

I've been playing around with rose canes again. My mother's name was Rosemary so I've always had special feelings about this flower. I made the clay couch and covered Altoid tin pictured below years ago and still have both!

There is one rose cane I keep seeing that I love but I am not willing to pay $30 to learn how to make it! Just can't do it these days...or I would! But I found a link recently that is very similar so I decided to give it a try. My results are below. They are unfinished yet, as I haven't glazed them. I did my trick about pressing the back into coarse sandpaper dusted with cornstarch to hide fingerprints on the back. I also used my 1/4" wide flat wire to make bezels for them...baked them right on. If I made them thinner, I could have used the bezel rims to hold resin in for doming. Some are in black wire, others in gold colored. I used several tricks I learned recently to reduce...put end caps on each end (I usually use those acrylic blocks for stamping) and use scrap clay on the ends to reduce waste of your clay cane. I ended using those scraps, too. Never very much waste with PC!

The last project I have to show you is actually several years old. This little clay mannikin has sat mostly covered with clay for at least five years! I never knew how to finish her. I had the bodice and skirt done but the top was unfinished. I decided to use an ivory cane since it is sort of flesh colored, and to use the technique that looks like a knit to finish her top. I don't think that technique even existed when I started working on her! :D All I can say is I am glad I took the photo before baking! She got a large crack right up her front afterwards! Sigh. It's my own fault. I should have finished her sooner! I think the clay sort of dried out. Also, it wasn't nearly thick enough. I should have coated the entire thing in a layer of waste clay before starting to piece her together. I guess I still could...just cover her and start again! 

Thanks for visiting and make sure to stop by my Pinterest page and like my Facebook page! 

Stained glass, engraving and polymer clay

After making the stained glass windchimes the other day, I had several pieces of iridescent blue glass left over. I'm slowly learning to combine the different skillsets I've learned - some are coming as rather "duh" moments....as in, why didn't that occur to me before! For instance, one of my FB groups is a microwave fused glass group and someone mentioned using his ring saw to make an awesome Minion pendant...I have a ring saw AND a grinder and never thought to use them to make shapes for the MWK (microwave kiln)! And another group member mentioned using a Dremel to engrave on glass with no water. I just got a rotary tool and have been wanting to test it out on something and knew it had some diamond bits that came with it, so I decided to give it a try. Do yourself a favor and don't "try" stuff on items you like! I had taken one of those bits of leftover iridescent stained glass and put some polymer clay around it and decided to etch a saying in it after it was baked. let's just say I learned my limitations with a rotary tool! I would never try it without the flex shaft, but it made me too brave! My handwriting isn't that good to begin with because of my arthritis and I ended up screwing up my pendant quite badly. So I tried to fix it by writing my saying in clay and rebaking. I want to antique it to match the frame but I am afraid the lettering will come off so I'm leaving it alone! 

After that little mishap I started playing around some more with the rotary tool and I am pretty happy with the results. I found that using darker glass is better than clear...which really didn't take to this technique too well, although I am still experimenting! I rubbed some paint into the engraving to make it stand out better. Some paints didn't work at all. The one that worked the best was a green metallic paint. I believe the metal flakes in the paint lodged themselves into the engraving. They sparkle in the light, even without the paint. I think there are tiny chips that give it that sparkle. :D

 At this point, I have a choice in how to frame them. I can just use copper tape and solder but I am not sure that that is safe to wear against your skin as a pendant! Maybe as a decoration for your tree, or hanging in a window? I could also grind the edges and then wire wrap them. I made the one below using some metallic green polymer clay and giving it a good antiquing with some brown paint after baking. I pressed the back with some coarse sandpaper with a dusting of cornstarch on it to texture it. I may make others with no back so the light can go through. I really loved this glass - it's sort of mirrored, as you can see the in the left photo. Wish I had more!

Back to experimenting! :)  Thanks for looking! Make sure to stop by my Pinterest page and like my Facebook page! 

Stained Glass Windchimes

Another one of the recent Facebook groups I joined was a stained glass group. I've made a few things in stained glass but I never felt that my soldering was sturdy enough. I saw someone post a project on the group that didn't require any soldering, though, and decided to make my own version!

I got some thick copper wire at Home Depot in the electrical department. I am not sure how long the spool of it was but I have enough to make about four of these, for around $15. I have a stash of stained glass due to lucking into someone selling a huge bin of it at a yard sale once....got the glass and some tools for $25! I used iridescent and clear. 

I have a set of glass drills from Harbor Freight (best place to buy tools and some supplies cheaply!) but didn't want to bother with using them, so I decided to use my grinder's wheel to grind rounded indentations so I could use that to attach them to the wire instead. Much faster! I used this rubbery clear/white hollow tubing I bought for jewelry at Hobby Lobby - it comes in black and white together in the package, but I have never had a use for the white until now! I think they use it for pony beads. 

So I had a lot of that on hand and decided to reinforce it with some fishing line inside it. I cut small pieces of the tubing, ran some fishing line through it, wrapped it around the indentations in the glass and then secured it with some 20 ga copper wire I had from jewelry making. Then I added some beads, and more tubing, and attached it to the wire with some more wire wrapping. The pictures might make that clearer!

I have a large stash of beads...a lot of these were from a package I got from a friend who had purchased them at a yard sale. I am not sure about whether this should be used outdoors, although all of the materials are rather weatherproof I will have to decide whether or not to seal the copper so it doesn't tarnish. Below is a closeup so you can see the variety of beads I used and how I secured the pieces to the wire. I wrapped a package of 20ga around the thick wire and left spaces where I could run the individual danglies I made. It is a pretty simple project, just requiring a glass cutter and the supplies I mentioned. I didn't cut straight lines, it is mostly freeform. I just ground the sharper edges off and left it rather - whimsical, shall we say! You COULD wrap the edges but then the glass wouldn't "chime". It doesn't really make a sound like windchimes are supposed to, though, anyway! More of a tinkle. :D You can vary how it hangs, by making the spiral wider...which would shorten it up some. Or make the circumference smaller and then it would hang lower. I have to take it outside and get some pictures with the sunlight hitting it! 

Update! Here's one in the sun. :) I just love this glass! <3

As always, thanks for looking! Make sure to stop by my Pinterest page and like my Facebook page! 

Sunface and Polymer Lanterns

Well, first I'll show you another Sunface I've been playing around with - building on the idea of using that flat aluminium wire as a bezel for my PC pendants. Decided to try to make them the sun rays. I was told that these are a little too large for actual necklaces...maybe they should be fan pulls...you know, for the light pull. :)

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The reason I started this post was that there is a sale going on @ Joanne's right now, they have PC for 50% off. I went and stocked up on the new Souffle clays because I am so tired of brittle, breaking clay, as in the statue below. This statue is why I got away from PC a few years ago. After spending so much time on her, her hand broke off. For no reason. Along with most of the petals on her flower home. And yet, her hair, which is very long in the back and extremely thin, as you can see from her awful bangs, did not break off. I know that I could repair her but she wasn't that great to begin with and I simply got frustrated. Especially since she is so ugggggly. :) What do you want for a first attempt? lol. I put her aside, and put clay aside, other than making faux finish jewelry, which doesn't have such delicate areas, usually, if I make a pendant.

But then, there is this, below. I made a translucent/white clay outline flower cane and used it to cover this vase, VERY thinly. I want to say it is mostly 1/16"! I was pretty happy with it, as it was quite even although i just mushed cane slices on, not making them into a sheet. BUT - it is about the same age as my fairy, and did not crack but a tiny bit on the bottom, which is different clay...So your choice of clay is very important! I am surprised at how durable this one has been. I wish I knew what brand I used to make it! OR the breakable fairy! I assume Sculpey III....or even the original crap because I didn't know any better....

Here is the same vase, lit with an LED light from the dollar store! (Gotta love that place, I get so many supplies from there! Parchment paper, turkey roasting bags, aluminium wire, LED lights, makeup for iridescent powders, soft makeup brushes for powders, acrylic blocks to use when reducing canes...the list goes on! Heck, I got the glass vase from there, too...) It looks so much nicer though when it is lit up. It really highlights the opaqueness of the white and how the translucent lets the light through. I really love this vase, this post is making me want to make another one! I have a matching vase with no clay on it, just staring at me...:)

And one more time, another vase covered in clay canes. As you can see, this one isn't as even...the dark spots give me away! I believe this was my first one...glad it didn't make me stop trying the technique! It looks pretty good at night, lit up though...:) During the day, not so much! Lol! But once again, this is a very thin PC coating and NO cracks.

After reading the Bottle Tree post, I thought I'd give the Souffle a try for my newest attempt at a different technique...clay embroidery, I believe it's called. I will post pictures when I get something I'm happy with! And since she said it's so soft, I may try using it for brush embroidery on clay, as well, as I've done a few times with both clay and slick fabric paint...

And one last thing...I've been admiring the work of Kathrin Neumaier for quite some time! She does amazing things with transparent Pardo and liquid Fimo that look like real glass! Amazing stuff. I have some Pardo trans and found out on my PC Facebook group that that brand gets old and hard to work with, rapidly. So I started playing with it and was quite frustrated to find it had a lot of air in it once I was done with my test beads. I think the trick is to roll it as thin as possible. Here are my attempts....the one on the left is very VERY thin....the other is about a 16th of an inch and you can see how plaque filled it is! Still kind of cool looking and VERY sturdy. And flexible. I am impressed with this clay. I hear it isn't available in the US right now though, so I will be trying to overcome my hoarding tendencies and USE the stuff! :D 

That's it for now. Thanks for looking! Make sure to stop by my Pinterest page and like my Facebook page!