Ten on Tuesday: Ten Photos of Mica Powder on Clay

Mica powder is great to use with clay! As you can see from this previous list of ten, there are numerous ways to incorporate this marvelous product into your work. All you need is an idea and the willingness to experiment. How about a little "clays meets mica powder" eye candy to add a little shimmering inspiration to this Tuesday?

Ten on Tuesday: Ten Photos of Mica Powder on Clay

1. Mica Garden, by Julie Picarello

2. Single Parents 001, by Elizabeth Bonura

3. Carnival Glass Look-a-Llike, by Ruby Shoes Sam (Sandra Miller)

4. Blue Glasses Silver Vines, by MaevinWren (Morgan)

5. WISH-ornament, by tejaesart (Tejae Floyde)

6. Flower Earrings, by beadworx (Bettina Welker)

7. Mistress Maggie's Metal Garden, by dcdesigns (Denise C.)

8. The Critters, by nancymesaaz (NancyMicheloni)

9. Enchanted Tree Pendant, by chickiegirlcreations (Janet)

10. Lumière sur des Effets de Lumière, from Parole de Pâte
(I'm not sure which individual person made the ones in the photo at the top-- Françoise, perhaps? but the photo further down the page is from Tewee. If you go to her blog, you'll find still more pictures of pretty combinations of mica powder and clay.)

You may have noticed that the mica powder was on the surface on all of those objects-- or on the "surface" under a protective clear coating of some sort. Don't forget about all the other ways to use mica powder-- mokume gane, inclusion, etc.

Happy creating, everyone! :o)

Three Little Tidbits

It's about time for a non-"Tuesday Ten List" post, I'd say. (g)

Of course, this will be nearly as choppy as a list. . . What can I say? That's how I think. I'm a list-maker.

Tidbit #1:
I found this photo a while ago, via a polymer clay collaborative journal that's written in Cyrillic alphabet. I think it's Russian (since the creator of the jewelry in the photo lives in Moscow), but I'm not 100% sure. I'm not a language expert; I just like to look at pretty pictures. ;o)

I'm not usually extremely taken with animal print fabric and accessories, but I love these. I think it's the mica clay that sets them apart, but they also just look very well put together, from the polymer clay components to the final products.

This jewelry is the work of Xanka, who has a whole photo album devoted to polymer clay jewelry. The most recent work is on the last page. A few photos back from the "gepard" (cheetah) set, there are some lovely pearl "wedding roses". And if you love strawberries, you have to check out this photo (and this one) of a fun strawberry-themed necklace.

Tidbit #2:
I remember reading somewhere that books featuring glass art beads could be a wonderful source of inspiration for polymer clay bead makers. For those of us who demand instant gratification (or simply don't want to buy or take the trouble to borrow a book), there are plenty of photos online. One of my favorite sites for ogling glass beads is BeadArtists.org. There are a few polymer clay bead artists here, but they are few and far between. Everywhere I look on this site, there are incredible glass beads. Here are a few-- um, several of my favorite galleries: Anastasia, Ayako Hattori, Sarah Mader, Mr. Smiley, The Glass Turtle, Akihiro Ohkama, Ashton Jewels, and many more!

Tidbit #3:
While looking up some info about liquid clay, the other day, I came across this page: http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/clay/SCULPEY_TLS.htm
It contains some very helpful hints about ways to use TLS (and other liquid clays, since they are similar in many ways). Some of it I already knew, some of it I'd read before but forgotten. Useful for people new to liquid clay. Quite a bit of information in a short space.

Maybe, someday, possibly...

Maybe, someday, possibly-- I might eventually try PMC. (PMC = precious metal clay, "regular" polymer clay's costlier cousin, which you can read more about here, here and here, among other places.)

The main thing keeping me from considering it at the present is cost. The PMC itself isn't exactly cheap-- Really, what else would you expect from a material that contains and turns into silver or gold?! (g)-- and I'd have to buy some new tools (including either a kiln or a torch, probably). I'd also have to do a whole lot more research, because I don't know much about the firing process, etc. So, I doubt PMC is in my immediate future, but maybe someday I'll work up the courage and enthusiasm-- and save up enough proceeds from the sales of "regular clay" items so that I won't feel so guilty about the cost. ;o)

If I were to work with PMC, this is the type of thing I'd like to make: Beadfuddled. (I saw the link on Heather Powers' blog.) So many of these gorgeous pieces make me think of the ocean. Some of them give the illusion of bits of jewelry or coinage scavenged from distant shipwrecks. Others have a more organic appearance-- almost as though they are combined with pieces of sea creatures. (Some of these are obviously mixed-media pieces.) I can almost smell the salt air and feel the thunder of the surf!

Well, even if I'm not presently set up to work with PMC, I can still take inspiration from Kelly Russell's sense of style and incorporate similar motifs into my polymer clay work. Those colors, for instance! Softened brassy gold combined with champagne gold... tinged with purple-- blue-- green, and copper... A good dose of sea green... And don't forget a dash of sunset (oranges and purples) and the soft pastels of seashells... So many of even these metallic colorss can be simulated in regular clay, with the aid of mica clay and mica powders. And of course as far as shapes go, polymer clay can do anything PMC can do. It's only a matter of giving it a try! :o)