A Busy Morning

I made lots of heart pendants today. My stock is so low that I was getting a little embarrassed hanging the few that I had on my display last Saturday. It look very sad!

So today I made some Mica Shift Hearts with a triple layer. They look quite cool I think! I tried the new Peacock Pearl by Premo, but was very disappointed with the chatoyancy effect. Not enough Mica in the mix. I do love the colour though. So I had to add lots of Pearl to get a better effect.



















This chocolate brown mix turned out brilliantly - it was even easy to photograph!



















Next I made a couple of swirls - again I am seriously low on stock, but they are not my favourite thing to made, so I keep putting them off, you can see that I only managed a few before I moved on to making some Bakewell Butterfly Beads - they are the ones that look like feathered icing that you get on Bakewell Tarts (here in the UK) or a little like the patterns on butterfly wings.

So now I need to do loads of sanding with my micro mesh and then buff them up ready to be assembled tomorrow. Hopefully I can gets some photos up then for you to see.

Hope you are having a productive day too.

Pippa

Bead Table Wednesday

I have been looking for a long time at the wonderful array of beads in the Bead Table Wednesday Flickr group and have decided to join in the fun.

Basically every Wednesday, we share a photo of what is on our bead table. Fun right? Lots of lovely beads to admire, covet and generally drool over!! So here is my first offering:

A mass of leaves all ready to be made into my signature bookmarks, some little raspberry coloured berry beads and some Drum Beads, inspired by the Wonderful Klew (aka Karen Lewis). I have been having some fun this week! Need to finish buffing some of them and then get them made up into items of gorgeousness!!

Hope you are having fun with your bead table today - do tell, leave me a comment and I would love to pop by and have a look at what you are up to today!

Pippa x

Where To Start...?

It has been a full on two weeks since my last post. So much has happened that I am not sure where to start! So...just to be contrary - I'll start with now and work my way backwards!

I am taking Christine Dumont's online class "Hollow Beads" and I am having a Ball!!! We started on Saturday, and of course I was working at the Craft Fair, so had to wait impatiently until Sunday morning to start!

Making my first Hollow Bead (the middle Green and Gold one of the necklace) reminded me exactly why I fell in love with Polymer Clay in the first place. I have not had such a feeling of sheer joy (mixed in with utter surprise) that something that I made turned out so beautifully. I can blow the trumpet for this bead, because although I made it, it was Christine's vision, talent and wonderful teaching skills that helped me produce it. I could not have done it without her. I am just so happy to have produced it.

It is made with Kato clay, which for me, is a thing that I thought I would never happen. I tried Kato awhile back, but found the conditioning so difficult that I almost immediately gave up with it and stuck to my favourite, tried and tested, Premo. I think I have been converted! The new Kato formula is easier to condition which is good, but for the best results it needs to be leached to make it really firm which in turn makes it better to work with. I have rolls of clay in various stages of being leached in kitchen towel all over my work desk and window sills and any other available surface I can find!

I am fast becoming addicted to the Hollow Bead technique and all the possibilities it holds and am very excited to be a part of such a fantastic workshop. I have met lots of new polymer artists and a few old friends. There is a great atmosphere of sharing and encouragement and help - all online! What an amazing experience!

The conversion to Kato clay started started however on the brilliant Polymer Pamper Play weekend, in Portland, which I was lucky enough to attend. We had two fantastic teachers, Carol Blackburn and of course Christine who this time was teaching her amazing Butterfly Beads.

This was the first workshop I have attended and it was with some trepidation that I made my way to the reception area to meet with the other delegates. I need not have worried. I met some lovely people, some that I had "met" online before, particularly the lovely Cara http://surfingcatclay.blogspot.com/, please have a look at her blog - she does the most beautiful work! Some completely new to polymer, who then amazed and astounded me with their sheer talent and ability to take a technique and run with it to a new and unthought of place that was all their own. And obviously a large number of complete polymer addicts like me whose idea of heaven was to clay from 6.30 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. with just a couple of breaks for lunch and dinner (and even then we talked polymer!) One of the best moments for me was being able to look at and hold both Carol's and Christine's creations. I was blown away by Carol's work. Her finish is something to behold and to feel. The attention to detail was astounding. It was a huge inspiration for me. A level to reach for.

On the second day I was lucky enough to see not only Christine's amazing Butterfly Beads, but also her incredible Hollow Beads in person . Words cannot describe how they made me feel. Wonderful works of art. Tactile, Beautiful, they literally took my breath away.

A big thank you to Rebecca and Debbie for organising a wonderful event

Thank you so much - I had a really good time and came home inspired and not a little exhausted!! If you would like to see pictures please have a look here http://www.polymerpamperplay.co.uk/gallery.html. I can really recommend it. Rebecca and Debbie are already planning the 2nd event for next year! Can't wait!!

Excitement! (And a little bit of Polymer Pampering to look forward to!)

It has been a week of high excitement here in our house. Firstly it was Katie's Birthday.



I can hardly believe that she is now 15. I was busy planning a surprise birthday party and inviting her best friends around, all without her knowing. If any of you have children of this age then you will know just how difficult it is to do anything secretively! Luckily she didn't suspect a thing and the surprise was lovely - her face was a picture when her 3 friends arrived!

Lots of cupcakes, balloons, decorations and sparklers! They had a lovely time.

What remained of the week was devoted to making some more buttons. I am pleased with the buttons, I took the ones I made last week to the craft fair and got some great comments on them as well as selling some, so I am really pleased they were so well received. I will slowly build up the stock and see how we go. They are a great way of making use of the end of canes from different projects and I prefer to make buttons with these cane ends, rather than store them away, telling myself that I will use them in another project and then they sit there for months (or years in some cases) and become too hard to use or just never used at all. Doesn't half free up some much needed storage space on my tiny desk as well!


I did make one piece of jewellery this week! One of my signature Leaf Pod Lariats, this one in lovely shades of teal and spring green. Such a lovely colour and just right for making me feel that warmer days are just around the corner! Although it has been so cold here this week that I am beginning to feel like Winter is going to go on forever!


I seem to be making very little at the moment. Days are going by with me only making one or two things (sometimes nothing at all). I seem to be a little in limbo and not using my time effectively. My muse is lurking somewhere and I think I know why!

A week today I will be attending the Polymer Pamper Play Weekend http://www.polymerpamperplay.co.uk/, in Portland and I am getting just a little excited (OK - quite a lot excited actually!). This will be the first time I have attended a Polymer Clay Workshop and the thought of spending time with other polymer clay artists is just amazing. The Internet is a wonderful thing, and has taught me so much about working with this incredible medium, but it is not the same thing as actually learning from two world class tutors! I am hoping to learn so much on this weekend, but most of all I am looking forward to meeting and being with and sharing with other polymer clay enthusiasts. If you are going to be there, then I cannot wait to meet you!

Hopefully, after that, my muse will be bursting with ideas and won't leave my side for the next year or two!

I hope you all have a great weekend.

New Work

Just wanted to share with you my new range of work.

Tags and Buttons.

The tags were inspired by thinking about Katie's Birthday which is coming up next week.

I was wishing that I could find a really nice tag for her present, that she could keep as a memento. I had the lightbulb moment and have been working on and off on these all week. Of course, it is half term here in the UK, so not as much working on as I would like!

The buttons are just a natural progression - I make buttons to order, but have never done a range of them before. I have made 7 different types this week, but have only been able to photograph 1 set so far. I will try and post pictures on Flickr next week.

I will be taking then to the Cotswold Craft Fair tomorrow and I wonder how they will do. I am thinking of listing them Etsy as well.

If you have a minute, I would love your feedback on them.

Have a great weekend!

Oh My! I'm on Polymer Clay Daily!

My "Rome I" Necklace has been featured on Polymer Clay Daily! http://polymerclaydaily.com/

I am beside myself with joy and have still yet to come back down to earth from that very high cloud I have been floating around on since I saw the feature yesterday.

For those of you who are new to PCD, it is a wonderful site by Cynthia Tinapple. Everyday she features work by Polymer Clay Artists from all over the world. There is always something new, innovative, groundbreaking, or simply just breathtaking and beautiful to look at. It is probably the best Polymer Clay Site in the World, in my opinion. I have been following it for about 4 years now. It gets better and better each year and is my daily fix for inspiration and polymer eye candy.

When I first started visiting I used to wonder how I would feel if a piece of my work ever got featured - and now I know! I feel very honoured and simply over the moon!

Thank you so much Cynthia for showing my necklace. It has been the highlight of my year (and probably of last year too!).

Thanks to all of you who have left such lovely comments to congratulate me - it means the world to me!

I need to say a big thank you to Deb for getting the screenshot for me. Deb is a fellow member of PCAGOE (Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy) and is a wonderful Artist, person and friend. Her shop is called Renaissance Gal of San Antonio, visit it here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/rengalsa. She is a blogging master and tirelessly blogs about the PCAGOE members and their work, as well as occasionally about her own exceptional work! Here is the link for her blog if you would like a look - I do recommend it: http://rengalsa.blogspot.com/Now I need to channel all this positive energy into something made of Polymer!

New Display for Cirencester Craftsmans Market

Just thought I would share what my new set up for my craft fairs looks like.

My friend and fellow crafter David made the wonderful shelf unit for me, or as we have to call it "A Display Module"!! This has given the whole display lots more height, which is great for customers, much more comfortable for them to view the jewellery. It has also created some extra space, which is always welcome!

My new Jewellery Busts have arrived and I think they look just brilliant. Made from recycled paper they add a touch of something to the whole look of the table. I think it looks a lot more professional now.

It has been nice to be able to have a bit of a revamp for spring. Now I just need to spring clean the house!

Ups and Downs - seriously picture heavy!!

Life has been full of ups and downs recently.



I have been very busy with caring for my wonderful Mum, and have had to squeeze about 30 hours of work into a 24 hour day. I am sure you all know that feeling!

But despite the stress and worry of looking after someone I love very much, I have had to work as well. Weekly Craft Fairs are a wonderful outlet and brilliant time to connect with other crafters when you work from home and feel a bit isolated, but I have to say I have been finding it really hard to cope with making enough stock these last 3 weeks. On the other hand - it keeps me grounded and stops me from moping and worrying too much. It makes me work - and I can eventually loose myself in the work and just be.

Happy times also inbetween everything else. My beautiful and wonderful daughter has just turned 14!

Frogs are her "thing" of the moment - so I made 24 Frog Cupcakes for her birthday tea!


We also had a wonderful day out with her best friend and my best friend and went for a girlie day out to London and visited Harrods where the girls got their ears pierced (after nagging us Mums for the past 7 years!).

Life is good - and worrying - and stressful, but I am so lucky to have my wonderful family and my wonderful life, for all its ups and downs.

So anyway - here is what I have been working on.

The picture at the top is a swirled lentil bead necklace with leaf caps. A "happy mistake" was made with the leaf caps - I didn't realise when I placed them that they would all line up perfectly like flowers,but will be making sure I do it again!





This is something I am really pleased with - hundreds of leaves all made into components that interlock. The inspiration came from a little cliosonne articulated fish that my daughter has. Loved making it so much I made a bracelet and earrings to match!



Here are the rest of the things - lots more phot0s but not too much of me whittering on!!

Enjoy!

Fish Focal Beads - Update!

Swimming Fish Focal Bead
Originally uploaded by Pips Jewellery Creation

Just to let all of you who have asked me, that the Fish Series Focal Beads are now up in my Etsy Shop.

I have added a link to my shop, over on the left hand side, here on the blog, so if you want, you can just click on any of the pictures and it will take you straight there to have a browse.

I will be putting up the listing for the Flower focals and the Tree Focals later today and tomorrow!

Thank you all for your interest and comments on these beads - it means so much to me to get your feedback - and I love comments!

Hope you all have a great week.

Flower Series Focal Beads

I am pleased to present my new Flower Series Focal Beads.

I have had such fun designing and making these. Using the wonderful Donna Kato's Composition Technique I have developed this entirely new series of beads.

Each bead is hand shaped with a variety of skinner-blend backgrounds and then covered on all sides with tendrils, leaves and blossoms. Each one is completely individual and no two are alike.

I have not made a series of beads before and am very excited by them. The ideas for more series are swimming around in my head, and the next series will be fish!

I have a few more colour-ways for the flower beads still to create and I hope that when they are all ready they will be well received at my weekly craft fair at Cirencester. I am still undecided as to whether to put them up for sale in my Etsy Shop or not. I am being asked more and more at Cirencester if I will make some beads for sale and decided that now was the time to do so. Beading and Jewellery making has become increasingly popular here in the UK over the past two years, and unusual handmade beads are always in demand. I would love my beads to become part of someone's design, or maybe to inspire a design because of the theme of my bead - that would be fantastic.

I hope you like them as much as I do.

Compact and Bijoux!

Do you remember the old chestnut that Estate Agents would roll out in the 80's and 90's? "This lovely studio apartment....all mod. cons..... central location......compact and bijoux!" It would turn out to be a slightly over sized airing cupboard in central London that would cost almost as much monthly as a mortgage on a 5 bedroom property in the Cotswolds! (Lovely, leafy, desirable area in Gloucestershire, in the West of England for all international readers!).


Now the phrase is never used in that context, well not in the Estate Agent's particulars that I read anyway, but is popping up all over the place in connection with beads. In Bath, there is a lovely shop called Bijoux Beads, and I see the word in connection with beads all over the Internet. Of course it is a French word meaning small, compact, neat or little (if my French is incorrect here, please someone correct me!). It fits well in front on the word "bead".



It also fits well as a description of my working area!



A fellow member of the Craftsman's Market in Cirencester, recently saw a photo of my so called "studio area" and was astounded that I could get anything done in so small a space! "How on earth do you manage?" he asked.




Well, it is a matter of having to! I feel very lucky to have a dedicated area to work on - it used to be the dining room table! - at least I don't have to clear away half way through a project so that the children can have their tea! Ahhh happy memories (not!).

It maybe small, it may be bijoux, but to me it is a little slice of heaven, where I feel totally comfortable and have everything around me that I need!

Mind you, that is not to say that I would not like a studio down the garden! The plans for that are just awaiting the lottery win!!

Coral Grove

Coral Grove
Originally uploaded by Pips Jewellery Creation

I have had quite a few comments on this new style of bangle, when I posted the picture of it first on Flickr.

I did not plan this style at all, it was just one of those "Oh I'll try doing this" sort of moments. The Bullseye Cane had been made for a different project and was just sitting there on my desk and I suddenly thought it would look good on the bangle.

I love textural pieces. Jewellery that not only looks good, but also feels good is a winner in my book!

It reminded me of coral, but the most interesting comment I had was that it looked like "octopus tentacles!" I know exactly what she means!

Wondergirl!

I am beside myself with pride!

My beautiful, wonderful, talented and lovely daughter Katie, has won the first "Holt's Got Talent" competition!

We are so amazingly proud of her!

Singing on Stage

We live in a small village, not far from Bath in Wiltshire. It has an amazing community spirit and there is always lots going on. We have many clubs and organisations and a very thriving and brilliant Amateur Dramatic Society. They decided to hold a competition along the lines of "Britian's Got Talent" and they had the auditions last week. Katie got through, along with 14 other acts, ranging from pianists, dancers, bands through to singers, with ages ranging from 10 years old right through to OAP's.

Katie decided to sing "Colours of the Wind" from Disney's Pocahontas. She sang totally unaccompanied! She is only 13 years old, but she showed a maturity far beyond her years on the stage.

I have to say, that as her voice rang out over the audience, I got covered in goosebumps and experienced one of the happiest and proudest moments of my life.


Receiving her prize, a beautiful bowl, a certificate and £50.00 prize money.


With the Judges

Well done Katie - our own Wondergirl, because you are wonderful and I wonder how on earth I could have produced such an amazing person!

We love you so very much!

What a Find!

Marble
Originally uploaded by Pips Jewellery Creation

I am a Polymer Clay Artist. I work with polymer clay and occasionally Art Clay Silver, and I am quite nifty with wire if I put my mind to it, but I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a metalsmith. So, much though I would like to make my own settings for my polymer, the reality is that I can't, not yet anyway!

Trying to find a really great setting to show off my creations is a constant search. I have lost count of the hours I have spent trawling the web in search of good settings/blanks/bezels. Most of them have had to come from Canada or the US.

So to find a really great UK company that have just about every setting I could wish for (over 215 products listed!!), was like a dream come true! Add to the equation, a really lovely lady behind the company, who cannot do enough for you and really goes the extra mile in customer service, then you know you have hit the Jackpot!!

The company is http://www.dichro-findings.co.uk/ and I cannot recommend them highly enough. Beautiful products, fantastic service, speedy postings and the human touch as well.

What more could anyone ask for!

Looking Up!

Cityscape
Originally uploaded by Pips Jewellery Creation

When I was little, about 8 or 9, I remember there being a craze at school for Erasers. Everyone tried to get different colours and styles and to show them to their best friends and swap them and collect them.

My favourite one (and does anyone else remember these?) were the sort that had a type of building brick around them. As you used the eraser and it wore down, you would remove the brick at the top and restack it on the bottom, revealing more clean new eraser at the top. The bricks were all different colours and I think there were about 10 of them.

This new bracelet of mine reminds me exactly of those, and also of a City Sky Line full of Skyscrapers.

Isn't it strange the places and memories that inspiration comes from?