SO USEFUL!

I am an avid knitter and I also love to crotchet. I prefer knitting for most garments but crochet for summer lightweight lacy tops and baby blankets.
As a very personal preference I rarely fasten up cardigans so don't usually bother to knit buttonholes and as buttons are often so expensive I wouldn't use them for just decoration.
Sometimes though a garment really needs buttons to finish it off, some button bands demand the weight of buttons!
This was just the case with a cardigan I have recently finished.
It is a very light yarn with a stunning range of colours in the twisted and slubbed weave. There is also a gold thread that shows occasionally.

It is called Sirdar Divine which is a good name for it!
I chose the mainly purple mix with an umber orange twist. The result looks quite chunky  but it is a double knit weight so actually light.

I like the  curved band and the fold back collar.
There was no way to find a button to match the colour so I decided to make my own from polymer clay.
This is the first time I have used polymer clay to make buttons. I am new to this medium but I do have a mould from my jewel enamel.
It was a very simple procedure to use the mould, just pushing the clay in and gently removing before adding holes then baking.

 I am really pleased with the results and will definitely do this again!

A New Adventure in Jewellery Making

I have often looked enviously at the wonderful pieces produced by polymer clay artists. I am not very good at making things with my bare hands - putting or pouring into a mould works well for me but shaping even a basic bead which ought to be simple just doesn't happen for me.
However a few months ago I saw Debbie Bulford demonstrate mixing jewel enamel powder into translucent polymer clay on Jewellery Maker TV and so loved the results that I bought some clay and had a go.

I have documented my efforts on this blog....they were relatively successful but not awesome, indeed I still haven't made up any actual jewellery with the resulting donuts.
I had bought a few basic polymer clay tools and then got the opportunity to acquire some more as part of a box of supplies for mixed media work.
So today I have made my first foray into the world that is polymer clay.

I used some deep blue and white and conditioned it well. This was easier than last time and I quickly had workable clay.
I wanted to try a simple cane to make some beads with a Delph blue pottery look. I made a sausage of white and covered it with the blue and then made a sort of geometric attempt rather than just circles. I covered some leftover bits to make beads. They came out a bit bigger than I expected so I only made three. I used the rest to make a sort of marble effect and finally used the very last bits all mixed together which created a pale blue.

I have a special polymer clay bead baking tray so I pushed pins through the beads and baked them.
I had no real idea what to expect when I opened the oven...they didn't look any different! But once cool it was obvious that they were quite hard.
Although they looked fine in a matte finish I decided to glaze them which actually brought put a nice quality in the pale blue beads.

I have simply strung them onto beading thread to see what they might look like at the neckline.

Now I have to see if they will make something!!

Definately Different Donuts!

A while ago I watched Debbie Bulford, guest designer for Jewellery Maker TV, use jewel enamel to add subtle colour to polymer clay.
I am not a user of polymer clay but I thought the technique definitely deserved trying out so I bought some translucent clay to have a go.

The clay has to be conditioned which means working it until it become really pliable and smooth. This took quite a bit longer than I was expecting but after a  little bit of work I had a thin smooth piece.
Then I sprinkled some jewel enamel onto the surface and worked it in adding extra in small amounts until I had a pale even colour. It was a bit like trying to work sugar into dense pastry, bits kept falling out but I presevered and eventually had an even coloured piece.
I started with a turquoise mix using aquamarine and apatite jewel enamel

once the jewel enamel granules were worked right through the polymer clay I divided it up and made small balls which I flattened and then using a straw cut a hole in the middle to create a donut

I then made some deep blue using Lapis Blue jewel enamel

and finally I made a subtle green using Apatite

I put all the donuts on a piece of baking paper and popped them into the oven at 120C for 15 minutes

At the end of this time I saw that the jewel enamel had not actually melted so I turned the oven up to 140C and returned the clay for another 5 minutes but watched carefully - I didn't want to burn the clay.

This time the jewel enamel had melted and the colour of the clay had darkened considerably.

The clay had a matte finish and looked a little like sea glass. However I decided to let it cool and apply a glaze which really brought out the colours

I have some suede cord and silver tribal spacer beads so I think I will make a necklace. Watch this space for the finished piece!!