New Class...

September?!  I can't believe it's been that long since I posted anything.  Let's just say real life intervened and I'm due for a loooong stretch of boring.

Anyway, I'm teaching a class at Ben Franklin next month.  These ornaments:

I'll post the times when I know what they are....

Aunt Dinah's Triad...

I entered a challenge a couple of years ago (I think it was a couple of years ago--it could have been longer ago than that...or sooner.  *sigh*).  It was a challenge to make a jewelry piece in the orange-purple-green triad.  I used the Aunt Dinah quilt block and made the beads and strung it up into this necklace:

It's funny, but the more you shrink it down and reassemble the pattern, the more it looks like plaid to me. This turned out much better than I thought it would and I love the color combination.  I probably wear this necklace more than any of the others I've made.

Heh.  I did a little research and the challenge was for Beadwork Magazine in 2009.  My memory *shakes head*....

Ping still hasn't found his spaceship...

...do you suppose Flik knows where it might be?

AWOL...

Sorry for my absence.  I've been in the middle of a big commission project that hast to be done in a short period of time.  AND I'm trying to get a bunch of Christmas ornaments done by the end of the month for an upcoming show.  It's taking all my time and (almost non-existent) energy.  I'm going to try to post pictures of some of my past stuff.  Starting with this one (what else--a ring!):

This is one of my favorite canes and, when I first started making rings, I used it to create this one.

Tree variation...

I don't have any suitable green canes for my trees these days.  So I tried a plain one with white accents--looks like a tree in the snow (at least, that's what I was trying for):

Swiping from Pinterest again...

I saw a button ornament on Pinterest and adapted it to polymer clay:

Thank you, Pinterest!

I saw cute paper flowers on Pinterest made with folded paper circles.  I thought it might adapt to polymer clay:

Another snowflake...

I made quite a few of these when I first transitioned from moebius snowflakes to the folded cane snowflakes.  I haven't made many in quite a while.  It might be time for a comeback...

Wreath...

I don't know why I don't make more of these.  They're pretty popular and not too hard to make.  I think it may be because I don't make that many green canes--I usually wait until I'm ready to make trees.  Which are pretty complex.

Anyway, here's today's ornament--a wreath...

(grrr--I just spent an hour and a half trying to figure out how to post a photo from photobucket onto blogger using my tablet computer...I finally gave up and fired up the desktop....)

House on the Hill

I used this ornament to go outside of my normal quilt pattern zone.  Normally, I use cane slices to build my ornaments, but this time I built the quilt pattern and then embellished it a bit.  It was fun!

It turned out a little bigger than I wanted, but it should still be okay.

Mosaic No. 16

According to Jinny Beyer's "The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns," this pattern is known as Mosaic No. 16. 

Mosaic Quilt Ornament

This is a bit of a departure for me.  Normally I make quilt canes, but I decided to make a block using pieces of clay--like a mosaic.  I couldn't stay away from canes totally, though--I used a flower cane for some of the "fabric" pieces.  I think I like it...I have some more ideas in mind.

Yes, another one...

I can't promise this is the last of my flat snowflakes...I just have so many canes:

More snowflakes...

Low on time again...lucky for me I still have a billion canes (slight exaggeration) that make it easy for me to whip up Christmas ornaments:

Another new tree...

I like this one much better:

New tree ornament...

I came up with a new tree ornament:

Needs work, I'm afraid.  It's smaller than I wanted it and doesn't show off the cane very well.  Not to worry, I have a couple of ideas to fix it....

I know, I know...I'm lazy...

Where does the day go?  Anyway, here I am...almost out of time.  So I take the easy way out and make another simple ornament.  I like it, though!

Kris Kringle?

I like making these, but some are more successful than others...

Teardrop Ornament...

Another moebius ornament:

More quilts...

I've had these quilt cane slices laying around for months.  Yesterday's ornament inspired me to get these puppies in the oven.  I'm going to sand the snot out of them before I put the ribbon and beads on them, to give them a soft sheen.

Bear Paw...

These quilt block ornaments are relatively easy to make, but I think they're quite nice.  I make these in two sizes--the larger ones are about three inches square and the smaller ones, like this one, are not quite two inches square:

This one is the bear paw quilt pattern....

Variations...

I have a certain way of doing things.   My flat snowflakes, for example.  To my way of thinking, snowflakes should be white.  So I usually use white and translucent for my canes.  Last year, though, I had a bunch of quilt canes lying around just begging to be used.  And, as I was pressed for time, use them I did.  Today's ornament uses a cane with white, orange, and purple:

Compare with the one I did a few days ago:

Another thing I'm usually particular about is a border on the cane.  It just makes it look more finished and polished.  Here's one I made last year that shows what I mean:

That said, I do like the ones I've made this month.   What do you think?

Handkerchief angel...

Ideas come to me when I least expect it.  Several years ago I was sitting in church, taking notes and doodling.  I remember thinking of handkerchief angels that I saw in a magazine and "poof" the idea popped into my head of adapting that to polymer clay.  I couldn't wait to get home to try it.  And, oh joy, it turned out just as good as I hoped.  I made them with canes (all kinds of canes), but a while back I decided to try it with straight, white clay that was cut with a scalloped cookie cutter.  I pierced the edges to make it look more lacy and fabric-like.  They're a bit more labor intensive, but I like how they turn out:

Yesterday's ornament...

How many of you have children or grandchildren?  Then perhaps you can understand the lateness of my post.  After work yesterday (yes, I had to work), I decided I needed to relax a little.  So I took my grandchildren to the beach.  Along with the dog.  While I had a ton of fun and it was relaxing in its own way, I was pretty wiped when I got home.

I was trying to think of a relatively quick ornament and my daughter suggested I use my moebius heart beads in graduated sizes, using canes I already had on hand.  Good idea!  Well, I got the hearts made, but while they were baking I completely ran out of steam and figured I'd string them up today.  So here 'tis. Ta da:

Now on to making today's ornament....

Heart ornament...

I don't really have many Christmas paper punches, but I used the tree and the deer to make this little scene:

Today's angel...

This is another of my little angels.  It kind of came about by fiddling with my folded angels (from a couple of nights ago).  I wondered how it would look if I didn't flatten the shapes.  There's also a little bell in the bottom.  I like this type quite a lot.

Yesterday's angel...

I did it again...asleep on the couch.  *sigh* So embarrassing....

Anyway, here's the ornament I would have made (well, actually I did make it, I just didn't get it posted):

I used the same cane as the night before....

Angel # 3...

I've been making these for a while, as well.  I like them a lot...

I made two!

Another angel...

I've made these mobeius angels since...oh, 1998 I think.  I quit making them for several years, but they're so cute and popular that I started making them again.

New angel...

I've made a couple types of angels over the years.  This is my newest model.  It's nice because I can use up cane ends from my snowflakes, and they look unique.

UPDATE:  What happened?  I'm positive I posted this last night, but when I got on the computer to post tonight's ornament...it wasn't there.  Grrr.

Ack! I fell asleep on the couch!

And I know better!  Lucky for me, I had a cane already made, so I whipped up this ornament:

I didn't have time to bake it, though.  I'll post a pic tomorrow....

Snowflake #3

My snowflakes typically take 12 or 13 cane slices to complete.  Invariably, I'm left with a sad, little stub of cane.  Now if I'm really lucky, I can squeeze six slices out of the stub and make a smaller, easier version of a snowflake ornament:

It's nice, too, because it's cheaper to make and I can sell them at a lower price for people who are on a budget.

Another snowflake...

Here's another snowflake ornament that I make:

When I went to pick up the snowflake I made yesterday, I happened to pass it in front of the light.  It looked quite cool, so I took a pic:

Then I took a pic of today's ornament in the light:

Christmas in August?

I know Christmas is several months off, but my biggest show is coming up the first weekend in October.  That gives me about two months to build up some inventory.  So I'm going to try to make an ornament a day in the month of August.  Here's the first one:

Snowflakes are my favorite ornament to make.  They're fairly easy and look quite elegant.  And there's always opportunity to try new quilt patterns.  I believe this one is "Double X".  It looks nice, yes?

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about beads...look for something new in September, but enjoy this Christmas preview interlude until then....

July Ring Re-cap...

Here's a group pic--35 rings made in July!  Phew!

Does anyone have a favorite?  My favorite is probably the large purple flower with the blue/white/purple ikat band (upper right hand portion of the pic).  I've made several and I never get tired of them.  The ring I wear the most often from this batch is the small purple flower on the white outer/purple inner band (lower left corner portion of the pic).  All in all, a few misfires, but many more that I like quite a lot. 

Countdown - ring #1

Well, I think it looks better, but I'm not so sure how comfortable it would be to wear...

Compare to yesterday...

Thanks for joining me during this month long exploration of polymer clay rings!

Countdown - Ring #2

Eh.  I was trying for something similar to that twisted bracelet that looks so cool.  Unfortunately, I didn't look at the bracelet or the tutorial, so the ring is something...lacking.  Oh well.

Coundown - ring #3

Yes, yes...another lace ring--I told you I liked them!

Countdown - ring 4...

I like this lacy look.  I had a hard time deciding whether or not to put flowers on it.  I finally decided I'd done enough flowers (at least for now), so just went with the little bow.  It looks quite nice as a thumb ring...

Coundown - ring number 5

Hmm...not quite what I envisioned, but not bad.  It's quite a bit like one of the first rings I ever made, but I was trying for a different look--next time I'll use a different cane...

Countdown: six more rings--6

So, six more days in July.  Here's #6:

Yet another flower...

I can't help it!  I love making flower rings: