Still obsessed...

I made a few more bracelets this weekend:

I made this first one just plain and flat; the band has a couple of colors layered into it.  It's a little rough, since the cane is an old one.  I should have smoothed it out a bit more, but I still like the way it turned out:

The second one is another take on the colorful bracelet I made a bit ago.  I made it narrower, but still used the striped lining:

This third one uses what was left of the cane I used on the Emerald Boa.  I love using my canes to make things, but it makes me sad when it's all gone:

Finally, I made this cane a LONG time ago.  It's from a quilt book (or it could be from a quilt magazine...it's so long ago, I don't really remember).  It took quite a while to make and I didn't want to reduce it to far; I would lose too much detail.  But the size works for one of the bracelet blanks that I had, so I put it together:

I'd like  to say I'm done, but I still have ideas in my head, clamoring to get out.  Maybe I'll take a break from bracelets for a day or two and make something else this week...or not!

Grow Your Blog Post - Emerald Tree Boa...

Welcome, everyone to Catrinket.  My name is Cathy and my cousin used to call me Catrinket for a nickname when I was little.  When I decided to start a blog to show off my crafting, I thought the name was perfect.  I've been working with polymer clay since 1995.  I LOVE it!  And I also love quilts (but sewing, not so much), so I merged it with my clay work and the results are here.

Quilt patterns lend themselves to caning, which is a good thing because I can't get enough of it!  It can be a bit of a problem, though...what do I do with all those canes (I probably have well over a hundred quilt canes right now?  Lucky for me, I've signed up for the year-long PCA Virtual Retreat and I've managed to find new ways to use my quilt canes in the first two lessons!  Yay!  First with Syndee Holt's bracelets, and now with Katie Oskin's animal figures.

I used some of the techniques from Katie Oskin's class to make this Emerald Tree Boa.  I'd been wondering what to do with this quilt cane--I put a border on it too soon and reduced it too far to be very usable.  But it works great for this critter!  Thanks so much for coming!!

A couple more bracelets....

Now that I've made all five bracelets, I've been using up some scrap clay and practicing a few more.  Of the bracelets I've learned to make, I like the rounded, domed shape best (which is why it's mostly what I'm making)....

Polymer Clay Adventure Virtual Retreat - Lesson One, bracelet five...

Finally!  I made the last bracelet in Syndee Holt's class:

It's a bit sloppy.  The lesson used pearl ex powders and I didn't have the powders in the colors I wanted, so I used Lumiere paints instead.  I wasn't as careful as I needed to be, but I still like it.  I think I might try it again later this week.

Polymer Clay Adventure Virtual Retreat - Lesson Two

Katie Oskin's class was to sculpt a little raccoon.  I can't seem to ever follow the rules, so I made a platypus instead.  A purple, polymer platypus:

Yes, another bracelet...

It looks like I'm on a bracelet kick right now.  Perhaps that will change when the next PCA Virtual Retreat lesson comes along.  Anyway, I really like the way this one turned out:

I think I'll sand and buff it....

Practice bracelet...

So I'm exploring a little bit...making more bracelets after Syndee Holt's PCA's Retreat class.  I just grabbed some scrap clay and fiddled around with it a bit.  It's pretty rough, but it gives me an idea of what to do next.

Eh...maybe next time....

I turned once again to Pinterest for inspiration:

Beautiful, isn't it?  Here's my take:

...not so much....

I'd better try again.

Trying out a new ornament...

I know I tried this out with one of my flat folded angels.  I thought maybe it would work with my bell angels.  I like it, but I need to refine it a bit:

Adapting...

I'm always trying to come up with new Christmas ornaments.  Pinterest has been a source of ideas.  Here's one I used for Sunday School.  The girls liked it a lot and made half a dozen each.

I thought maybe I could adapt it to polymer clay.  My first attempt:

Eh...maybe my second try will be better.  And the photo, too!

Polymer Clay Adventure Virtual Retreat - Lesson One, bracelet four

After a couple of misfires, this is what I came up with:

I think it's my favorite so far...I might tweak it a bit, though.

Sometimes it seems like it's always Christmas...

When you make Christmas Ornaments on a regular basis, it's always Christmas.  I'm trying to get a bit of an early start this year:

Polymer Clay Adventure Virtual Retreat, Lesson One - Bracelet 3

Here's my take on bracelet number 3:

My texture sheet didn't quite work right, so I touched it up with a little bit of paint....

Polymer Clay Adventure Virtual Retreat, Lesson One (bracelet 2)

Here's the second of five bracelets from the first lesson of the PCA Virtual retreat:

I'm not overly fond of extruders, but I've got to admit it made a big difference in making this bracelet.

Polymer Clay Adventure Virtual Retreat -- Week One

So I signed up for the Polymer Clay Adventure Virtual Retreat.  Twenty-Four lessons from twenty-two instructors over the year 2015.  First up...Syndee Holt.  An hour and a half lesson on making five bracelets using various techniques.  I gotta say--it was just packed with information.  I always have put my own spin on things, so here's my version of the first bracelet in the lesson: