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:

More quilts, more canes...

So I did a boatload of Snail's Trail quilt pattern canes a while back.  I experimented with color and pattern.  I made two different canes using mostly the same colors and a "fabric" pattern:

The problem with using a "fabric" pattern in a quilt cane is that it can get "muddy" when it's reduced .  I think that's what happened with the top cane.  The bottom one looks less so because the "fabric" is surrounded by white.  It acts as an insulator and is more distinct rather than muddy.

At least...that's my best guess....

Appropriate cane for an ornament...

When I can, I like to make canes that are appropriate to the ornament I make from them.  In this case, I used the "Pine Tree" quilt pattern for the cane for this Christmas tree ornament.  I even put in the brown tree trunk...it's pretty tiny, but can still be seen:

It stands about 4 inches tall and I think it turned out pretty well....

Collaboration....

Clay Days are always fun.  At the last one, I was making those folded angel ornaments I blogged about a couple of days ago.  I cut off the end of the cane, which was a little ragged.  Still, I didn't want to just toss it.  So I made an angel, but I was whining about the hair.  I both love and hate doing hair on my angels.  When it works well, I feel such a sense of accomplishment.  But a lot of the time it's a real chore coming up with a unique hair style (I just can't do them all the same...I just can't), and it can often turn out looking pretty lame.  Hence the whining.

Maria took pity on me and took over the hair styling duties.  Oh my word!  It's fabulous!

Thanks, Maria!