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Tuesday 31 March 2015

Plans for the month of April & Announcement

Hi !

I am done with the 13th week challenge , as soon as the FB album is up , the pictures will be in !What this means is almost a full free week for me :)
Another thing on my mind is that March is almost over ,and it is  time for my new monthly challenge.
I have half a mind to continue with the jungle theme , but I am not doing that.Now jungle ideas come by easily and I feel that means that the challenge is a challenge no more.

What I really want to give a try is animal figures , people figures and caricatures. A bit of sculpting.But this years theme is wearable art , and that is what I shall do.

In regards to the store front , I was asked why I do not have more sets , as in necklace ,earrings , bangle/bracelets combo.I have been advised multiple times to stock up sets in the store.So this is my challenge for April , since I am not a person who wears sets.

April Challenge Announcement :
One set each for every week , comprising of 1. Pendant/ necklace
                                                                        2. Danglers / studs
                                                                        3.Bracelet or cuffs


What is this means is that I have to make bigger /longer canes and replicate designs. Two things that I am no good at.
Ofcourse this means that I have to get some new clay as well :)

Thanks for reading ,

Have a good day!







Friday 27 March 2015

In the garden : Week 12 #2015PCChallenge

Hi !

Its week three of the jungle challenge and I realized one thing , that  I love my jungle leaf cane. I am almost finished with it though , hope I can make another one just as awesome :)

The plan for this week has kind of turned towards home , towards the garden in our Kochi house. Kochi , like much of Kerala is a humid place , which makes it  very green. I never quite realized what an incredibly green state I lived till I moved onto college. Kerala has a lushness that Ihave never seen anywhere else. Green is certainly the predominant natural color,the various shades of green that pop up during the year are uncountable.

We haven't lived in the Kochi house for years , but I still remember the garden and my parents' constant struggle to keep it weed free. It could have been a house build in the rain-forests , ok probably not, but there was a small pond right next to us, and beside it grew huge towering bamboos , tall cotton trees ( teeming with little orange warrior insects) , wild cashew, wild almonds ,cassava plants and  yam plants with giant leaves.This bounty also meant , varieties of birds and snakes (hanging very picturesquely from the branches of some tree)  came to visit, and mongooses too.It was a tiny spot , but I could have spent the whole day studying it and the designs and patterns it presented to me,
This tendency meant we had a lot of Anthuriums and orchids growing aplenty in our garden. Roses never took too well.

This pendant was meant to be  jungly one , but somewhere along the way it went home :)


That was my primary piece , and here is my companion piece. This is an attempt to make Jhumkas.
Lots to fix in that prototype , but I am happy my idea worked out , so presenting it as my companion piece.


Thanks for reading ! Have a good day !

What an exhausting week !

Hi !

I cannot believe its already Friday ! I have no clue where the time went.Absolutely none what so ever.
This has been such a busy week , full of decisions to make.

As some of you know , I recently worked up the guts to try and make a living out of what I love to do.I have started selling my jewelry! Yaay!
I have been prompted to sell by my family and good friends for a good while now.While this seems like the logical step to have taken , this was nevertheless a very huge leap for me.I am not exactly a person who shows you what they make.I make stuff and I gift stuff and very few people know about it.
I am one those people who dip their feet into everything , but nothing felt right for the longest time.A lot of things changed when I started playing with polymer clay.For the first time in my life I did not get bored with a medium. I have been aware of polymer clay since 2007 , when I accidentally discovered it trying to escape my board exams. Unfortunately for me , it was too expensive for me to buy in bulk , or get it shipped then.

I think that situation did me good, as I was very busy with college and then with work.Even if I had a chance to discover polymer clay , I would have forgotten it in the hustle and bustle of life.Lots of reminiscing in this post  I think , moving on.

What did I do this week ? I am learning to be a juggler. Seriously.

I am the designer,the maker, the photographer , the clerk , the moving person, the accountant ( ha, that's funny ) , the parcel person.And that' s JUST what I have discovered this WEEK!

Oh well.I am slightly hyper this week. I think the stock taking is getting to me.
Not making a list of things I have to get better at (yet) , but the upside is a lot more learning coming my way and that means a lot more experiments :) That makes me happy :)

You can check out my store here :) Comments are welcome. Have a great day !


Monday 23 March 2015

Starting out : The Emajic Handmade store !

Hi !

I finally made a Facebook page and I have begun to stock up the store on Indie Bazaar.
I am so relived  this is done. I have been  planning on doing this for over a year now.
Whew!

Do check out my budding store at Indie bazaar and the Facebook page

Thanks for all the support and have a great day :)


Sunday 22 March 2015

An accurate description



A lot of people don't realize this is how I work. This is for you Amma :) 


I dont know who the artist is , please do let me in know if you recognize it , some credit is due :) 

 ****
Found it here :) Lots of other funny stuff ! 

Friday 20 March 2015

Week 11 : Jungle theme week 2 #2015PCChallenge

Hi !

This week I am continuing with the jungle theme , three creeper cuffs for the submission. The two bangles on either side are mine , along with the one in the middle.The left end has a faux ceramic feel  (week 10 ), the right end one is reminiscent of the jungle cuff/ bangle I made for week 8.

Believe it or not , the middle one is a jungle theme as well , tried basing it on the pointillism technique.There are brown spots for the branches, red for the fruits , blue for the sky and variations of green for the foliage.It doesn't really look very jungly though. I was planning on smothering it with paint as usual but I was advised to go for a slightly different , brighter look by the mothers .I feel the white content is too high and I definitely  have to work on the technique ,but I do like it :)


I forgot to mention it , but the mothers are in town !

 This makes me a happy girl They kind of take over the running of the house and leave me to my own devices. This opportunity is something that I use to the best of my ability , I mainly catch up on my sleep , watch TV, browse the net and make things.

The thing I am happiest about this week is that both my mothers have been initiated into the art of making polymer clay jewelry.Really ! I am not joking !

Making my mother start off wasn't that hard , she loves beading and embroidery and has started to follow polymer clay, now that its something I do. My mother in law isn't really a crafty person , at least that's how she thinks of herself  , but this week she made something .I think she has surprised herself .
Its just a misconception that people are not crafty.Everyone is creative. We just have to find out where we belong.

The second bangle on the left is made by my mother in law and the second one on the right by my mother. I am really happy about this , as they weren't too sure what would happen , being the first time both have tried any form of clay work . The only experience they have is making chapatti dough !

I made the bangle base  for their bangles ( I make them in bulk whenever I have enough  scrap to do so )  and helped them with the sanding and buffing , but the rest is their own.

Thats all for now ! I have had a great week , hope yours was too !
Thanks for reading , have a good day :)

Wednesday 11 March 2015

Week 10 : Jungle theme , faux ceramic style

Hi !

So this month I have set myself a theme called jungle . Of course this is my interpretation of it :)

I saw this cool technique called faux ceramic a while back . It is making polymer clay objects ,that resemble ceramic. I quite liked it , so I played around with it a little bit , and this is my slightly modified take on the same.

I found this tutorial to be really helpful. Its from Polymerclayweb.com.

I really love what I made , even though my finish still leaves a lot to be desired. That is something I do have to work on.


This was designed as a cuff , and it has double layers of sliding knots. I discovered that it could be reversed as a pendant and chain also. Pretty cool I think. This was the first piece I tried out with this technique.The arrangement for the thread to slide through was new for me. I made two identical springs from thin copper wire , embedded it on both sides.Covered it with more clay , and added the closings.
 I believe I came up with it myself , however If I do see something that was probably the base for the string technique , I shall add it here.Pictures stay in my head and I sometimes don't realize my inspiration points till I see it again.I try my best to trace out the starting point of my idea and give credit where its due , I believe its important.

Note : This from Artybecca and this from a Russian site Polymerclayfimo, are probably my starting point of my string technique.


 This was the second piece I did. It is a pendant based on the same technique and theme.Leather cords with sliding knot and beads.This is my entry for the #2015PCChallenge.



This is my bangle based on the same technique. I was planning on entering this for the  PCC challenge , however I submit too many bangles. So the pendant this time.This bangle took me a lot of time , but I guess I don't feel it has the finish yet. Practice makes perfect I have heard , hope I get better soon.

Thanks for reading :)

Have a great day !

The Dremel Trial

Hi !

I finally received my Dremel around 2 days back. I was very very excited to try it out. I had tried using a manicure drill previously for buffing the jewelry pieces , however the RPM was too low and I didn't get any particular result from it.

While I was very excited about the Dremel , I was also quite worried about it. I have never ever worked with power tools , and it frankly scared me quite a lot.

The only thing I learnt because of the manicure drill episode was not to use the felt buffing wheel provided. While I think the buffing wheel can be used ( very carefully ) to perhaps even out the texture , it does not help in any way with the polishing.

I read this article on Desired Creations , about how to rig your own Dremel wheel for polymer clay
and I have followed the tutorial for unstitched rig.This site has lots of other interesting topics too.

 So , I did make my own rig by cutting up a very fine and soft cotton dupatta , ( A shawl worn with a churidar) which has been lying around since I snagged it on a nail, a few years ago. The next question was what would be the right RPM. I tried 5000 ( the minimum) , then 10000  ( not enough ) , then 15000. I was comfortable with 15000, however I tried to check with 20,000 , and the pieces just kept getting flung around. I believe 15,000 is my optimal RPM.

Lots of trial left , anyway first pics of my trial.The top picture is before the dremel buff , the second after. They have been sanded from 320grit to 1000 grit.


This pic was shot on different days , one cloudy and the other quite sunny. The banded ones are shinier than in the pic.

Thanks for reading :)
Have a good day !

Tuesday 10 March 2015

Wide Bangle attempt : Tape base

Hi !

I wanted to share a mishap that I had a few weeks back.I had a large cello tape ( also called a scotch tape ) base, around the width of 3 inches. I was eager to tackle it , seeing it is such a huge base.I don't have a pic of it before my experiment.

I happily covered it with a clay film , and I proceeded to put all the clay slices and I was finally done. And completed baking. What I did later was quite stupid. As soon as it came out of the oven , I dunked in Ice water , which is a standard procedure for me.

What I did not take into consideration was the fact that there is  a cardboard base inside. The base got water logged .As soon as I began to sand , the cracks appeared. Then more appeared. I gave up all semblance of  trying a save and I have kept these aside as a warning.




In case anyone was wondering , there are a few complex canes in there , a few bullseye canes reduced by the extruder.

Thank for reading ,hope my mishaps help you out from doing the same :)
Have a good day !

Saturday 7 March 2015

March theme announcement !

Hi,

I finally settled on the theme for the month. I had a lot of feedback for my jungle flower bangle/cuff combo , and I was asked whether there are any more pieces in this theme.I did not have anything else.   So the theme for this month is JUNGLE.

Hopefully this will give a me a chance to learn some floral and leaf canes and also to progress  in the finish direction as well.

Thanks for reading :) Have a great day !

Friday 6 March 2015

Week 9 : Sunset in Lakshadweep & Bitter gourd earring

Hi !

My entry for #2015PCChallenge , week 9 is a simple chunky bracelet. Its based on the organic beads tutorial by  Ginger Davis Allman , from the Blue bottle tree. The primary piece : Sunset at Lakshadweep.

Lakshadweep is a group of islands in India. I had the good luck to travel there a few years back. The water is turquoise blue and the sunsets are a vibrant orange.I tried to take pictures showing the beauty of the sunset , but I only had a lousy 2 mp phone camera , and I could not capture all the colors.

The colour combination for this bracelet reminded me of those magical sunsets I saw.



My companion piece is the Bitter gourd earring. Its a simple ,rustic , bumpy earring .


Thanks for reading , have a good day :)




Thursday 5 March 2015

Some trials and failures

Hi !

This was a rather strange week. A lot of excitement on the shopping front and a lot of disappointment from the results front.
Last week , I finally splurged and a bought a lot of supplies for my polymer clay addiction. I bought six shades of Adirondack alcohol inks (6 !!! ) , a booklet each of imitation copper leaf and gold leaf ( I couldnt find any in silver ) ,a few tutorials , a few polymer clay books ( through Kindle for PC ), amazing mold putty and a Dremel , which hasn't been delivered yet.

What I did not count on was my natural tendency to spaz out. I went mad. I was trying to do everything , all together , my brain coming up with  new ideas every other second.I could not keep a track of it. I could not sleep , my brain was spamming me with strangest possibilities. AAArgh! I do appreciate my spontaneous brain , but it was very tiring.I have a been a mute person more less , this whole week. If talked it was only of polymer clay gobble de gook.

So in effect , I had a lot of trial pieces and a fair bit of learning.For one , dont always start sanding with lower grits.Sometimes its just not needed. Turns I needed  a experiment to finally keep this is in mind.

This is my first time trial of copper imitation foil and alcohol inks , which apparently leads to crackling technique. That was a pleasant surprise. I liked how this turned out. However , I sanded it a
bit too much and I thus sanded out the foil. There is a thin layer of translucent clay on top of it , then I applied Acrylic gloss varnish. This is the first time I have used any sealer / gloss on polymer clay. I ended up with brush strokes ,not easily visible to others , but glaring enough for me . To see if I can rectify it , I baked it again.The acrylic does seem smoother.

Another thing that I experimented with was my photography technique. I have a Fujifilm S 3300 , one of my most favorite possessions. People make fun of me a bit , because I tend to shoot pictures of tiny flowers and play of light rather than people.I don't like my photos being taken either , I am too fidgety, standing still is a total trial.My camera is fabulous for outdoor photography , which is what I do best.
 After shifting to Hyderabad a few months back , I discovered something I deeply disliked. There are no light spots. I always keep a few spots around the house as designated light spots , where the natural light is most ample , where my dog would fight me for it , if I had a dog.I  These light spots are my temples and my new house does not have any save one.That one light spot is on the tiny side grill of the entrance to my apartment. There is a stone there , on which I place my jewelry and shoot. I have taken all the PCChallenge photographs to date , on that circular - ish stone , maybe around 7-10 inches across. If I miss something , my jewelry would fall down 3 floors and break. Thankfully this has not happened yet , but I worry.



When I tried to take the photos of the blue-green ( earth ) cabochon outside, it took me forever to get the copper glints.On some half baked memory of reading  how to set up a jewelry photo booth , I improvised and shot these.I am not a big fan , but hey, practice right.

Remember the weekly challenge ? Well , I could not do anything. I had to try all the toys , all at once. Now I have basically nothing to show as a completed piece for my weekly challenge.I am thinking of  sanding and polishing my sister color bangles to submit.I made it last week , right after the jungle flower cuffs and bangles  , week 8 challenge. While the base idea is complete , it still has some work left.

Thanks for reading this lengthy post :)
Have a good day !

Tuesday 3 March 2015

New toys

Hi !

Its incredible that somehow during the  past six months I am almost only working with polymer clay.I  have totally abandoned all other experiments.I might have to  change the description of the blog also, considering I am not doing a whole lot of experiments other than with polymer clay.

I am on a shopping spree this month ! Polymer clay related of course. I bought some Adirondack alcohol inks , the amazing mold putty and Imitation copper and gold foil. Yaay ! I am very excited.And I put in an order for my Dremel :)

Lets see what experiments I can do :)

Have a good day !