MORE Scrap Play! Scrap Rings

(THANKS to my guild-mate Kathy Hepburn for the gorgeous polymer clay bowl!)

I think I have more fun playing with scrap than I do with a fresh bar of clay! One of my most favorite things to do is to make myself fun little rings with the scrap. I’ve made several over the years and I haven’t had one break yet-and I am guilty of gardening in them. I’ve used both Sculpey Premo and Sculpey Souffle (my fav!)…or a combination of BOTH since it IS scrap..

You can CAREFULLY try one of your round cutters on your finger – NOTE that it doesn’t fit all the way on my finger? That’s good, because the clay wrapped around the outside of the cutter will be slightly larger. This is a .75 inch round Sculpey cutter and it is just slightly smaller than my Size 8 on my ring sizer. You can also use a .75 diameter wood dowel as well (which I often do depending on the amount of my scrap) – again, depending on your ring size.

Roll your clay out on a fairly thing layer – I usually use a 4 or 5 on my machine (0-9 with 0 being the widest). My thinner rings seem to be quite sturdy.

So now all you need to do is cut a strip of your selected clay a little longer than the round mold you are using and trim the width to whatever width you wish. I’ve been going thinner and thinner on some of mine (I’ve got short fingers).

Wrap the clay lightly around your mold, allowing for a slight overlap. Remove the clay strip and trim the overlap shape if you wish – I often use a long triangle shape, but I’ve thought about using a scalloped shape as well (as soon as I find THAT cutter..). For this ring, I also added a small strip across the top for interest and I really liked the way it came out. 

FYI- This is Premo 18k Gold and I just used mica shift to create the pattern. Twisted strips laid on a very thin backsheet then smashed flat, trimmed and the edges rounded (with the same coffee tamper I smashed it with). YES, I cut on lined index cards or graphed index cards!

You can see on many of the other scrap rings that I even left an uneven edge either at the overlap or along one edge of the ring. I’ve also used scrap from transfers and silkscreened clay as well.

xoxo, syn

YOU GUYS! 2207J is BAAAACK!

YESSSSS!  My fav 2207J stamp (now just called Stone) is now available again, along with my 2 favorite “sister stamps” on the Create Along website and will soon be on their Etsy site. The designs are unmounted with makes them even more usable for us all. (Fun fact: If you lose 100 pounds, you can’t step on your stamps to get deep (or practically) any impressions anymore! So I’m happy to have them unmounted now.)

2207J (now just called Stone) has been my all time favorite stamp for over 15 years now. It is such a great texture that can look elegant, organic, even classic and my favorite – GRUNGY! I’m sure that most of you will recognize if from my classes or from my work in general!

River is a sister stamp that I’ve used repeatedly, especially for hatbands. The tutorial for this particular design use of the stamp can still be found on Sculpey website.

And finally Branches – this texture looks like tree branches in the vertical position, but turn it horizontally and it looks like ancient text! Stamp it over some scrap clay, add a little Pearl Ex and Voila! I have a little tutorial for this on my website: https://synssculpeyblog.wordpress.com/class-info/tutorials/scrap-stripes/

Now I’ve gotta go buy my stamps before CreateAlong sells out of them…YIPPEE!!
xoxo, syn

Sculpey at Home (or at least MY home!)

Well, it’s raining steadily here in SoCal, so I’ve been working on cleaning up my photo galleries on my phone and computers. Since I haven’t posted in quite a while, I thought it would be fun to show y’all some of my Sculpey at work (or play) in my and around my home. Most of it qualifies as vintage since it has been in use for over 20 years now. For instance, these clay covered drawer pulls..

I liked the canes so much, I created the “backsplash” around the simple oval handle.

These are a little more recent, more like 10 years ago. I painted this inexpensive dresser without adding a base coat, so the paint separated, but I loved the look!

This old cracked vase was created with the, then new, Premo clay using the Scratch Art texture plates. Judith Skinner had just shown us how to make the Skinner Blend (she was a member of our guild).

Speaking of old, some of my Raku vases as well. The one on the right HAS to be at least 15 years old. The one in the front is what is left after I tripped on my sons shoe, fell down the steps. The glass shattered and some of the clay went with it, but the remaining shell is just a lovely statement to a broken foot. LOL

Sculpey decorated light switch covers are all over my house, many at least 20 years old now. I recently found this lil cutie (and 2 more) that we created by scanning my young boys drawings and transferring them to the clay many years ago. The boys colored the baked clay with soft lead colored pencils. The background color is created with stamping petals. It now graces my bathroom.

And speaking of ancient, this isn’t exactly polymer but it was created by my painting/staining my clay work on the top of my closed washing machine. The machine is right next to the garage sink, so I could easily wash my brushes right? When I had to replace my machine after 24 years, I asked the plumber to remove the lid from my old machine and it hangs in a place of honor in my reading nook/sunroom.

MODERN ART RIGHT?

Okay other ways my clay serves in my household? Most recently I’ve been using my scrap clay to hold some of my smaller Tillandsias. The left basket is scrap clay that I extruded and made an open weave bowls. I have others around my house to hold my keys by the door, little things in my room. The Tillys on the right are hanging out in leftover beads I had made. Jump rings hold them together and the plants are hot glued into place until their air roots have a chance to grab on.

Speaking of leftover beads and pendants – I’ve used some of mine to create a basket full of key chains! Even some scrap “test” clay bits can be used in this fashion!

Okay, two more of my favorite light switch covers…

Scrap clay once again! from the vase above.

Yes, its a photo transfer and we are using my sons nose for the light switch!

Before I go, I want to leave you with one of my most favorite quotes, taken from the magnificent Magnolia Journal magazine this month (oh from the gorgeous paper it is printed on, to the photos, to the content, to the recipes… to small gems like this):

“Our Take on Patience

To intentionally slow, still, and steady your life-in-motion, trusting there is purpose between beginnings and endings.”

Stay well! (and stay dry if ya are in this same mess) xoxo, syn

SCRAP CLAY PLAY OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE

I love to play with scrap – it is a opportunity to explore ideas that I don’t really want to gamble my “good” clay on. Most of the time, it works out, but SOMETIMES…well, we have all had THAT experience!

When I mix the New Color Tuesday mixes, I mix the entire month at the same time (that way it is easier for me to remember what colors I’ve already mixed!). I always take the scrap clay mixes and explore with them. Why not? They should all have one thing in common right? The mix color!

I decided to mix with Sculpey Soufflé™ Shamrock for March – its Spring, St Patrick’s Day AND….a very tricky color to mix with. I had this pile of mostly green scraps and a little of the Sculpey Premo™ Copper that I had used in one of the mixes. So I marbled the clay and voila! I was decidedly underwhelmed with the result.

This is the part of the original marbled clay. Not a lot of pizzazz there!

I knew that I needed to make SOMETHING with the sheet of clay for the project, so I decided to silkscreen on the sheet with one of my original design silkscreens. Well, of course, I used my favorite Ocean Breeze turquoise craft paint on the screen. That did NOT help much, the colors were too similar..

So I added some gold dots of paint using the ball tip on my small Sculpey Double Ended Tool. Still kind of flat..

I cut out my pieces using my favorite Sculpey cutter, the Irregular Triangle. (Which by the way, you can create facing pieces by just flipping your clay sheet over and cutting!) And in a leap of faith, I baked them all. You never know right? Paint can notoriously shift colors when baked. NOPE

What was I GOING TO DO? I had committed fully to these pieces. But I needed some CONTRAST. Then it hit me, I could try using my trusty 03 Micron Black marker that I use to help fix the tiny gaps (or holidays) in my transfers and try to outline the screened boxes. Straight lines right? I *should* be able to do that. Pep talk time – family of artists, kids can draw so its in the genes SOMEWHERE, relax, breath, do a test piece. Don’t think about having to remix all these colors…

As soon as I outlined these two boxes, I cheered! Contrast was popping and my funky drawing skills only added to the playful Midcentury Modern feel.

That little pop of black really brought out ALL the different tones and colors in the clay!

I even realized that I didn’t actually have to outline every single element of the silkscreen. Whoa! The 8 year old me was like, “That’s crazy! You need to have them all the same!” But the er, slightly older now, version of me said, “Hey, it’s fun, looks great, LEAVE IT ALONE.

The Adult Me said, “Now let’s show them off immediately (some things NEVER change..)”

February is the Month for Hearts

Abstract shapes, mid-century modern shapes are more my style, but I do occasionally use a heart shape and I seem to have created several heart-themed projects for Sculpey. And I think we all need a little more heart this year, don’t you?

I thought it might be fun to present a gallery of hearts that I have created with Sculpey clays throughout the years. For me, it was a fun trip down memory lane. I’ve included links to any of the projects that may still be posted online.

Don’t have a heart cutter for your clay? Check out this clever way I created these stacked and textured hearts for a class I taught in Mexico several years ago using the Sculpey teardrop set of cutters:

This is the same shape as above, but the clay was textured before I cut the pieces out with my favorite 2207J stamp.

This is the entire necklace from above and it IS my most favorite piece I have ever created. All Souffle clay and that clasp actually works! The aging on the clay is done with my Citadel paints https://synssculpeyblog.wordpress.com/class-info/information-on-paints/

Here is a gallery of the rest of the hearts I found in my files:

And here are some of the links I found for you!

https://www.sculpey.com/sculpey-iii-my-heart-belongs-to-steampunk

https://www.sculpey.com/how-to/sculpey-souffle-silkscreened-and-inked-jewelry-set

https://synssculpeyblog.wordpress.com/class-info/making-mokume-gane/  

https://synssculpeyblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/steampunk-heart.pdf 

This mobile that still hangs in my “sun room” was created by using extruded Premo Gold for the frames pressed on a smooth tile and filled with Translucent Liquid Sculpey mixed with alcohol inks. This was created when TLS was the ONLY LS. OH! That abstract piece on the wall behind it is my old washer lid that I painted my projects on for years. I always said that I would keep that lid when I replaced the washer, so I asked the plumber who installed the new washer to remove the lid before he took it. BTW – those are plastic beads on there

It’s All About the Bolo for My Family

We have a soft spot in our family for bolo ties. My Uncle used to make us metal sculpture versions.  My dad and I used to mount rocks we polished for bolos.

When my brother mentioned that on one of the cruises they went on that “gentlemen had to wear ties” for two dinners and he hated ties, I decided to make him bolos.  You can read the post here: https://synssculpeyblog.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/tbt-bringing-back-the-bolo/

 

Bolos give me so many options for wearing – the focal piece can be centered wherever I wish – up high, down lower and then I have the ends to add even more clay or metal fun!

My bolos are often made out of scrap sheets of clay that I push into the Sculpey cab mold after back-filling with more scrap.  Depending on the age of the focal sheet, I will often get a crack in it from the pressure of the mold, so I started back-filling with a contrasting color and saying “I meant to do that!” when I removed it from the mold and saw the cracks.

Those beads at the bottom are solid metal and add just the right touch of weight to the ends.  I use the standard silver bolo backs glued to the back of the focal piece.

I used the scrap left over from cutting out the pieces for the focal beads to create the clay pieces for the end ( I call these the “swing pieces”).  This was inspired by one of my 3×3 images of a street grate.

Most of the cording is the 3 mm nylon cording from Fire Mountain.  Sometimes I use multiple strands of a smaller cording.

 

 

 

Both of these bolos were created with scraps from color mixes!

This one is my current favorite bolo, created with textured, foiled and embossing powdered clay. I dug through my Antique Copper finding drawers for the end pieces. (thereby justifying my hoarding of every little bead and bauble I come across).The  bottom swing pieces tie back to the companion pendant I made.

More Clay Color Play – Practical Application

I decided to do some practical color application and play shape and color.

Latte as base neutral
Top Panels: Cornflower/Latte 1:1 and Cherry Pie/Latte/Cornflower 1:3:1 

First, imagine my surprise when I mixed Cornflower and Latte and got what looks like Bluestone! It has a tiny bit more saturation than Bluestone. The Cherry Pie/Latte mix was a little washed out (but I kinda wish I had run with it just to see), so I added a bit of Cornflower to it and created a kind of deep purple color that contained BOTH the Cornflower and Latte. The Latte circle in the image on the left ties the colors in well.

The image on the right has the same color mixed top pieces, but I used a circle of straight Cherry Pie. So the top two panels share both Latte and Cornflower, but only the right side shares the Cherry Pie. But for some reason I find this combination really intriguing – the Cornflower panel on the left really stands out.

Then I decided to try my colors from NCT this week (because I’m obsessed with them).

Cinnamon as base neutral. Top panels are Guava/Cinnamon 2:1 (with paint spatter) and Canary/Cinnamon 2:1 (with silkscreen).

The image on the left is backed with a Cinnamon circle. This is my favorite, I *think*. It looks warmer and richer to me?

The image on the right is backed with a Grape/Cinnamon 2:1 mix that I also tried to match in both the paint spatter and the silkscreen. (I also added a spatter that was similar to the Canary/Cinnamon mix). I like it as well! But it doesn’t seem as cohesive as the left side to me.

So now I have to solve my dilemma here and pick one set of each of these colors and glue them together if I want to have anything from this exercise to wear! I think I’m going to go with BOTH of the right sides. What would you pick?

xoxo, syn

Using the Color Bridge

There are lots of color theories and formulas out there.  But what if you have, say a new shirt and you want to make necklace to go with it?  And maybe the shirt is a solid color or maybe 2 colors.  How do you develop a palette to show it off?

I’ve been going through my stack of home improvement magazines that I’ve amassed and I stumbled across a one page item from a designer talking about picking colors for a room. Basically, you have one key item for that room and that is your focus color, then you have an accent color, 2 neutrals and a “bridge” color that should be a mix of the primary and one of the neutrals.  I looked at MY living room and I have an avocado green velvet couch – my key.  Then I have a (6 ft high) red velvet chair (my accent) and my walls are 3 different colors of grey.  My “bridge” color is my blue/green/grey carpet. Well, my little brain went “Huh! This will work for clay!”

So I sat down, got out my NCT round cutter and went to work with my beloved Souffle clay.  Working outside my normal palette was a must, so I chose Souffle Raspberry for my Key color and Souffle Cornflower as the Accent color.

Now I needed two neutrals, so I decided that I would pick a warm Neutral (Latte) and a cool Neutral (Concrete).

 

Next I needed that Bridge color, so I mixed the warm neutral, Latte 1:1 with the Primary color, Raspberry. (I can’t imagine trying to pick a paint color as a bridge!)

So let’s line up all the colors in this palette. There is our Primary, Warm Neutral, Cool Neutral, (warm) Bridge, and  Accent.

 

Primary, Warm Neutral, Cool Neutral, Bridge and Accent colors

I decided to do a little geometric tile to see if the Raspberry would stay the focal point. So first I used the warm Neutral and the warm Bridge color with the Primary and Accent. Yep! that Raspberry circle pops! I included the cool Neutral as a small accent color.

So what about using the Cool Neutral, Concrete to create the Bridge color? Even touching that Cornflower line, the Raspberry still pops.

Let’s see them both together with the palette warm on the left and cool on the right:

Then I figured, “Hey, let’s reverse the colors and make the Cornflower the Primary and the Raspberry the Accent”.  Look what color pops NOW…

So then I had to try a less bold Primary color like Souffle Pumpkin.  The Pumpkin is  a little  too  close  to  the  warm  neutral  for  me,but  it  still  pops.

And, of course, the reverse

I got tired of the backgrounds, so I swapped the warm Bridge color in to the background and made the warm Neutral one of the line accents. Wow! It’s my favorite..

So, give this a try next time you are setting a color palette!

xoxo, syn

 

Sculpey Amber Translucent Coming SOON!

I’ve always loved  amber – hey, I’m a Leo and a redhead – so of course I love a stone the color of the sun and/or fire.  Through the years, I’ve always mixed my own clouded amber, which was a true labor of love. I had mixed it with the older Sculpey colored translucents, as well as just Translucent with alcohol inks.

For this piece, I even made my own bead caps with Premo Silver and Gold and my trusty Etch n’ Pearls.

See how the amber has a slight shimmer?  That’s the Premo Gold in it.  Just a dash…

I also experimented with alcohol inks mixed into the translucent clays.  I was wire wrapping at the time..

 

 

 

 

 

And I added other colors in as well to created these oooollld extruded bracelets (still a project on sculpey.com)

So the new Premo Amber Translucent is a TWO THUMBS UP for me!  First, I no longer have to mix and Second, I NO LONGER HAVE TO MIX and well, it’s just gorgeous.  The color bakes to what the unbaked looks like – although it tends to look brighter in thinner pieces (that are TRULY translucent).  A quick wash of a Citadel brown (Contrast Snakebite Leather) or a Citadel Agrax Earthshade is perfect for an antiqued look. You can see in the photo below how much it bakes to the unbaked color.

I’ve been playing with cold fushion to make my own metal bezels.  Here is the one I made with the new amber.  I get so many comments when I wear this necklace and most people do NOT believe that this is not really amber.

And just this week I got into my stash of metal findings.  How easy is it to make a little patty of Amber and press a finding into it to create MAGIC!  Oh, I love Stupid Simple!

If you want to know more about real amber (and all your favorite jewels) check out Victoria Finlay’s book, Jewels – a Secret History on Amazon.  One of my books that I can read over and over.  Each chapter is like a short story.  And SOMEONE needs to make a movie of the chapter on pearls. (These findings are from Filigree & Me)

xoxo, syn

The Adventure Begins in 2020!

YAY! I’m baaaack!   After a taking a last year off from the Polymer Clay Adventure, I’m BACK in 2020!   I missed my fellow PCAers in our private online community and I wanted to hang out again with you all.

If you don’t know about the PCA – it’s a year long virtual polymer clay retreat – with new tutorials released throughout the year that you can watch and play along at your own pace throughout the year.  PLUS, that wonderful online community that provides a  moderated forum for polymer clay enthusiasts from all over the world.  Can you imagine getting over 20 tutorials for $99?

Plus anyone who joins in the first week (before Oct 26th) is automatically in the running for a free PCA goodie bag (and those are AWESOME).

You can  get more information and join by clicking on my affiliate link right here: http://bit.ly/synholtPCA2020 and join myself, Aoife Smyth Murphy, Barbara McGuire, Jan Montarse, Lisa Renner and many more (23 teachers to be exact) for a true polymer clay adventure next year!