I can cane!

I originally posted this in my Stampamajiggies blog. But I can't see the point of having two blogs when this one has become such a mish-mash of things around me. So I am moving posts on this blog, to delete the other one. I'm trying to post them by marking them with the date they were originally posted. Fingers Crossed.
This post was originally uploaded on: 16 February 07
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Well, I saw this fabulous idea for a cane on Parole de Pâte and I wanted to give it a go. A neat cane... though I didn't have the same colours, but that wasn't going to stop me. Took what I had, made a semi-skinner blend (i.e. a skinner blend not completely blended) and went with it, oh, and threw some Metallic Gold Leafs in there (i.e. gold in colour, but not real gold) for good measure, and proceeded with the instructions. It was my ...hmmm... third cane? I have tried to cane before, this was the first time I succeeded somewhat better than the other times... so I played!!! I like to think of it as my first cane, as it's the first one that didn't turn out in a muddy mess... though, my jelly roll had a bit of a gap in the middle... maybe that's why they put cream in the middle of edible jelly rolls, so there's no gaps!!!

see, you can see the gap... but given the techniquie requires poking then squishing the piece of cane... that gap didn't bother me too much, but there's something I can improve on.

Below are earrings I made. Cute huh? Didn't even use moulds!! Love my KL Moulds, but it's fun to improvise at times and make something "free hand" so to speak. I love those French Hooks with the flat bit on them too, got those from The Bead Co. here in WA! They had interesting findings! and good prices, imo!!

Now, how much should a pair of such earrings go for??

Then I made some beads.... yup!!! the colours are quite nice, the gold clay I used and the Green Pearl (both Sculpey III) have this mica shifting particles and they shimmer, really nice!!!

The first on the left is done by wrapping a slice of the cane (not a slice like you slice bread, a slice from the side... as in the tute) around a chunk of scrap clay. The other two are done by wrapping slices (a la bread slice) of cane around COSC (chunk of scrap clay?)... I warped the cane for the middle bead, into a triangular shape, that worked nicely too. and on the round bead, you might not see it, but there's even bits of reduced cane there too!!! AMAZING! hehehehehe!!!!!

Hmmm, then, I had a bead that didn't work... so... what do I do? I swirl, of course! and two or three coats of varathane later (Flecto) you have this:

Pretty!!! If I may say so myself.

In a future post I will show you other ways in which I've used some of the cane slices, with Krafty Lady Art Moulds©

Hmmm, polymer now... Mokume à la France

I originally posted this in my Stampamajiggies blog. But I can't see the point of having two blogs when this one has become such a mish-mash of things around me. So I am moving posts on this blog, to delete the other one. I'm trying to post them by marking them with the date they were originally posted. Fingers Crossed.
This post was originally uploaded on: 12 February 07
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Hmmm, my last post had NO polymer clay in it, so I owe you one...
This technique is one I whipped up quickly (after a lot of reading and information gathering...). It's based on the Mokume Gane technique. Here I used some gold Sculpey III, some gold mixed with a bit of yellow to make a yellower gold ;) and some blue, looks like a light blue, maybe even Pearl Blue from Sculpey III. I made the polymer thin with the pasta machine, then stacked it, and between a couple of the layers, I put in some faux gold leaf. I cut, stacked, cut, stacked... just like faux wood or the like (see below for links!). Then I used my block and did something similar to what I remembered from the Faux Paua technique on PCC, and some Mokume Gane instructions (I think!)... I poked the clay!! Poke here, poke there, I think I used an old pen or the non-brush end of a paintbrush. Then I squeezed it all back together, cut slices, and moulded them. The first necklace, which is also in my main blog, was done with Krafty Lady AM020, the Fleur de Lis with AM138, the earrings with AM025 andAM254, both the same mould in different sizes. The last one used up the rest of my clay (though I did find just enough at the bottom of my little box and am in the process to make earrings to go with the first necklace!!!) was done with one of the NEW MOULDS: AM320 X3Lge Half Circle.




The earrings were brushed with Pearl Ex (Gold) but the rest were "as is".
There you go, one more secret in the open :)
Again, all images and ideas © France Chevalier - if you copy my idea, please give credit where it's due.
If you got inspired I wish you: Happy Creating!!!!!

Links which inspired this technique:

Mokume Gane -Tutorial on mokume gane, which explains the idea behind the technique.

Faux Paua - I used the stacking technique, but didn't fill the holes, just squeezed everything together. Up to step 6, and didn't difform in step 7, just pushed everything back without distorting (well, trying not to, too much!)

From rubber to polymer

I originally posted this in my Stampamajiggies blog. But I can't see the point of having two blogs when this one has become such a mish-mash of things around me. So I am moving posts on this blog, to delete the other one. I'm trying to post them by marking them with the date they were originally posted. Fingers Crossed.
This post was originally uploaded on: 12 February 07
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Hello! It's been a while since I posted anything to this side of the blog, and this past weekend I was thinking that I need to organise myself and write down techniques so I don't forget them... this "tekkie" blog seemed like the right place. It'll stay the Stampamajiggies because I can't find anything clever with polymer clay, and I plan to still use my stamps!!!! :)
so here I go, first off, inspired by Natalie Briney's RAK, which was created with Aqua and Copper paint (and I suspect some black Gesso on the daisy, Krafty Lady AM157)

I started to play with my own Copper and Celadon paints... The atc below was done by painting the background in Celadon, then I clear embossed the Flourish (#2541 Inkastamps.com), then I had fun with copper paint, adding some to the edges using my transdermal applicator (finger, term coined by Kelsey O'Mullane) to get paint around the edges. Before it dried, I wiped it from the clear EP. Oh, and I stamped in the paint with the stamp as well, though you can't really tell, to create a "negative" image so to speak. Clean the stamp right after though.
The little cutie pie is from collages sheets from Inka. I sandwiched her between two microscope slides, which I had to trim to be about 1/4 inch shorter - if that... (what, about 4 mm?)
then wrapped some copper wire around the bottom of the slide. The #5 is a wooden number I found in the kids craft section of a stall at a nearby shopping mall. She looked about 5yo to me!

This is fun to do with just about any colours. I love playing with acrylic paints! The mask below is Krafty Lady AM166 cast with Delight Air Dry Modelling Clay, and painted with Celadon and Copper paints

If you do find this useful, please let me know so I know even one person saw it :) Thanks!!!

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Natalie had left a comment on the other blog:
Natalie B said...
Ohhh france I just found this blog....Love what you've done with this girl image and the paints! Yumm

Sunday, February 25, 2007 11:41:00 AM

Black and Gold

I've been playing with some black clay and gold leaf! I've seen this technique a few times, and finally yesterday a project I found, and this tech, seemed to be calling out my name.

The project is a blade holder... tissue blades are as dangerous as razor blades :) and LONGER!!! and a pain in the youknowhat to carry around, so Marie-Hélène wrote up a tutorial on Parole de Pate. And I copied her :)

The black Premo I had was really stiff and dry, and having not had much success adding oil to clay to make it softer, in the past, I thought I'd blend it with a bit of Sculpey III... at the moment, my blade holder is a bit flexible, maybe it'll stiffen a bit with time, sometimes clay does?! I think!!




Then of course I had to make it count... so I used some moulds from my Challenge: Krafty Inspiration, hmmm, black and gold, Egypt... the Egyptian Cat, of course!!!

Then, I had to do something else!! When I made the necklace you can see in a previous post, I thought it would have been nice to make earrings to match... so since I had no more of that mix, I couldn't... Now, with my black and gold mix, seemed like the perfect opportunity (not to mention that I made more than what I needed with that gold finish on top!)!!! So may I present, my set:



Before ANYONE says anything about me selling this set, I noticed that the back of the pendant is not finished very smoothly... sooo... I can't really sell it. I guess I'll have to make another one. Also I made it with "non pierced" earrings as I am all out of findings for pierced earrings, so I had to borrow my daughters' "fun" earrings...

Well, I'm tickled pink (hmmm, I'm tickled Black and Gold doesn't sound as nice) with the results... if you want to see more stuff, go have a little stroll at the Krafty Lady website! Yes, I'm still having FUN!!!

ah! found my old skin!

Well, well...

nice to have this new (previous, really) look, don't know if it'll keep or not, until I find out there's things that just won't work, but I can do without the bells and whistles, it's good to hvae my links back!!! AND THE RIGHT DATE!!! Blogspot people never got back to me about my date issue... (no, not that type of date! I'm happily married, just that I was still in 2006, and while that would be really nice, as I might now find out where December really went, I'd rather evolve with the times, up to a point though, so I'm back in Brown!!! hehehe! and quite happy about it, we'll see if it works for a while!)

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Ok, so here's a great pic of my gorgeous friend Barbara with none other than Lukas Rossi and ... yup, Tommy Lee... I told you about Barb and her involvement with Lukas earlier (she basically told him to get his @$$ on that plane and to go to the audition! and paid for his ticket). Barb is VP Creative, at EMI: Canada! And I miss her!!

What is it with men getting bald/receiding hairlines younger and younger these days? That's a topic for another day... but seriously, think about it.

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I am VERY lucky, I got to play with some NEW Krafty Lady Art Moulds© while they were being launched at CHA!

Nikki (the recipient) said "looks like authentic 7th century weaponry to me." I was thrilled because, this theme was a challenge for me.



love this one!!! dunno why? It feels "cleopatra-esque"...



and this one... just love it (too!)... it happened by accident, some mix of clay I was making didn't work out the way I wanted it to, so I put a bit more black and just put it in that mould as I was dying to try it :) LOVED the results!!! and apparently a few of my friends too!



I even sold a pair of earrings! Now, that is a FUN feeling!!!




and thanks to all the clayers at AussiePolyClayers for giving me ideas of other colours of clay I could use, and other colours of patina! You lot are generous and talented, and thank you for the encouragement!!! Looks like I'm being pressured (you know who you are!!!) into selling stuff on Etsy. My friend Sulea sells some of her paintings there.


Well, a few other friends keep saying 2007 is going to be "a ripper, mate!" so maybe they know something I don't... I better not miss the boat!!!

NOTE: while I'm happy to share and inspire others, please respect my intellectual property. I know, it sound snobbish, but it's better than saying "Do not plagiarise my work for capital gain. Do not take my ideas and sell/promote them as your own" doesn't it? :-) in short: Play Fair, Play Nice. thankyouverymuch!!