I have had a polymer clay project in mind that I have wanted to do for awhile now. I found it in the book, "Faux Surfaces in Polymer Clay" by Irene Semancuk Dean. I did not use the "recipe" for jade in her book but one I found some time back (don't remember where now) and had written down in my clay recipe book.
Working with polymer clay always reminds me of baking. Out came the "recipe" I have for jade, got my ingredients together (clay from my stash, my "utensils", a match book to make a pattern, some chinese coin charms for decoration and gold wire for embeslishment). Put on my "art apron" and got started mixing, chopping, rolling, dicing, slicing and baking up a new pendant.
I have always liked jade... green is a favourite colour of mine...and I am always drawn to "something" oriental. It wasn't nearly as difficult to do as I had imagined in my mind and went a lot faster than I had thought it would.
The tricky part was making the clay matchbox, getting it to fit snugly and still be able to open it. It ended up being a little looser than I really wanted so I decided to glue the two pieces together. It probably would have been just fine the way it was... it seemed to stay in okay... but I know that if it ever decided to slide out on its own when I least expected or wanted it to, it would bug me to no end. So once it was cooked, "vintaged" with burnt sienna paint to show off the chinese characters, buffed and the embellishments attached, it got the E6000 treatment as a final step!
I finished it yesterday, just in time to write this post and show it off! The charms were somewhat brighter than I wanted after I had darkened the clay with the paint, so I just tinted them with "latte" alcohol ink. It toned them right down and flowed into the "nooks and crannies" of the coins very nicely. I am absolutely thrilled with the way it turned out. Whatcha think??
Digital Media as Artistic "Add On" Materials
Have you noticed over the past year or so how many artists are using more digitally created media in their art?
The art world of the mxied media, collage and craft artist has quietly expanded to include more and more print outs of digitally enhanced photographs, digitally created "background" papers, alphabets and scanned ephemera such as old letters and labels in their creations, Whether it is an altered book, beeswax collage, ATC, bookmark, greeting card, polymer clay pendant transfer or those adorable "moo" cards so popular with artists as mini "works of art" business cards, digital media "add on" material for art is here to stay simply because it expands the realm of artistic creativity with an explosion of possibility.
Last fall, my art bud and friend, Cindy Powell (Latest Trends in Mixed Media mama and co-author of two fantastic "how to" mixed media project books and a mxied media jewelry techniques book) and me started chatting one day about how artists were moving towards using more digital print outs in their art.
I told her about how, when I couldn't find an antique typewriter ribbon tin for an art piece I was working on, I decided to make one myself using a digital print out and a piece of wood shaped like an old typewriter ribbon tin. By the time I was finished painting, collaging and distressing it, you'd swear it was an old metal typewriter tin I had found in an antique store. It was definitely a moment where "mixed media" met the digital world... a "Hands On Digital" creation... the name we decided to use for our "art partnership" and blog. Since then, we have welcomed two more wonderful women into our group, our talented artists and friends, Cecilia Swatton and Sherre Hulbert (the mama of Art Techniques).
One of the projects I was working on before I left for Art Fest in March was designing"mini workshops in a kit" ... faux typewriter key jewelry using digital letters, digital label kits for the kitchen and bath using recycled jars and containers and digital art alphas for ATC's, bookmarks and altered or mixed media art. They say a picture is worth a thousand words... that should keep this post much shorter... LOL so here they are...
Recognize that bookmark? I made "moo" cards for ArtFest using this alpha that I designed. The moo cards were so popular (I gave folks a choice of whether they wanted a moo card or a poker chip) that I was out of them in no time flat!
I love this vintage type jewelry set... with the "Hugs" and "Kisses" earrings, the necklace with my initial and two "function" keys and the bracelet with one of my favourite "texting" shortforms "LOL". They cost literally pennies to make and the full "how to" instructions including a supply list and tips are included in the package. They are fun to wear and I get a lot of chuckles from people when they notice the X and O earrings. They always want to know where I bought them. It just tickles me to no end to see the look on their faces when I tell them I made them myself. The digital letters are protected by resin... which also makes them look like glass keys!
Here's an ATC I made by cutting out the letters in the "Just My Type #3 Vintage
Typewriter Keys" package, gluing them on chipboard and then to the background.
The combination of white keys and black keys from the
Just My Type Jewelry kit in an art piece is very stunning!
If you are interested in more information about any of these kits, they are currently available for sale (some for less than the cost of a latte at your favourite coffee shop) at DigiScrap Station.
I hope to get back to blogging as soon as I can. With any luck (knock on wood) I'll be back writing away in a couple of weeks.
Happy Arting...and have a great weekend. See you soon!
Sharon