Rainbow Cards (30 September 2009)

After a day of making Rainbow Cats, I continued the theme and made up some more Rainbow Cards. I embellished the clouds on these A7 cards, and used bright coloured cards to complement the blue cards I made up earlier this month (see Bright Rainbow Cards).

I also made up some more black rainbow tiles on small white cards, and for this sequence, I laid out rainbow strands into one undulating line, and then cut the line into three panels. I left the strands standing proud, which gives the cards a nice three dimensional feel.

I also made up some large cards with the black rainbow panels. I love the endless variations which can be created by interweaving the strands, although this works better with more random colours, rather than the rainbow ones, as the colours really do have to stay in order to make sense.

Finally, I made up three more large rainbow cards using thicker strands, and again I used complementary bright colours, having used orange and yellow for previous cards.

(Note to self - photograph cards BEFORE they are put into cellophane bags...)

Winter Trees (8 September 2009)

Again with the trees! I am pretty obsessed with trees. They are incredible beings with so much grace, beauty and natural intelligence. And so I keep returning to creating them, and this is my latest idea.

This reminds me very much of Wedgewood pottery, with the clean white strands of white clay upon the cool lilac background. I love the depth achieved by bundling a number of strands together, and they flow to form both the roots and the branches. The panel measures 3.5cm by 6cm.

I tried a slightly simpler and smaller version with the red background, which has a more stylised feel to it than the organic flow of the purple one. This panel measures 3cm x 4cm.

I will be working with tree designs as I go forwards - it really is a recurring theme for me, and there so much scope for further ideas.

Turquoise Leaf Cards (8 September 2009)

These leaf designs were inspired by a gorgeous silver leaf pendant I bought on Folksy.com from Silver Moss Jewellery Designs - check out her shop at www.folksy.com/shops/silvermoss. I'm also following her blog - click here for more info. Definitely worth a look!

In this series, there are two A6 cards and three A7 cards. I'm looking forward to experimenting more with the simple and fluid lines of this design.

The last designs came about through the happy accident of tidying up some of the leftover strands and rolling out the clay. I love the thrill of not knowing whether the next pass of the roller will through out an amazing design, or just mush!

Turquoise Window Cards (8 September 2009)

I had lots of fun playing around with the idea of creating a picture within a picture. I did think about using an aperture card and embedding the frame within that, but unfortunately the strands are a bit too delicate for that. Still, I think this the design works well as it stands.

This first picture reminds me of a portcullis. I created a loose woven effect by laying the strands in order, first length ways and then sideways. This design is more suited as a picture because it's so fragile, and so my next task is to mount it using a complimentary border of jade/slate green.

This design looks like a shuttered blind. I simply cut out the frame, turned it over, and laid strands of clay close together across the back. For the extruded clay, I roughly mixed the three colours I had been working with to create a variagated effect.

This last design was made by randomly placing strands around the frame and building it up until it looked like a game of Kerplunk at an advanced stage as seen from above!

Some of my other experiments with these frames weren't quite so successful. The less said about the Shreddie the better...

Turquoise on Black Abstract Cards (8 September 2009)

The lovely jade green card I've used to mount these panels compliments the extruded clay perfectly! Having the black clay as the background colour really makes the strands stand out. I have only varnished the background, which also helps to emphasise the contrast.

These three panels were created by laying several strands of clay on black, and then cutting them into three panels. Turning the middle panel on its side breaks up the lines and creates an interesting hiatus to the flow.

I am very fond of the stylised hearts, with the constrasting colour to create a 3-D effect. And because each strand is laid on by hand, no two hearts are the same, and the scope for variation with colour is endless.

Sea Blue Abstract Cards (8 September 2009)

After making the Rose Blush cards, I really wanted to try out blues and greens. So I took some time to mix several shades, extruded several strands, and then spent several hours playing around, trying out lots of different things, and generally having a really great time!

So great in fact, that I stayed up into the wee small hours just so I could "try one more thing". As a result, I made well over 30 panels, and I now have a wide range of lovely cards! Most of panels fall within a small number of groups, so I'll do a post for each group.

This first group of panels involves undulating strands of shades of over a dark slate green/blue background and is reminiscent of Celtic knotwork. There is a range of different styles and subtle shades, and the strands have both been left proud and rolled into the panel.

Rose Blush Abstract Cards (8 September 2009)

After the success of the initial venturing forth into abstract panels, I played around with some different colours. And this was the start of a very long day for me - I was up at 6am, cup of tea in hand, and I started mixing colours to see what came up!

I love how these panels have turned out - they look like ceramic or terracotta. I achieved this by rolling out very pale clay (white and pale beige), then putting a dark pink/red over it and rolling them both together. This resulted in the darker colour becoming stretched which thinned out the pigment, allowing the white to shine through beneath. Contrasting strands of deep rose and pink completes the look.

As I mixed the clay after making each panel, the colours have subtly changed, resulting in truly unique colours and designs. Going forward, I intend to  mount most of the panels on cards, and then select a few of the best panels to mount on board to selling as ready-to-frame pictures. Keep an eye out for these cards going on sale in my online shops.

There are 10 cards in this range - eight are A6, with panels measuring 3cm x 3cm, and two are A7 size with panels measuring 2cm x 2cm. I have mounted the panels on a pale salmon pink card, which really sets off the rich colours of the panels. The cards come with white envelopes.

Bright Rainbow Cards (6 September 2009)

Making these cards really took me back to my childhood.  I have always loved rainbows, to the extent that I remember keeping a C&A bag for ages because it had a rainbow stripe down the side. I had even blu-tacked on my bedroom door (and I should point out that I was about 10 at the time) a handmade paper name plate in rainbow colours, with "RLE" after it - Rainbow Lover Extraordinaire. Of course.

With the exception of the two small cards, I used a thicker extruded clay to make the rainbow stripes. This gives a lovely chunky feel, complimented by the bright colours of the card. I have lightly rolled out all the rainbows except the one on the green card - I wanted to preserve a more stylised feel, and I think it looks like water pouring out from an unseen tap.

The half-hoop rainbows (without clouds) are just over 4.5cm in diameter. The upright rainbow is 4cm tall, and the large double-clouded rainbow 8cm wide in total.

For the two small blue cards, I used the thinner extruded clay used for the Black Rainbow designs. The designs are just over 3cm wide.

The full range of Rainbow cards is now available to buy at both Folksy.com and Etsy. com.

Small Black Rainbow Cards (6 September 2009)

These little cards are A7 size - the sort of size you see in wedding invitations. They are the perfect size for these small panels, measuring 2cm x 2cm.

For these designs, I laid out a long length of rainbow strands on the background clay, rolled them lightly to incorporate them into the background (which distorts the lines slightly), and then cut out three squares to create these panels.

I created a similar effect in the cards on the left using thin slices taken from the thicker rainbow strands. I placed the tiny circles randomly on black clay, rolled them in, and then cut out the panels. I think they look like streams of tiny rainbow bubbles.

Black Rainbow Panels (6 September 2009)

I woke up on Sunday morning at 6am after dreaming of rainbows all night. So what choice did I have but to get up and make some rainbows!

Having loved the effect of bright colours against a black background, I started from there. I experimented with the prism effect of splitting the colours. On the right hand panel (which measures 4cm x 4cm), I left the 'split' strands lying on top of the background, and rolled the rainbow stripe into the clay to produce a two-level effect. It puts me in mind of crossing the plasma streams in Ghostbusters.

For the panels on the white cards, I had had this idea in my mind for a number of months. In fact, I had tried to create this effect using rainbow-coloured bamboo poles and a large black frame from IKEA several months ago, but without much success.

I cut out the black frames by using two sizes of square cutters, and then I laid out the rainbow strands across the back of each frame and attached them using liquid polymer clay. I only varnished the frames, leaving the rainbow stripes untouched. The frames don't have backs to them, so you can see the white card through the rainbow stripes. These panels measure 3cm x 3cm.

Red and Black Abstract Panels (5 September 2009)

Here are a few more abstract panels I made on Saturday night.

I do feel that the red/pink strands against the black is very effective. With the left panel, I laid out strands of clay and lightly rolled them into the panel so the design was integrated.

With the right panel, I left the clay strands standing proud, and only varnished the black background to highlight them further. In both  designs, I love the fluidity and movement suggested by the strands - it's like a snapshot of an infinite flow or current.

With this heart card, I  love the simple bold shapes and colours. I initially started off with just the white outline of the heart, and then on a whim I added a red strand, which gives it more of a 3-dimensional feel. I'm thinking about creating more rune-type designs - it'll give me a chance to read up on some history as well!

The heart panel measures 4cm x 4cm, and the red and black panels measure 3cm x 3cm.

Red Abstract Panels (5 September 2009)

I had  a bit of a breakthrough this weekend. I've not returned to the abstract panels since working on them a few weeks ago, mainly because I just couldn't see a way to mount them professionally on cards. Whilst I love the look of them, and it was so much fun experimenting to see what showed up, they felt as though they needed something else something more before they could be mounted on cards.



But last night, I started playing around with extruded clay and thicker square panels of clay (the earlier panels I'd done were pretty thin). It felt like it had been a while since I had a really good experiment with clay, having spent quite a while working with the cat designs (which has been loads of fun). So I found myself working on until nearly 11pm (poor Greg, we had to wait until then to eat dinner!) continually pushing the boat out to see what worked and what didn't.

I had so much fun with these, I couldn't wait to see what came out next - I had so many ideas, they were tripping over themselves! I have a strong sense that I have dug a little deeper and discovered more out about my creative side. I have always loved working with polymer clay because of its flexibility, but I have tended towards the 'cute' side, keeping my 'serious' work for other media, eg felt and wire. However, by combining a variety of techniques I have developed over the years, I have found a way of creating the sort of designs I really love (abstract, fluid, rich colours, etc) and which I am proud to call art.

So my next thought is to create mixed media collages using these techniques and to frame them. I have put these panels on cards for the time being, but part of me does not like the thought of these being given once and thrown away. I feel very attached to these four designs, and it may be because these are the first expressions of what feels like a new direction for me creatively. So I may well end up framing these and keeping them for myself - I'm sure there will be many more where these came from!

For those of you keeping score, the larger squares measure 3cm x 3cm, and the smaller squares are 2cm x 2cm. They are mounted on cream A6 cards. My absolute favourite one so far is the top left panel (second from the left in this picture). It reminds me so much of rich fire. This is the only panel which is unvarnished - the rest have a gloss finish.

Watch this space!

Flower and Star Card Toppers (31 August 2009)

I made this flower card topper for my friend Nicola's birthday. I love the bright colours, and using a thin log as a frame (with mitres) helps to set it off very well.

The star card toppers were made from the scrap clay from the canes used for the Purple Millefiori Cats. Again, using a contrasting frame really helps to bring it together, and I will now try this technique with some of the abstract panels I've designed.

We visited the Paper Mill Shop in Burneside near Kendal a few days ago, and I stocked up on a great range of A5 colourful cards. I am planning to design a range of handmade cards with polymer clay toppings, in A7 and A6 sizes. My preference is very much for simple cards without much frippery, so that's what I'll be making!

30th Birthday Card Topper (28 August 2009)

This is the card I made for my friend Jo. I had some scrap clay left over from the Spotty Cats, so I used the metallic blue as a background, and then twisted the pink and the blue together into a stripey snake log. Once the log was thin enough, I made the number 30 out of it, and also cut out some tiny hearts from mixed pink and blue clay using a small cutter.

I then applied a border round the panel using the the rest of the stripey log, and used mitre cuts to get the corners right. A coat of satin varnish followed, and then I mounted the panel onto matching blue card, and stuck the resultant larger panel into a square aperture card using double sided sticky tape.

The panel measures 4.5cm wide x 4cm high.

Green Landscapes (25 August 2009)

(4cm x 4cm, 4cm x 2cm) I've spent a lot of time working in reds, purples and blues, and whilst I love these rich colours, I felt the need to try something new yesterday. And so I mixed up four different shades of green and blended them together. I love three dimensional effects that can be achieved by using distinct shades, and I am looking forward to experimenting more with these.

(4cm diameter) The green moon disc worked out very well, and the shapes lent themselves very well to a round shape. These designs would work very well set in jewellery, as well as card toppers, and varnishing will help give them extra depth. I also want to experiment with translucent clay, as the effects from this can be rather interesting.

Red Landscapes (25 August 2009)

(Each 4cm x 4cm) With the scrap clay left over from the rose cat, I experimented with creating marbled abstract landscapes. I'm pleased with how these have turned out, although the colours are perhaps a bit too close in shade to create a really powerful image.

I am keen to use these as card toppers, but I think they need to be framed in some way to be efective. Putting them in aperture cards would work best, perhaps with a constrasting card frame, so it looks like a miniature picture.

Wire Tree (12 August 2009)

So I followed an urge yesterday and starting playing around with the florists' wire I had picked up from Craftwise in town the day before. I spent a number of hours trying things out (including soldering - more practice needed there, methinks), and ended up with this.

I have been wanting to make a tree for some time now, although my initial thought was to make it with polymer clay. I cut equal lengths of the wire, 16 in all, and then used jewellers' pliers to curl each end. I then bound all the wires together using a high gauge black wire, and arranged the branches to create an abstract tree shape. I twisted two or three of the roots together to create a stand. Whilst the tree looked good just like that, I felt it needed something more, and after a false start with some dyed moss (the kind you use for model railway landscapes), I ended up making leaves out of beads.

I threaded two different shades of green seed beads on very fine gauge gold wire. Then I wound the 'stem' of each leaf onto the curled tip of each branch, putting two leaves on a few of them. There are 20 leaves in total. I then added three 'apples' by using red wooden beads. It was quite fiddly to do, and next time Iwill experiment with attaching the leaves and fruits before binding the wires together.

The tree itself stands approximately 12cms tall, and about 10cm wide.

Abstract Purple Landscape (6 August 2009)

(6cm x 6cm) I mounted this abstract panel (which bears a passing resemblance to Munch's The Scream) in a triple fold aperture card for my cousin Hannah's wedding. The original plan was to use one of the purple landscape panels, but this turned out so well that I decided to use this.

Once I had selected all the useful bits for the other panels (see below), I gathered up the scrap clay and pressed it together. Then on a whim I decided to see what would happen if I rolled out the scrap clay, and this was the amazing result! The actual rolled out panel was quite large (at least twice the size it is now), and so I used the aperture to select the best pattern and trimmed a square to fit the card aperture. After 4 coats of matt varnish, the piece was finished and I stuck it into the aperture using double sided sticky tape. Although the panel is quite large, because it is only 1-2mm thick, it is relatively light and works well in a card. I will be working more with this technique in the very near future.

Purple Moonscapes Nos 1, 2 & 3 (6 August 2009)

No 1 (5cm x 2cm) After the initial landscape attempts, I had lots of wonderful snippets of interesting patterns left over. I spent about 2 hours experimenting with different effects, and then three panels looked as though they were moonscapes as highlights of colour appeared.

So I added a tiny ball of pale clay and rolled it out as carefully as possible, to avoid distortion of the circle. These will make great card toppers or small pictures - with this technique, I have managed to create a painted effect similar to encaustic art which I just love.

No 2 (2.5cm x 2.5cm) This nearly didn't make it as a finished panel because the disc became very distorted when I rolled it out. By this time, the clay was over-conditioned, and on a number of occasions I had to put the clay in the fridge to cool it down. Here, I pulled the edges of the panel to correct the distortion, and at the last minute I decided to bake it and see how it turned out. I rather like the effect of not having completely square edges.

No 3 (3.5cm x 1.7cm) By this time, the useable panels were getting smaller and smaller, but I wanted to experiment with putting tree shapes into the landscape. Here, I added a couple of tiny strands of scrap clay, one of which was slightly twisted, and then hand rolled them lightly into the panel. I think the effect is a little chunky for the size of panel, and I'm working on ways to incorporate inclusions to suggest detailed and delicate landscape features.

Purple Landscapes Nos 1, 2 & 3 (6 August 2009)

(No 1 - 5cm x 4.5cm) I have had a lot of fun experimenting with marbling techniques and hand-rolling. After my first forays into this area last week, I wanted to have more control over layering colours.

In this first attempt, I mixed four shades of purple and then started with a layer of the palest shade. In this panel, you can only see three shades, as hand-rolling the panels distorted the panels more than I had anticipated. Where the colours were not completely mixed, there is a pleasing marbling effect which adds to the overall painted effect. Rolling each layer down to about 2mm thickness was quite hard work, and the panels never seemed to go where I intended, which added to the fun of it! After layering all four colours, I then looked for the best part of the pattern and trimmed it accordingly.

(No 2 - 3.5cm x 3cm) As a result of trimming the rolled out clay, this threw up a number of additional panels, and I had a great time sifting through the scraps and finding attractive patterns to use again.

(No 3 - 3.3cm x 2.6cm) I loved this effect which I achieved because the clay was being stretched very thin, leaching out some of the colour. So the dark bands at the bottom of this panel are in fact the same purple as the dark bands in Nos 1 & 2.