Fun with clay

July turned out to be an incredibly busy month. That left me with little time to blog and share with you what I've been up to. Between custom orders in my shop and squeezing in a camping trip, I've been making lots of new polymer clay beads. There are the old favorites - bunnies, birds, and bright colors, but I've also had a little adventure making more rustic beads. I love, love, love rustic beads and have always leaned towards that style in my beads.

Let's start with cute and colorful. Besides bunny beads, I've started making a new style - guinea pigs!

 

 

And since we've had a few delightfully Autumnal days already here in England, I couldn't resist making a few Autumn pieces. The little birds remind me of apples. They're luscious apple green with touches of russet and flecks of yellow for a mottled look. Like real ripe apples!

 

These next ones have beautiful colors like Autumn leaves. They were made to resemble batik prints and vibrant silks. The first pair has a bright yellow base with rust red and a bold splash of black.

The second pair is lime green with a touch of acid yellow and rust red. They're both printed with floral filigree designs and perfectly lightweight for earrings.

And now for those rustic beads I promised! Not only have I been making beads, but I've caught a bit of a bug for headpins, and connectors...and chandeliers, and just about anything I can make out of clay! I had my first try at a double sided bead. Again with that beautiful floral filigree print, but this time with dark, rich colors - purples, blues, and raspberry reds.

The headpins  have been lots of fun to make. The possibilities seem endless, and I love the organic shapes. They're all on solid brass wire. The second pair below is one of my favorites. The colors are subtle, but there's something deliciously earthy about them. They remind me of little chunks of wood covered in moss. I've printed them with Celtic-styled swirls and circles. I can just imagine a little fairy carving them long ago...

 

These headpins are a little bit different. They have a similar floral filigree print, but I've added a brass metal coating to these and just a hint of color with bright red and yellow.

 

Ok, I know this is probably a picture overload at this point, but I promise I'm almost done! I've been playing with new techniques. I had this idea to make some little donut beads with printed sides. I came up with these faux ivory beads. They have shades of brown, orange, and touches of mossy green to resemble old, worn pillars or pottery.

These last few beads all came from the same idea. I love the combination of blue and brown, and since I've had birds on the brain recently, I had to make some nests. This first one says "whisper" above the eggs.

 

I made a few Southwester styled pieces with simple carvings and patterns. This is one of them - a pair of rustic daisy chandeliers.

 

Phew! That's not everything, but some of my favorites. I hope you liked them too!