Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Friday, April 6, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
working on.... (part deux)
this is a piece i put together really late at night (god bless insomnia!) i'm not entirely sure that i'm happy with it, i think i'll be working on it a little more to get it to hang the way i want it to.
this is also the first piece that i made using my clay transfer process - which i still havn't perfected, but more on that later.
the image (which i got off of a piece of paper i bought at michaels) got a little mucked up in transfer - but i actually like how rough it looks.
i added some jasper and amber/goldish beads to teh chain, which gives it a nice heft (again, i like heavy jewelery)
i'm fairly proud of this piece - it's a little more funky than some of the stuff that i make, but it lays just so nicely on the collarbone - who could say no to that??
like it? want it? buy it!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5514625
this is also the first piece that i made using my clay transfer process - which i still havn't perfected, but more on that later.
the image (which i got off of a piece of paper i bought at michaels) got a little mucked up in transfer - but i actually like how rough it looks.
i added some jasper and amber/goldish beads to teh chain, which gives it a nice heft (again, i like heavy jewelery)
i'm fairly proud of this piece - it's a little more funky than some of the stuff that i make, but it lays just so nicely on the collarbone - who could say no to that??
like it? want it? buy it!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5514625
working on....
jingly charm style bracelets seem to be all the rage, so i played around with some heavy glass beads on a silver plated chain.
made using pin heads and then making twisted loops to attach. i haven't quite mastered the art of twisting the bead right onto the chain - which alot of people do - so i add a jump ring to attach it to the chain. i actually like the extra movement that it gives to the piece. it is really heavy - which i enjoy in bracelets. i like to know i'm wearing the jewelery - but i might be in the minority there.
it's a simple piece really, but one that has alot of fun to it. my favorite is the little elephant ceramic bead that i found in the bottom of a drawer - never know what you'll find until you clean out the junk drawer!
like it? want it? buy it!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5514595
made using pin heads and then making twisted loops to attach. i haven't quite mastered the art of twisting the bead right onto the chain - which alot of people do - so i add a jump ring to attach it to the chain. i actually like the extra movement that it gives to the piece. it is really heavy - which i enjoy in bracelets. i like to know i'm wearing the jewelery - but i might be in the minority there.
it's a simple piece really, but one that has alot of fun to it. my favorite is the little elephant ceramic bead that i found in the bottom of a drawer - never know what you'll find until you clean out the junk drawer!
like it? want it? buy it!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5514595
Sunday, March 4, 2007
More Victories...
So i've been playing around with the printing process - with much help from Jenny Lisa. I 'stole' some of her images off of www.drivebyphotography.com and used them to play around with printmaking.
my favorite of the day...
Jenny's friend becky after an uber sexy photoshoot...
still needs some trimming and some more scrubbing, but on the whole, very nicely done and i'm happy with it.
i also played around with one of Jenny's favorite images...
i think i'm going to try color tinting that one, once i get it compleatly clean and ready to go. should be very interesting.
and then finally - i trimmed down the taj print (my first real sucess) and mounted it on a 'make your own book' kit. It's not perfect, but it will be a good gift for jenny. (did i mention she got me out of the blind date from hell??)
i do need to work a bit on my photography - the pictures are coming out a little wonky - which could just be because of the fact that i've got so much crap in my studio right now that i can't get the tripoid to level properly. today the mission is: CLEAN!
so, i'm off to enjoy that, enjoy the pretty pretty pictures in my absence.
my favorite of the day...
Jenny's friend becky after an uber sexy photoshoot...
still needs some trimming and some more scrubbing, but on the whole, very nicely done and i'm happy with it.
i also played around with one of Jenny's favorite images...
i think i'm going to try color tinting that one, once i get it compleatly clean and ready to go. should be very interesting.
and then finally - i trimmed down the taj print (my first real sucess) and mounted it on a 'make your own book' kit. It's not perfect, but it will be a good gift for jenny. (did i mention she got me out of the blind date from hell??)
i do need to work a bit on my photography - the pictures are coming out a little wonky - which could just be because of the fact that i've got so much crap in my studio right now that i can't get the tripoid to level properly. today the mission is: CLEAN!
so, i'm off to enjoy that, enjoy the pretty pretty pictures in my absence.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Victory is Mine!!
So, after almost eight hours and so many variations i can't keep my head straight - i have found a clay printing process that works!
that was try number 1. I tried Fimo clay for the first time, basically cause it was on sale at michael's. (no harm in watching the budget :) ) I did the same process, which was to roll out the clay with my trusy rolling pin (next purchase: pasta machine!) and then applied the soaked printed image to the clay and baking it according to directions.
needless to say, it didn't look right.
there were two things i did different from how i did the previous pendants.
1- different clay
2 - printed vs. photocopied image.
so i decided to try with the Sculpty clay, because i had been able to make that work the night before:
and well, besides the fact that i broke the piece trying to take the paper off, still DIDN"T WORK!!
try three was with a different image, on Fimo clay, with a photocopied image
again, spotty image. At this point, i'm getting angry because it worked last night!
So i decide to try one last time on Fimo clay with a photocoped image. This time, instead of just using my fingers, i rolled the image into the clay, really applying some elbow grease. (more for the fact that i needed just a little bit more trim than anything else)
when it popped out of the oven... voila!
a perfect copy of Jenny Lisa's Taj photograph. You can even see the guy running in front of the fountain! how cool is that???!!!
so, after many many many tries and many many packages of clay (i really need to buy stock :)) i have found a method that works!
1- Photocopy Image
2 - Roll out Clay
3 - Cut out image and dip in H20
4- Place image over clay, roll with rolling pin
5 - trim off major excess
6 - bake per directions
7 - let clay cool
8 - Scrub back layer of paper off (don't pull, scrub!)
and then you end up with a nice clear dark images!
i played around with making some stamp pendants, but i forgot to print them backwards, so they came out funny, but i'm proud anyways!
and that is how it's done! yay!!
that was try number 1. I tried Fimo clay for the first time, basically cause it was on sale at michael's. (no harm in watching the budget :) ) I did the same process, which was to roll out the clay with my trusy rolling pin (next purchase: pasta machine!) and then applied the soaked printed image to the clay and baking it according to directions.
needless to say, it didn't look right.
there were two things i did different from how i did the previous pendants.
1- different clay
2 - printed vs. photocopied image.
so i decided to try with the Sculpty clay, because i had been able to make that work the night before:
and well, besides the fact that i broke the piece trying to take the paper off, still DIDN"T WORK!!
try three was with a different image, on Fimo clay, with a photocopied image
again, spotty image. At this point, i'm getting angry because it worked last night!
So i decide to try one last time on Fimo clay with a photocoped image. This time, instead of just using my fingers, i rolled the image into the clay, really applying some elbow grease. (more for the fact that i needed just a little bit more trim than anything else)
when it popped out of the oven... voila!
a perfect copy of Jenny Lisa's Taj photograph. You can even see the guy running in front of the fountain! how cool is that???!!!
so, after many many many tries and many many packages of clay (i really need to buy stock :)) i have found a method that works!
1- Photocopy Image
2 - Roll out Clay
3 - Cut out image and dip in H20
4- Place image over clay, roll with rolling pin
5 - trim off major excess
6 - bake per directions
7 - let clay cool
8 - Scrub back layer of paper off (don't pull, scrub!)
and then you end up with a nice clear dark images!
i played around with making some stamp pendants, but i forgot to print them backwards, so they came out funny, but i'm proud anyways!
and that is how it's done! yay!!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
A few bits...
Ok, so i'm double posting...
one... this is what i'm working on jewelery wise right now...
it's a really simple process, but it took me almost four hours to figure it out! how dumb is Eury? Basically, i decided i wanted to try to print onto baked sculpty clay. I started by trying to do a reverse print, which is where you put a printed image upside down on non baked clay and rub the backing off. This is really tricky and after about 20 trys, i mastered it.
now, the image is nice and sharp and darker than later versions. The problem is that the success rate on this is like 1 in 20. The printed image is really hard to keep together and while it does give a nice antique look, it's almost impossible to get it to transfer well.
now the version that i'll probably end up working with is this;
it's a little hmm i don't know, the black ink turned a faded butcher block blue which is a nice effect but not exactly what i wanted. This was done by laying the wet paper image on top of the unbaked clay and baking it. It takes a little longer to bake then reccommended, but the image does transfer a little cleaner, if faded. It's also really important to weigh down the paper and clay as the water tends to make it warp.
the other problem is that the images don't always transfer compleatly.
i really like the image and i like the over all effect, but it's missing something... what? i don't really know!
i'll be spending a large portion of tonight playing around trying to get better images. My friend Jenny Lisa gave me some shots she took in India that i'm going to be playing with in an attempt to make book covers...
i'll keep you updated. more tomorrow on that!
also... another postsecret tid bit...
isn't that just oh so true?
one... this is what i'm working on jewelery wise right now...
it's a really simple process, but it took me almost four hours to figure it out! how dumb is Eury? Basically, i decided i wanted to try to print onto baked sculpty clay. I started by trying to do a reverse print, which is where you put a printed image upside down on non baked clay and rub the backing off. This is really tricky and after about 20 trys, i mastered it.
now, the image is nice and sharp and darker than later versions. The problem is that the success rate on this is like 1 in 20. The printed image is really hard to keep together and while it does give a nice antique look, it's almost impossible to get it to transfer well.
now the version that i'll probably end up working with is this;
it's a little hmm i don't know, the black ink turned a faded butcher block blue which is a nice effect but not exactly what i wanted. This was done by laying the wet paper image on top of the unbaked clay and baking it. It takes a little longer to bake then reccommended, but the image does transfer a little cleaner, if faded. It's also really important to weigh down the paper and clay as the water tends to make it warp.
the other problem is that the images don't always transfer compleatly.
i really like the image and i like the over all effect, but it's missing something... what? i don't really know!
i'll be spending a large portion of tonight playing around trying to get better images. My friend Jenny Lisa gave me some shots she took in India that i'm going to be playing with in an attempt to make book covers...
i'll keep you updated. more tomorrow on that!
also... another postsecret tid bit...
isn't that just oh so true?
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