Exciting times and new ideas

The month of May was very busy and truly exciting for me as an artist. I was invited to be showcased in Portland, Oregon by Raw Natural Born Artists on the 24th. I had such a great time and would gladly do it again. I met so many wonderful people and made some great contacts that night. A few sales really rounded out the evening for me. I couldn't have done it without the help of my great Sister though. She was so helpful and I know I would've gotten lost in Portland without her.

A week ago I was accepted into the Creator's Gallery and Studio in Jacksonville, Oregon. I'm  honored to be included with many other talented Artists there. I'll be working there a couple times a month as well. In fact, my first day will be tomorrow and I can't wait.

I've decided to challenge myself by creating a true to life size floral arrangement. It's been quite the adventure but I'm making progress everyday. This won't be  your typical floral arrangement either but you'll have to wait until it's finished to see what I mean. Here are a couple of flowers I made so far.

Polymer clay Polar Bear

It's been raining here and looks like winter again outside. Perfect weather for staying inside and creating something. I started this polar bear since winter seems to be back here in Oregon. I was thinking maybe mounting him on an iceberg but haven't quite decided that yet. He still needs some detail work but he's coming along nicely.

I love working with polymer clay, it's so relaxing to me. I would love to be able to work with some real clay but that requires alot more equipment and investment than I can accomplish right now. Someday I'll give that a whirl though. For now, polymer clay will do.

Polymer Clay Salmon Sculpture

The finished Salmon sculpture. I need to seal it but I think it came out pretty good. I'm sure my Dad will love it.

It's a rainy day here today so I think I'll just hang out and see what I can create. I've got a few ideas but nothing concrete as of yet. Maybe I'll just read my new Polymer Arts magazine instead and give one the new techniques in there a whirl. The silk dyed polymer article looks interesting. Have you read this magazine yet? It's fantastic and chock full of information for all polymer clay Artists. I love it and I'm sure you will too.

Father's Day Sculpture

 I'm currently working on a Father's Day gift and wanted to share my progress with you. My Dad loves fishing especially for Salmon, so I decided to try and create a Salmon sculpture for him. Now you would think that a fish would be easy to make right? That's what I thought too but boy was I wrong. It seems the simple shape isn't truly that simple to recreate.

Unlike this little Chipmunk the salmon has no fuzzy tail or cute hands to distract from any design flaws and that's what makes it difficult. Nonetheless, I did enjoy sculpting this fish and hope my Dad will love it.

I've been out of the studio for so long it sure felt good to get back to creating again. I really missed the feel of clay in my hands. I know that sounds strange but I truly love what I do. I'll be revamping my Etsy shop in the next few days and adding some new things,so be sure to watch for that.

I had a great time up in Portland at the Raw Artists showcase,sold some pieces and met some awesome people. The contacts I made were incredible. One in particular, was Amy Roloff from the Tv show "Little People, Big World". She is so funny and has a big heart. Every September on her birthday she hosts a huge charity event to help children. Check out her site here. http://amyroloffcharityfoundation.org/  It's such a worthy cause and run by an incredible lady. I donated an Orchid necklace and will be making something special for the silent auction. I would encourage anyone to check out Raw as it's well worth the effort to become a Raw Artist.

Good Morning, I'm so happy to be back and feeling better. I'm ready to get some videos going for this blog and am very excited to share with everyone. I plan on making 1 a week. I guess we'll be learning things together as there are tons of things I've seen on the internet that I want to try myself as well as some of my own techniques. I hope you'll check in often to see what you can learn. It's going to be fun and maybe a little crazy too! Just wanted to give you a little update and let you know that I'm back so get your polymer clay ready and let's have some fun. Ok, off to clean my workspace and make a video...

I'm home and the surgery went well this morning. For those of you who didn't know I had my gallbladder removed today. I'll be taking some time to recover and will post when I can. I did manage to figure out my camera for the video tutorials while I was up last night so something good came from being nervous about the procedure. I should be back on my feet in no time but for now a pain pill is calling me. Have a beautiful day!

Ultra Solvy on Clay

I just found the most awesome way to get something on a piece of clay. Some of you might already have tried this but for me it's a new concept. I had some left over ultra solvy from my sewing days and thought I'd give it a try on clay. Yeah! It works like a charm. Draw something on paper and place the ultra solvy over it and trace with a black permanent marker. Lift it off the original drawing and press it into the clay with the marker side down. Then soak the clay in water (warm water works best) until the paper dissolves and you'll have a perfect transfer to work with. I'm making a key and earring set using this method and will post some pictures when it's done today. Oh happy day, I've found another way to use an image with clay!

Here's the Key I made using this technique. Not too bad for a first attempt. I used the top portion of the key drawing to make the earrings. Super simple!

Follow me on facebook

How to make a Polymer Clay Sand Dollar

Hello and welcome to my little studio here at Irrysistable Jewels :)
I’m working on a new polymer clay necklace to add to my Etsy store and thought I’d take a breather and teach you how to make a Sand Dollar out of clay. It’s easy and anyone can do it! Nothing in nature is identical so only happy accidents can happen, therefore you can do this one without fear.
First you’ll need some polymer clay. I personally use sculpey but any clay would work. I’ll be exploring the different kinds of polymer in the near future. Make sure your clay is well conditioned and ready by working it in the palms of your hands until it is soft and malleable.
As far as tools go, you can use whatever works best for you. I started out with only a pocket knife and a toothpick but my dear Husband bought me some carving tools for Christmas, so I have graduated to using those now. I’m a firm believer in using whatever you can find that will give you the effect that you’re looking for though and have used some pretty unconventional items in my creations.
Pinch off enough clay to form the size of Sand Dollar you’re thinking of and form that into a small ball. Create one more small ball  and flatten both out until they are pretty close to the same size. Don’t worry about the edges at this point. No need for a perfect circle here.

Now with whatever you chose for a tool, I am using a clay stylus here, create the little star flower shape on the top of one of the circles. Usually there are five petals and smaller petals inside those, but this is your Sand Dollar so be creative here if you’d like. I created little dots in the center of mine with the stylus.

carve the 5 petal design into the the clay but not all the way through, just enough to indent it

Now take the Sand Dollar you just marked and dome the underside a little. You can do this with just your finger. Just a small dome though as Sand Dollars are not flat and not extremely puffy either.

Use either your finger tip or a ball stylus to gently dome the clay you just carved

Attach the other flattened circle to the bottom of the domed piece and carefully pinch the seams together until the seams disappear.

pinch the seams gently until they disappear, your dome will flatten a bitcut out the holes through both layers carefully trying not to disturb the imprints

Very carefully, with a razor blade or sharp pick, cutout the holes through both layers. A little tricky to do without messing up the top but just be gentle with it and you’ll have a gorgeous Sand Dollar. At this point, you could add anything you’d like to the top, like stones or crystals. Make an indention as big as the stone and glue the stone in after the baking process or leave the stone in place and anchor it with more clay. Either way works, but I find that taking the stone out and glueing it back into place shows more of the gem and it’s my preference.
I’m not sure how most people go

Add paint,glitter or indentations for stones. Whatever you want at this point, it is Your Sand Dollar and should reflect your own personal style

about this next phase but personally I like to paint my pieces before I bake them. At this stage  you can add some glitter,paint or more texture. I added some pearl paint, a little copper glitter and a slight dusting of peach powder to this one. When you’re happy with the outcome, pop it in the oven on 275 degrees(if you are using sculpey clay, check the type of clay for the instructions on baking what you are using as all are a little different) for about 35 minutes.
I will typically add more details to mine after it’s taken out of the oven until I get the desired effect and then cook it again. I like to seal my pieces with a clay sealant before I add any embellishments like gems, or stones.  Let your piece dry and set before adding it to any jewelry components. I am so impatient, I had to learn this the hard way!
I’d love to see your  finished Sand Dollars. I’m hoping to do many more this year and I promise I’ll get better at them. Maybe I will learn to do a video as well in the near future. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have fun making your own Sand Dollar. I’ll post my finished necklace as soon as it’s finished so you can see how I used my sand dollar in Jewelry.