Sanding and Finishing

Once again, it's been awhile since I've updated anything here. It seemed that every time I would go to make something, there was an item I needed that I didn't have or it had to be sanded and that was getting tedious.  Also, the results were not as consistent as I would like.  So, I have been collecting supplies and looking for better and easier ways to sand... and learning more cool techniques in the mean time! 

I finally found what promises to be a great way to sand using my Dremel. I think I have everything I need now.  I just need to get it all put together.  I couldn't seem to find quite the same things that others had used, but I improvised and, and after a test run before running out to buy a bunch of stuff, I think it's going to work!  I plan to really put it to the test tomorrow.  I still need a rock tumbler for sanding round or odd-shaped beads, but I will be getting that soon. I've been looking at them and pricing them.

Another thing on my list is a UV oven and the UV resin to go with it.  Some items just require that kind of finish, like my parrot earrings. 

Parrots, using mica shift technique,
unfinished right out of the oven.

One of the parrots, sanded, buffed, and a glaze added.
If you look closely, you can see bubbles in the glaze.

These were just an experiment to try out a technique that I thought might work for them and I liked the way they turned out… except for the finishing!  Oh, and the fact that they are a bit long.  I had adjusted the pattern size, but it seems to have disappeared when I moved everything into my studio which I am still trying to get organized in between flurries of creativity, doctor appointments, and the everyday hustle and bustle of life.  Hopefully, I will have located the pattern by the time I get the UV oven!  

Who knew that there was so much involved in making quality polymer clay jewelry!?!  Well, obviously, some people did, but, equally obviously, I wasn’t among them!  I’ve learned an awful lot from following Cindy Lietz, the Polymer Clay Tutor, and proper sanding and finishing is one of the things I have learned.  More than once, she has shown the difference between an unsanded item and one that has been properly sanded and finished.  It is amazing!  I definitely want to turn out quality work and I think I’m about to the point that I can consistently do that.

Stay tuned…

A Peek at What I've Been Doing

Well, I haven't been updating this like I had planned! Of course, it's not like there is nothing else going on in my life! It didn't take long after opening my store to realize that I really needed a studio to work in. Trying to create at the dining room table just wasn't cutting it. Not long after that realization, my mom announced that she was moving to my brother's house. Even though that meant a reduced income for us (she was paying her part for living here), it meant an empty bedroom which translated into a studio for me! I think she is happy with the move, although she is still getting settled. I am happy with my studio, although I am still getting settled! I have plans to make it a really cute and creative space. It's slowly starting to come together.

Another interruption in my life was the refinancing of our house.  We had some projects that needed to be moved along in preparation for the appraisal. It was a lot of work and there was dust everywhere, but we got it done to the point that we could have the appraisal, the appraiser was pleased, and we were able to close just before Christmas.  Unfortunately, that meant I still didn't--and don't--have much in my store.

A friend gave me a couple of little storage cabinets--the kind with drawers in them that are usually used for nails and screws and such.  What a blessing that was!  They were just exactly what I was wanting!  I still need to organize things a little better, but I finally have my workspace cleared off so that I can actually make some things. I'm a happy camper!

So, what have I been making?  I recreated a little Christmas tree that I had done years ago and made it better. I also learned to make kumihimo braids which is what the little tree is on. I enjoyed wearing it, but didn't have enough time to make any to sell. They will be available for next Christmas or can be special ordered at any  time.

I learned to make faux jasper and did some pieces in blue. I still haven't decided exactly what I am going to do with them, but I think they are kind of cool.

Then, I decided to finally try my hand at making sweet pea blossoms. I had already prepared the clay but just hadn't mustered up the courage to really give it a try until recently. I decided to make some earrings for my mother-in-law:

And a necklace for my mom:

The cord on Mom's necklace is also a kumihimo braid.

I learned another technique for creating color blends just yesterday and made this fun set for myself:

Once again, the cord is a kumihimo braid. The only parts of this set that are not completely hand-crafted are the earwires and the lobster claw clasp. I even made the cord end caps!

So, that's where I'm at.  Items similar to the above will be available in the store soon. You can always contact me for a special order if you see something you like. I may not be able to make an identical piece, but can come close.

Thanks for stopping by!

Grand Opening!

After another week of work and running back and forth to Hobby Lobby for supplies (I'm sure glad it's close by!), my Etsy store is now open as you can see by the pictures at the top of the page.

I got the chicken earrings done and found that an interesting experience.  I decided to make them entirely of clay rather than painting them as I had done in the past.  Making the body wasn't a big deal.  Roll out some pink clay and start cutting.  Well, okay... for starters, I couldn't find my pattern.  I have no idea where the book is that these patterns came from.  Probably buried in the garage somewhere!  I also have no idea what happened to the pattern itself.  I used quilter's template vinyl to make the patterns and I have a lot of them stored in my craft box, but the ones for the "Critters" aren't with the rest.  So, I used one of the other earrings that I had made previously as a pattern.  I also couldn't find my quilter's template vinyl to make a new one, so ended up going to JoAnn's to get some because Hobby Lobby didn't have any that I could find. Fortunately, they are right across the street from each other these days.  Since I had already used one of the other earrings as a pattern, I already had those in production.

The feet and hat were a little more of a challenge. I cut them from yellow clay and then carefully stuck them to the body.  I wasn't sure they would stay and later found out about some liquid polymer clay that can be used to join pieces.  I got some, but it was already too late for that project!  They did stick, though, so all is well.

The polka dots were another challenge.  I was going to put little dots of white clay on and then press a smaller dot of blue clay on top.  I changed my mind and made a very simple cane.  A cane is clay that has been formed into a shape, then wrapped with more clay to create a long, usually tubular shaped piece that has a design in it.  It can then be sliced and baked to make beads or other items.  You'll be seeing more of that sort of thing in upcoming pieces.  So, I made a "snake" of blue, then wrapped it with white to create the cane.  I then sliced off some very thin pieces to make the polka dots.  They turned out sort of wonky, but that is part of the charm of these cute roosters!

Once they were out of the oven, I sanded and polished them.  Then, I had to decide about the eyes.  I finally decided to paint them.  When they were dry, I coated them with acrylic to seal them and give them a nice shine.  I discovered that it is best to do several thin coats, allowing dry time in between.

It was finally time to attach the findings.  Once again, I went about things a bit differently than I had done before, mostly just to try out other processes.  I had put a hole in the rooster's hat and needed to attach a jump ring because I couldn't just attach it to the earwire.  Previously, I had put an eye headpin into the top of the hat to attach the earwire to.  I'm not sure yet, but I think I prefer that method and will probably do that most of the time in the future.  However, my headpins, like so many other things, were MIA.  I have been to Hobby Lobby yet again and now have a supply of headpins as well as a third size of jump rings!  I got the earwires attached and was finally able to take pictures.  With the pictures done, I could actually open my store!

Whew!  I forgot how long it can actually take to make a piece!  A lot of that time is baking and drying time, but it makes the process for some of the pieces pretty lengthy, especially if it is necessary to bake pieces then attach other pieces and rebake.  For many of these pieces, it is not a quick, do it in an hour type project!  But, it is loads of fun to see them taking shape!

I'll share stories of other pieces in future posts.  And there are more pieces in the works, along with a few custom items.  Stay tuned!

Welcome!

Who knew it would take this long to open an Etsy store? I have a few pieces of jewelry that I made several years ago to sell, but I never sold these particular pieces. It should be easy enough to get that set up, right?

Wrong!!! First, I had to come with a name. Thanks to all my Dressing Your Truth friends on Facebook for helping me with that!

Then, it was time to set up my store. I went to Etsy and created an account. I have a lot of experience with computers, the internet, setting up websites, filling out forms, and that sort of thing. Let me tell you... Etsy does not make things easy! When it asked for my shop name, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to put spaces or not.  From what I had seen and read, I presumed they didn't want spaces. Then, I wondered, "What if they did?"  So, I tried putting spaces and it wouldn't let me. Whew! I saved it and moved to the next step.

List my items?  Already???  I wasn't quite ready for that, so I looked at the bar across the top of the page to see what the next step was.   "Get Paid".  Hmmm... How do I get paid when I don't have anything listed?  I clicked on it anyway.  Oh!!!  It's for HOW to get paid!  Well, why didn't they say so???  I proceeded to fill out the information.

Today, when I was looking at the steps again, I happened to leave my mouse hovering over one of the steps and discovered that there was a pop up box that explained what that step was for. Now, why did they feel they had to be cute with the step names instead of just saying in plain English what it was for?  Can you tell I'm a little annoyed?  I guess that's what happens when you are feeling a little stressed at how long something is taking!

The final step is "Billing".  When I had first looked at it, I thought maybe that was the one where I would enter the information for how I was to get paid, but since I had already done that step, I knew that wasn't it.  I clicked on it and discovered I was to enter my credit card information so they could collect their fees.  Simple enough.  So, I did that.

Now, it was time to go back to "List Items".  I needed pictures of my pieces.  I looked them over carefully to see what was worthy of selling. Several items had spots of paint on them that wasn't supposed to be there.  I cleaned them up, but I couldn't get all of the paint spots off of some of them.  I picked out the ones that looked the best and took some pictures. I didn't have a good location.  The lighting was bad.  What I chose to display them on wasn't great.  I wasn't happy.  It was late, so I decided to try again the next day in daylight.

Meanwhile, I had been collecting supplies and watching some tutorials to see how I could improve my work.  I had done very little with colored clay in the past.  Most of my items are made with white clay that I painted after it was baked.  I had made some dainty little roses with colored clay and they turned out nicely.  I can't remember what I was going to make with them, so I'll have to think of something!  The tutorials inspired me to try some new things.  I made several trips to Hobby Lobby to take advantage of their 40% off coupon and found out the clay I wanted to use was on sale this week!  That meant fewer trips!

I made a couple more goes at the pictures and still wasn't happy.  Every little flaw showed and I found some that I hadn't noticed before!  I was probably being too picky, especially since I'm not asking a big price for these items, but I don't like selling inferior quality and after looking at some of the other offerings on Etsy and watching the tutorials, I felt I could do better.  I wanted to do better.

I got out my unfinished pieces and started sanding to smooth them out a little before painting them and broke a little piece off of the first one!  I have some other broken pieces, too, so I decided there must be something wrong with the clay.  Either I didn't bake it long enough or the clay itself was too soft to begin with.  I think it was probably the latter.  The little roses are made of a different brand of clay and seem very sturdy even though they are quite delicate looking.  I need to make new pieces and that will take a some time, depending on how elaborate they are.  I don't want to sell something only to have it arrive broken or break when a customer goes to wear it.  That causes unhappy customers and I want happy customers!

So, I am going to be working on some new pieces.  It may be a few more days before my shop is open.  Thanks for your support!  I will keep you updated here on my progress!