Black & White Challege is Challenging Indeed :)

Members of the Philippine Polymer Clay Guild agreed for a Bead Swap Challenge.

The challenge: We have to make 17 pcs. beads using only black and white clays…  

Sounds easy? Oh Yes!!!  So I signed up!

But I was wrong! lol

I am a bead maker, I enjoy making beads… but I hate working with black and white combination…

It’s really hard to keep the white clean! 

I was thinking of beads made of jelly roll cane..  The easiest I guess..

But the goal in having a swap is to challenge ourselves..

I have to make something new… something different…

So I tried different techniques…

I made canes using clay extruder.. and worked on my cane covered beads….

I sanded them but was not happy with the result.  

Failure!

 (lesson learned: when working with small beads, just try hard to hide the finger prints while they are still raw.. and keep your hands clean!)

Well I had the technique already so I thought I could do it again.

Then I had a FUN FUN FUN clay bonding with my clay friends and taught them how to make black and white petal canes using clay extruder…

With that, I assumed that we would have look-a-like beads.

And since I wanted something different, I tried other technique.

The photo transfer technique.

I transferred the image into the clay and added some black & white flowers… It looked good,

But when I added Kato clay and baked them…

the output? :Failure!

(lesson learned – it isn’t true that KCM bakes @ 160 degrees, 140 degrees would be fine. well in my oven i guess)

Here are the other beads I made with the photo transfer technique.

They looked good.. but I was not happy…

Ahhhh… I was cramming… what should I do? This challenge is super challenging indeed!

Then I remember my flat beads, it would be nice to have flat beads with flowers on top of it...

It would look good in my little finger..

So I decided to make the flat beads. My clay friends know I love making flowers anyway…

Using the same canes, (I noticed that new kato clays are softer now… Out of topic! Lol!)

Anyway, using the same canes, I was able to make diff petal canes.

The output?:

I didn’t like the plain backing so I decided to put a little life to it by adding texture. I was happy with it though I left some signature stamps in there (that’s how Che calls the finger prints). Sigh!

I turned Jen’s extra bead and Ling’s into a ring using brass wire.

a closer look of my ring... i love it!

I was not happy with some of my beads, and wanted to make new ones, but I had a hand injury while working with my wired ring, so I just left it that way..  I hope you guys will love it!

The challenge was super stressful; some of the participants (including me) showed disappointments with their beads.  Still I had FUN.  I learned a lot! And I was able to get some more free stuff from the participants. Yeheyy!!

I wish others will join the next challenge. It’s a fun! fun! fun! learning experience.

Want to see what I am going to receive in return soon?

Ahhhhh ! They are sooooo adorable.. Can’t wait to hold them J and I keep reminding myself that I will only get one each!

Anyway… as I’ve said, I had a hand injury while working with the wired ring… this is it… the cute little thing in my finger...

My hand is ok now... ready to wire again!

Note: im a just a crafter not a writer... ;)

all wired collection

Lil Lody & Friends

As promised, i will post Lil Lody's pic once i finished her swing. and to give you a bonus, i also included her friends!

Nanay wants this setting... so i made it for her... but you can change the setting they way you want it... and you can move the characters depending on your mood.. well, except the lady in the Swing!;)

 i plan to put 2 kids in here... but the kids are scared of lolo sheldon and dont want to play in there yet... but they will soon discover that Lolo sheldon is a nice turtle and wants to play with cute lil kids...

Lil Lody's lolo and lola, having their cakes under the big and colorful umbrella.. they are also waiting for some friends to come and enjoy the fun sunny day, you see, thay have reserved one table for their friends...

 Julius, the lil brother is still with lil Lody and so with her other friend clara, who is waiting for her turn to ride on the colorful swing! of course julius will assist her too, and Lody will hold her roses for her while she plays.



                                      

 oh these two guys under the tree are Lil Lody's uncles... they asked Kim the waitress for 2 bottles of beer.. but sad to say, The Park Doesnt serve beer! so they just ordered juice drinks instead...  hey, where is the cute waitress in pink hat????

there you go! the waitress in pink hat... shes sooo pretty.... Julius got a crush on her, but she is tooo tall for him... shes taking additional orders from the two ...

now,a cute lil girl is trying toplay with lolo sheldon... u see... hes a nice turtle, i told you.. :)

here is another setting for my lil play ground... hope you like it...

100% handmade by Ms. Crafty....

Workshops!

I am a crafter.  I love everything about crafts... I collect papers and scissors and some basic art materials. I can sew; I’ve even sewn my own school uniform way back in college and so as my brother's uniform. when my friends decided to get bags with same design and I was struggling with budget that time, I offered to make the bags. My friends paid for the materials, and I made the bags for all of us… such cute bags that we carry with us. When I finished college and started working i used to accept jeans repairs from my officemates. I also made skirts and blouses. It was a big help since I was helping Marlon in college. Then I met Ms. Shirley. I introduced her into the world of paper crafting. We made lots of paper flowers, made some designs and sold into our office… and I must say I earned a lot; I even had my hair relaxed out from the paper flower earnings.  Then she introduced me into beading… I love love love beads! Nanay and I bought some beads to practice with and in less than a month we were able to sell our creations to our friends. Nanay is such a good jewelry designer… she makes customized bracelets, earrings, necklaces and rings out of beads, chains and other metal findings. But after few years of beading, we got bored. Beads are limited, which would mean limited designs… I had to find a way… we need to make some improvement with our designs.. I wished I can make my own beads…. Then I stumbled upon Beadlady’s website. I saw the pics of her polymer clay creations, and i fell in love with them! below are the pics of Angeli Sobrepena's creations.

Nice and yummy right? I learned that she conducts workshops! It costs P1,700 for 4 hours… quite pricey, and I wasn't sure if i would learn from it since I didn’t have any idea about this polymer clay thing. I enrolled. (bahala na si batman ika nga).

It was my first paid workshop (kuripot ako). Feed back? It was such a great experience! Angeli is a teacher! and she made me want to learn more! (Below are my workshop projects)

i was sooo happy with my new beads! gosh ! i can make my own beads now! i love flowers, and i am happy with how my pink rose came out! i tried making small roses for my cake, but it was hard... and after more practice, here are my after workshop creations.. :)

Did i improve a lot? oh yes.. :) though not as good as Angeli's yet. i am sooo happy.. by the way, the finished jewelries (with fresh water pearls) were made by my Nanay. i made the clays though :)

there are more room for improvement... im craving for more ideas, more techniques to learn i know.

And then i stumbled upon Rockybeads page. Again, i fell in love- with her creations, specially her customized lockets. Rocky Villegas Antonio is such a great artist. her designs are super nice, unique and one of a kind!  below are some shots of her works.

ahhhhh... couldnt help it... i need to learn those techniques! I needto meet the artist behind those projects! i wished she conducts workshops as well..... i waited few months, and when she opened her home for workshoppers, i enrolled right away!  it was quite pricey but i knew i will learn a lot! whats nice with Rocky's workshop, is that you'll choose what topics and projects you want to learn. Its a one-on -one workshop! a very detailed and hands- on . below are my workshop projects where i learned how to make swirls, image transfer and  stamping techniques. i also learned how to make other flowers aside from roses.. :)

i was sooo elated after the workshop... i learned a lot. every questions were answered, i met a great artist.. and gained a new friend! 

Inspired by her creations, i was able to make my own designs and improved my own jewelry pieces... below are my after worshop projects.

oh yes, i improved a lot! whats great with Rocky's workshop is that shes just a text away! if i have questions, i just text her and she answers. she shares tips and tricks generously.. shes such a great artist and a great teacher!

but learning doesnt stop there... i need to learn more... claying must not end with creating flowers, cakes, stamping and image transfer... i need to know how to make my own beads! as in beads! you know those kinda round thing that you can coil with wires and produce bracelets and earring out of them! not just an added accent to the jewelry piece, but a jewelry itself!

then here comes Jennifer Cuz of Purple Luggage. She is tagged as the cane queen of the Philippines :) she makes nice canes and makes nice beads... i love her canes... though there are lots of polymer clay cane tutorials in the internet, i still consider enrolling in her caning workshops.  whats good with workshops is that you can ask questions and get answers right away! again it was pricey.. but i didnt thought much about it, bec i know ill be able to improve my works and sell some stuff!! :)

here are Jen's works.. soo inviting!

worth a Workshop right? imagine if you put these canes in beads.. exciting ist it?  P2,700. i enrolled!

WS was held last saturday, March 26 @ The Beadlady, owned by Angeli Sobrepena... kinda feeling like home in there.. and with my classmates around, it was a bunch of fun and laughters! you know, comparing our works, sharing clay experiences, tips and tricks and gaining new friends! in other words.. i had fun fun fun!

excited to see my workshop projects? here... :)

rose cane... i need a lot of practice in here

leaf cane... the clay was super soft.. i didnt like the output. i wish i brought my Kato clays instead.

my final project.. locket embelished with canes we made.

well that was saturday... and the next day, i was practicing with my canes the whole day... my projects arent good yet, but i know, soon ill be able to make my own canes and will make lots of improvement in my works...  my after workshop projects are not that bad though.. :)

my improved new leaf cane

petal cane

my embelished locket

butterfly wing

its just a day after the workshop.. so dont expect too much from me... :)

ill post pics of my new canes soon! -

Updated pics: my after WS projects:

i enroll only with the best teachers... worth every penny!

anyway, here are my fave projects. my personal collection.. not for sale!

 they are just 1.5" tall.. sooo cute... i plan to make whole set of snow white and seven dwarfs...

wish me luck!

(Artist's photos are grabbed from Beadlady, Rockybeads and Purple Luggage)