Kingman turquoise tutorial today

Nothing better than when you hit unexpectedly something and you publish a post right after writing just the tile eh?

Anyway.

Working on a Kingman turquoise tutorial. It should show up on youtube probably around 3 pm CDT, considering youtube upload "speed"

I decided on Kingman vs. Royston because Kingman is much easier than Royston. And that before getting people into such a complicated turquoise as Royston maybe a more simple one would be good.

I didn't do a generic turquoise. I might, at a later time.
But I think that if you want to do something that really looks good, you don't go ahead and do just assembly-line type stones. Get in mind what you want to do, as piece of jewelry. Then decide what kind of gemstone you need. Then make the gemstone specific for that piece of jewelry.

Anyway. So I will do today are 4 types (actually 3 with one of them having 2 subtypes) of Kingman turquoise. The high-grade spiderweb, then the waterweb - with silver matrix (pyrite) and with copper matrix, and the more generic Kingman. These are the easiest Kingman types to make.

Here, I'll show you.

generic "boulder" Kingman

waterweb with silver (pyrite) matrix

another waterweb with silver matrix

waterweb with copper matrix

high-grade spiderweb

another generic ("boulder") Kingman

So, I'll update later when the tutorial is done, with the teaser photos, then the link after the tutorial is uploaded.

12:07 update:

The regular Kingman and the spiderweb (I think) came up ok. For the waterweb I need another solution. If I don't figure out how to make a spherical skinner blend, I'll have to go in a different direction of cane. Haha.

3:40 update.

Ok. This is ridiculous. Everybody and their mother HAD to need me today. Phone calls, skype calls, people at the door to check on me - don't get me wrong, I appreciate the care, but seriously? I had restarted the process on the turquoise and got interrupted 4 times, and of course with people who had to visit with me for at least half an hour each, so... yeah, wasted clay, wasted time. I will restart the process.

The only one that came out kind of ok was the "boulder" Kingman. But I'm not happy with it. Too straight lines.

I made real quick some cute DIY earrings, I'll post the tutorial as soon as the varnish dries on them.

how I feel right now

No carnelian til Saturday

Ok so, I am very sorry no tutorial yet. Probably not today, it depends how long it will take me now to tape, edit and upload one of the other ones that I have in plan.

What happened? Well, Souffle happened.

I started doing my tests for the carnelian tutorial, and all my tests were coming back opaque. Tried first with Premo then with Pardo. Same.

Then I realized. Souffle. Souffle opacifies the translucent way more than Premo. Who would have thunk it. I don't have the colors I need in Premo. Only in Souffle.

The thing is, I can do the carnelian with just translucent and alcohol inks. But not everybody has alcohol inks. I want to do a carnelian tutorial that people can do by just going to the store and getting 1 package of this color of clay and 1 package of this and ... you get the idea.

As much as I like playing with the new toys, I am trying to have at least half of my tutorials, and especially the more basic ones, keeping in mind that most people don't have a load of money to spend on gimmicks, and especially the beginners did not blow several hundreds to get all kinds of expensive stuff they don't even know how to use. Heck, they might not even know it can be used with polymer clay, huh?

So I'll have to go get new clay for this, Premo clay, but I won't get to the store until Saturday. MAYBE Friday. But that's a maybe.

Wanted to do the malachite then realized that two of the greens I got for malachite are... Souffle, and I have some banding done with translucent, so... it will have to wait til I get Premo too.

So I will be pondering for the next 10 minutes. I'm inclining either for the feather cane or the turquoise.

Tutorial tomorrow

I'm sorry. No tutorial posted today. I got so caught in making it, then got distracted and started doing something else, and ... well. This is the truth. To my shame.

So what happened was... (I sound like that kid on Judge Judy)... I was getting some scrap through the pasta machine. And what came out of the pasta machine triggered that crazy thing in my mind that started screaming and waving flags and all kinds of bright lights flashing and all that.
I saw only "RAKU RAKU RAKU"

So forgotten was the tutorial. And I started working on that side  job.

I tried real hard to get in pictures all the colors, but it's hard. Mostly because there's not just Pearl Ex mica involved, but a lot of iridescent and interference powders too, and that is so hard to get on a crappy phone. But I tried.


So.

First I got this

I kept kneading and brushing and painting and pasta machining, and folding and... you get the picture.

I got this

Fabulous looking, ain't it?

Now if you think I stopped at this, you don't know me and you're sorely mistaken.

No, I kept going. And going. And going.

And now I sit in front of a sheet of polymer clay with a pattern so beautiful that I can't stop looking at it.
It.
Is.
Raku.

It gives me the same feeling of "this is beauty. there is nothing to be said, all you do is look at it and lose yourself in it. forget about everything else. there is only beauty" as Raku does.

Have you ever made a pattern or texture so pretty that you can't bring yourself to cut it to make anything out of it? You don't want a pendant, a bracelet, nothing, you just want your pretty sheet to look at.

I might make a vase or bowl. This is too pretty to cut into pieces and deserves to sit on my table so I can look at it when I wake  up in the morning and come here and read the news.

It would make the world seem prettier. And the bad things less important.

What did you say?

Oh.

Yes, here it is.

Ocean and earth

I almost named this post "trials and tribulations".

So yesterday I worked quite a bit on the "Caribbean Dream" necklace. Which will end up as "Ocean" or something. Because I think it came up more as an underwater coral reef than a beach. And I need to make a mold for jellyfish. And corals. To finish it.

Anyway, this is how some of the pieces look (it's necklace and earrings)

Now you see why I say I need some jellyfish and corals? lol

So, anyway, as I was cleaning my cane drawer, I decided to mush a few - that obviously I'll never use. While I was joyfully mushing the clay through the pasta machine I got this:

Are you kidding me? I would have worked three days and two nights to get those effects on purpose.

OF COURSE I saved those.

I'm a scrap clay hoarder. There. I came right out and admitted it.

I even used a piece of that long strip that looks like a watercolor landscape to make a mokume gane using the remnants from the necklace sadwiched layers.

It looks like a geological formation.

So.... up in the "I might use this later" folder it went.

Sigh.

Hoarding.

Anyway, finally my "pebble" canes got cured enough so I could use them. I made a wavy delicate bangle. I need to finish sanding it and buffing it and all that. But I like it. I will make a big cane now that I know that my experiment brings in success and make something out of it. A stone jewelry set.

Nah. I got a Stargate in mind. You'll see.

Now this bangle is made up of slices of small canes, but the next cane will be big enough that I won't have to puzzle and quilt and patch. Also it will all be of one kind, these little canes were experiments with color of clay and interstitial color.

Ok getting ready to tape the tutorial. I decided to do a more extensive "watercolor torn paper technique" one. I might have to divide it in two parts as I presume it will be long, as there are all these variations I want to present to you.

When I'm done I need to go get some glue sticks. I have this awesome idea of a glue gun stamp for a type of controlled hidden magic/mokume gane. Yeah!

Will update later, as usual.

New tutorial

The powers that be at youtube say 2 hours 55 minutes. It's 20 minutes long.

Faux aquamarine

Ok, I did the aquamarine tutorial. I will edit it real quick then upload it then I will upload the faux jade one.

Here's the teaser. I wish I had a better camera. My old phone is not exactly the best for close-ups of little things.  link to the video below.

Today - cloisonne 3

I must clean my work space first - been doing texture sheets out of "bake and bend" so it's a mess. Then I have to go get gas, I must do that early in the morning because we're looking at a few days of "scorcher" here, and I don't want to go get gas when it's 96F outside.

Then I'll tackle the "faux enamel cloisonne 3rd technique". This one requires something special, you'll see what.

I managed to make last evening the things I need for my attempt to "Lalique inspired" pendant. Today - this afternoon, more precisely - I will start working on it.

I am also working on a necklace that is Game of Thrones inspired. That one involves sculpted dragons. I am wondering if it's worth taping - that is, if anyone would be interested in watching that. I need to make the dragon's eye iris.

I also got yesterday what I need to make the "faux malachite" tutorial.

So let me see. Right now I got these series in my tutorials:

- feathers. As I stated in the first video, will be making feather canes, and practical applications. Not sure yet if I should do the practical application after each technique or do first all the techniques then do practical applications. The first variant makes more sense though.

- faux gemstones. I got what I need for now for: jade, malachite, turquoise (yes I finally got everything for this), carnelian, agate, jasper, brecciated jasper, unakite, lapis, opal, moonstone, labradorite, rainbow moonstone (which is just a type of labradorite), spectrolite (which is again another type of labradorite, just more showy). I probably could do fire opal but not fire agate yet. I think I need resin for the fire agate, due to the "explosion clouds" look.

- "in the style of" jewelry. I have on the list Hopi, Zuni and Tuareg.

- organic jewelry. Next in line is "pods"

And then a lot of other things that I won't list here so I won't spoil the surprise haha.

Anyway. As usual I will update later. With the teaser and then the link to the tutorial.

12:00 pm update. It's uploading. The Youtube powers-that-be say there's 1 hour 50 minutes remaining.

Tuesday news

So today I am working on a new technique for enameled cloisonne. I did part of it last evening so shouldn't take that long.

EDIT It's up!

In the meantime, here's my latest piece - remember I was telling you that I was working on the "heat patina" cuff bracelets? Well, here is one. I am sorry I can't capture with the camera all the shimmering color-shifting effects of the "heat patina" part, but I really like that I managed to get the look of folded hammered metal just right. I've already put it up in the store.

3 hours

Yay. 3 hours. This is how long it's left on the first part of the patina jewelry set. But at least it will be uploaded today for sure. I will try to get the part 2 uploaded before evening as well. Because otherwise it won't get uploaded til Monday.

Tomorrow is Sunday and I have started the "clay with me Sunday" and I will be sticking to it. I am actually thinking of making a live thing starting next week. Announce what is needed 3-4 days in advance, then make an easy jewelry piece so people can actually really "clay with me" live. And who doesn't get to be online during the live event, the whole video gets automatically recorded and posted by Youtube.

What do you think? Would you like that?

9:50 am update

50% uploaded.
Time remaining: 2 hours 50 minutes.  That makes this Saturday a record. The video is 25 minutes long. So it comes to an average of about 1 hour for each 4 minutes of video. Youtube. I'm at a loss of words.

4:20 pm, 39% of the part 2 is uplodaed. Youtube doesn't want to tell me at all how much time is left.

Faux wood tutorial

Sorry. I am late in updating my blog today. A very busy morning.

Anyway, today's tutorial finished uploading, and it can be found here

I am working on more polymer clay stuff this afternoon. I  hope to be able to have another tutorial ready for tomorrow, as I really have to dedicate tomorrow morning to mowing lawns and cleaning the dog run, that means I'll be fairly exhausted after that.

Cherokee beaded bracelets

Ok late again to blog this morning. But the same as yesterday I was busy actually making a tutorial. Well, not really a tutorial, as it's the first time I do this. I was looking at some photos a friend had sent me  - from a pow-wow - and I went "ha! I wonder if I could do a cuff inspired from those Cherokee loom beaded ones with a controlled Bargello?"

So I did. It's not perfect, with all my calculations, I need one more calculation, when I cut the strips. Well truth be told I need one of those grids like for quilting, but that is so far down the list of priorities that it might not happen this year, lol.

Anyway, it's in the oven. Then I need to do the back and sides. And it all looked so pretteh that I made a pair of earrings too.

Will update later.

Also, the tutorial will be uploaded later in the afternoon. Sorry, but in about an hour or so I am going out, it's Sunday and beautiful and sunny and upper 70s. So just please be patient and enjoy your Memorial Day week-end.

7:00 pm update

I really can't tell you exactly when the video will finish uploading. youtube doesn't say anything about remaining time. But by the snail speed it moves, maybe (and that's a maybe) around midnight?


So yes, a little bit after midnight, it was up

Realistic pink quartz

One of my teachers in Fine Arts school used to say:
"to imitate something, one has to see it; to SUCCESSFULLY imitate something, one must study and understand it". He made us one time study a pebble for two weeks.

So, let's take a look at quartz in general and pink quartz in special. Not going to get in the science of it, I linked to some professional websites if you want to find out how it forms and all that.

Let's just focus on the look of it. What do we notice?

1. There are no round lines. Really. The only slightly rounded things we might find are inclusions and "clouds" of other minerals. Otherwise whatever fractures there are in the crystal, they are comprised of straight lines. Jagged lines, maybe, but straight not rounded. Not a single curve. This is not turquoise, malachite, agate or jasper. This is a true crystal.

2. There are no linear, as in thin line inclusions, as is the case with labradorite or rainbow moonstone. There are small crystal agglomerations inclusions, quartz in quartz.

3. No sparklies. That is no sparklies at all, not like opal and fire agate or labradorite.

4. There are fractures in the stone. The more fractures the more opaque the stone. Fracture lines, see point 1.

So in order to imitate a quartz, we need to:

1. make sure there's no blending, and we keep our lines pure and as straight as possible.

2. no worries about making cuts mokume gane style. Also that means no veneering. It's pretty much a block.

3. no worries about adding mica powders, using pearlescents or glitters or foils.

4. see point 1

So to start with we need a clay that has been conditioned but not too conditioned. That will allow us to safely stick together pieces and crumbs but will not have the tendency to blend. Make sure it still cracks when you fold it.

Do not add anything. I honestly tried to see if adding white pastel chalk would enhance the fracture lines but it made the pieces and crumbs not stick and the piece fall apart. And you can't add liquid clay because... well, blending. Definitely do not add any sparklies or glitters. The only times when quartz sparkles is if it has other minerals in inclusions. That is, the other minerals sparkle, not the quartz.

Careful when adding the red. It's exceptionally strong as a pigment. Go poppy seed size and just add the same if it needs be. And as you see in the video it doesn't really loose a lot of color when baking.

I explain during the video how to make the faux quartz.

I do not have a buffer and it's too hard on my hands to buff by hand so I used Judikins Diamond glaze. I finally got the PolyFast for sanding but didn't find a solution yet for buffing. Honestly I don't think I could safely work with an electric buffer, not with the way the nerve damage in my hands make me drop things.

And yes, I do have a lot of semi-precious gemstones in my house. I used to buy and sell a lot of them, raw, tumbled and polished or ready for jewelry setting. And I learned a lot from Native American friends who were/are in the trade and the silversmithing and jewelry making craft.

Just as a teaser, this is a final result. Video will take over 3 hours to upload.....

Ok  it's uploaded

Today - faux pink quartz

Good morning. As today is supposed to be a pretty, sunny, low humidity day, I decided that it's a good day to do the pink quartz tutorial.

Mainly because working with translucent polymer clay on a day with high humidity in the air increases the chances of "moonies". "Moonies" are the little bubbles of air trapped in polymer clay, that are the most noticeable in translucent clay. As they are too tiny to pop, it's practically impossible to get rid of them. All you can do is to minimize the conditions that favor their apparition. Usually they are the bane of OOAK doll makers - any OOAK doll maker that knows their business does mix a bit of translucent clay in the flesh one for a more realistic look of the doll, the human skin does have a degree of transparency - hence the risk of "moonies". Nothing like working for 2 hours on a 1/2" doll hand and getting perfect fingers and fingernails (about 1 mm wide lol) and then once you bake it you see moonies and you need to start all over.

Anyway. I got all my clay ready. Will start taping here in a few. Once I'm done taping and editing I will make a separate post explaining what needs to be known when trying to replicate pink quartz.  I will post the uploaded tutorial on that new post.

Then the rest of my day will involve lawn mowing, grocery shopping and house cleaning. Sigh. I'd rather be claying lol

Late tutorial today

I will have to post today's tutorial later in the day.
Busy morning, I woke up at 4, I need to go help my BFF with some personal issues. Will be tied up til around noon, so I won't start on it until maybe 1 pm. So probably you won't see a tutorial uploaded until at least 5 pm CDT - considering youtube's "speedy" uploads. I'll try to make a short one so it wouldn't take that long.

Will update later as usual.

6:40 update. Excellent news, my embossing pens have arrived. So definitely the tutorial for today will be the Tiffany one.

I've also been thinking on a different technique for enameled cloisonne. I'll have to test it first.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

 

Update 2:15 pm. Hardest part of the Tiffany/stained glass tutorial finished. Now just baking them and do the "magic part". Short break while they're baking. 

Why don't I edit video while the pieces are baking you ask?

Because i have to turn stuff around and then back again - and I don't feel like it. I will edit once I'm done with everything.

Tutorial up

Hollow beads

Yes, yes, I know, I've been talking about the "dimension and distress" tutorial.

But, considering that it's chilly and the barometer still holds in areas that are uncomfortable for me so I'm still in quite a deal of pain, I might actually work on two tutorials today. I don't promise I'll post both of them today though.

I've been watching a number of tutorials on how to make hollow beads.  And I think I can add my two cents to that, just a bit of knowledge that I got through experimentation and experience. Who knows, maybe some of you might enjoy it. How does "hollow pod with seed inside" sound?

Ok I'll start working on the "dimensions and distress" tutorial now.  Probably show the technique on a couple tiles, a bead or two and a pendant.

Will update later during the day as usual.

12:10 (ish) update

Oh well. I did the hollow beads tutorial first. Just because the other one takes a while. You know me, I must have pieces already done, then pieces that are half done, before I start the tutorial. That, and the editing takes the longest.

OTOH, 1 hour 8 minutes upload duration for a little bit over 7 minutes video. I am seriously going to look for some solutions for that today. I found a couple open source converters and recorders that are special for streaming and live recording with optimization for the web. I guess we'll have to wait and see how they work.  The Stormtrooper can take whatever I throw at it.

 2 pm update. It's up.

2:50 update.

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Ammonite tutorial and more larimar

Goodness I was busy today. I started rearranging furniture in the "office" room so I can move all my claying there instead of keeping the kitchen always a mess. That is not a good thing, especially when one wants to sell a house! I got tired of "someone is coming to see the house, gather everything, someone left, put everything back out". It's tiring and thought process interrupting.

Jeannie brought me an adjustable swivel arm lamp with a magnifying glass. That solved the issue of rigging the camera above the work space. It works like a charm.

I taped a lot of material for tutorials today. Unfortunately it takes a while to edit and process the videos. I managed to get one of them done, and it's uploading to youtube. Over an hour and a half for a 14 minutes video. It's ridiculous. I have very good bandwidth and speed, but youtube got really slow lately. Well at least for a year now.

I did more larimar experiments/ These are the ones I made yesterday.







They look decent but:

The matrix is too white. I've looked at hundreds of photos of larimar gemstones, none has white-white matrix. It's always a tad blue-ish. Also, when I covered the already-baked cabochons with the sheet of "larimar", I pulled a little bit on the edge on two of them. It's not a nice result. Next time don't pull. just get a bigger sheet or another piece.

So today I tried again in a different way. But that's the subject of another tutorial now, isn't it?