Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Canes - long rolls of polymer clay set in patterns If you design and make polymer canes you probably have boxes of them stacked in shelves like I do. And if you sometimes look at all the cases of canes and wonder "What am I going to do with those rolls of patterned polymer clay?" then we are a lot alike! One of many boxes of canes - waiting! This week my attention span was just long enough to take a few of the canes and put them together in new ways and make some beads and buttons.  The color choices were blacks, gray, white and a little rusty red wrapped in thin black casings.  The canes needed a little massaging to activate the clay since they were older. unfired buttons The buttons are 1/8" slices with the pattern going through the button.  Be sure and notice the color change from the unfired clay to the fired clay.  I try to make a couple of sizes of each pattern. fired buttons     The beads are made of thinly sliced canes app...

'Petals"  finished pendant Experimenting with different metal clays involves risk, creativity and knowledge.  The risk is about the price of silver and not wanting to waste it.  The creativity is about an idea and the knowledge comes from experience.   In this project, I wanted to used fine silver bezel wire to hold a unique cabochon and I wanted to use FYI clay.  I knew from experience how to cut tabs in the bezel wire so that some tabs go into the clay and some are perpendicular and lay flat on the clay.  When the clay fires the wire and silver clay setting become one.  What I did not know was what the higher shrinkage rate of the FYI clay backing would do with the bezel wire.  Would it all come apart (I've had that happen) or would it shrink with so much curvature that the stone would not fit? Typically I use the  Art Clay brand of silver clay that does not have so much shrinkage.  This time I wanted to use the FYI clay b...

Flowers in the Wind I’ve been experimenting and taking online classes again!  Terry Kovalcik has a great class on www.craftcast.com    called ‘Painting and Sculpting using PMC Paste’.  It is well worth taking because there is so much information on materials, tools and technique.  Terry explains and shows details and shares some tips.  After watching the video once, collecting the materials needed and deciding what design I wanted to paint, I watched the video again! Terry uses PMC clay but I had FYI silver clay on hand and used it for the foundation shape and PMC paste with lavender oil for the painting.  I was concerned about the extra shrinkage of the FYI silver but the two worked well together.  I’m sharing the stages of my creations with you but you need to take the class for the real substance.  Shapes and Designs - FYI Silver Clay Out of the kiln  This technique requires a steady hand and some patience....

As a child, I loved making bubbles.  As an adult I still love making bubbles. I love watching the sun hit the clear bubble and turn it into rainbow colors, I love watching the bubbles float on the wind.  I love watching them glide to a tree and disappear.  I can watch bubbles for a long time! On a recent trip to Walgreens, I found long tubes filled with liquid and a long wand for making bubbles.  I bought three of them.  One for me, one for a friend and one for a hostess gift!  The three of us made bubbles in the hostess’s back yard and laughed while we played.   I brought mine back home because the want could make more bubbles!  I found it again this week and yes! I made bubbles on a windy day.  It was so much fun to see them floating on the wind to neighbors yards.  I wondered if anyone else saw them!  Then I wondered if I could take pictures.  I had to try and this is the result!...

This past week has been about care giving to my guy.  Peter fell and fractured his ankle and needed lots of help with getting 'the boot' on and off and with icing.  So creativity took second place! One evening I looked for something in my stash of stuff to inspire me.  Like most jewelry artists, I have a lot of stuff and it is not all organized and comes from many places including a yard sale plastic box filled with all sorts, shapes and lengths of chain for very little money.  It's been sitting on a shelf since I bought it and that night the plastic box fell on the floor and everything in it scattered.  I had a choice - gather them up and stuff them back in the box or look at this as an opportunity to see what I have. I started separating the chains into gold color and silver color; then separating them in to types of chains and lengths and pretty soon it became clear that their was not enough time or space!  I really wanted to just stuff them back...