Folksy Friday - The pet shop!

Do you ever find that sometimes the stress of crafting for a living can get to you? Ive been doing this for 3 years now. With sales going down and shops not paying up on time I felt I could do with something that was a bit more secure. It can be tough working for yourself at times. You have to be self motivated and organized which I think we all find it hard to do!

So I thought that I would look for a wee part time job that could give me a regular income and then I can do my crafting as a hobby again. In my village I saw an advert in a shop window of a pet shop. The hours looked right so I put my CV in and hoped for the best. I've always wanted to work in a pet shop. I'm forever going in them just to say 'hi' to the wee animals. (No I'm not mad. I bet you have done the same thing!!) So I was so chuffed that I got a call back and I went for an interview the next day. But I got the text today saying I hadn't got the job. Boohoo!! Oh well, I will keep trying so my folksy Friday is my next thing to it.I hope you like it♥

1:Quernus Crafts with wee tan mouse with green apple

Wee Tan Mouse with Green Apple

2:Carole's glass with stained glass angel fish sun catcher

Angel fish sun catcher

3:Mary Elliott with cute Guinea pig ring

Guinea pig ring

4:Handmade by Kitty Clark with homespun bunny

Homespun bunny

5:Hoot ceramics with ceramic birds

Ceramic birds

6:The other mousie with rare Tibetan sneezing hamsters

Rare Tibetan sneezing hamsters

I hope you enjoy my selection and please feel free to give a comment. Also you can have a browse in my folksy shop by following the link.Carols crafts on folksy

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Alcohol inks and polymer clay.

I wanted to share one of my favourite techniques with you. It give a fantastic effect that I just cant get enough of just now. What I use here is black polymer clay, alcohol inks and a sheet of silver leaf. I had run out of the gold leaf but I had gold alcohol ink so that did fine. The inks can be quite expensive but they do last a long time. Make sure you store them in a cool place.

I firstly conditioned some black fimo through my pasta machine at the thickest setting and gently placed a piece of silver leaf on it being carefull not to break it. You can use silver leaf too. Then a splogged some gold alcohol ink on the top and took a wee sponge and dabbed it all over the silver leaf until it was covered.

Next I dropped some blue and purple ink on in a random patten letting the colours run into one another.

Next I took a wee sponge and dabbed the colours to merge them a bit more and then I let it dry a bit. The alcohol in the ink eventually evaporates.

I then dropped a third colour of a blue just to give it another dimention. I conditioned another piece of black clay at the thickest setting then I placed the inked clay on top and cut out shapes ready to use to make beads.

I peirced the bead before baking. When cured at the manufactors recomendation, I varnished the top of my beads them made a lovely bracelet from it! I love these colours together so I think I may keep this one.

 

I think when you see how easy this is you can find alsorts of colour combinations. Remember to think of the colour wheel and use colours that will complement one another. Its good to think carefully about this because it saves you from getting a muddy pallet and ruining your clay.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and have found it usefull. Below are some usefull links on where you can find some materials for this project. Have fun!♥

Polymer clay:http://www.craftcellar.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d57_fimo.html

Alcohol inks:http://www.ejrbeads.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=17_138_140

Please feel free to leave a comment. All the best. Carol♥

New tutorial! - Polymer clay flower pendant and beads.

Many who have polymer clay are not sure what to do with it. They have maybe made some marble type beads but can't think how to get complex patterns. There are many tutorials out there on-line and on you tube. That's where I started to learn myself the basics of polymer clay caning. I was very grateful that the information was out there. So as I progressed and made my jewellery many others expressed interest in learning too. They were to far to go to my classes so I decided to write my own tutorials to send over the email in PDF form so they can do it at home.

My first tutorial was Carols Celtic Cane. It taught you what you need to make your cane and also how to use it when made. It shows how to make pillow beads and how to make what I call a 'fimo slab' which you can use to make shapes from or cover items with.

This tutorial is still available in my folksy shop.
 Carols Celtic Cane Polymer Clay Tutorial - Folksy shop

So my latest tutorial is a polymer clay flower pendant and beads. In this tutorial I have written instructions on how to make your own petal cane and how to make it into a lovely pendant. Also included is how to make a flower cane and make your own beads with it. Its perfect for those who know the basics of polymer clay and would like to know more . It includes 15 PDF pages 47 colour pictures.

 This new tutorial is available in my folksy shop with hopefully more tutorials coming out soon.
Polymer clay flower pendant and bead tutorial PDF- Folksy shop

Please feel free to leave a comment.
All the best.
Carolxxx