Art Unraveled, part ???

So another aspect of Art Unraveled was polymer clay.  My NBF, Lisa Pavelka, taught a great polymer clay class.  I made this nifty pendant:

It's transfer directly onto polymer.  I'm really impressed with my handiwork here.  Especially since Lisa did all the hard stuff like rolling the clay and making the striped border.

We also used two really nifty products - Lisa Pavelka's Poly-Glaze that gave the pendant a nice glossy finish and her Poly Bonder that helps adhere wet clay to wet clay and then withstands the baking temperature.

I also bought a purse-weaving kit from Randi Feuerhelm-Watts that is super simple.  I hope to find it and complete it so I can show you.  I met the infamous Susan Lenart Kazmer and she had some amazing jewelry for sale, but I didn't buy anything.  I saw her work in an Ornament magazine a few years back, she made these little pencil bits into pendants and strung a whole heck of a lot of 'em on a necklace.  Richard Salley had amazing digital prints.  Check out the gallery.  I'm especially fond of Choices and Great Balls of Fire.  And it's a mighty fine little website.  Jessica Wesolek demoed transfers using Sheer Heaven and I wish you could see how vivid this is. 

It's done on a watercolor paper.  I think you can print on the Sheer Heaven stuff which is a vellum paper and then you transfer it to paper with alcohol and water, I think. 

Finally, I did take my cables class today and this is my sample. It's a lot easier than I thought, but also something you kind of have to pay attention to.  The class was a lot of fun though. I can't wait to make something with cables now!

I didn't finish the whole thing, maybe tomorrow.  One thing I really appreciated from the class is all the knitting tips you don't necessarily pick up from books.  I learned a better SSK decrease that lays flatter than the regular SSK and I am going to start to make an effort to learn to knit from a chart.  Really.

Here's the SSK decrease, if I can explain it.  Slip the first stitch knit-wise onto your right hand needle.  Now, rather than slip the next stitch, insert your left needle in the front of the slipped stitch and your right needle in the back of the next active stitch on the left needle - you now have the two same stitches on one each needle, the right hand needle in the back and the left hand needle in the front, yarn held in back. Yarn over and pull the right needle through, decreasing by one stitch.  Look how much flatter it lays.

I really tried to take pictures, but it didn't work out.  I need a much better camera!

Comments

[Jenn]

That pendant is so cool! Love it!

[Stefani]

You took a class from Lisa??? She's my pc idol! Very cool pendant.