Pen & Twinchie Swap

  In April at the International Polymer Clay Swap FB group took place the fifth swap already, this time the swap items were polymer clay covered pens and twinchies. If you don't know what a twinchie is, here's an explanation I have summarized from our FB group invite: "a 2 inchies square tile (about 1/4 inch thick) and can be used like an actual ceramic tile in wall art, you can group them and also mount them on a canvas".

  My partner for this swap was Donna Ingram from Anniston (Alabama, USA). She says she's a Southern girl that lives a very simple life, she's married with 5 children and 11 grandchildren. Wow, 5 children! I have only two and it seems they are at least 10, sometimes.

  
Let's first see what I have made for her .
  
  Donna likes the light colors of spring, loves sports and animals, specially dogs. 

  That's why I've decided to use a combination of yellow, light green and orange with a little of white to cover the pen. First I was thinking about a chevron pattern, but I was not sure I can make it perfect, so I've decided for stripes. Well, there is a small part of chevron pattern indeed. For a more dimensional look I've added an additional stripe and a swarovski chrystal.

  For the twinchie I wanted to highlight her love for animals. She said her favorites are dogs, so I've made a cat, LOL. Well, let me explain. When our dog Tobi was still alive, he used to lie just near the cat when nobody was looking at him. In the same moment he noticed a human looking at him, he started to chase the cat. So, what's a dog without a cat!       

  I guess you want to see the picture of my pen & twinchie for Donna, right?

  The cat is black and white, but the background is coordinated with the pen. Do you see the shining of the cat's eyes? I've used the same swarovski as for the pen. 
 

And now let me show you what Donna made for me:
 

The pen is like a rainbow in the moonlight (I know this is not possible in the real life, but if it would be, I think it would look like that). And the twinchie is so colorful and happy! Thank you, Donna!

~~~~~~

  There are already the sign ups for our sixth swap in the FB group - Fantasy Vessels and Twinchies. No need to say I'm not gonna miss this one :-)

  The sign ups and the deadline for sending out will be extended, so you're still welcome to join if you would like to. 


  Be happy!
  Alenka
 
 

Earring Swap Blog Hop Reveal

Welcome to the Earring Swap blog hop, wanted by Jessica Wensell of Whimsical Monkey.

Well, earrings are the piece of jewelry I prefer to wear and I mostly make, so I picked the invite for this swap immediately.

 
My partner was Susan Kennedy from Suebeads, a talented lampworker. Just look at these gorgeous beads she makes

 

I've asked Sue to take a look at my Flickr gallery and tell me which style of earrings she prefers. I already knew she loves turquoise, silver and green, so I've chosen some peppermint and turquoise Fimo and made a pair of both sides textured rings with a texture plate made by me; then just a little touch of silver Inka gold. I've added filigree silver beads and seed beads and this is what I have sent to Sue:

  ... packed in my Pepita red box:

  I've added a lucky charm - one of my clowny beads, but forgot to take a picture of it.

I still haven't received the package Susan sent, even if she sent it three weeks ago!!! But I'm sure it will arrive soon!! If you would like to know what has she sent to me, just take a look at her blog here. 

UPDATE - 23 March 

Yesterday I have finally received my package from Sue. Just look at these gorgeous earrings and she even included some of her beautiful lampwork beads!!!   [happydance]   How lucky I am!!!

No need to say I had to wear them today at work :-D 

Thank you Sue for being my partner in this swap!!!

And here's the list of the other participants (you get the direct links on the blog posts by clicking on the names):

Jessica Wensell

Inge von Roos  

Nancy Smith

Marianne Baxter
Leah Tees
Andrea Trank
Miranda Ackerley
Cheri Mitchell-Reed
Susan Kennedy     <-- My partner
Michele Dotson
Deanna Cox
Shelley Graham Turner
Ingrid McCue
Lennis Carrier
Ginger Davis Allman
Mary Anne Flesch
Nicole Valentine Rimmer
Stephanie Weiss
Silvia Sernicola
Karla Morgan
Kay Thomerson
Paula Hisel
Carol Dillman
Spun Sugar Beadworks
Tara Plote
Rachel Baron
Laurie Keefe
Kashmira Patel
Gina Hockett
Shellie Grindy
Shai Williams
Dyanne Cantrell
Mimi Gardner
Jessica McMullen
Jennifer LaVite
Laura Medeiros
Alenka Obid    <-- You are here
Elsie Fonseca
Cheryl Dunham
Sandra McGriff
Tania Spivey
Mowse Doyle
Mischelle Fanucchi

Facebook:
Beccy Peterson: Beccy's Baubles

Marde Lowe: FanciMar Designs

Be happy,

Alenka

A Time to Stitch 3 - Update 1 (After Reveal)

If you are looking for the reveal of the Bead Soup Blog Party, please go here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The reveal for this challenge organized by Christine Altmiller and Therese Frank was a few days ago, but at that time I've had two still unfinished pieces, the Cellini spiral and the Russian spiral - as you can see here.

  Today I have finally finished the necklace with the Cellini spiral:

  The flower and the clasp are made from polymer clay - with a technique I've learned from the tutorial Cosmic Ceramic by Iris Mishly and Hila Bushari.  

   
The bead caps (for both ends of the Cellini spiral) and brown oval beads are also made from polymer clay.

 

  I'm quite proud of my first Cellini and these are the colors I wear very often, so I'll keep it for me :-D     However, I'll be more than happy to read your comments! 

  If you want to see the finished Russian spiral necklace, come back in a few days as I'm waiting for the seed beads to arrive...

  Be happy,

  Alenka

  

A Time to Stitch 3 - Reveal!

If you are looking for the reveal of the Bead Soup Blog Party, please go here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Hello, it's finally time for the reveal of this bead-weaving challenge organized by Christine Altmiller and Therese Frank. It's my second time participating in their challenge and it is always so fun.

  
 This time we had to pick one flat stitch between Square stitch and Brick stitch, and one spiral stitch - choosing between Cellini spiral, Russian spiral and African Helix. I have to say I've never tried ANY of these stitches before, so it was my very first time for all of them.

~~~

  I've decided to start with the Square stitch as I've just brought home some cube beads. As for the pattern I've drawn some waves in two colors. After 15-20 rows I was a little disappointed as the cube beads were not the same size and not perfect and I was not sure if continue or not. Well, this last week I've started to kind a like the way they look and I've finally finished it. And I've noticed that the waves actually form the letter N.

 

~~~

  My first pick for spiral stitch was Cellini. I started to follow the tutorial word by word, moment by moment, but met some problems and had to undo the first rows three to four times. It was just a mess!!! Then I've said to myself: "Ok, let's use the logic!" When I've started to look at the logic of the pattern while stitching and not just following the instructions ... eureka! That was it! From the fourth-fifth row on it was just as meditating, I've found it very easy to continue without instructions.

   This is the work in progress - I still need to make some polymer clay parts/components to finish it .. and that means you'll have to come back next week to see the finished piece. 

~~~

  
  The next try for me was African Helix. The main problem with this stitch for me is the tension of the thread. Even if the tension is right the beads tend to slide from their optimal position, just as the bead holes were too large ... 
  I've made a very simple bracelet this time, just following the instructions of the tutorial.

~~~

  And then finally the Russian spiral. I've used a knitting needle for the support and at the beginning I had to keep the thread tight with my left hand, but I've enjoyed very much stitching. You stitch 4 beads at a time (1 4-mm and 3 seed beads) so it proceeds very quickly. When I was starting to imagine in my mind the final necklace design, I've run out of these seed beads. The ones I have in my stash are just slightly darker - and I didn't notice that before. So I can show you now just another work in progress that will be finished next week, when I receive the right beads.

~~~

  I didn't have time for the brick stitch, but I will certainly try it after I finish these pieces.

  That's it for me, but now you should visit the blogs of the other participants - I can't wait to see what have they made (well, they are much more proficient than me)!!!

Therese Frank

ChristineAltmiller

MaryanneGross

Cynthia Machata

Bobbie Rafferty

Katherine Gale

Sally Russick

Niky

Alenka  <-- you are here

Kim Hora

Karin Slaton

Shirley Moore

Tami Norris

Amy Severino

Alicia Marinache

Lola Surwillo

Mandy Duffy

Kristen Stevens

 

Happy hopping!
  Alenka

On my Beading&Claying Table ...

If you are looking for the reveal of the Bead Soup Blog Party, please go here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I was not very busy with jewellery making lately because of my left eye problem, it still gets tired quickly, but I was able to send out in time my items for two swaps:

  - Pen & Twinchie Polymer Clay Swap (FB group, my partner is Donna Ingram) --> the deadline for sending out was April 26, and we are still waiting for our packages to arrive. I'll be blogging about the swap when we both receive them.

  - Earring Swap Blog Hop (my partner is Susan Kennedy) and the blog hop will be on May 20, so come back then to see what my partner and I have made for each other.


 And I'm still working for two challenges:

  - a bead soup swap with Kitty --> the reveal date still to be determined, but here's what she gave me and I'm working on (very challenging for me, believe me!):

  - and the A Time to Stitch 3 Challenge, hosted by Therese and Christine. I decided to try all the stitches, I'm working on 3 pieces right now and have the other two to try. I can give you a little sneak peek as the pieces are still far from finished. 

Be well and happy,
Alenka