January 25, 2014

Christmas Ornament Swap / Izmenjava božičnih okraskov

  I know, this topic would be more appropriate a month ago, but I'm pretty sure you are curious to see the results of the 8th swap of the International Polymer Clay Swap FB group.
  Vem, da bi bila ta tema precej bolj primerna pred enim mesecem, vendar vem, da ste vseeno radovedni, kakšni izdelki so nastali ob 8. zaporedni izmenjavi v okviru FB skupine International Polymer Clay Swap.

  My partner for this swap was Ilse (Ilsy Poppins) from Netherlands. The colors that she loves, uses and wears are more to the green/grey/brown and greens. She's been working with polymer clay since 2008 and she loves to make bracelets and bangles.
  Tokratna partnerica v izmenjavi je bila Ilse (Ilsy Poppins) iz Nizozemske, ki dela s polimerno glino od leta 2008. Njene najljubše barve so v zeleno-sivo-rjavih odtenkih in najrajši izdeluje vse vrste zapestnic.

  We decided to make something that will be speaking about the author, using our colors, techniques and shapes.
  Dogovorili sva se, da vsaka izdela okraske v svojem stilu, z uporabo barv, tehnik in oblik, ki so ji blizu, 

~~~~~

  As usually, let me first show you what I've made for Ilse.
  Kot ponavadi vam bom najprej pokazala, kaj sem jaz izdelala za Ilse.

  I was still under the impression of Bettina Welker's workshop in Ljubljana and her jelly-fish earrings technique. At the same time I wanted to create an ornament that will not be used only for Christmas, but would be "multifunctional".
  Ko sem se lotila dela, sem bila še pod vtisom delavnice z Bettino Welker v Ljubljani in njenih meduzic, hkrati pa sem hotela narediti okrasek, ki bo imel še dodatno možnost uporabe.

  I've used the same cane I've made at Bettina's workshop, but I cut a much thicker slice, made a bigger circle from it and formed a different shape, more flower-like. For the dangles I've added some chain and seed beads. I've also added the wire for hanging the ornaments to a christmas tree or anywhere else. 
   Uporabila sem kačico (vzorec), ki sem jo naredila na delavnici, vndar sem odrezala bistveno debelejši košček, ga sploščila v večji krog in ga oblikovala v obliko, podobno cvetu. Na spodnjo stran sem obesila nekaj verižice, kateri sem na koncih dodala perlice. Okraske sem obesila na zvito žico, da jih bo Ilse lahko obesila na jelko ali kamorkoli drugam.




  Now that the festivities are over, Ilse can put on the ear hooks and use them as earrings all the year long.
  Zdaj, ko so prazniki že za nami in okraski pospravljeni, lahko Ilse žico zamenja z osnovami za uhane in jih nosi še vse leto. 




   The second piece of the swap was a twinchie. I've made a simple Christmas tree with sparkles and a Swarovski top. Red and minimalist - just my style.
  Drugi izdelek v okviru izmenjave je "twinchie", to je ploščica v velikosti približno 5 x 5 cm. Obdobju primerno sem izdelala preprosto božično drevo, okrašeno z bleščicami in s swarovski kristalčkom na vrhu. Rdeče in minimalistično - čisto v mojem stilu.




  I couldn't send the package out without adding a little unexpected extra ...
   Seveda nisem mogla poslati paketa brez manjšega dodatka ... 


   ... a lavender cushion (with real lavender inside) and a chocolate bar - with fleur de sel. Yeap, it's a salted chocolate, but it's goooood!!!
  ...blazinico s sivko in čokoladico s solnim cvetom. Take je, čokolada s soljo, ki pa je zelo dobra!!!


~~~~~


And now - what have I received from Ilse:
Kaj pa sem jaz dobila od Ilse:

- a beautiful tree-ornament 
- čudovit okrasek v obliki drevesca


(as you can see, she used the combination of her and my favorites colors)
(kot vidite, je uporabila kombinacijo mojih in svojih najljubših barv)

- a twinchie and
- twinchi-ja in
 
- a pair of napkin rings in the same colors of the ornament;
- par obročkov za serviete v istih barvah kot okrasek;

- and also some little souvenirs of her country.
- poleg tega pa še drobne spominke iz njene države.    

 
 I love this kind of swaps!!!
 Thank you Ilse for being my partner and for the beautiful pieces you've sent to me.
Obožujem tovrstne izmenjave!!!
Ilse, najlepša hvala, ker si bila moja partnerica v tej izmenjavi in za vse lepe izdelke, ki si mi jih poslala!!! 


Be happy,
Bodite veseli,
 
Alenka

 

January 15, 2014

A Time To Stitch 4

  Beadweaving time! Today is the reveal for another A Time To Stitch challenge hosted by Therese and Christine. I have to say I really enjoy participating and learning new stitches, so I'm not gonna miss any of them ... even if I'm overwhelmed with work as this last months.
  


  This time we had to create something with a net stitch (mandatory) and chose one of the other stitches between Spiral rope, Chevron stitch and Chenille.

  For my first piece I've found an interesting tutorial on Youtube (sorry, I' can't find the link right now, will add it later) to create short pieces of rope in two colors with the ends of a third color, a kind of beaded beads. I've played a little with these pieces and came out with this necklace:
(sorry for the blurry pictures - if you click on them it's a little better)



  For the pendant part I've made a rectangle and tried different combinations of  including something inside the rectangle, but didn't like any of them and preferred it just like it is. I think is the minimalist part of me speaking (lol).
 So, what do you think - what should I do with the pendant part? Any ideas will be welcome.    



  Let's go to the mandatory part of the challenge - netting. Well, I run out of time and beads and all I can show you is the work in progress ... I need one more evening or two to finish it.


  The base is Chevron stitch and the pattern is from Marcia DeCoster's book Beads in Motion. I've just used a different size of beads and adjusted it a little. I'll include also a triangular polymer clay cabochon, made by me ... 



  This is from my side and you'll be welcome if you would like to come back in few days to see the finished necklace.

And now, here's the list of  all the other participants at this challenge:


6.  Kim Hora
10. LizE
15. Alenka  <-- You are here!




    Be happy,
    Alenka


January 11, 2014

Happy / Srečno 2014!

  Huh, it's January 11th already!!! It's been a tough period for me from December on - stressful and overwhelmed with work at my dayjob, taking the papers home and spending all the evenings and weekends working ... If you add the insomnia, caused by the stress, the picture is not pleasant at all! It also meant I had almost no time for beading and claying.
  Uh, pa smo že 11. januarja!!! To zadnje obdobje je bilo zame zelo stresno in naporno - poleg 8-urnega delovnika sem si papirje nosila še domov in z njimi preživljala večere in vikende ... Če dodamo še nespečnost zaradi stresa, ne dobimo prav nič prijetno sliko. Seveda je to pomenilo tudi, da nisem imela praktično nič časa za ustvarjanje s perlicami ali poliglino.

  Well, I managed to participate in three Christmas swaps and will show you what I've sent and what I've received in some of the next posts. And I've managed to do some beadweaving for the A Time to Stitch 4 challenge hosted by Therese & Christine. The reveal and blog hop is on January 15th, so I have only a few days more to finish my second piece.
  No, vseeno mi je uspelo sodelovati v treh božičnih izmenjavah, kar bo tema nekaj naslednjih objav. Poleg tega sem se uspela nekoliko igrati tudi s perlicami za izziv A Time to Stitch 4, ki ga organizirata Therese & Christine. Razkritje izdelkov in blog hop sta 15. januarja, kar pomeni, da imam le še par dni za dokončanje mojega drugega izdelka.

  I also wanted to have a giveaway for the New Years Eve to celebrate my 100th blog post, but was too tired for working 'till late. As I want to make it a pleasant event for you and also myself, I've decided to postpone it to February (for my birthday).
  Ob 100-ti objavi na mojem blogu sem hotela organizirati tui silvestrsko nagradno igro, vendar sem bila preveč utrujena, saj sem delala do poznega. Ker pa bi želela, da je to prijeten dogodek tako za moje spremljevalce kot tudi zame, sem se odločila, da nagradno igro prestavim na februar (ob mojem rojstnem dnevu).

  Wishing you a pleasant beginning of the new year and a lot of creative moments!
  Želim vam prijeten začetek novega leta in veliko ustvarjalnih trenutkov!

  Alenka