Tuesday Challenge

I knew today would be the last "full-on" day in the studio as I'm heading over to Melbourne for workshops at The Whimsical Bead with Dani and the girls and of course, to also hang out with Christi for a week or so.  I've had a large pile of "scrappy" veneer bits and large veneers and wanted to do something with them before I left, otherwise they probably wouldn't be as "fresh" and easy to work with when I got back.  So my challenge for today was to use up as much of the veneers and pieces that were sitting on my work table.  This is the before shot....

Not the best photo but you get the idea.

And this is at the end of the day.  I went head down-bum up for 12 hours!!!  I don't think I'll ever challenge myself again - madness!!!

Let's have a bit of a closer look at some of my faves from the stash.  Oh and notice what colours I've got left over!! hahaha

Thanks God It's Tuesday!!!

Aaaahhhhhh....today was a good day. 

I created a video tutorial on a chalky veneer a few days ago and posted it to YouTube.  Yes, to my surprise, I managed to do it.  It was actually quite easy so I think I may do a few more.  I certainly don't want it to take over that's for sure, but if I have something I think might be of interest to others, I'll certainly be happy to share.  

Here's the link to the  video if anyone is interested:

Polymer Clay Veneer Using Chalk Pastel and Lace 

So today, I thought I would play around with the technique a little and combine it with some boho elements.  I like big, statement pieces and this one is certainly big that's for sure.  The round mandala type element is 8cm in diameter and the whole piece measures 21cm in length.  Not for the fainthearted.

I found some beautiful lace shorts at the second hand shop the other day and knew they would work beautifully for this technique.  What a great find.  

I also playing around with a few different variations on this basic technique so there may be another video happening soon - yay!

and the Tube Bead Evolved Into.......Fish!

Today is Tuesday which means studio play day for me - woohoo!!!  I had no idea what I was going to do today (which is normal for a Tuesday) so I started with the last thing I was playing with - tube beads.  I had an idea floating around that I wanted to create fish so wondered how I could convert a tube bead into a fish.  I played with a couple of different concepts and then came up with an articulated fish which was good but didn't really excite me.  Rather than have the 3 fish components moveable I decided to join them all together and created some fish pendants.  

3 fish pendants

Still not happy with this look and to be honest... they didn't really "give me goosebumps" so I decided to just add one section of a veneer to a fish body to see if I liked this look.  Not bad but still didn't knock my socks off!  

Poor fishy...looks like his head has been chopped off...it's actually his mouth!!

I liked the "glossy" section of the fish so decided to concentrate on a fish with a black head and tail and "painted" body.  Now this was getting warm...I liked this look

.

I think the top fish here is my favourite both for shape and surface design.

Okay what if I changed the black head and tail and simply painted the entire fish?  I tried it and I liked it.  Not overly happy with the shape but definately worth exploring more.  

Oh this poor guy also got his head chopped off!!  I do love his fishy skin though.

These guys glisten beautifully in the sunshine, sparkle fish!  Hmm unfortunately the top guys has lost his head too.

This time I decided to create the fish in a rather crude shape and textured..hmmmm now this sounded exciting to me!

Hmmmm now these are yummy...I especially love the lace fish and dotty fish.

5 Funky Fish.

Now these fish excited me....oh yeah!!!  They ended up being my favourite fish and I will definately be exploring this concept more.  

Just wanted to show you a yummy close up of delicious opal mylar.

and more opal mylar, just a different colour.

Tube bead fish with unique surface design.

I sure hope you like my fish. 

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