I've been making necklaces........
I've been finishing several pieces that have been sitting in my "almost finished" box. Gotta get all these puppies ready for the holidaze, don'tcha know? That's where the little silver bat, and the green fish came from. Plus a few more that you can't see because of all the other pieces covering them.
And then I've gotten into the always mysterious (at least thus far) transfer process with all the picture pendants. You know, I've been wanting to use little pix in my jewelry for literally years, and each time I would try a transfer process, I would get such spotty results that I would give up for a time. So I finally bought a laser printer, after figuring out once and for all that inkjet transfers onto polymer clay ain't nevah gonna work consistently for me. And I've been practicing with various methods. And you know, I think the key to good results (as in so many other endeavors) is to pick a way, and then stick with it until it works. Simple, right? Easier said than done.
I have made about 50 ruined pieces all together. Learned a LOT. So I think I've finally got what works for me, which is essentially printing the art on
Magic Transfer Paper from Polymer Clay Productions, and transferring it to the clay (that in itself involved a very frustrating series of attempts!), baking it, and then sealing it with resin.
Again, sounds simple, and I guess it is, but it does take time. I don't think I've got my final method down yet, and still want to do a little more experimenting, but at least this one works for me! There is one question that keeps nagging at me, that being: "If a transfer on polymer clay is indistinguishable from a laser print on, say, bookboard...then why use clay?" I have yet to have an answer to that, but what I'll need to do is make a resin-sealed print on bookboard and then compare it with the clay pieces. If the print one looks just as good as the transfer, then why do all the extra work, right? We shall see....
In the meantime, I've got a few lovelies that I will be adding to my Etsy shop, like this beautiful Mexican princess. I combined her with a floral pattern for the ghostly effect. Me likey.
Can you guess how I made the red bail? I think you can....leave a comment!
