Faux Ancient Egyptian Pendants
One of my favorite pastimes is to go visit museums and flip through books with ancient jewelry collections. The ingenuity, craftsmanship and raw talent in ancient work is a true inspiration.
One of those ancient testaments to ingenuity is Ancient Egyptian Faience, known as the world’s oldest known form of glazed ceramic and a precursor to the earliest forms of glass making. While it shares the name faience with the tin-glazed pottery associated with Faenza in northern Italy, it is not true faience. Ancient Egyptian Faience is not made of clay at all but type of frit, a mixture of sand, quartz, silica, calcite lime and a mixture of alkalis. To the ancient Egyptians, it was known was known as “tjehnet” which means brilliant or dazzling. Often crafted into beads, pendants, figures, tiles and other small objects, using push molds or sculpted by hand, then heated to create lovely glazed pieces of art. It was used as a imitation of semi precious stones, such as lapis lazuli and turquoise, though many colors could be achieved by changing some of the ingredients of the frit mixture.
I wondered, how I could make something that looked like Ancient Egyptian Faience but without the need of a kiln? Using real Egyptian Faience as my model, such as those in the above photo, gave me a good idea of what colors and textures I wanted to match. While it is very easy to create the shapes out of any number of air dry and oven bake clays, the glazed appearance of much of the Ancient Egyptian Faience was going to be tricky. I got to thinking how Amazing Casting Products’s Amazing Clear Cast Resin on top of polymer clay could appear like a glaze and more akin to the lovely ancient work.
I started with conditioned polymer clay, in the color tones of blues and greens, betting that a base color of those hues would give me the best results. I also conditioned a piece of white polymer clay as a color test. I then cut all pieces into sizes and shapes good for pendents.
I went through my collection of stamps and charms, picking ones that were Egyptian themed. I sprayed the object to be pressed in the clay with water to act as a stamp release from the clay and pressed firmly into the clay.
I trimmed the pieces of clay close to the stamped images, smoothing edges and defining details of the stamped images.
After curing the polymer clay by manufacturer’s instructions, and once the pieces were cool, I trimmed off any rough edges on the clay pieces with a craft knife.
I applied a thin layer of Liquitex Gloss Varnish to all of the pieces and before they dried rubbed on a light layer of Alumidust.
I mixed a very small amount of blue and green Alumilite Dyes with Amazing Clear Cast Resin, making sure to fully stir the dyes into the resin and let it sit for 10 minutes.
By letting the resin sit for 10 minutes, the resin will be thicker and stick more to the polymer clay pieces. I carefully applied the resin to the back and sides of the pendants with a toothpick first and let them cure completely, as per manufacture instructions, before moving onto the next step.
After the back of the polymer clay pieces were dry I applied resin to the front of the pieces with a toothpick, making sure to get all the groves and indents of the stamped images. I let this layer of resin cure completely.
Once all of the pieces were fully cured I carefully drilled holes to put beading wire and thread through each piece.
Here are the finished Faux pieces with the real Egyptian Faience, a pretty close match if I do say so!
The addition of wood, glass, semi precious stones and shell makes these pieces look straight out of ancient jeweler’s marketplace!Want to see more of Amazing Casting Products tutorials and inspiration? Hop on over to their Blog to see all kinds of Amazing Artists’ Designs!Until Next Time, Safe Travels!Garden Color Inspiration
Here in California the warm weather seems to be here to stay and more than a bit early. Even in drought conditions plants are starting to grow, sprout and flower, which of course has me doing a mad dash to clean up the garden, and get it ready for Summer. Some of my plants, like the ivy above with one of my ceramic masks peeking out, doesn’t need much care other than some trimming of dead growth. It can take some time but I find it calming and it lets my mind wander, often inspiring my artwork. However when I started cleaning the garden this time I got to thinking about how my art supplies were not really in any good order than could immediately inspire me.
Letting the colors of the garden be my guide I started to sort some of my jewelry supplies. A lot of my bead and jewelry supplies I often sort by type and shape, but, while practical, that doesn’t give me an idea of what color tones I have. I complied a majority of my green tone glass, crystal, pearl and acrylic beads, picking ones that reminded me of all the shades of greenery in my garden. By taking them off their stringing cords, putting them in a recycled plastic container, I was able to put more beads in one container, giving me a green hue inspiration selection at my fingertips.
With the ivy being such a great color inspiration I went back to the garden for more. Aquilegia or otherwise known as Columbine, a hardy perennial, I have growing in my garden after I found out it does amazingly well in our arid climate, as long as I keep it in part shade. With the weather being so warm these little lovely flowers popped up quick, giving the local butterflies food and the garden little clusters of color.
I bought a pale purple rose bush some years back to add to my collection of roses; however it never did well in the ground so I transplanted it into a large pot where it grows marvelously, producing small, compact, citrus smelling, pastel purple roses that turn pale pink in the hotter temperatures.
Using the columbine and roses for my next color mix inspiration I gathered all of my pink and purple beads for my next container. I seriously had no idea how many pink crystals I had bought until put them all together!
My next color pallets came from flowering Iris. While originally I didn’t know much about iris plants, I have grown to love theses easy going and stunning plants. My first iris plants came from my mother who decided to give me several from her mystery mix collection of iris she bought from a local iris society. They turned out to be a collection of large Bearded rhizomatous irises, in all kinds of wonderful colors. After seeing these lovely plants grow it is no surprise the word iris comes from the Greek word for rainbow.
While currently there is no true red iris available, there are deep purples, pinks and brown iris hybrids that iris growers have carefully grown over the years. The lovely one above is a variety of Iris known as “Dynamite” from Schreiner Iris Gardens. It grows fast, has lovely large blooms and is prolific.
I let my iris continue to grow, just transplanting new plants into more pots each year. Like many hybrid plants the high heat and arid climates put non-native plants to the test. In this case iris love the sun and bloom in hot temperatures, such as these lovely deep maroon iris, most likely from the “Infrared” line of iris by Joe Ghio.
With those flowers as my guide Czech Fire Glass beads, Pressed Glass beads from India, Embossed Ceramic focals, and red acrylic flowers easily found homes in this rich color pallet.
This plant had not bloomed last year due to a insect infestation, but thankfully a swarm of ladybugs decided to congregate in the garden saving my iris and roses, allowing for this beautiful splash of color to finally bloom this year. While a bit smaller than other bearded iris, it more than makes up for it with warm honey and marigold colors.
Those wonderful earthy tones had me gathering up warm browns, yellows and unusual bright beads. African Trade Beads, Venetian Glass Beads, Swarovski Crystals, hand crafted ceramic beads and carved cattle bone beads fit perfect in this collection.
As of this posting, my collection of snow white iris have just started to bloom. Named “Skating Party”, a tall bearded iris, first registered by Larry Gaulter in 1983, is attractive to bees and butterflies. Off to start going through my whites, creams and satin tone beads….:)
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
Craft & Hobby Association Mega Show 2015 part 2
Time for my Craft & Hobby Association Mega Show 2015 recap, part 2! My last Post about this year’s winter Craft and Hobby Association Mega Show was mostly about Amazing Casting Products/Alumilite Corp., my samples and demos at the CHA. This post will be about some of the new products, booth designs and awesome artists at CHA!
I made sure to drop by the Linpeng International Inc./Fiona Accessories booth to visit with Fiona and Jimmy and to see their new beads for 2015. They had a wonderful selection of new tear drop crystal beads in all kinds of wonderful colors I had to order.
Along with the new mixed color strands of hand painted beads Fiona and Jimmy were happy to show some of their new Bohemian pendants and beading accessories. They buy beads from manufacturers from around the world so you can find a wide variety of beads from China, Japan, India, Czech, countries in Africa and more in their booth.
Linpeng beading supplies can be found at many craft and hobby stores, Fiona Accessories finished jewelry can be found at chain gift shops in the US and you can order their beads online.
Cousin Corporation of America had a stunning Fairy Tale themed booth display, which had a very Once Upon a Time feel to it. Cousin is starting new environmentally friendly improvements through recycling, conservation and sustainability. Their booth decor had elements acquired from thrift stores and upcycled art turned totally glamorous.
This lovely chain dress overlay had a wonderful temple dancer feel to it and I think with a soft cut black dress underneath it would be perfect for a Renaissance Fair!
Cousin’s new mixed bead hanks next to another one of their lovely necklace and fabric displays.
This bib necklace on display had a wonderful Southwestern riverbed feel. I loved the use of warm color tones with the cool color of turquoise.
Spellbinders had a huge and rather multifaceted booth, with loads of displays and make n takes. The display that stopped me in my tracks was the opulent display in their booth by A Gilded Life.
Spellbinders and A Gilded Life now have a licensed line of dies, bezels, pendants, jewelry findings and trims sold online and at art and craft stores. Photos do not do their work justice!
Midwest Design Imports, a whole distributor of boas, artificial birds & butterflies, craft items, and more, had a wonderful selection of fairy, woodland characters and glass minis in their booth. However what caught my eye was their very humorous and full of character line of artificial owls of all sizes. I think those adorable owls will be perfect for Autumn-themed craft classes and displays! A rather cool aspect about Midwest Design Imports is all the feathers they sell are byproducts of other industries, and would have otherwise been discarded.
I had to meet up with the talented Suzann Sladcik Wilson, book author and CEO of Beadphoria, Inc.. Cheerful and happy to talk about jewelry projects and ideas, Suzann was looking great in the The CHA Designers in Action Showcase event. Tiffany Windsor of Cool2Craft, on her way to the Showcase, decided to photobomb us, making it all the more fun!
Suzann had a lovely display of her soldering book, jewelry and upcycled necklace folding cards.
On the other side of her jewelry display Suzann’s first book and other beautiful beaded creations.
A new booth this year that I found the last day of CHA was Bead Fairy TV, owned and operated by Jolene Star (AKA the Bead Fairy). Specializing in bead tutorials, online classes, beading kits and more.
I just had to walk into her booth; the colors, beads and just positive feeling was addicting. Do check out her beading 101 videos on YouTube; they are fun, funky and bound to get you beading. You might also know Jolene her from her store Bazaar Star Beadery in New Jersey.
Spinrite Yarns otherwise known as Yarnspirations made a huge booth display showcasing yarn and amazing artistic talent. “Yarnia” as they called it was inspired by the theatrical versions of the The Chronicles of Narnia. The first yarn creation to greet you was Jadis, the White Witch in her battle gown.
Next was the Pevensie boys in their armor.
The White Witch in her snow gown with wolf companions.
Last but not least Mr. Tumnus, the faun and Lucy Pevensie at the lamp post.
There was so much more that I didn’t photograph but in the next few months I will be receiving my orders and trying out new crafting goodness with all the new products!
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
Craft & Hobby Association Mega Show 2015 part 1
Now that I am mostly over the yearly cold the seems to lurk the halls of CHA, it is that time of year: my CHA Trade Show recap! CHA, otherwise know as the Craft and Hobby Association, has a Mega Trade Show every January, full of all kinds of wonderful arts and crafts manufacturers, demos, classes, meet and greets, designer showcases and new trends!
Since I am proudly part of their design team, this year Amazing Casting Products/Alumilite Corp. asked me to create some food samples using their new product Amazing Remelt and to do demos at their booth! My friend Jami Poe Bostjancic, a talented cake designer, taught me some of the ins and outs of fondant. As she noted, working with fondant has some similarities to polymer clay. I decided to make a sun and moon for a mini cake, mushrooms on a cinnamon and brown sugar cupcake, chocolate bunny and mini presents all out of fondant for the requested samples.
Fondant can easily be pushed into Amazing Remelt molds and then quickly popped out onto a cold cutting board to dry. Here I have prepped and readied my molds to be packed to go to CHA.
As per the website: “Amazing Remelt is a Non Toxic, 1-part reusable mold making material for room temperature or low exotherm materials. Amazing Remelt softens at 120°F and becomes liquid at 135°-140°F. It can be remelted and reused to make new molds time and time again. Ideal for making molds for smaller items such as jewelry, embellishments, and chocolate molds.”
I assisted Susan M. Brown, Amazing Casting Products Design Team Leader and awesome artist in her own right, in assembling the Amazing Casting Products Hot Product display. I was able to take some photos of the display before the end of booth set up on the Friday before the show.
Susan brought some awesome little signs and clips from Deflecto, which helped hold up and highlight signs and info about the Amazing Remelt. I seriously need to buy some of the Deflecto Craft Organizers and Sustainable Office products now that I know they work so well.
On Sunday the Craft and Hobby Association had a awesome gala event where they donated funds to charities and announced the winners of the Hot Product Categories! Amazing Casting Products/Alumilite Corp won Hot Product in Cake and Food Decorating at CHA for Amazing Remelt!
The Amazing Casting Products booth had all kinds of samples of what one can do with their products. Depending on the day they had different samples and demos, from bracelets, pizza cutters, pens, plates and more! Now that Amazing Clear Cast Resin has received FDA certification, meaning it’s food safe, you can even make plates and bowls from their resin!
President of Alumilite Mike Faupel, wanted to make sure all the samples were easy to see, pick up and handle to showcase the versatility of the products.
I did afternoon demos at the booth of my push molds such as those seen in my CHA Sneak Peak Post.
This year I wanted to make a booth display that was a little different. I started with vintage cabochon molds and used layers of Amazing Clear Cast Resin and Alumilite Metallic Powders, glitter and rhinestones. Each little cabochon was a mini galaxy piece that I wanted to attach to a gown.
I first started creating a caftan but I wasn’t happy with the look, so I saved the fabric for another project and rummaged through my collection of thrift store finds. I found a red glittery gown that had seen better days. I made some alterations, changing the straps, fitting and how the gown would drape. I slowly glued on each cabochon with 36000 and rhinestones with Gem-Tac, as suggested by my stunningly talented cousin Kathleen Rojas, owner of Oso Rojo Costumes.
With the addition of a cape, and making necklace my “Cosmic Radiation” gown went on on display at the Amazing Crafting Products/Alumilite Corp booth.
I was so happy with how the resin and inclusions sparkled under the bright trade show lights!
Come back later for Craft & Hobby Association Mega Show 2015 post, part 2!
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
Reindeer Romp at the LA Zoo with the SoCal Chapter of CHA!
Hello and Happy Holidays! So many things have been going on lately; with events, family, arts and crafts December already is zooming by! One of the wonderful events this month is thanks to the Southern California Chapter of the Craft and Hobby Association and the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
This year the LA Zoo is holding a special seasonal event called Reindeer Romp. From November 28 to January 4 real reindeer have made the L.A. Zoo their home for the holidays! To add to this wonderful experience this weekend of December 13th and 14th, at the Reindeer Romp event there is a special craft area for children to create animal themed ornaments with papercrafting supplies, from 10-4 (or until supplies last)! This special craft area is made possible by the many awesome craft businesses, companies, designers and crafters that make up the SoCal Chapter of the Craft and Hobby Association!
Here is some of the Zoo-rific Ornaments, featuring Ellison’s SureCut Endangered Animals Dies and Sizzix Bigz Ornament Die. With generous donations from Ellison, Stampendous, Cool2Craft, Faber Castell, Aleene’s and Curacao there was enough supplies to create ornaments for 600 children for the two day crafting event!
With only the first day of crafting done, already there was so many happy children and familes!
As a proud Steering Committee Member of the Southern California Chapter of the CHA I was happy to volunteer for both days of crafting with other talented and generous members of the Chapter!
There is still time to bring your wee ones to see the wonderful animals and make holiday crafts on December 14th! Help us promote awareness of endangered animals and have festive fun with cute holiday ornaments!
Until Next Time, Safe Travels!
Ancient and Contemporary Inspired Artistry