My 'blue phase'

Hi from thepapersac
It's a lovely bright and sunny morning here today. I love sunshine in the mornings - my day feels optimistic when it's sunny.

Yesterday was a reasonably productive day. I had a plan and carried it through - not too much to see but lots of preparation. I managed my tiny, flat shapes and now need to make sure that I am able to construct them into an earring. They are very thin and I will add a simple post, embedded onto the flat back with additional soft clay. I'm quite confident of my plan (at the moment) it maybe different later but I'm going with this plan. Here are the little shapes :






This is the front, the backs are 'flatish' - I will sand them a little but when I add the extra clay to embed the posts there will be a raised part to the back. My idea for this particular project was to experiment with making small, thin pieces of jewellery. So far it's worked and given me lots more ideas. My next 'thin piece' will be a broach which imitates a cut, thin piece of sheet metal. I want a simple item with layers of distressed paint in various shades of blue. My 'blue phase' will eventually work it's way out of my world (I think ?) but not yet. Here are the shapes for the broaches, so far :






I will layer the pieces of clay onto some shades of blue clay. I want to keep the item 'thin' but I think another thin layer will give the piece a 'hard' feel, imitating metal. Ive made a texture pattern on one piece and will keep the others plain with the paint distress adding interest.

I am focussing on adding paint to beads today. I can then re bake and begin to build the jewellery. I will also make up some packaging for samples before going into production.







Here are a few more shapes which came out of yesterday's clay - mainly just playing around with techniques and methods of making shapes. I'm not sure what to do with the pebble ring shapes. The ring shapes are too small as finger rings but maybe they could be earrings or beads for bracelets ? or even broaches ? The little pieces above the broach bits are going to be earrings using the same paint techniques as the broaches (I hope).

I made some earring 'hooks' (I notice the rest of the world call these things 'wires' but I like 'hooks' instead) yesterday for the beads which were considered top of the 'liked' list. Here they are :






These hooks did not set out to be so 'curled' but as I worked them - this style suited the bead. I have a few pairs of this style (I tend to make one of each design for me). As I tried the earrings myself, it was obvious the bead needed to be nearer the earlobe and this shaped hook allows the bead to move and be seen from a few angles but quite short too. These little points of detail make or break the design. I am now building all such thoughts into my designing. I feel as if I've 'grown' so much in this respect over a few weeks. All very satisfying.

Must get on.

Bye for today.