Artzire ++ Nakshatram ++ Nama:II

Our newest Polymer clay designs begin with the ideas - Indian Traditional, wedding (occasion) and GRAND!!!

The ins and outs of the Nakshatram piece can be found at 

http://artzire.blogspot.in/2015/12/pouring-our-blood-into-polymer-clay.html

The number two grand piece Nama:|| 

When the idea was formulating, again, with a traditional main theme, we contemplated mixing it with paper at first! Then came the idea of creating a third dimension in a pendant, and then we added symmetry to it!
Next came the few trials for making the Ganesha as the central piece, it took me at-least 3 tries before I was satisfied with the figurine. We baked it separately so as to avoid distorting it. Then painstakingly we outlined the flower in the 2nd layer of clay with a flower, so as to make it look like the Ganesha, sat in the centre of a Lotus. The matching Sari had the colours: Yellow-gold and Magenta, Since we could not include yellow in the pendant and earring ( because it lacked the contrast with the gold base), we incorporated it into the stringing with citrines and agates, which complimented each other completely!!! I decided to blend Magenta, Pearl and Purple clay together, to get a colour changing effect ( just like a Sari, that changes colour with the light). Once the outlines of the flower were in place, we filled in the channel created with minute clay balls, all cut to the measurement of 2mm each!!! Remember to do it, only when you are up for some brain numbing cutting and rolling! Trust me it takes hours! Once that was in place, we baked the 2nd part. The final layer, which included our veins for attaching the bead strings to the pendant came last. Once the base was created, we joined it together with the 2nd layer and an outline of clay and then merging the outline, such that it looked seamless! The biggest advantage of Polymer clay is that it can be baked as many times as you need  as long as it is within its core baking temperature.

Personal Note

I am lucky that Art'zire ropes me in for some juicy work. These projects I have never even considered doing, mainly because I doubt my own skills, but Pritesh is always there to help and give honest feedback. She sometimes thinks she is being very picky, and sometimes I think so too, and that's what makes all the difference between grand and "Grandeur". It's the exact measurement, mathematical precision and ideas that make the results worth everything. Sometimes it is mistaken for 'digitally printed designs'. In a manner of speaking we are glad for it! When people mistake our work for digital copies, it's a huge compliment to us!

So please let the love pour in! 

~Richa  

Quillography + Resin :)

Hellllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooo

A veryyy veryy late post.
Finally after doing numerous trials on Resin, I am, almost happy with my piece.

Here I have tried to mix a lot of different mediums like colour pencils on sketching paper, Quilling Outlines and finally Resin.
Although I must admit that I did require a lot of help from youtube on this occasion ... especially paperlace princess for her tips on shading with pencil colours. (Do look at her zentangle colouring for an easy to follow tutorial, of-course do it alongside so you can make adjustments and corrections to your own work, because there is nothing like self learning).
I cannot stress the point, that do a couple of practice trials before you can figure out the best way it works for you. I have used Staedler Colour Pencils ( Faber Castell  I think would be a better option, but I didn't want to buy a new set of colour pencils), some local resin mixture, black Quillography strips from Art'zire & glitter from Colour Conceptions.

After making this I came to the following conclusions  ( picture of a trial gone wrong in all possible ways, to highlight my points below.)

1. The need to be more careful about the kind of paper to use as the base for the drawing, or your resin will soak through giving your design a transparent look. So all that colouring that you have spent an hour doing, get's lost somewhere. The other option to give a protective coating on both the top and bottom of your painting with maybe varnish, or a transparent drying glue.( In the above picture there is clearer spot towards the centre.... that was the original paper colour) If you are using pigmented colouring techniques, like colour pencils, charcoal colours etc which can dislodge and form streaks as they come loose. It involves a two part process, varnish (preferably spray), the coloured area to prevent the colour pigments transfer while applying the layer of glue. The glue creates a film between the porous paper and the resin leaving your colours intact and original.

2. While Quilling outlines, perfection is everything. The strips should be able to act as walls to keep the resin within the design. If there is even a little crack, it's going to leak through on to the outside and spread, pretty much spoiling the effect you are aiming to get.

3. If you want to add a little something extra... say like glitter, mix it in the resin. If you put it on after you have poured the resin into your design it does not sink to the bottom, so you get an uneven surface and at times it will cover part of the design that you have worked so hard on. ( Part of my drawing above is hidden because I sprinkled glitter on the top)

4. Air bubbles is resin designs biggest enemy, it will make your design go blotchy and/ or uneven (above picture , the spot of clearer design that you can see is because of an air bubble that was caught under the paper while inserting it into the resin). 

5. If you want a doming effect the key is layering the resin. In effect it means that you will need to work the resin in batches, atleast 3 hours apart. With paper, especially where you have non uniform shapes , mix in resin, let it cure for half an hour ( please decide what the right time is with trials, the outside temperature makes a lot of difference to the curing time)

6. Dust is hell on earth. Living in India , it can be anything from dirt particles, threads from clothes, residue particles from whatever craft you do on your table. Keep it covered! Make sure its not air tight or you will have condensation inside, which may fall into the resin ( if it forms a big enough droplet).

7. Any imperfections in drawing, leaving behind pencil marks that you have used as guidelines, settled dust particles, uneven grooves, WILL BE ENHANCED! The clear concave effect acts like a tiny lens where it zooms a little. So things you thought were insignificant once will definitely enlarge and become obvious. Sometimes if you are using a darker background ( for example black) all the little tiny air bubbles will cause disturbance in the otherwise plain black background.

8. Working with 3D surfaces lends itself to trapped air bubbles. Its not something you can get rid of 100% , but it makes it easier if you try and reduce the straight edges into sloping ones, using transparent drying glue. Basically you fill up the crevices that may cause these air spaces to be created within. Secondly pour the resin slowly, if required use the stirring ice cream sticks to apply resin.


I also did a series of free video tutorials along with Pritesh, from Art'zire, follow the link below for a live demonstration.

http://artzire.blogspot.in/2015/07/handling-casting-resin-series-of-free.html


Do leave me feedback... and if you try something similar, I hope, I have inspired you and helped you a little in the right direction and you will be kind enough to acknowledge my hard work.

~ Richa





 

Decked up and nowhere to go ;)

Heyloo peoples!!!

Today I thought, why not put some goodwill out there and spread the word about some of 

ROCK PAPER & SCISSOR

 Collections in Jewellery. 

I am proud of the fact that everything is handmade , hand crafted and sometimes handpicked ( very rare times, those). Even when I buy ready made earrings, they lie in my cupboard begging to be worn, but they end up being part of my RPS collection at some point. :P.

My entire collection is displayed on facebook at the below link. 

https://www.facebook.com/rockpaperandscissor

Most of these are possible to be re-made on order, if you email me on customrps@gmail.com for placing an order, we can work things from there.

I had customised it for a Deep Blue dress, in the end it ended up being too big for the girl in question and it came back into my stock. I still love it though. Its perfect to wear stand alone, it had a lovely jingle to it ( and that is what is most important to me)

One of my most sought after designs, using semi precious nuggets in their natural handcrafted form. I named it Aparna after one of my best friends even before I knew it would be a hit.

My very first attempt at trying tubular netting. I decided to pick a more traditional colour, teamed it with bronze and Gold. It looks like a bangle, I called it a Boxette- Mistress Red!

The new Addition to my ever growing list of things that can be made are Rings, hairbands and Fridge magnets!

Made to Order, sunflower ring was one of the first in the range of polymer clay products I introduced in the RPS wine. 

My very first trial with hairbands using polymer clay. and it turned out pretty funky and strong as opposed to what I had initially thought. 

 *** Disclaimer:  Beading techniques are easily found online and as such I have seen pictures online and with my then colleague figured out the beading best suited to us, with raw material found in India. These are by no means my original beading techniques. ***

Caught the recycling bug yet???

Fellow Recyclee's,

Although I haven't really made a serious attempt at marketing what I make or do, I tinker at home and dream big about what I could do. Recycling old things is definitely the way forward, especially with all sorts of left overs while crafting.

This is one of those times and things.

Luckily I know someone who has used something like this, I strictly believe in sharing such small tit bits.

I have so many wedding cards at home collected over the years, a habit I have had since I was a kid. Its either the design that I liked, or the paper or the motif on it. Its inexpensive and what you really need is some glue, a pair of scissors and some wedding cards with a slightly thickish paper cards.Sometimes like in my case you may need a double layer to keep the paper straight. This one I had used to display a set of necklace and a pair of earrings. You can use a similar design only for earrings too. 

** The corner punch and paint are secondary and need not be used if you are interested in keeping things real!

1. Get the right sized card
2. To decorate, I have used a corner punch ... but there are several other options you can use, or nothing at all.
3. Painted it, to give it an over all uniformity, again you can skip this if you are not so inclined. I have used another sheet of paper to make it stiff , since you can see the paper curled up after painting it.
4. Put a small triangle to prop up the card so that it can stand upright. This gives it a support for the display.
5. Give 2 small pricks in the paper and Viola you have an earring display ! 

My brother the Brainiac had these "know your word cards" ( you can also use old playing cards, visiting cards-- they are the similar) lying around the house ... and they are such a great size and shape for making name tags, price tags and  thank you cards... that I just couldn't resist making some. 

 I have used Fiskars corner punch, Fevicryl Acryllic pearl and sparkle Paints.

 If you try any of these... do leave me feedback :)

~ Rich