Wednesday 26 September 2012

St Werburghs Arts Trail this weekend (discount for readers!)

I will be exhibiting at the St Werburghs Arts trail this weekend. You will find me in the Jack Brimble Centre on the corner of Lynmouth Road and St Werburghs Road from 11am - 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.

It's a lovely little hall and there are a couple of other artists exhibiting there too but there is still plenty of space so hopefully I will be able to do some demonstrations of how I make some of my polymer clay jewellery.

Do come and say hello and if you mention my 'blog reader discount' you can have a 10% discount on sales over £10 as a thank you for taking the time to read my blog!


Friday 21 September 2012

Polydays 2012 - can we do it all again?

Wow what a weekend! I had the best time! I learnt some new skills, I bought some new tools, I met some new friends,I had a great time with some of my favourite polymer people. I really didn't want to come home!

I was a bit worried before I went as I have been having pain in my arm and wrist. Amazingly it got better whilst I was away so I need to do more clay at home too! It turns out it's tennis elbow and using the computer makes it worse, as does writing and driving. Thankfully most polymer clay things are ok! So if I am a bit quiet online for a while please excuse me.

Anyway you will want to see what I made I am sure! We had three workshops - each one lasting a day.

One with Bettina Welker where we made her clever hinged bangles. They take a while to make but are worth the effort - giving a snug fit around the wrist. I went for a purple and teal bangle. I was also able to buy a copy of her new bracelet book - oh I can't wait to try some more bracelets and bangles - thank you Bettina!!
teal and purple textured hinged bangle
Hinged Bangle from Bettina's workshop


Then we had a metallic mokume gane workshop with Carol Simmons. Her work is amazing, it has so much depth to it. I am pleased to say she taught us the secret of that! We also got to use her amazing slicing machine. We made imprinted blocks of mokume gane using Carols handmade texture sheets then sliced lovely even thin layers using the slicing machine. If you want to see the machine go check out Carols blog. The colours of clay and the wonderful patterns turned into some beautiful lentil beads. Carol also had a clever mould for making these.

Cara Jane Metallic Mokume Lentil beads side 1
One side of the metallic mokume gane lentils

Cara Jane Metallic Mokume Lentil beads side 2 - one mokume and the other stroppel
The other side of the lentils.


On the last day we did an overlapping lentil workshop with Alison Gallant. She showed us many other techniques including silk screening. The necklaces are reversible which is pretty cool. One side is black with silk screen printed white dots. The other is made by cutting a bullseye cane with a ripple blade (thanks to Irene for the inspiration on that one). Notice I made a co-ordinating little dangle as well.
reversible lentil necklace green, teal and white ripple patternreversible lentil necklace black and white polka dots




I also made a new pendant in between doing other bits - to match my new hinged bangle.


It was a truly blissful weekend. Thank you to Alison for organising it, to the wonderful tutors for sharing their amazing skills with us and all the other participants for making it so much fun! Oh and a big thank you to Penny - www.clayaround.com and Valerie and Craig - www.polymerclay.co.uk for bringing all your wonderful supplies for us to buy! Can't wait til the next one!!!

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Workshops in September and October 2012

I am pleased to announce my workshop dates for September and October 2012. All these workshops will take place in Bristol, UK. If you want more information please do get in touch - carajaneuk(at)gmail.com

There will be more workshops in November and December which will have a festive theme - we will be making Christmas decorations and presents. More details will follow. If you want to be one of the first to know you can sign up to my email list here



Workshops Dates September/October 2012

Workshops take place in a small group in a comfortable home environment in Fishponds, Bristol unless stated otherwise. All  materials, use of tools and workshop handouts are included. To book your place please contact Cara - carajaneuk(at)gmail.com. A £10 deposit is required to reserve your place. Payment may be made by cheque, bank transfer or PayPal.

An introduction to polymer clay.

You will learn how to work with polymer clay and to make some simple canes. You will be shown how to use your canes to decorate items such as pendants and how to make beads from them. £30 per person, ideal for beginners

  • Thursday  20th September  7.30pm-10.30pm
  • Friday 5th October  10am-1pm

Cute Creatures

Cute owl and sleeping cat made from polymer clayDecorated polymer clay tortoise earrings


I will show you how to make a tortoise, cat and owl from polymer clay. There will be some of my flower canes available for you to decorate your little creatures. They can be little ornaments or we can turn them into charms or beads. Cost £20 per person, suitable for all.
  • Tuesday 25th September 8pm-10pm
  • Saturday 6th October 10am-12pm at Hobbycraft, Cribbs Causeway,  Bristol

Charming Starflower bracelet

A pretty charm bracelet with little cup shaped polymer clay flower beads

Learn how to make my starflower cane and then turn it into these beautiful 3 dimensional beads. We will assemble the bracelet in the workshop. Cost £55 per person, beads and findings included. Some polymer clay experience required, if you have made simple canes already yourself or been on one of my previous workshops you should get on ok.

  • Friday 19th October - 10am - 3 pm