Monday 26 November 2012

Tiny Christmas Hat Tutorial


I expect you are starting to think about Christmas! Well if you wanted to make some little creatures with Christmas hats here's a quick tutorial to help you. You can find my free tutorial to make the little sleeping cats like the one shown on my blog here.
Cara Jane's Sleeping Cat Tutorial
Cara Jane's Free Sleeping Cat Tutorial

Of course any animal could become a Christmas animal with a little Santa hat not just cats - the owls love them!

Cat with small amount of red and white polymer clay
You will need a little creature such as this cat and a small amount of red and white polymer clay



 

roll a cone of red
Roll a small ball of red clay and then roll it backwards and forwards with your finger on one end only to make a cone

Here's a nice hat cone


I like to chop the other end off so the bottom of the hat will be flat

trying hat on cat
Test the hat for size, this was a little big so I chopped a bit of clay off and rerolled it into a slightly smaller cone.

Roll a very thin log of white clay - moving your fingers out towards the end as you roll will help the log spread out and get thinner.

Wrap the white around the very bottom edge of the hat to look like a fur trim. Trim of the excess white and join the ends so you have a neat band of white around the bottom of the hat

Roll an even tinier ball of white clay to be a pom pom on the end of the hat. I poke a hole into it so that I can push the red point of the hat into it and then firm it gently in place so that it will stick to the hat but still be round.

Finished cat
Put the hat on your creature and bend it over if you wish - I like them like that myself but you can off course leave it sticking up. Your sleeping cat is now a lovely little Christmasy ornament. A lovely gift for a friend who likes cats!

finished hanging cat
Or add a hole and something to hang your cat (I used tiger tail and crimped it underneath the cat) and you have a unique and special  tree decoration. The head end of the cat is lighter so I make the hole slightly nearer  to the tail end rather than in the middle.

If you've got any questions please do get in touch. I love to get comments on my blogs - or emails!

If you haven't already found me on facebook I have a page there and I'd love to see you there too.
www.facebook.com/CaraJaneContemporaryJewellery

Hope all your Christmas Preparations go smoothly!

Cara

Thursday 22 November 2012

Bright Flowers - a new set

The weather here in the UK is horrible today so I have tried to cheer things up with these bright flowers



These are slightly different from my normal flat flower pendants as they are slightly curved and each petal slightly cupped. They also have a dimension centre which looks like little tubes but is actually just little sticks of clay (adhered with the wonderful Kato polypaste) that I poke a pin into to give the illusion of being hollow. I think the curve looks elegant and adds interest.

The will be for sale this Saturday at:

FishFest's Fabulously Festive Fair, 4-9.30pm,  All Saints Church Hall, Grove Rd Fishponds: arts, crafts, live music, beauty treats, freshly made nibbles and childrens' activities. Buy unique gifts, support local craftspeople and next years' Community Festival!

Will anyone buy them, if so I wonder who? I hope the weather isn't too horrible where you are.

Thursday 15 November 2012

Christmas Fair Dates and NEW CREATURES!

Before I let you know my latest Christmas Fair dates I'd like to introduce you to my new creatures that will be available from the Totterdown Arts Trail onwards. Meet the pigs!





This weekend I will be at  the Totterdown Arts Trail at 13 Hawthorne Street, Totterdown, Bristol with the wonderfully talented Emily Ketteringham and her screen prints of Bristol. I am really looking forward to it as I always meet such interesting people. The trail is open from 6-8pm on Friday and then 12-6pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

The following weekend I will be at FishFest's Fabulously Festive Fair in All Saints Church Hall, Grove  Road, Fishponds from 4-9.30pm. This should be a jolly and sociable fair which is raising funds towards FishFest 2013 (a  community festival for Fishponds where I live!). There will be a wide range of arts and crafts on sale all from local people as well as therapy taster sessions, a cafe serving mulled wine and some live music. I help to organise both the festival and this festive fair.

On Saturday 1st December I will be at the Southville Centre Christmas Fair from 10am-4pm.

I also have some new workshop dates and some exciting news about December I shall share with you very soon!!

Thursday 8 November 2012

First Christmas Owls of 2012

I can't put it off any more - Christmas is coming and it's getting closer. Here's the first Christmas Owls for 2012

Red and White Christmas Owls 2012 by Cara Jane. Small red and white owl ornaments with santa hats
Watch this space for my latest sales and workshop dates some exciting news about what I will be doing in December!