Experimental Eggs

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I'm thinking Easter. I'm thinking I don't want to have to  blow hundreds of eggs - it's hard work! So I bought some children's plastic eggs, the cheap kind that are meant for hiding sweets in so they are hinged, and oven tested them. Survived a baking so time to test covering them. Covered with a layer of scrap clay just to be sure, all seemed well.

I made a quick mokume gane sheet rather than covering it in cane slices and I am glad  as I found that when I was trying to smooth the egg it popped open! Even with the layer of scrap clay under it which I assumed would hold it together. This egg hasn't been baked, I smoothed over the join and then textured it. I lost some of the best bits of pattern shaving off the really lumpy bits:( I am sure if I did bake it the egg would still pop open, ruining it (not sure what I will do with it - if you've go at suggestion please let me know!)

Not to be defeated I shall experiment, perhaps trying to glue the join shut first or maybe filling the egg so it is a little more rigid, it's quite flimsy plastic. Or maybe I will make a mould and not cover anything at all. Anyway I am sure you will see more eggs, and hopefully they will be less bumpy, and hopefully I won't be red in the face from blowing eggs!

This is my thing for day 27 of the February Thing a Day challenge I have been taking part in on the PCC forum. Only another 2 days to go. I've really enjoyed the challenge, loved having a good excuse to have to get the polymer clay out everyday. Even when I am really tired I find I am glad I did play with my clay. I will give you a run down of my latest pieces at the end of February.

Are you thinking about Easter yet?

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Mokume Gane and Belated Easter Eggs

I had a go at Mokume Gane again the other day. I often see things I love made with the Mokume Gane technique and I have read several tutorials but never come up with anything that has made me go 'Wow!'. I think next time I shall take a tutorial to the work bench with me and try and follow it more directly and use the same colours too.

I used Fimo (trying to use up  my stash) in white, gold, and translucent and also used a
sheet of gold foil, first time I have used metal foils. I made a stack of the different colours and then rolled them through the pasta machine and cut in half a restacked and then cut in half and restacked again so I had 12 layers of clay. I used my sculpting tools to impress balls and circles of different sizes and made needle tool dot patterns and filled in some of the larger patterns with small balls of gold clay.

I then took slices with a tissue blade and laid them on a sheet of white clay. I did try shaving slices with an old potato peeler (a tip I read on someones blog - can't remember who sorry) but  it was too blunt - I will have to get a new one to try it. It worked out OK, it's quite interesting but again no wow factor for me - but then I don't really like gold so not sure what I was thinking there!

I hadn't really planned anything with it so I covered a spoon, you may have realised that's one of my default activities by now ;) What should I do with the rest? I cut out a few pendants but didn't like the shapes, I must spend some time making myself some cardboard pendant templates instead of randomly cutting things that are uneven or unbalanced or too wide...

I decided to cover an egg for my lovely husband for Easter (this was the Thursday before - I like a tight deadline!).  I blew a real egg - phew had forgotten what hard work that was having not done it since I was a teenager! I thoroughly washed the egg and then dried it in the oven for a good long time.

A sheet of mokume gane and a covered but not smoothed egg

I read several tutorials on covering eggs and tried a few with some scrap clay, but I kept getting bits that were much thicker and ruined the shape of the egg.  In the end because the pattern of the Mokume Gane was random and could take overlapping without ruining it I just wrapped a piece round most of the egg and tore bits off to fill the gaps left.

I just rolled it around in my hands to smooth it

I was quite pleased with it at this stage and made a matching stand and put it in the oven to bake.  Excellent, Easter sorted for my husband at least.

Well that was until I got it out of the oven - the one thing I forgot, probably the most important thing, the thing that I was conscious of trying to remember until the last minute - the air hole! The result...

Egg with warts!

Without the air hole as the air in the egg expanded in the heat of the oven it had nowhere to go - it expressed itself in a series of 'warts'. The stand was also too big. No time to do anything else so I gave it to him anyway, he was kind of grateful I had made the effort I think. I love the feel of it though it is so light. It would be awesome if I could sand it smooth and buff it to a shine. I will have a go again sometime, another thing to add to my polymer to try list!

Anyway I hope you all had a great Easter. We had a lovely time at my in laws