Sharon Solly

Houses....

2010-02-24T20:21:00.009-05:00

Well it seems that I am completely addicted to making house shapes. I have made mini 3d polymer clay house pendants .These were made last year back in September and I sold them all to my beady friends. They are small, ( for a house) the bases are roughly 3/4" long x 2/8" wide x 7/8" high.That is for the largest house shown here. More coming of these soon.

Here is another of my copper /clay bracelets ... see ? houses ! lol

The bracelet to the right is made up of houses that are all the same size - little'uns. The clay houses are roughly 1/2" wide x a little over 1/2" high. They are cold connected with brass rivets and it has a copper house shaped toggle clasp to match! This is listed on ETSY if anyone would care to have a row of Bungalows on their wrist !

The bracelet to the left is made our two sizes of clay houses -as neighborhoods are likely to have! The largest clay house is roughly 3/4" wide x 3/4" high and the thinner clay house (the Condo ) is 1/2" wide x 3/4" high.It has the house shaped copper toggle clasp too and is also listed on ETSY.

More houses to come soon... I have a couple necklaces to show and to list. Have a creative day day !

OK.. 2 years later.....

2010-02-20T23:35:00.004-05:00

Man..I really do not do well with blogging ! But..I will try this again so I can share my latest work and info.
I am still working with polymer clay, beads and paper arts ( sometimes) and have added metal to the mix. Yea..I know.. as if I didn't have enough to play with already huh ?

These are my latest bracelets with more designs in progress. They are listed on ETSY so PLEASE go buy them! :o)

First one is made of polymer clay hearts that are cold connected ( riveted) to heart shaped copper bases that have been hammered for texture and Liver of Sulphur added for color.

The next one is made of moon shapes in Polymer Clay , cold connected with round copper bases that have drilled holes , hammered texture and Liver of Sulphur.

They both have toggle clasps of copper. I started with flat copper sheet and wire and raw clay. The wire became jump rings and the copper was cut, drilled, filed, hammered and patina added then the baked clay pieces were riveted into place.

They are very comfortable to wear.
More to come !!

Happy new Year belatedly !!

2008-02-01T15:32:00.000-05:00

Well I have been a tad bit busy creating so I have not been here to post. I hope everyone had good holidays...I am honestly glad they are over. Too much stress these days over them.
Anyways..I wanted to share a few of recent creations with you all...so here goes!
This is a beaded cuff bracelet i made in conjunction with a group challenge on the Beaddreamz Yahoo group. It is my first cuff but won't be my last as i really enjoyed making this. I used three polymer clay face cabs that I had already made. I like the look!
I made my youngest daughter a large polymer clay bowl to keep her beaded bracelets and necklaces in ( instead of laying them all over the furniture as usual) for Christmas.She loves it thank goodness :o) .

These are a few of the beaded bracelets I made for Tyler ( my youngest dd) for Christmas.
Funny part is she tries to wear them all at once!!! Well.. she IS 13!! hehe

Now..over on the PCP Forum I am on ( http://polymerclay.forumarena.com/ ) we had a heart challenge for Jan..and these are just a few of the ones I made for it. ...there are many more as hearts are addictive to make. You can see the rest and many other of my new clay goodies here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharonsolly/ . Thanks for looking !! happy creating!

Skinny Book swap pages..

2007-12-13T18:30:00.001-05:00

Okie dokie..here are ten more pages , front and back. I think there are only a few more left.I really enjoyed making these and am hoping that the recipients like them as well. Would love to hear any comments on them. thanks for looking!!

Pages pages pages...

2007-12-10T10:45:00.000-05:00

Well it is officially the holiday season in our house...I started baking last night! I bake sweets for the family as well as for the two oldest living at home to take to work. My DD Sammy's co-workers are used to it as she has been there over 5 years...and they were starting to ask
' Umm..is your mom baking this year?' LOL I love it. :o)
Anyhoo... here are today's skinny book page offerings. Enjoy and happy creating!

More pages..

2007-12-09T11:17:00.001-05:00

Morning all..as promised here are a few more pages :
Let me know what ya think! Happy creating :o)

More Skinny Book pages

2007-12-07T10:31:00.000-05:00

I am going to TRY to upload a few each day until they are all here.. so here is today's contributions.
Well I am off to make more clay things to sell tomorrow..mainly ' candy' bracelets in holiday colors. Will share more tomorrow! Happy creating !!!

Polymer Clay Christmas ornaments..

2007-12-06T12:59:00.000-05:00

ok..last post today I think! I am doing a small craft show this weekend and I have been making these teeny mini clay ornaments for it..I love how they are turning out! Anyhoo..here are what they look like.

Now these are all mini ornaments..under 2" tall. The Cone Santas are not my design..got that one from the Sculpey.com site..under projects. The last little snowman is my interpretation of an ornament I saw online. Hope this gets you into the christmas spirit!! Let me know what you think. Have a creative day!

Skinny Book Swap

2007-12-06T12:26:00.000-05:00

I joined a Skinny Book swap On the Altered Abby site( http://www.alteredabbey.com ) and thought I would share pictures of the pages I made for it. We had to make 26 original pages..and I do not enjoy doing them all the same..so I didn't! lol So I will share a few at a time until they are all here! Shown are the front and back images of each page..i really enjoyed doing these!! Can't wait to get the finished book back. Would love to hear what you think of them..good or bad..so comment away folks! thanks for looking!

Been forever !!!

2007-12-06T11:54:00.000-05:00

Weeeell... it has been AGES since I have posted :o(. Life has just not been co-operating at all. I am not going into details..you guys do not need to hear me whinging! lol
I wanted to share some things with everyone. My youngest DD, Tyler, has taken to playing with my digi camera alot and she has been taking some very interesting and GOOD pictures lately! Here are a few I absolutely love!! Would love any comments to share with her if you feel the same.
This first one is taken at dusk just a couple days ago from our front yard..and yes she loves quirky angles like this.

The next one was taken a few weeks ago looking through the window in my room next to my desk...I love the effect the window screen has on this shot.
This one is in the front yard again..shows off the fall colors wonderfully I think.
Tyler is collecting these Vitamin water bottles..she loves these drinks.My mom made her a wooden shelf to display them..she is over 100 now i think..LOL

And here is a self portrait of my DD Tyler...too cute..then again I am biased!

Thanks for looking:o) Got ALOT of pics to share so will be uploading a few each day. I hope life is good to you all this season..and remember.. it isn't about how many presents you give or get..it is about the love and people in your life! Happy holidays to all!

Long time, No Post

2007-08-30T22:55:00.000-04:00

Well.. it has most definitely been awhile since I have posted here. This past month as been a busy one for me...but I am hoping that is a good thing in the long run.:o) Anyhoo..I thought I would share some pics tonight of recent work I did for a swap we had at the BRPCGuild meeting last month. The theme/idea was Polymer Clay bowls..and as usual I made more than one ( I can never decide on just ONE idea see).
This is the one that Maggie decided she wanted for the swap. This bowl was made on a small glass bowl from the dollar store. I turned it upside down on a small tile and then I covered the bottom of the bowl ( that was pointed upward like a mound on the tile) with several different sizes of one cane i had made awhile back. I added little feet to the bottom and made it all shiny with a coating of Kato Liquid clay ( cured with a heat gun). It is very bright.

This bowl was done in the same fashion as the one above except I used two different leaf canes laid on in rows on the bowl and no feet were added.I glazed this one with Kato liquid as well.

Now the last bowl I made was done slightly different. Instead of using individual slices of canes directly onto the bowl, I made a fabric per se of clay that has slices of one cane on each side. This is the Mosaic cane ( tutorial link below) and it was done in two different color schemes, one per side of the bowl. Once the fabric was completely covered with cane slices on each side I ran it thru the pasta machine to even the whole thing out nicely. Then I draped the fabric over
the glass bowl bottom and trimmed it into a circle.
Flute the edges with your finger tips. Back and glaze
with Kato liquid clay. Turned out kind of cool.
Here is the link for the Mosaic cane..hope you try
it as it is very easy but gives cool effects! Happy
claying folks !

http://www.pcpolyzine.com/may2001/mosaic.html

Kim Cavender Workshop !

2007-08-06T21:28:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I was a lucky gal and got to go to a polymer clay workshop of Kim Cavender sponsored by the Blue Ridge Polymer Clay guild. OMG.. what a great time we had !!! On Saturday we learned how to make Woven Canes, they kind of look like woven fabric, and they are not as hard to do as they look!!!! Then on Sunday we had a fun technique day that used many items from your work room.Too much fun. If you ever get the chance to take a class from Kim C..I highly recommend it. We learned alot and had a very fun time whilst doing so. :o) Here are pictures of the canes we made on Sat..i still have to finish up the projects from Sundays class..will do so tonight and tomorrow, too hot to turn on the oven to bake them!

Renaissance Swirls bangle

2007-08-03T11:15:00.000-04:00

I know the picture is not the best..but this is a bracelet I made yesterday and it was wicked easy!! It is a pattern from Bead & Button ( fav beading mag) Dec.2004 issue, called Renaissance Swirls Bangle by Nancy Zellers. It is made with transparent teal and pearl mint 11º seed beads using the African Helix Stitch.Man was it easy!! Looks really nice on you wrist and is super lightweight since it is hollow. Hope ya like it! Bead something today :o)

Beaded thingies

2007-07-31T16:33:00.000-04:00

These are peyote flower beads that I started beading last night. Of the two on the dowel the one on the left is the first one I did following the directions from the Bead & Button magazine ( 2005 issue) and I was not happy with the result. It was a tad bit hard to do it that way, so the for the next one I started from the inside of the flower and worked my way outward.. MUCH easier!! This will be a cute design using reds and greens for Christmas I think.

Now.. this next bracelet I finished a couple weeks ago.. it is peyote stitch..regular even count.. but the reason it is so shapely is because you use different sized beads and ALOT of tension. This makes the beads bow out and gives it shape. I like it.. but hands protested after it was done. ...also...I recommend doing this in one sitting.. because when you put it down you loose some of the tension and it shows in the work. I got the pattern at www.bead-pattern.com .

New beading

2007-07-30T19:53:00.000-04:00

This is a bracelet that I made for myself using 8 mini polymer clay cabochons I made recently. I used 11º and 15º seeds beads and 4 mm crystals. I really like how it turned out.
Here is another beaded polymer clay cabochon I made last week. The necklace is made with 11º and 15º seed beads in a spiral technique. I am going to put this one up for sale soon.

The technique used for this one is the Herringbone stitch. It is the first time I have used that stitch and I like it. These are some of my fav colors. The seed beads used are 11º and the clasp is a lightweight button I had laying around.

Now.. this bracelet I made last night in matte topaz 8º, gold lined 11º and shiny gold twist 12mm bugle beads. The pattern is in the August Bead and Button magazine and it uses the herringbone stitch too.I liked making this one too..not too difficult but you do have to take your time on it so you don't get lost! This one will be for sale as well.

In the Works

2007-07-30T18:37:00.001-04:00

I have been working on a beaded fabric art doll recently ( pattern by Patty Medaris Culea) and as usual I had to make my first one a tad bit difficult/time consuming! Not only does my doll...Sunny...have a beaded sun on her back ( her tatoo as it were) but I decided to bead spirals all over her as well. I have dyed some lace for her skirt, which will have beads dangling as well, and am making a beaded collar too. Her hair will be dyed wool with beads in it too.I am happy with her so far..and am learning alot as I go. I would love to hear what you guys think about her!

The beaded sun tatoo on her back.

Close up of beaded sun..done in 11º and 15º seed beads..all embroidered on by hand.

a new look

2007-07-26T15:32:00.000-04:00

Well... have had a rough time of this blogging business! First computer trouble for over a month..then simply no time to post. Then.. today when I go to update my blog..it is gone! ugh! So I am starting afresh. I am not one to chat about my day to day life much..but I do like to share my art and things I have learned with it.
I do want to say that I have been honored to have been elected into the Vice President position of the Blue Ridge polymer Clay guild here in Asheville :o). It is a great group of folks that love to play with clay...we have a great time and lots of laughs. I hope I can do the job justice. Thanks guys!!
My favorite creations are the ones that I can put my many obsessions all together, like beading, polymer clay work and stamps. I am now making cool faux dichro clay cabachons and then I bead around them. Looks way cool and is MUCH cheaper than the real glass..tho I love that too!
Here are some pictures of what I made last weekend out of polymer clay. There are beads, cabs to bead around and pins.Clockwise starting bottom left: face cabs to use for art dolls, faux dichro with alcohol inks and metal leaf ,alcohol inks and stamped images, cabs and an art doll. I use Kato Liquid clay to get a thick glass like finish which is easy to do and looks great !