Cold Porcelain

I've just discovered Cold Porcelain and a recipe for making it at home ... there are loads of recipes on the Internet, many which vary slightly in the ingredients, so I chose one and couldn't wait to get started.

After reading reports of some people's disappointment with their numerous attempts at perfecting the clay, I was a little apprehensive, thinking that I would either end up with a gooey mess, or something that was dry, difficult to work with and cracked whilst drying.

But I'm delighted to say that my fears were unfounded!

The clay appears to have turned out beautifully. I must say after previously working with Polymer Clay, the texture and light perfume from the Nivea cream in the Cold Porcelain is quite pleasant. Added to that, the low cost, natural appearance, low toxicity and no need to fire, and I can definitely say I am now a convert!

Yesterday I made my very first attempt at making a white rose and was amazed how easy it was. It isn't perfect and I will need more practice but I'm enjoying the learning process.

White Rose:


I had a little piece of clay left over from that rose, so I added a tiny dab of acrylic paint to make a pink rose. I'm not sure if the acrylic paint made the texture a little drier, or if it was drying out through use, or possibly a combination of the two, but it didn't seem quite as supple as when I made the white rose. As you can see from the photo, it has formed tiny cracks along the edge of the thinnest petals... which is no bad thing and I actually think it looks quite realistic.

Pink Rose:


Primarily I'd like to use my flowers in my jewellery designs, so I'm a little disappointed that I will probably have to varnish them to protect from moisture. I love the natural matte porcelain look as it is, so will have to try a varnish with a very matte look to try to retain the appearance of porcelain.

I'm going to experiment using various additions to colour the clay and want to try adding Mica Pigment powder for a subtle pearly, shimmery effect too.

So my conclusion is that it is a wonderful clay and one that I will enjoy experimenting with.

Birthday Sale BOGO Half Price

It's my birthday next week and to celebrate I'm having a Buy One Get One Half Price sale on selected flower themed jewellery in my Etsy shop.

Many items are One Of A Kind, never to be repeated designs, so once they are gone, they are gone.

On purchasing two items, half of the lower priced item will be refunded through Paypal.

Check out what's included in my birthday sale here

Sale ends Friday 21st May 2010

Happy shopping! :)

Midweek Catch Up

I've been experimenting with some new ideas, and one design in particular, in polymer clay this past week. But my creative muse seems to have abandoned me. I've worked the same design over and over and still I'm not happy with the end result. No matter, I know my muse is only away temporarily and will return. I've learnt to ignore it's absence rather than push for it to return before it's ready... far less frustrating!

In the meantime I've purchased some Mica pigment powders in gorgeous shades and will bide my time playing with them by incorporating them into the clay for some subtle effects. It'll be fun, even if nothing much comes of it. Who knows, a little bit of sparkle might just tempt my muse to return from its sojourn.

While I wait, I'll show you a couple of designs that I have recently made, the results of which I am very happy with.

Bow Belle Necklace:


Calypso Bracelet:

Everything's Coming Up Roses

I've let my blog slip again! I really must make time to update it regularly.

I've recently started modelling... no not me, ha ha fat chance of that! I've been modelling with Polymer Clay, a medium I first experimented with over 20 years ago, and one of my first ever forays into jewellery making. Since those days , which seem oh so long ago, Polymer Clays have improved tremendously, or at least I think they have.

I used to use Fimo original, which is still available, but I am now trying out Premo by Sculpey. It's a softer formula, so is easier to condition before use. Even so, I do find it hard work on my poor arthritic fingers, so I was really thrilled to get a free pasta machine on my local Freegle (formerly Freecycle) site. It's a really sturdy Italian made one. This has made the job of conditioning and mixing colours a lot easier and quicker. There's a fairly limited palette compared to some of the other types of polymer clay, but they are based on an artist's palette, so colours can be mixed to make an infinite array of colours. As well as being softer it is also very durable after baking, because it is strong but retains flexibility, so is less likely to break as it isn't brittle.

So, what have I been making?

I thought I'd try my hand at flowers, in particular roses. My first couple of attempts weren't very good, but I eventually got the hang of it. I also scorched one by baking too long, something that shouldn't really affect the clay as it can be baked as long as you like, as long as the temperature doesn't go above that recommended, so maybe my oven has hot spots, or hasn't got a reliable temperature. I really need to buy a thermometer so I can be sure the temperature remains stable. But for now I have devised a way of protecting my items by baking them under an upturned cake tin to maintain an even temperature within the covered area, and only baking them for the shortest time. The rose that scorched had taken me ages to get just how I wanted it to look. It was a beautiful shade of violet and although it looks perfectly fine, no burnt bits or anything, it emerged from the oven chocolate brown! I was so disappointed, but maybe I can find a use for it. I believe certain colours are more prone to darkening than others, particularly transclucent and pearl ones.

Here are some pieces I have been making:

Nostalgia - Teal Blue Rose



Lemon Sorbet Rose



Old Gold Rose



Bubblegum Pink Rose



As you can see they all look a little different, that's because they are organic roses! I cut each petal freehand and sculpt each of them as I go along. I'm going to try using a petal cutter to make the petals a more uniform size, as there is a certain symmetry in nature. It will also speed up the process, but after cutting them out I still need to sculpt them, so they will never look identical, which is a good thing. But I actually like my organic roses as they are, so I may continue to do them freehand.

Monday Moodboard

The weather is definitely warming up; people are walking around in T shirts and venturing out into their gardens to repair the damage of a long harsh winter. My garden definitely needs a make-over. So with this in mind, my Monday Moodboard is on a garden theme. Hopefully making this will keep it to the fore of my mind to get out there and tend my lawn and frost damaged plants in readiness for sitting in the fresh air creating my jewellery designs and taking long lazy lunches. Ah it's a hard life! :)



1. Spring Garden Bracelet - Katheyl
2. Wild Flowers - Artwatercolour
3. Lavender Days - Starrybluesky
4. Tulip Earrings - Antigoni

Check out more Monday Moodboards at Fleurfatale

Monday Moodboard

Spring is in the air, the light is softer, days warmer, hearts lighter... and thoughts are turning to summer weddings!


1. Ribbon Sash - mammamiaeme
2. Earrings - vart
3. Bag - koopdegrace
4. Bouquet - staroftheeast

Front Page

I discovered today that while I slept last night I was lucky enough to have my Spring Breeze Teal Lucite Flower earrings featured in this lovely Etsy Front Page Treasury made by EsmeDodsworthDesign.

Thank you Esme! :)

You can check out her lovely shop here:

Being on the Front Page resulted in the sale of my new Rosebud design earrings which I'm thrilled about, an enquiry about another item, and lots and lots of new shop and item hearts! :D