Latest incarnation of "Crackled Inlay"--

Last Wednesday, I wrote that I was "varnishing" a few pieces done in my latest version of the "Crackled Inlay" technique. I think that a few of them came out very nicely-- so much so that I probably ought to see about putting a photo or two up on the tutorial page, just to show how the alternatives can look. (Honestly, right now I think they look better than any photos I have of the original technique.)

I could probably have done a better job of the photographing, but oh well. For now here are photos of the front and back (or back and front, depending on which side you favor) of my husband's favorite pendant from the batch:

Not absolutely perfect, maybe, but much better than I thought when I first tried cutting the sheet of clay with the metal leaf on it!

One thing I noticed was that some of the colors I used for this project seemed to change during curing. I started with four different shades of tinted translucent clay. (I used alcohol ink-- Adirondack and Pinata brands-- to tint the clay, but colored clay should work, too.) One was yellow, one orange, and the two last were slightly different shades of salmony pink. Now, I wasn't surprised that the pinks turned out to be the same after curing. I'd rather expected that that might happen. What did surprise me was that I could barely tell the difference between the orange and the yellow. The orange looks like a slightly darker gold than the yellow, while the two pinks look orange! It's not really a problem in this case, but it could be annoying under other circumstances.

I'll have to keep an eye on this in the future-- try to notice which ones shift the most and in what "direction", etc. I wonder how much of this is related to the ambering effect that sometimes occurs when you cure translucent clay? I wouldn't have thought that would be an issue in this case, as I used Frost (aka Premo Trans. w/Bleach), which I believe is supposed to reduce yellowing. Anyway-- something to think about for next time.

I still have some of the "metal-leafed" sheets of clay, so I'll probably give this project another try. I'd like to think ahead this time, though, and maybe try something a bit different. I'm not sure what, but I find that if I don't make a conscious effort to try something new, I generally end up falling into the same patterns of size, shape, and decoration style in my beads and pendants. Like anyone, I have my own personal comfort zone, and I naturally gravitate toward it if I'm not taking active measures to reach beyond it.

That said, I have a cold right now, so maybe I can be excused if I cling to what comforts me, these days. ;o)