Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Faux Ceramics

A while ago, I posted a link to a blog that featured lots of photos of beautiful ceramic pendants and charms. If you missed it before, or have forgotten about it, here it is again: http://bijouxdiva.canalblog.com/
There are links to several albums of "the Diva's" work along the right side of the page.

Those photos-- the luxurious glazes-- reminded me that I'd been wanting to try my hand at a faux ceramics effect. So I did-- and it was fun! :o)


Go to my Flickr account to see a few more photos of my first attempts. I also have a new batch waiting to be properly photographed.

It was interesting to note, during those first tries, that some of the colors I was least enthusiastic about to start with turned out to be my favorites. You never can tell about those things, which is why it's so important to experiment and step outside of your usual routine (as I need to remind myself from time to time). For instance, if I stick to the same color schemes every time, I'll never learn about the other combos that I could be enjoying.

It was also amusing that my favorite texture tool wasn't a texture sheet-- or a stamp. It was something I bought, but I only paid .25 or .50 for it (can't remember which it was, now), and it wasn't even meant to be used for applying texture. It was originally a medallion on a necklace at Claire's, but it was so huge that it made a hideous pendant, which is probably why it was on sale. (g) I bought it with texturing in mind, though, and it was definitely worth the price!

Anyway, I've put up a tutorial for the technique I used. It's nothing very complicated, and I like the fact that it doesn't require much "finishing". Well, you might want to do some extra finishing to yours. . . and I might give one of them a sanding and power-buffing, sometime, just to see what happens. . . but they look perfectly fine as they are, I think.

Here's the link: Faux Ceramic Pendants Tutorial

If you like it and give it a try, feel free to stop by this faux ceramics thread of our forum and post a picture or two-- and a link to your own blog or Flickr albums. :o)

6 comments:

Glitterd1 said...

I can't wait to try this! Thank you so much for sharing this great tutorial!!

Michael said...

I'll be interested in seeing what you do with it! :o)

I'm sure I'm not the first to try it or think of it, but I haven't seen it published before. I'm still a little nervous about the whole "what's 'public domain'" and "what's ethical" debate.

Anonymous said...

I'm also a big fan of ceramics, but can't really see myself ever pursuing that craft. You've created a SUPER tute! I think you should be credited on the site; after all, this is what you came up with on your own. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the link.
you do beautiful things with polymer clay.

Michael said...

Thank you both! :o)

Well, maybe I should've made it more clear that Polymer Clay Web is actually my website. (g) I guess I could still put my name on it somewhere, though. :o)

marcella aka milo said...

Michael, what a wonderful tute, thanks for sharing! I was looking at your beautiful pendants and wondering how you did... and ta-dah, here's the answer :o)

the results are magnificent really, they make me want to try! and maybe find a way to use this super technique for my minicaretti...
THANKS!